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1. FEATURE STORY:
EMPLOYEE NEGATIVITY: POSITIVELY PROBLEMATIC

Negativity spreads like a virus through the workplace, causing low morale, high tension, and greater dissatisfaction, which can all lead to an increase in turnover. Just one or two negative employees can disrupt the workplace to the point where they create an overall negative environment for other employees. Their attitude manifests in behaviors such as constant complaining, bad-mouthing, and hostility, and can be contagious if allowed to spread.

In order to change the mood of the workplace, you must address negativity on an organizational level, as well as an individual level.

Overall Negativity

Management can be directly responsible for creating or encouraging negativity through their own actions and attitudes. Therefore, your efforts at nixing negativity from your workplace should begin at the top.

Here are some strategies you and your managers can use to discourage negativity among employees.

• Set an example by keeping your communications positive. Try countering negative statements by pointing out a positive. This may spur more positive thinking from others. Don't give employees the impression that it is acceptable to act negatively by allowing them to constantly criticize or display defeat without intervening and providing a positive spin on their statements. Example: When employees say, "There's no way we can get this done on time," counter that with, "Let's figure out how we can get this done by the due date."

• Expect positive actions from employees. Encourage them to resolve conflict, rather than just gripe about it and be complacent. Evaluate employees on their interpersonal skills. If they know they are being evaluated on how well they get along, collaborate, and cooperate with co-workers, they may be less likely to exhibit negative behavior.

• Don't indulge constant complainers. Turn it into a problem-solving discussion instead. Get them to take action by asking for their suggestions, and give strong consideration to what they say. If you don't end up using their suggestions, explain why and thank them for the input. By doing so, you've shown you take them seriously and encouraged them to take an active approach to problem solving instead of just complaining.

• Don't pay too much attention to negative employees. You don't want to "reward" negative employees with your attention (even if it's negative attention, some individuals thrive on it). You also don't want to risk making your more positive employees feel neglected because you're spending so much time and energy trying to rein in the negativity. Show your gratitude to employees who have a good attitude.

• Give positive recognition often. Feedback should not be mostly critical; accolades are equally important. Constant criticism and negative feedback breed negativity. Therefore, it is important that you remind employees that their contributions make a difference to the department's success.

• Get direct feedback from employees on how to make the workplace more enjoyable, less tense, etc. Consider using a suggestion box or anonymous survey. By utilizing employees' ideas on what gives them job satisfaction, you may be able to turn their negative feelings about their jobs into positive ones.

Individual Negativity

Take these steps to address a specific employee's negative behavior.

• Hold a meeting with the employee and point out the specific behaviors and their effect on the workplace. For example, he constantly complains, which turns off his co-workers and they avoid working with him; she produces slipshod work because she doesn't care, and her mistakes cause more work for her co-workers.

• Ask questions to determine whether there is something in the work environment that is troubling or frustrating the employee. The idea is to get his/her side of the story before proceeding. Then, work toward a solution. Give goals, with a timeline and consequences.

• Inform the employee that it is in his/her best interests to change the behavior immediately, and if you don't see immediate and sustained improvement, you will begin the disciplinary process. Also let the employee know that failure to change inappropriate behavior is a terminable offense.

• Follow through on what you say. Employees' negative attitudes will continue if tolerated without any consequences. It might take suspending or terminating an employee in order for the rest to get the message that you are serious about nixing negativity in the workplace.

These tips will help you get started in addressing negativity in your workplace. But negativity can be an ongoing problem and may take much time and effort to eliminate it from your workplace entirely. Sign up for AHI's web conference, Dealing With Negative Attitudes In The Workplace, for more strategies and solutions to meet negativity head on and rid it from your organization.

2. CATHIE'S CORNER:
NOT ALL EMPLOYEES ARE PAID EQUALLY

There isn't an employee in existence who believes he is being paid what he is worth, especially when he finds out a co-worker is making more. How do you respond?

From the questions I've been asked, it appears that many people don't understand what the Equal Pay Act (EPA) means. It does not, as the questioners seem to think, mean that everyone working the same job has to be paid exactly the same. Rather, the EPA was a forerunner of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Passed a year earlier, the EPA prohibits an employer from paying lower wages to one gender than the other, for substantially equal work, on jobs requiring substantially equal skills and responsibility, under similar working conditions.

What it boils down to is that you can't pay a man more because he is a man; you can't pay a woman more because she is a woman. But you can pay a man more than a woman, or a woman more than a man, because he (or she) has more education, a different skill set, a longer tenure with the company, etc.

Often on cross-questioning, it turns out that the questioner either has worked for the employer for several years less than the one who is being paid more, or else the employee with the more favorable compensation plan negotiated it at hire based on their work at previous employers. Frequently, it is due to changing market conditions. All of these reasons are legal.

Now what? The law does not require you to bring the lower-paid employees' wages up, nor is it reasonable or cost-effective to do so. The question is, does the employee's performance warrant an increase? And, can your budget support it?

Your specific circumstances will determine what you can and should do. If you believe that the employee's performance and circumstances entitle him to a raise and you have the money in the budget to do so, by all means give it to him. If the raise is warranted, but you don't have the money, perhaps you can provide it at his next review, or give it to him in increments. If his performance does not warrant a raise, you have no obligation to provide one.

Since the National Labor Relations Act does not permit an employer to limit employees from discussing their employment conditions, including pay, it's inevitable that sooner or later, lower-paid employees will find out where they fall in relation to their co-workers, so you'd better be prepared to answer their questions.

Catherine Bannon is the President of HR by Request, Inc., in Marshfield, MA (catherine.bannon@gmail.com). Bannon worked for 10 years in HR management before starting her consulting firm.

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FREE REPORT

Check out the Free Report, "When School's In Session And Employees Are Out," which provides you with a state-by-state summary of the statutes under which parents and guardians are entitled to time off to tend to a child's school-related activities.