First It Was Gossip, Now Complaining's OK

I know there have been times at work that I've disagreed with management's decisions and been vocal about it. I've tried to find appropriate times and ways to voice that dissatisfaction, hoping to give authentic feedback, but I wouldn't be surprised if I've ruffled some feathers or been labeled negative for it. I don't have anything concrete to back up that feeling, but I kind of suspect. Too bad I can't forward this to them.

Take a Look Behind Bad Attitudes

. . . Jing Zhou and Jennifer M. George have pursued a line of research that says workers who are labeled as “bad attitudes” may be an organization’s best source of creativity — and without creativity, an organization is left in competitors’ dust.

Management literature generally divides unhappy employees into four categories: Those who decide to leave the organization; those who stay and adopt a passive, head-in-the-sand loyalty; those who stay but mentally check out; and those who stay and voice their discontent.

It’s the members of that last group that Zhou and George say need to be heeded, assuming they are otherwise productive workers. The secret, they say, is “encouraging the expression of voice.”

That doesn’t mean managers should encourage bad moods. It means that managers, assuming other measures of employee competence, should view dissatisfied, vocal employees as canaries in the mine who see problems or solutions that others don’t.

Dissatisfaction with the status quo isn’t guaranteed to lead to creativity, but stifling it or firing those who challenge the company line could be counterproductive.

Research by Zhou and George suggests that employees who voice discontent are most likely to have a positive impact if they have the support of co-workers and if the organization has a proven history of implementing ideas that bubble up from the ranks. . . .