Some individuals might not express their feelings in fear of retribution. They suppress.
their feelings because the work environment does not welcome feelings of any kind. This causes a hidden negativity and happens when individuals do not feel positive about what they do and where they work. Those individuals will not openly demonstrate their negativity and it will reflect eventually in higher levels of stress, increased turnover, increased medical claims and lower productivity.
A study conducted by Towers Perrin and researchers Gang & Gang (2003) (1) answers the question about what causes employee negativity by using a survey to collect data from a group of 1,100 employees and 300 senior Human Resources executives that work for mid-sized and large-sized companies in the United States and Canada. People were asked to describe their feelings about their current work experience and a desired work experience.
The study identified that the following factors are influencing employees' negativity the.
most:.
- Workload.
Too much work due to cost cutting and downsizing results in burnouts.
- Management.
Employees' concerns about management support and ability to bring the company successfully forward.
- The Future.
Worries about the future, long-term jobs as well as income and retirement security.
- Boredom/Lack of Challenge.
Being already bored and not challenged can even intensify the frustration about the amount of work.
- Recognition/Rewards.
Unsatisfactory recognition for the level of contribution and effort put in, and concerns that pay isn't appropriate with performance.
There is a threat that negative employees can influence co-workers and spread their negative attitude to others. It is therefore essential for human resources professionals to pay attention to early warning signals and take employee complaints seriously. I asked Mrs. Allard in my interview about typical sources of negativity within the organization.