3 Complainers Worth Listening To & 6 Tips to Manage Them

Even the best finance pros — whom leaders love and employees revere — get their share of complainers.

You know the ones: They never see the upside of anything, are persistently negative and never seem to know when to stifle it. Hand them a million dollars, they’d complain you didn’t give them anything to carry it in.

But not all complainers deserve a brush off. In a lot of cases, you can cultivate your complainers and put them to good use.

Leadership coach Dan Rockwell offers a unique take on chronic complainers. Depending on both their outlook and yours, you can convert all that negative energy and put it to good use.

“Reject monkey throwers,” Rockwell says in his popular blog.

That means you want beware of – and listen less to – employees who are out to create chaos. They’re constantly dissatisfied and mostly want to make things better for themselves.

But not all complainers are the same, Rockwell points out. “What makes some employees feel like irritating gnats can actually bring forth new ideas and force creative thinking.”

But you need to recognize the complainers worth listening to and the most efficient ways to listen.

“Pay attention to complaints from people with skin in the game. They embrace the mission and believe in improvement,” Rockwell adds.

Steps to take:

1. Decide If They’re Worthy Complainers

The types of complainers who can help you and your team are:

1. The pushy complainers. They don’t go along just to get along. You’ll hear a lot of “But what about …?” from them. It might seem like they only see the cloud for the silver lining. But they could also be a beacon of light in a fog by pointing out problems others – you included – don’t see.
2. The dissatisfied complainers. They aren’t happy with the status quo. You’ll hear a lot of “Well, why can’t we … ?” or “Do we still want to do … ?” While it seems they want to be contrary, it’s important to hear them out. They might have a good reason for wanting to change things up, either to prevent possible problems or just to do something better, even when the status quo is “sufficient.”
3. The different complainers. Finance pros sometimes fall into the trap of hiring and managing people who think in similar ways, which can lead to homogeneous thinking. But employees who are different can often suggest surprising alternatives to what you thought was the only way to go. From this group, you’ll hear things like “What if we tried . . .?” Even if it’s not what you’d ordinarily do, it’s worth hearing out and taking a shot.

2. Listen to Concerns

If your worthy complainer is reluctant to go beyond the initial argument, prompt them for more information. Don’t be afraid to spark a little friction. Ask them: “Why do you feel that way?” or “I hear you and I’d like you to go on” to get them to explain their complaints further.

This shows that you don’t consider them a hindrance or a bother and that their ideas can be just as fruitful as anyone’s.

3. Ask Probing Questions, Avoid Quick Solutions

This is one way to tell if a complainer’s goal is to resolve something or just to complain.

Ask things like, “Can we fix this?” If the answer is “No,” then you know their aim is just to be difficult. If the answer is “Yes,” it forces them to start considering helpful solutions.

4. Pinpoint What They Really Want

This gets to the heart of what’s behind their complaining.

Ask, “Why is this issue bothering you? What are you willing to do to make things better?”

For example, employees may grouse about the merits or lack thereof of a particular task, such as checking ledger quality or archiving invoices.

You might hear, “Why do we have to do this every month?” from employees, but if you ask deeper questions you might find out the underlying issue is “We don’t have enough manpower to get this done and it takes too much time.”

5. Enlist Their Help on the Next Move

Ask those who are complaining to craft some recommendations on how they would approach solving the problem.

Pamela Jett, CEO of Jett Communications, speaking at the webinar “A Supervisor’s Guide to Stop Workplace Drama,” said she tries to stay “relentlessly positive” when she hears complaints so she doesn’t let them grow and cloud the possibility of a good solution.

“I thank them for bringing the issue to my attention and ask, ‘How do you think we can fix that?’ or ‘What are your recommendations on this?’

“If they don’t have any ideas, I say, ‘Thanks for pointing that out. When you have a recommendation, tell me about it.’ That gets them to either think or stop complaining!”

6. Don’t Allow Complaints to Obscure Contributions

Remember: Sometimes the people who seem to complain the most are the ones making significant contributions.

If you’re hearing complaints from those employees who apply themselves and are invested in their work, they’re likely more of an asset than a bother.

They may make a lot of noise, but if they’re also willing to come up with proactive changes and ideas, they can be invaluable to your team and to the company overall.