NFIB

Learning From Employee Complaints
05/ 11/ 2004

by Vicki Gerson

The way you treat your employees can either help or harm your business. In fact, how you treat your employees is one of the most important foundations of a successful business.

Employee complaints can cause valued employees to leave or cause turmoil in the workplace. Here are three major employee complaints and suggestions on the actions you can take to solve them.

Unequal treatment: This can cover anything from differences in pay, work rules and expense accounts to job opportunities and perks. Any time an employee feels he or she is being treated unfairly in any one of these areas, it can spell trouble for your business.

Employees don't keep these complaints to themselves or just mutter them while talking to others. They share their complaints with friends and family. The best way to prevent this problem is to embrace an open management style. Have a well-defined personnel policy and frequent performance reviews. Be sure to reward employees who perform extra jobs for you. And keep in mind that vacations, sick leave and promotions must be done in a nondiscriminatory manner.

Developing polices in secret: Your employees deserve to know what your business is doing and why. If your employees are kept in the dark, trouble will emerge. Try to be as open with your employees as possible about a shift in company policy.

Exploiting employees: There are many reasons why employees can feel as if they are being used or taken advantage of. This feeling exists among employees when financial data is kept secret and there is a perception that some employees are getting hidden financial returns.

To prevent this problem, compensate employees fairly. Discuss key financial issues openly. If financial problems exist, explain why so all your employees can pull together as one team to make the company stronger.

Most small businesses have an informal complaint structure. In a small business, this can work well if employees are encouraged to tell the manager or the owner of the business what the problem seems to be. However, even with a small business, a formal employee grievance process should be written, posted and given to all employees to sign. Employees should be assured that all complaints are confidential, particularly on sensitive matters like cases of discrimination. Employees should also know how complaints will be investigated, considered and resolved.

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