Nothing affects employee morale than persistent workplace negativity. It saps the energy of the organization and diverts critical attention from work and performance.

A negative work environment leads to diminished performance and poor employee morale. In the long run, it harms the company's reputation and affect ability to attract talent. Negativity can occur in the attitude, outlook, and talk of one employee, or in a crescendo of voices responding to a workplace decision or event.

Diagnosing workplace negativity

Negativity is an increasing problem in the workplace, according to Gary S. Topchik, the author of Managing Workplace Negativity. He states, in Management Review, that negativity is often the result of a loss of confidence, control, or community. Knowing what people are negative about is the first step in solving the problem.

When rumblings and negativity are surfacing in the organization, talking with employees will help the organization understand the exact problems and the degree to which the problems are impacting the workplace. The exact employee groups who are experiencing the negativity and the nature of the issues that sparked their unhappiness will first have to be identified.

Perhaps the organization made a decision that adversely affected staff. Perhaps an executive manager held a staff meeting and was perceived to threaten or ignore people asking legitimate questions.

Whatever the cause of the workplace negativity, the issues must be addressed. Otherwise, like a seemingly dormant volcano, they will boil beneath the surface, and periodically bubble up and overflow to cause a lot of damage.

Causes of workplace negativity

Every workplace has its own perks and perils in terms of employee negativity. Even the most employee-friendly workplace can shake under the influence of negative energy within the organization.

Negativity can spread like a viral infection over a positive workplace. It may be difficult to understand and control in its prime state. However, employers have the opportunity to learn the reasons behind employee negativity. An early detection and measure can hinder it from winning a strong hold.

Preventing negativity from going out of hand and filtering the workplace should be one priority for all employers. It is important for employers to stay updated on everything going on around and know what their employees want and need. You need to nibble employee negativity at its root before it reaches and plagues the organization.

Many studies determined that the reasons for most of the employee negativity mainly included the following:

* An excessive workload that is unmanageable within a time-frame.

* Anxieties about management’s capability to drive the company advancing successfully.

* Worry about the future, especially longer-term job security and retirement assurance.

* Lack of favorable challenge in the work and boredom from the same and repeated work.

* Inadequate appreciation for the level of contribution and effort presented, moreover,
concerns that pay is not equivalent to performance.

* Negative attitudes and gossips within the teams.

* Acting ignorant over the temporary adverse circumstance of an employee and biting from behind.

Effects of negativity in the workplace

Negativity in the workplace takes on many appearances including dishonesty, self-regard and grief. When a negative workplace is left to continue, it can start to affect everyone in the company.

Organizations should recognize the effects of negativity in the workplace so that you can overcome before it overwhelms your workplace.

1. Lack of Creativity

A steadfast negative attitude in the workplace suffocates creativity. When negativity takes over, people follow existing and proven practices in their work for the fear that something new may not get appreciated.

A negative environment prevents the spirit of innovation that can actually
improve a company to invent new products or produce more fruitful ways of making business.

When the workplace is unfriendly in nature, people do not feel the necessity to share opinions with each other. New ideas do not flow, and the company will not move ahead progressively.

2. Lack of Communication

Communication slowly stops in a discouraging workplace. Team members have either had disagreements with each other over matters concerning negative speech and no longer articulate to each other. Sometimes the trust will be gone, in an air of negativity, it longer trusts the information that others present.

Ego can be an element of negative work conditions, and that can direct people to assume that their interpretation is the single resolution. They ignore all other
input as illogical, and communication throughout the whole organization disintegrates.

3. Lack of Teamwork

A team can be a team only if there is positive energy. Strong teamwork builds a rich workplace and supports the transfer of information among members.

Negativity in the workplace can make everyone rigid, it can cause qualified representatives to neglect on newly hired employees and decline to offer any support in employee development.

Gossip and misinformation can fill a negative workplace and cause the team to break into smaller gatherings that are not capable to give the results the company requires.

4. Lack of Confidence

Negativity can leave a feeling of suspicion or a lack of confidence in authority to improve among employees. Employees no longer get into the company vision and lose motivation. Their spirit starts to fall, and the organisation may encounter employee turnover as a consequence.

A perception can arise that progress in the company is no longer a worthy effort, and employees begin to lose interest in elaborating their skill set. An unmotivated workforce supplies your opponent the chance to take over the market and damages your company profile.