Having to manage unhappy employees in a team who won’t say anything about why they’re not satisfied is supremely frustrating. We’ve all been there. Any good leader is willing to solve “why” a potentially valuable team member is unhappy, if only they knew the reason. The employee in question probably has the right pay, promotions and responsibilities. But, the team lead will get a nagging feeling that they’re dragging their feet at work or worse, hunting for a new job.

So why do employees, who technically should be very satisfied become unhappy at work? Here are the top 3 reasons and how you can handle them.

Professional Baggage

Imagine dating someone who has a ton of emotional baggage that they won’t share with you. That’s a relationship destined for unhappiness. The same is true for team dynamics (have you seen the Team Spiral About the Soft and Hard Side of Managing a Team?). In the workplace, people are even less likely to share their negative professional stories.

What can you do?

Communicated obviously. But how do you talk to someone who doesn’t want to share their experiences? Repeated one-on-one counseling sessions work best on this one. Over lunch, over coffee. Any situation where the bottled up employee can let their guard down a bit and open up about what challenges they’ve faced in the past that are preventing them from moving on and succeeding in the current scenario. Once they acknowledge their professional baggage, they’ll be happier in their current positions.

Over Confidence

I found this one to be a major issues in Frontier Markets where a handful of employees were fortunate enough to go to the “elite” higher education institutions in their countries. Very often, these employees feel like they’re entitled to be treated differently, be treated “better” than their colleagues – even though they all are equally competent.

What can you do?

I know a number of companies that simply don’t hire from a wide range of educational institutes because of the difference it creates in corporate culture. And though there is merit in this line of thought, companies end up missing out on a wider pool of talent. So if you have someone in your team who seem over confident, they need to be gently but firmly put in their place. It could be by publicly praising others for their achievements or ensuring everyone has a chance to be a team lead to prove their worth. Once they see everyone is equally competent, they’ll be more likely to accept their current position in the organization and work on improving through achievements.

Pressure From Home

I was once told that

“A man is forced to succeed because of the demands placed on him by his family.”

Whether these demands are in the form of wanting a bigger house, car or perhaps a bigger family men in Frontier Markets, where family ties are still very strong, are pressured from home. In such situations, even if they’re happy with where they are in the work place they may contemplate changing jobs just to increase their pay (even if it means working in a place they’re not happy at).

What can you do?

Though this one is about communication again, it’s on a much more personal level. It’s about knowing the names of family members, any health challenges they may be facing, taking an interest in what the children are studying and what the parents of your employee are doing. I know that this sounds like a lot of work, especially for people who’ve never worked for family intensive cultures. But if you’re able to figure out little ways to keep your star employee’s families happy (think along the lines of involving them in projects, giving tickets to local events or simply congratulating them when a child does well in school) you’re well on your way to buying more loyalty than money ever can.

Honestly, tricks to manage unhappy employees come with practice and I think it’s extremely important to share what we learn. Join the Keijzer community to get more people insights straight to your inbox. I’ll also send you a team spiral on how to manage teams at different levels of growth. Until next time!