negative energy
can 1 employee out of 35 keep an entire building from getting better just because of their negative attitude towards life in general?
Andrew,
Much depends on how influential that individual might be. If that person is perceived as a leader within the employees, they can certainly have an impact on the overall morale which in turn impacts productivity. If you have such a person, you might want to have a conversation in an attempt to minimize the negative effect on the organization.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
Absolutely! The old adage "one bad apple can spoil a whole bunch" can oftentimes hold true. However, if the manager can instill a positive, loyal, independent team culture, that person will eventually rise to the occasion or weed him/herself out.
PARIS,
Peer pressure can work well to weed out the bad apple, too. The manager needs to have a good relationship with his/her team so there is no blindsiding from the bad apple. Knowing what is going on at all times goes a long ways in encouraging the bad apple to either be a team player or to move on.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
It does depend on how much visibility and interaction that person has. But, I absolutely think so.
For example, we had a student recently that was in a class of 60. There were so many problems with that class. She didn't necessarily have a bad attitude, but it was very difficult to please her. She ultimately ended up withdrawing and we have not had any of the issues we previously had since she is gone.
I didn't like losing her, but in the best interest of the class I supported her decision.
Charisse ,
I believe that a class takes on its own personality. Obviously, those students with the strongest personalities will have the greatest influence over the assumed personality of the whole class. They say that one bad apple will influence other apples near it and it is no different with people. You were wise to support her decision to withdraw because it sounds like it had become a no-win situation. There is little, if anything that you could have done to salvage the relationship.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
I do feel at times negativity can be a domino effect where it can trickle to other employees and affect an entire building, but Another way to look at it can be that the other positive employees can influence the one negative person to change their attitude as well.
Jennifer ,
Sometimes the prevailing culture of an organization will have an impact on just how far negativity will cascade through the organization. Typically, command and control organizations are more prone to negative cascading than collaborative ones. in addition, organizations that have open door policies and are more open in communications tend to have a less negativity and less negative cascading. Organizations that are closed minded with respect to communications tend to have more.
Dr. Robert Roehrich
One employee, I believe can make a difference in productivity and performance especially if this employee has a significant role within the company. That being said, many people do not like continous negativity. How well do you know this person? Saying that they are negative about life in general. Maybe getting to know this person better may help in turning them around. Are they really happy with their job? May take a little time, but I bet you can get them turned around!!
Cynthia,
Absolutely, one person can make a difference, either positively or negatively and the more significant their position , the greater the impact. I would agree that most people don't like being around a negative person, especially one who is verbally obnoxious with their negativity. As a manager or leader, once the negative individual is recognized and hopefully early on, it is the leader's responsibility to coach the individual One of the best ways for a leader/manager to address a negative individual is to: a) describe the situation in which they were observed being negative; b) describe the negative behavior in an unemotional way; and c) describe the impact of the individual's behavior on the work group or co-worker. This three step process works well to get the individual to accept accountability for their behavior; the next step is to jointly develop a strategy for mitigating the negative influence on productivity and morale. You can go further by: a) trying to identify the problem and/or cause of negativity; b) developing an intervention plan with specific and desirable behavioral changes; and 3) clearly identifying the consequences if the negative behavior continues.
Dr. Robert Roehrich
I absolutely believe that 1 employee's negative words/actions can cause the entire work place to become negative. Unfortunately, from my experience, the negative people are more visible and louder than that happy people so everyone becomes aware of this quickly. I think it's very important for managers to confront negativity in the workplace immediately as to not affect the entire group. Sometimes it's an easy fix but managers need to get to the source and quickly before it snowballs.
Amelia ,
You are absolutely correct, an employee who is constantly negative can be "toxic" to the workplace. Too often managers don't confront a negative person regarding their behavior or impact on the work environment until it becomes destructive and negatively affects performance and workplace harmony; addressing it quickly is important. What strategy would you use to approach a negative individual and communicate the impact they are having on the organization?
Dr. Robert Roehrich
I would speak to them one on one and ask them what they are frustrated with in their current position. The issue may be easily solved by just talking to the employee. If it's something larger however, we may need to discuss if this employee is in the right position or might be happier some place else.
Amelia ,
A couple of additional suggestions. Once you've identified that negative feelings are caused by frustration with their job engage them in a proactive discussion of how he/she could make things better. If you can reach agreement on the suggested changes, consider developing an "individualized 'accomplishments' plan" to recognize milestones the employee achieves within their span of responsibility. Once accomplished, you have an opportunity to further engage to provide coaching, reinforcement and support. Don't set it up as a performance review, but let the employee know you will consider how they approach the IAP and "attitude" changes as part of their annual review. If this approach doesn't work, then the second option you provided above may be the tact to take to remove the negative impact of this individual on the team or organization.
Dr. Robert Roehrich
I believe it depends on the individual employee and how they are viewed by their fellow colleagues. If the negative employee is viewed as a leader/expert among the faculty, it can be extremely damaging and should be addressed immediately. If not, I can almost guarantee that you will not only have issues with your current faculty, but also with each new hire as he/she will be pulled in quickly. In my experience, I found that the negative individual was not fully aware of the impact they had on their colleagues OR their students. We arranged a professional development activity that focused on classroom effects of negativity, both from students and the teaching team. It was quite the eye-opener and led to great discussion and POSITIVE results.
