There is little that affects employee morale, and thus performance, company results and staff retention, more than workplace negativity. It can come from one person, who impacts a whole department, or from a group of people. It can result from good cause or someone might be a "glass half empty" sort who always sees the dark side of things. It gets reflected in attitudes, words and behaviour. And it often does not get managed well because most managers don't like confrontation. Unchecked, workplace negativity can spread like a virus, infecting the whole organisation.

Where does it come from?

There are several reasons why negativity develops, for example:

• Employees feel under-valued or unheard
  
• A manager's decisions are seen as favouritism or his/her behaviour is seen as unfair or inconsistent
  
• Team members are anxious about company performance and are concerned about job security
  
• Decisions are made about a staff member's job without his/her input or control
  
• There is a lack of job variety, development opportunities and/or recognition
  
• Workloads are excessive or unbalanced

What can you do about it?

The most important step you can take to wipe out workplace negativity once it exists is to first recognise that it's happening and second to confront it. If there is one person on the team who is a "negativity monger" speak with that person. Truly listen to their gripes and see what can be done to rectify the situation. Not all reasons given will be valid or fixable, but just to hear the person can help eradicate his/her negative feelings.

If their negativity is a general behavioural trait and not founded in specific complaints, then help that employee understand the impact their attitudes are having on their team members and on the organisation as a whole. Coach them into more productive behaviours, if possible. If they're not coachable or resistant to change, then you might have to help them exit the company gracefully.

If your team is collectively unhappy, have open and honest communications with them. If it's your behaviour as a manager that needs to change, own up to your shortcomings and work to improve your management capabilities.

If there is a lot of uncertainty in your workplace due to the general economic climate or reasons more specific to your particular industry or business circumstances, communicate with your team. Let them know what's up, ask for their ideas and suggestions and give them some measure of control - even if it's just perceived control - over the situation. It's amazing what great ideas for improvement can come from those who work at the coal face.

Prevention is the best medicine.

Just looking at the examples above on the causes of workplace negativity, one can see that the means of prevention reside in good management practices, such as:

• Keeping lines of communication open and being a good listener
  
• Providing opportunities for job development, new learning and greater responsibilities
  
• Developing your own emotional intelligence and being a keen observer of your own behaviour
  
• Treating employees with fairness, trust and consistency
  
• Engaging team members in solutions for greater team success - everyone likes being on a winning team
  
• Making sure that you have not overburdened your best performer with too much work

Workplace negativity will arise from time to time. That's only natural. But when it becomes pervasively embedded in the organisation it can be lethal. Prevention is surely the best medicine. But if it does arise, the most important thing you can do is to decisively confront the negativity virus before it spreads. To do nothing gives tacit affirmation to and permission for its existence. To let it live through fear of confrontation only serves to diminish your leadership ability and trustworthiness in the eyes of your employees. And that can be the most lethal virus of all.

Submitted by Managing Director, Gaye Harford in collaboration with Lorraine Warshaw