How One Negative Employee Can Affect An Entire Team

I recently wrote about an employee who seemed to have a negative opinion about almost everything at work. He complained about the work, the assignments, management, and just about anything else that came up. At first, I viewed his constant complaining as something that was simply part of his personality. Some people are naturally more negative than others, and when you work with them, you learn to tune it out.

But recently, I saw firsthand how negativity in the workplace can have a much bigger impact than simply making the workday unpleasant.

Sometimes, one person’s attitude can affect an entire team.

In this case, the situation became serious enough that another team member decided to leave our team and transfer to another department within the company.

She wasn’t a bad employee. In fact, quite the opposite. She had skills that our team genuinely needed, and losing her from the team is going to make things more difficult. Her decision wasn’t based on one single issue, either. There were several factors involved.

One of the biggest reasons was that she wanted to move into work that focused more heavily on data. The work she was doing on our team wasn’t really taking her in that direction. She wanted an opportunity to develop her skills and spend more time doing the type of work she was interested in.

That is completely understandable.

People want to grow in their careers. They want to learn new things, develop their strengths, and feel like the work they are doing is moving them toward their professional goals. Sometimes that means transferring to another department, even when there isn’t anything particularly wrong with the team they are leaving.

But there was another factor that seemed to play a major role in her decision.

The constant negativity from the employee I previously wrote about had become more than just annoying. It was affecting the way she experienced her job.

When Complaining Becomes A Team Problem

There is a difference between occasionally complaining about work and constantly bringing negativity into every situation.

Everyone complains sometimes. Work can be frustrating. Deadlines can be unreasonable. Assignments can be tedious. Managers can make decisions we don’t agree with. There is nothing unusual about occasionally venting to a coworker.

The problem starts when complaining becomes someone’s default way of communicating.

When every assignment is a problem, every decision is criticized, and every task becomes an opportunity to explain why something won’t work, that negativity can eventually wear down the people around you.

That appears to be what happened here.

The employee who leaving the team had to work with this person on multiple assignments. The idea was to divide the work between them so that they could get everything completed more efficiently. That seems like a reasonable approach. When two people are assigned to the same project, dividing responsibilities can make the workload more manageable and help ensure the work gets finished on time.

The problem came when it was time to actually complete the assignments.

According to what happened, the employee who was constantly complaining later claimed that they had never agreed to split up the work.

That left my coworker in a difficult position.

Instead of having two people share the responsibilities, she ended up having to complete everything herself.

Imagine already having your own responsibilities, then being assigned additional work because the person you were supposed to work with suddenly says the two of you never agreed to divide the assignment.

That would be frustrating for anyone.

At one point, our manager asked if I could help out.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t available at the time. I was in the middle of moving out of my apartment and moving back to my parents’ place. I simply wasn’t in a position where I could step away and take on additional work.

Looking back, I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I had been available.

Maybe I could have helped get the work completed. Maybe my coworker wouldn’t have been overwhelmed. Maybe she wouldn’t have reached the point where she decided that transferring to another department was the best option.

Of course, I can’t know that for certain.

Her decision was based on multiple factors, and I don’t want to assume that one person was solely responsible for it. She had legitimate career reasons for wanting to focus more on data, and the transfer may ultimately be a much better opportunity for her.

Still, I can’t ignore the role that workplace negativity appeared to play.

The Cost Of Losing A Good Employee

One of the frustrating parts of this situation is knowing that our team is losing someone with valuable skills.

Employee turnover isn’t always about someone leaving the company.

Sometimes an employee doesn’t leave the organization at all. They simply leave a particular team.

From the company’s perspective, that can still have consequences.

When someone has knowledge, experience, and skills that a team needs, losing that person means the remaining employees have to absorb some of that workload. It can also mean losing institutional knowledge—the understanding of processes, projects, and responsibilities that someone develops over time.

In this case, the company is fortunate that she isn’t leaving altogether. She is transferring to another department, which means the organization gets to retain a good employee.

