So you’ve got disgruntled employees? You’re not alone. But what can you do about it. How do you make them… gruntled? (Is gruntled a word??)
1. Process Your Own Emotions
First, take some time to work through your own reactions to their displeasure. It’s natural that you might be feeling frustrated because you’ve worked so hard to be a good boss, or angry because you’re working WAY harder than they are and they don’t see you complaining, do they?!? Or maybe you just feel empathetic because they’ve got a point, it really does suck in your organization right now! Whatever you’re feeling, it’s important to process your emotional reactions so that when you talk with your team, you’re as calm, rational, and receptive as possible.
2. Talk (and Listen!) To Your Team
Ok, next, find an opportunity to talk to your team to figure out what’s going on. You might want to start by having a tete-a-tete with one person first so you have a heads up before talking with them as a group. The best way to prepare is to have some good questions at the ready: “I’ve noticed there’s lots of talk about what’s wrong with the organization lately. Three people called the new plan stupid in our meeting this morning. I’d love to learn a little more about how you’re thinking about it. What’s not working for you?” There are so many great questions you can ask to get them talking: – What do you like about this and what do you wish? – What am I not paying enough attention to? – How would you like it to be different? – Or something as simple as “what’s up?” Then zip it and listen. Don’t interrupt. Don’t contradict. Don’t present evidence to the contrary. If they pause, don’t jump in right away. Instead, ask “what else?” or “Is there more that I should know?” They’ll probably take a deep breath and go one layer deeper. Now, paraphrase what they said as closely as possible. Speak their truth. If you want to go further and make a hypothesis about what’s beneath their feelings, you can say “It sounds like you’re feeling…“
3. Move From Emotion to Action
Then you want to move from emotion to action. This is where you have three options:
- If their complaints are something legitimate that only you can fix, thank them for their candor and share that you’re going to do something to fix it. If you’re not sure quite what, just say you’ll get back to them and when.
- But if they’re disgruntled about something they need to own, don’t rescue them. Instead, ask “What could you do to make that less problematic?” or “How else could you think about that situation?” If it’s a problem of their own making, don’t take the accountability away by rescuing them.
- Finally, they might be unhappy about something the you’re equally unhappy about but you’re unable to change. In that case, problem solve with them about what you can do collectively to make the situation more manageable. Show them you’re in it with them. This third category is what I think of as a situation where you can’t make a dent in the problem so you have to reduce the dent it makes in you.
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Work is hard and stressful these days so don’t be surprised if you wind up with disgruntled employees. But it’s not good for anyone to let them stay that way. Stay calm and work toward a constructive resolution to the problem.