What to Do With Negative Energy People

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I work with a woman who is constantly negative about everything. It is not just the job. Sometimes she has good points about how things should be ran and is somewhat helpful. The problem is that she tends to take things to a personal level. She asks people rude questions, calls them names, rolls her eyes if they speak, et cetera. Many people have complained, but nothing has been done. As a result I am the only person in my department that has not requested a transfer. How can I do something as a fellow employee to help put a stop to this?

Jamie of UT 4:41AM March 09, 2011

I work in a profession where we are protected by a union. On my staff, there is an individual who has been bleeding our environment of positive energy and has only created chaos after chaos for the last three years. Unfortunately, the solution to "get rid of them" is not one that is available to our situation. There needs to be just cause for dismissal and conflicts with other staff members doesn't warrant getting fired. Granted that this individual is far from being a team player, he/she does their job very well. It's more of a personality problem. I would love to give other groups of people who have better attitudes the chance to work on our team. Until this individual trips up and gives just cause for dismissal, there isn't much that can be done about it. Being patient and providing opportunity for positive reinforcement is key to turning this situation around.

PSEUDO 3:23PM November 21, 2009

I think pessimists give a different side to the full / half full glass. Too many of those gung ho positive people are often how companies get into bad positions by over building and expanding because everyone simply jumps on the bandwagon as "yes" men. Just look at all those Starbucks - sorry but I would clearly have been one in the room saying it was crazy expanding the way they did. Same goes to lots of restaurants, drug stores, etc. THe problem is the people speaking up the cautious truth are banished in Welch's corporations. He wasn't nearly are wonderful as he wants everyone to believe. He's just an egomaniac getting all the airtime he wants on his ex-business channels.

M of FL 4:41PM July 27, 2009

...people and those through experience know the path to failure when they see it. Someone "getting in the way" may just have the right idea to "save" the project.

Anon of TX 11:03PM July 25, 2009

We're not talking about the person with an illness or personal problem who's having a bad day, or the experienced, loyal, hard-working employee who is raising legitimate concerns about the details of a new project or procedure. We're talking about the person about whom customers and co-workers say, "Having him at work is like having two good people off sick!" The only thing to do with the latter type is to fire them; transfer or demotion just foists the problem off on someone else. Granted, management must be perceptive enough to distinguish among them, and probably should be penalized in some fashion for hiring them in the first place.

Bob of TX 5:57PM July 24, 2009

The truth is a sizable portion of my consulting practice consists of helping employers turn around people with performance problems so they don't get fired. I always advise against a rush to terminate and operate with the assumption that most people want to do a good job. Any person with a performance problem is not automatically a negative person.
There are, however, people who are negative and who will not change. They are not good fits. They ruin teams. And they make their co-workers miserable. They should not be kept on the job.

Michael Wade of AZ 1:17PM July 24, 2009

if businesses could not take any income tax deduction for paying outside management consultants--so there would be fewer such engagements.
What I think you're hearing here is a guy who sells or consults on big projects telling you to fire the people who get in the way of his big projects.
Yes, there "are" negative people. But there are also very loyal employees who helped build a business, who know it inside out, and can help owners avoid the critical pitfalls they know are lurking in the latest expensive fad (MIS system, or whatever) being sold by consultants. Fire or demote those people at your peril.

Muser of NM 11:44AM July 24, 2009

I agree with torqueflite. What an insensitive philosophy towards people. Someone at my company was fired for being a bad fit and having a negative attitude. The poor guy's father was dying at the time. Yes, he shared that information with management to keep them in the loop. But no, management didn't care. They didn't want to deal with his sad eyes and slumped shoulders every day, even though he got his job done.

ladymidnight of NY 11:36AM July 24, 2009

Really nice. That person may have an illness or personal problem that perhaps should be addressed. How about be "positive" and give someone who is struggling the benefit of the doubt. That's the "positive" thing to do.

torqueflite of CO 11:14AM July 24, 2009