If you don't like it then leave (as applied to business)

[BigFatMeanie]

NOTE: I don't know if this is the right forum or not but Finance seemed as good a place as any to discuss employer/employee relationships

The recent Honor Code thread included some discussion of the "If you don't like it then leave" philosophy. I believe Santos made the following statement:

This is a classic management to worker class: "if you don't like it, leave. but either way shut up."

I currently manage a team of five at work and have had to resort to this trump card on occasion. I don't say it in those exact words but the sentiment is largely the same. The main reason why I've had to resort to this sentiment is because some people that are agitating for change just don't know when to shut up!

I'm all for improving the company, the way we do business, the work environment - you name it. There are plenty of things that I don't like about the company that I too want to change. That being said, I have a limited amount of power, a limited amount of time, and a limited amount of funds to work with. There are some things that take time to change - yet even once I've explained the situation, and why it will take a long time to change, certain people just can't stop whining. They act like the business exists for the sole purpose of fulfilling that employee's emotional, financial, and entertainment needs.

I've found that when an employee is continually griping, bitching, and harping day after day that I mentally start to tune the employee out. The whiners comprise 10% of the staff but acount for 80% of the complaining. The constant negativity can make the work environment a miserable, unbearable place. Unfortunately, the whining sometimes gets so bad that I find myself saying "I know that XYZ sucks but there's nothing I can do about it now so just SHUT THE HELL UP!"

I've also found the biggest whiners are usually the least productive and add the least value to the business. As I've continued to gain management experience, I've become an increasingly strong proponet of the "identify the chronic complainers, fire them, and move on" philosophy. Life's just too short to cater to chronic whiners. Each time I've resorted to this tactic the benefits (less whining, more enthusiasm from remaining employees, overall better work environment) have far exceeded the costs (rehiring, retraining, loss of institutional knowledge, unemployment compensation).

The bottom line is that those employees who pick their battles carefully, and pick the timing of their battles carefully, are far more successful at enacting change in an organization than those that keep up an incessant drum beat of whining and undercurrent of cynicism.

[UteStar]

We had a guy with our company that was taking up 85% of my time in complaining. He was always complaining and always making some kind of trouble. We had quite a few discussions with him to try and improve his attitude and his work to no avail. I finally had to fire him. I can honestly say, without a doubt, our company performed better, less stress among all staff and going to work became interesting and fun again.

Positive interaction and constructive questioning are valuable to any company...continual bitching and low work production will doom a small company.