We all may have encountered in our time coworkers, peers, or even people we work for who are disgruntled with their work situation (or with the people that they work with). There are many strategies out there to deal with these situations, but some of the best ways I have encountered are:
1. Letting the person vent in a safe environment; sometimes diffusing the situation is best accomplished my allowing them to work it out with a neutral third party.
2. Looking at the underlying issues causing the frustration; are there extenuating circumstances outside of work that are causing the stress.
3. (and possibly the most important one) Take discontent seriously. When employees come to you with issues they are having, they need to be addressed (and directly where it is possible); nothing exacerbates a problem more than not intervening early enough in the process to diffuse it from getting worse.
What are your suggestions for handling disgruntled employees?
