SHUTTERSTOCK ILLUSTRATION
Speak up . Approach your pocket-dialing employee and tell him you ’ d like to chat for a bit . Explain that you heard his voicemail , and assure him that he ’ s absolutely within his rights to trash the boss with another coworker . But you ’ re concerned about what he said , and you want to make sure the department is an excellent place to work and that he ’ s happy here .
Then go through what his complaints were and address them . How you do this depends on the complaints . Some may be real problems that you can fix , some may be general work complaints and some may be false . Here ’ s how you would deal with all of them .
The real problem . Suppose your employee said , “ I ’ m so tired of working for Joe . He never asks . He yells .” You know you tend to be loud and intense . You may think it ’ s necessary because of your high-stress work environment , but your employee sees it as a real problem , so to him , it is one .
Start this way : “ One of your complaints was that I yell too much . You ’ re absolutely right . I get frustrated easily , and that tends to be how I respond .”
Note that you didn ’ t say the word “ but ” in this discussion . “ Buts ” are always about justification . That never goes over well . So just leave it out .
Then explain how you are going to fix it . “ I need to be more aware of my voice when I ’ m speaking . I know I need to work on this , and now that I ’ m aware of how much it bothers you , I ’ ll make an effort .”
Go one step further and ask for his help . “ When I ’ m starting to lose it , can you give me a signal ? Maybe hold up your phone so that I ’ m reminded of your pocket dial ?”
Of course , only do this if you intend to make fixes . If you are going to stick with yelling , be honest about that too . “ I know I yell too much . That ’ s how I am . Please don ’ t take it personally .” That ’ s a lousy thing to do ( you should work to improve !), but it ’ s honest .
General work complaints . “ Working in masks is so hot and awful . And if you so much as take a sip of water , Joe gives you the evil eye for pulling down your mask !” Acknowledge that the masks are genuinely awful but that there ’ s not a blooming thing you can do . Just show sympathy .
Lies . The funny thing about lies is that the person saying them can absolutely believe they are true . Take this statement : “ Joe is such a micromanager !” You can be the most laid back , least micromanaging of managers , and an employee might think that because you enforce deadlines or expect people to be on time . Ask the employee to clarify , “ Can you tell me what I do to make you feel micromanaged ?” Listen and repeat back until you understand . Then explain . “ Yes , I know it ’ s annoying when I remind you of deadlines , but we have clients that depend on us . That ’ s not micromanaging . That ’ s managing . What can I do to help you
meet your deadlines so that I don ’ t need to remind you ?”
Consider this pocket dial a blessing . You got to find out things that no one would have told you otherwise . This way you can fix them .
Suzanne Lucas spent 10 years in corporate human resources , where she hired , fired , managed the numbers and doublechecked with the lawyers . On Twitter @ RealEvilHRLady . Send questions to evilhrlady @ gmail . com .
How did you handle a trash-talking employee ?
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June 2021 | comstocksmag . com 21