When addressing employee morale, satisfaction and retention, knowing what disenchants workers in their jobs is half the battle. Listening to employees and taking their complaints to heart can help them be more engaged with their responsibilities.

No matter how good things are, there is bound to be something to complain about in certain coworkers’ minds. A disgruntled employee — justified or not — is a drag to work with, and chronic whining can result in a highly negative working environment.

However, while prickly workers can always find ridiculous things to complain about, the value of employee complaints should not be brushed off.

“If you don’t handle employee complaints, you create resentment, low morale, low productivity and increased turnover,” executive coach Linda Talley tells Microsoft’s Small Business Center.

In such an environment, many (if not most) talented employees will not complain directly. Rather, they will take indirect action, often by spreading their disappointment to other employees or by leaving the company at the first opportunity. Or both.

Unfortunately, as Inc.com notes, “in-house criticism is often barely tolerated, let alone encouraged.”

Experts say that discouraging employees from airing their grievances is a shortsighted policy.

Embracing and encouraging constructive complaints can be a gift for employers. To be engaged, employees need to feel they are making significant contributions to their workplaces, Gallup argues. The best companies have embraced this idea and not only listen and solicit feedback from their employees, but consistently act on what they hear. (Source: The Employee Factor)

Below are some ideas for listening to employees’ concerns and taking them seriously.

Be open to feedback. “Some bosses are approachable about anything; but many aren’t,” Inc.com says. “Employees worry less about being fired than about straining relations with leadership.” The National Business Research Institute (NBRI) says, “The more open a company is to hearing what all of its employees, not just those in the top echelons think, the better. Even part-time or temporary workers can lend valuable insight.” Employees should be comfortable offering constructive feedback without fear of retribution.

Set up a formal process. “Set up a formal process for submitting grievances that’s communicated to everyone,” Joanna L. Krotz, co-author of the Microsoft Small Business Kit, advises. “To avoid legal pitfalls, clearly define the process and ensure that it’s private and moves toward an outcome or resolution.” Administering employee feedback surveys regularly is one of the most effective ways to tap into the thoughts of the workplace, according to the NBRI. “Properly designed, employee feedback surveys [...] measure the degree employees are engaged in the corporate culture, and they measure the degree employees are achieving peak performance,” Hospitality Net says. Periodically hosting small, informal gatherings (“town meetings”) can also prove valuable in attaining broader feedback.

Encourage constructive complaining. “This means learning to complain in a way that leads to the problem being fixed — rather than to more complaining,” Alexander Kjerulf, author of Happy Hour is 9 to 5, writes at Chief Happiness Officer. Employee complaints should be: focused on the right thing; done at the right time; well thought out; and directed at someone who can do something about it.

Provide complete attention. If hearing the complaint(s) in person, maintain eye contact, face your employee and leave the computer and desk alone. Few things are as exasperating as hearing, “Go ahead, I’m listening,” only to see the individual sort his or her e-mail or fiddle with the computer. Also, watch your tone. “The way you react to a complaint immediately sets a tone,” Krotz writes. “Don’t trivialize the grievance, even if it’s a noisy protest about the lack of a cappuccino machine in the lunchroom. You don’t have to remedy every complaint, but you should be courteous.”

For employers, the pro and con of being open to employee complaints are one and the same: you may learn things about the company that you’d prefer not to know. Yet employee feedback could reveal something that is fundamentally wrong and that could be affecting other employees, as well.

“Obviously, all complaints aren’t created equal,” Krotz says. “But ignoring them altogether can only cause damage.”

1to1 Media’s 2009 Employee Engagement (registration required) found that involvement is among the top measures for developing employee engagement today. This means not only creating a sense of ownership among employees in the decision-making processes, but also “gathering and acting on feedback.” Respondents said management must not only seek employees’ opinions on service, processes and products, but also address their concerns.

It is important to remember that attaining employee feedback gets employers only halfway to their goal. While management should be taking the time now to listen to the organization’s people, acting poorly on the responses — or not acting at all — can make a bad situation even worse.

“One of fastest ways to destroy workplace morale is to ask employees their opinions about it, then ignore their answers,” according to Gallup Management Journal. “When employees are asked for their opinions about their workplace, they can reasonably expect to receive a response from management on the results.”

Resources

Top 10 Reasons Why Constant Complaining is So Toxic in the Workplace
by Alexander Kjerulf
Chief Happiness Officer, Aug. 7, 2007

Employers Share Top 20 Strangest Complaints They Received from Employees…
CareerBuilder.com, Aug. 12, 2009

The Dangers of Tuning Out Employee Complaints
by Joanna L. Krotz
Microsoft Small Business Center

Fine Whines
by Leigh Buchanan
Inc.com, Nov. 3, 2009

Top 10 Comment Themes Found in Employee Surveys
HR Solutions, Inc.

The Five “Mindset” Reasons Why Employee Engagement Efforts Succeed
The Employee Factor, Feb. 22, 2010

Soliciting Employee Feedback: Getting Results
National Business Research Institute, Inc.

Championing Employee Engagement
by Gene Ference
Hospitality Net, May 11, 2009

How to Complain Constructively
Chief Happiness Officer, Aug. 31, 2006

The Secrets to Engaging and Retaining Employees (registration required)
by Elizabeth Glagowski
1to1 Media, Dec. 7, 2009

You’ve Gotten Employee Feedback. Now What?
Gallup Management Journal, May 11, 2006