the bullies in school — well , now you ’ re in the teacher position . Is someone treating Kate poorly ? Is she truly the one complaining , or are others complaining that Kate is complaining ? Could this be a bullying situation ? You need to look at the possibility that Kate complains because her situation is intolerable .
Are her complaints accurate and important ? If she complains that the cafeteria never has grilled cheese sandwiches , that ’ s not a real problem . But if she complains that the cafeteria never serves anything vegetarian , that ’ s a real problem . A company big enough to have a cafeteria has multiple vegetarians .
There are any number of situations where Kate ’ s complaints should lead you to action , and you might be dismissing them just because Kate is a complainer .
And then there ’ s the other option :
Kate is just a complainer .
She ’ s not the only person you know like this — undoubtedly . You could give some of these complainers a million dollars in unmarked bills and they ’ d complain that some of the bills are wrinkled and dirty . People like to say there is nothing you can do to fix these whiners , and there generally isn ’ t — but you ’ re Kate ’ s boss and have the opportunity to either help her fix herself or leave the company .
You say her performance isn ’ t bad enough for you to fire her but is her complaining causing problems at work ? If she ’ s constantly complaining to you , it ’ s doubtful that she ’ s a ray of sunshine around her coworkers . If she ’ s customerfacing , does she take this negative attitude to the customer ? That ’ s a disaster .
The first step is to put it in Kate ’ s hands . Tell her that if she has a complaint , you want her to bring a reasonable solution along with the complaint . That should either slow the complaints or at least bring solutions . But , if that doesn ’ t stop it , it ’ s time to move on to a more concrete solution : a performance improvement plan . An employee ’ s attitude is part of the job .
You have a sit-down discussion with a witness . If you have HR in your business ,
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that ’ s your first choice , but if not , another manager . Here ’ s what you need to do .
• Address how Kate ’ s complaining is affecting her work . Does it take time away from her tasks ? Does it make her coworkers not interested in working with her ? Does it turn away customers ? Does she miss deadlines because she ’ s busy complaining about things ?
• Create clear , measurable guidelines for helping her change . If you can ’ t measure it , don ’ t include it . If you ’ re asking for a reduction in complaining , you must track it . If you want to focus on performance issues , keep it to those . But make sure it ’ s measurable .
• Emphasize that if someone or something violates the law , she is to complain immediately . Even on the PIP , you want to be clear that Kate should complain about sexual harassment , racial discrimination , securities violations or other illegal violations . The last thing you want to do is have her claim you told her not to report sexual harassment because it is a “ complaint .”
• Offer Kate help . You ’ re not a therapist , but you can suggest she call the employee assistance program and get help .
• Meet regularly with Kate to help her and track her progress . A PIP without follow-up is a waste of everyone ’ s time .
If Kate doesn ’ t meet the terms of her PIP ( usually 60-90 days ), you can terminate her . If you balk at that thought , then maybe it ’ s not as bad as you think it is , and you can just coach and correct without a formal performance improvement plan . That ’ s okay , but understand that you chose to accept her constant complaining — so you don ’ t get to complain about it .
Suzanne Lucas spent 10 years in corporate human resources , where she hired , fired and managed the numbers and doublechecked with the lawyers . On Twitter @ RealEvilHRLady . Send questions to evilhrlady @ gmail . com .
Do you have employees who love to complain ?
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September 2022 | comstocksmag . com 21