"Don’t brush employee complaints aside"

^{Employee complaints . . .  Absenteeism . . .  Turnover . . .} 

These telltale behaviors often telegraph a deeper problem. Like a good medical doctor, smart business owners and managers look for patterns of behavior that will lead to the source of the problem. They pay attention, ask good questions, listen to what is said (and not said) and test their hypotheses. Let’s look at some symptoms of organizational ills and some potential causes: 

Symptom: Employee complaints about not being treated fairly. 

A business owner usually starts hearing this complaint once the organization grows beyond 25 employees. The company has moved from a casual, family atmosphere to a more complex organization. Leaders, who have never managed people, now find themselves faced with decisions about vacation policies and flexible schedules. 

Since “fairness” is in the eye of the beholder, every manager is going to hear an occasional employee complaint about a decision they don’t think is fair. But when individual complaints turn into a chorus of discontent, something else is wrong. 

In the case of the entrepreneur, there is a good chance the business is ready for some policies and guidelines. Although many entrepreneurs are repelled by the mere whiff of potential bureaucracy, they eventually realize that a few policies and guidelines are going to save endless hours behind closed doors with upset employees. 

If the organization already has policies in place, there is a good chance that the complaints will point to a manager who either too lax, too strict and “by the book” or, indeed, playing favorites. 

Symptom: Coworkers have turned against one employee. They do anything to avoid working with him or her and you are constantly intervening in skirmishes. 

It’s tempting to proclaim, “I want you all to get along! Stop these petty personality attacks!” The problem is that it’s rarely just a matter of “personality.” Often, there are deeper problems such as confusion about how much authority the person has. 

In cases such as this, I find that about 50 percent of the time it is a problem of job structure, scope, responsibility and/or authority. In the other cases, the problem employee has brought on his or her own troubles because of personal style or other behaviors. For example, in one case the disliked employee was impossibly condescending and righteous and in another case the employee was a control freak who was irrationally paranoid about everyone. 

Symptom: Turnover. 

Although most exit interviews are rife with politically correct reasons for leaving, sometimes there is more behind the words, if we only stop to look at the patterns or dig a little deeper. 

For example, “I’m leaving for more money,” can sometimes be translated into, “I’m really leaving because I was never thanked or recognized for all of my hard work.” When people don’t feel valued or appreciated they often start complaining about how little they’re paid. Of course, in this tight employee market, leaving for more money is often the actual reason and there is no other hidden message. However, money is a tangible measure of appreciation and in the absence of personal recognition, it becomes the demand that isn’t embarrassing to ask for. 

“I’m leaving for more responsibility and advancement opportunity,” can sometimes really mean, “My boss never gave me any feedback and acted like I was a piece of furniture.” Smart managers know that one of the best ways to keep people today is to challenge them, coach them and care about them. If one area is losing employees faster than you can find new ones, the cause can often be traced to the manager. 

Symptom: Absenteeism. 

Like all the rest of these symptoms, the cause might rest with the employees themselves, but it can also hint at a bigger issue. For example, the job might be hideously boring or the working conditions might be mentally stressful. In other cases, it might be a manager who is either a wimp or a bully. In many cases, an organizational fix can make a big difference. For example, in one troubled department, employees participated in designing a cross-training and job rotation program that cut the absenteeism rate in half. 

If you are faced with a similar workplace issue, do your own investigation to determine if you should take it at face value or dig a little deeper for the real cause of the problem.

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