HR MANAGEMENT - How to Deal With Whiners in the Workplace

How to Deal With Whiners in the Workplace

by Lee Grayson, Demand Media

Workplace whiners reduce the atmosphere of cooperation and community.

Workplace whining interferes with the sense of camaraderie in the workplace and distracts employees from projects and overall production. Chronic whiners and complainers negatively influence the work atmosphere; unfortunately, staff members are typically ill-equipped to deal with the problem. Business owners must take the initiative to ensure a positive work environment by minimizing the whining. Workplace protocol designed to deal with whiners offer non-whining staff a professional recourse in dealing with troublesome staff members.

Step 1

Assess the general extent of the whining problem with an anonymous survey. This allows staff members to comment on a number of concerns. Ask workers for input on the most common concerns. Directly approach chronic complaining by asking about frequently heard complaints about job duties or work environment. Directing the whiner's voice to a constructive channel assists in reducing complaints.

Step 2

Ask workers to formally identify specific workplace problems in the survey. Narrow the responses to three or four major concerns and implement another survey for more details regarding the issues. Publish the results for the staff to read and discuss. Develop a task force to address concerns listed by a majority of the staff. This tactic can help illustrate the difference between non-important and important workplace issues.

Step 3

Position the whining employees in isolated workstations in the workplace. This isolation allows non-whining employees a workspace free from negative vocal comments. Create a logical pretext for the move so the movement doesn't appear punitive.

Step 4

Counsel the whiners about their behavior. If the whining continues, repeat counseling and document the conference issues in the employee's official work portfolio or assessment file.

Step 5

Transfer whiners to another branch or different location in the company. A specific working environment or arrangement triggers reactions by some whiners. When faced with a new environment, the whiner frequently minimizes the complaining behavior.

Step 6

Require the whiner to attend anger management courses or classes in constructive workplace behavior. Whiners with learned behavior explore alternative actions to eliminate whining as a response to workplace situations.

Step 7

Terminate employees failing to change whining behavior after completing both company and out-source counseling. If the employee undermines a productive workplace environment, the only alternative to changing the behavior rests with removing the employee from the workplace.