At a time when the pandemic crisis has affected morale, employee satisfaction, and retention, constant complainers can make life difficult or even miserable for everyone. Consider these steps to manage these workers:
- Try humorous commiseration. Don’t minimize their concerns, but give them a positive, light twist. Share a similar story with a positive result.
- Think of complaint as a preventative measure. Instead of taking a complaint as an insult or challenge, consider how it can be used to improve processes or systems or reaffirm that you are doing the right thing.
- Turn the complainer into an intelligence source. Redirect the complainer’s focus from your own team to a competitor. Ask questions like, “Do others on the team feel the same way you do about this process?”
- Collect and share a positive perspective. Help the complainer adopt a new perspective. Send along positive comments from colleagues and coworkers.
- Offer to pass a complaint to the “powers that be.” Let the complainer know that you’re not ignoring their concerns. Suggest they put their complaint in writing that you can relay to the executive team.
- Press the complainer to act. Urge them to take action. Consider asking, “So what are you planning to do about it?”
