04-19-2007, 03:27 AM | #1 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: South Jordan
Posts: 1,725
|
If you don't like it then leave (as applied to business)
NOTE: I don't know if this is the right forum or not but Finance seemed as good a place as any to discuss employer/employee relationships
The recent Honor Code thread included some discussion of the "If you don't like it then leave" philosophy. I believe Santos made the following statement: Quote:
I'm all for improving the company, the way we do business, the work environment - you name it. There are plenty of things that I don't like about the company that I too want to change. That being said, I have a limited amount of power, a limited amount of time, and a limited amount of funds to work with. There are some things that take time to change - yet even once I've explained the situation, and why it will take a long time to change, certain people just can't stop whining. They act like the business exists for the sole purpose of fulfilling that employee's emotional, financial, and entertainment needs. I've found that when an employee is continually griping, bitching, and harping day after day that I mentally start to tune the employee out. The whiners comprise 10% of the staff but acount for 80% of the complaining. The constant negativity can make the work environment a miserable, unbearable place. Unfortunately, the whining sometimes gets so bad that I find myself saying "I know that XYZ sucks but there's nothing I can do about it now so just SHUT THE HELL UP!" I've also found the biggest whiners are usually the least productive and add the least value to the business. As I've continued to gain management experience, I've become an increasingly strong proponet of the "identify the chronic complainers, fire them, and move on" philosophy. Life's just too short to cater to chronic whiners. Each time I've resorted to this tactic the benefits (less whining, more enthusiasm from remaining employees, overall better work environment) have far exceeded the costs (rehiring, retraining, loss of institutional knowledge, unemployment compensation). The bottom line is that those employees who pick their battles carefully, and pick the timing of their battles carefully, are far more successful at enacting change in an organization than those that keep up an incessant drum beat of whining and undercurrent of cynicism. |
|
04-19-2007, 03:38 PM | #2 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 1,817
|
We had a guy with our company that was taking up 85% of my time in complaining. He was always complaining and always making some kind of trouble. We had quite a few discussions with him to try and improve his attitude and his work to no avail. I finally had to fire him. I can honestly say, without a doubt, our company performed better, less stress among all staff and going to work became interesting and fun again.
Positive interaction and constructive questioning are valuable to any company...continual bitching and low work production will doom a small company. |
Bookmarks |
|
|