But our team still loses someone who could have continued contributing.

That raises an important question: How much does workplace culture matter when people decide whether they want to stay on a team?

I think it matters a lot.

Most people don’t expect their workplace to be perfect. We all understand that there will be difficult days, difficult assignments, and difficult coworkers.

But there is a difference between occasionally dealing with a difficult situation and feeling like negativity is constantly surrounding you.

A person can eventually reach a point where the job itself isn’t the biggest problem.

The environment becomes the problem.

What Should I Do About It?

One question I’ve thought about is whether I should say something to the employee about his constant complaining.

Honestly, I don’t think it is my place.

I’m not his manager, and I don’t feel comfortable telling another coworker how his behavior is affecting everyone else. If management believes his behavior is creating problems for the team, then management should be the one to address it.

There is also a risk in getting personally involved.

Workplace conflicts can become complicated very quickly. What starts as a simple conversation about someone’s attitude can turn into an argument or create even more tension.

That doesn’t mean the behavior shouldn’t be addressed.

It simply means I don’t believe I’m the right person to address it.

For my part, I have decided to focus on what I can control.

I can’t control how much someone else complains.

I can’t control whether another employee chooses to cooperate.

I can’t control whether management notices the problems happening within the team.

What I can control is my own work.

Being The Reliable Employee

My goal is to continue doing my job as well as I can.

I want management to know that when I’m given an assignment, they can count on me to get it done. If I agree to take responsibility for something, I want to follow through. If I tell someone that I’ll help them, I want to actually help them.

Reliability may not be the most exciting quality in an employee, but I think it is one of the most valuable.

A reliable employee doesn’t necessarily have to be the loudest person in the room. They don’t have to constantly tell everyone how hard they are working. Their work speaks for them.

That’s the approach I want to take.

Rather than getting caught up in someone else’s negativity, I would rather demonstrate through my actions that I can be trusted.

That doesn’t mean ignoring legitimate problems.

If there is a genuine issue that affects my ability to do my job or affects the team’s ability to complete its work, I believe it should be communicated appropriately. There is a difference between raising a legitimate concern and complaining about everything.

One is intended to solve a problem.

The other can become the problem.

The Bigger Lesson

This experience has reinforced something I have been thinking about for a while: workplace negativity doesn’t always stay with the person who creates it.

It spreads.

One person’s attitude can influence the mood of an entire team. Constant complaining can make coworkers dread assignments. Refusing to cooperate can put additional pressure on other employees. And eventually, good employees may decide that transferring somewhere else is easier than continuing to deal with the situation.

That’s what makes workplace negativity so dangerous.

The person doing the complaining may believe they are simply expressing their frustrations. They may not realize how much their behavior affects everyone around them.

But other people notice.

They notice when someone constantly complains.

They notice when someone doesn’t follow through.

They notice when responsibilities aren’t shared fairly.

And eventually, those things can influence decisions about whether someone wants to remain on a team.

In my coworker’s case, there were multiple reasons for her transfer. She wanted to focus more on data, and the work she was doing wasn’t aligned with that goal. That was a legitimate career decision.

But the difficult working relationship she experienced also appears to have contributed to her decision.

For me, the lesson is simple.

I can’t control the attitudes or behavior of other people. I can’t make someone stop complaining, become more cooperative, or suddenly appreciate the work they are doing.

What I can do is control my own attitude and my own work.

I can be dependable.

I can help when I’m able to help.

I can communicate clearly.

I can take responsibility for my assignments.

And I can try not to add more negativity to an environment that already has enough of it.

Losing a good team member is disappointing, especially when you know that circumstances might have been different if the workload had been shared more fairly. I wish I had been available to help when my manager asked. Maybe things would have turned out differently, although I’ll never really know.

What I do know is that the best thing I can do moving forward is continue to be someone my coworkers and managers can rely on.

I may not be able to change someone else’s negative energy.

But I can make sure I’m not contributing to it.

And sometimes, being the reliable person on the team is one of the most important things you can do.