Pic: IMAGESBAZAAR

Today, a gamut of factors influences an employee's mindset. A negativity carrier in the workplace is one such factor that adversely taps into the overall output. Thereby, it is important for HR managers to recognise these carriers and nip the problem in the bud

An office cubicle basically comprises of a cluster of strangers hoarded together to work towards the attainment of common business objectives. Working together for a defined period of hours in a confined space per day tends to manifest emotional distress, stress, anxiety, competitiveness, distrust, groupism or envy which translates to negativity within the organisation. It is human nature to find oneself victim of and victim to such negative sentiments. Thus, ‘negativity carriers' exist in every organisation, breeding like a cancerous disease eating into the morale of the workforce. The HR manager today is a forward thinking man. While he is known to show regard to conformist business policies, he is also known to implement avant-garde management techniques and deal with both, the positive and negative facets of the business in with a rational and an open-mind. Thus, the HR manager today is well aware of what goes on within his task force as a consequence to which, threatening issues such as negativity carriers existing in the organisation are paid due heed to.

First and foremost, it is important to carefully recognise and identify these negativity carriers are. "Recognising workplace negativity is tricky and getting the drift is challenging, particularly in large organisations, and more so, if there are complex reporting structures. One has to be cognizant of this fact that when people are constantly on the move from project to project, dealing with different managers, teams etc which adds to the difficulty of gauging their engagement levels," opines Mona Tongbram, DGM – human capital division, Feedback Infrastructure Services. She further adds, "Overtly dissatisfied employees are easy to spot and their reasons for being so are mostly known. However, the covert ones are the challenge because negativity does not necessarily manifest in loss of productivity/quality or absenteeism, as is commonly perceived. It remains a quiet festering amongst disgruntled employees, which is even more destructive."

When an employee is dissatisfied with his/her organisation, management, or business functioning, he becomes a carrier of negative vibes. One disgruntled employee fostering a negative attitude for the organisation can influence or impact the over vibe in the workforce thereby causing a negative snowball like effect. "The negativity and decreased morale in the workplace tends to drag down with it the doldrums, aura, and output of any workgroup. Bad publicity obviously catches on faster than good publicity and similarly, negativity flows throw the corridors of an organisation faster than positivity. If one employee is experiencing extremely negative emotions, those emotions believed to impact, affect and infect the people around them. Such a scenario not only affects team work but also brings down the organisation's reputation, overall productivity, and turnover," avers David Naidu, director of human resources, The Westin Mumbai Garden City.

So, what can the HR manager do to exterminate these negativity carriers? "One of the effective ways of combating negativity/gossip/disgruntlement is to act quickly and decisively, having studied the issue.

Our experience has shown us that it is often the management's empathy and desire to resolve the issue that delivers the solution. Organisations have a little choice but to play it by the books," believes Tongbram.

Naidu suggests some simple ways an HR manager can be effectively tackled at the source:

Effective Communication: Effective communications is one of the best ways to remove the negative emotions in the team by conveying the facts and breaking the barriers. Initiatives where the senior management/ HR heads address their associates, communicate with them and keep them updated of the happenings in the business is an effective way to ensure such negativity is taken care of. Remember, communication is key;

Counselling: Once the negativity carriers are identified, they should be counselled by giving specific feedback of their behaviour and how it is impacting the group, and thereafter monitoring his/her behaviour regularly;

Responsibility: The best solution is to make the negativity carriers responsible and accountable for the problems they come up with. Since they become the owner of the problem, they are engaged in the activity and do not see any reason for gossiping or blaming others for the cause;

Discipline: There are times when even after repetitive efforts there is no change, in that case the disciplinary actions are also initiated so that they refrain from such activities and at the same time set an example in the organisation as well.

Chaitali Mukherjee, country manager, Right Management, India suggests some solutions for employees, who co-exist or find themselves trapped with these negativity carriers:

1) The best thing to do is not participate in pessimistic discussions with others, it's not necessary that if there is a negative conversation going on around you, you participate to show you are part of the circle – a kind of peer pressure lot of people retort to . Best is make an excuse around work and move away from there;

2) If someone involved in the conversations regularly is a close friend or a colleague, who you can't always keep avoiding, it's best to speak to the individual openly and share your concerns about being part of a negative conversation. Depending upon the proximity of the relationship with the person who keeps whining, you could also counsel and help him/her also come out of this negative thinking.

Thus, it is important for HR leaders to not pay a blind eye to such frequently witnessed organisational grievances and ensure that one bad apple does not spoil the bunch.

- Ricardo Vaz