The Risk of the Unhappy Employee

For whatever reason, there is generally someone who is not happy with their current job, their place of employment, or job title. When unhappy with their current employment situation, risks are introduced to the organization form this unsatisfied employee. It is important that risk managers and organizational leaders recognize these threats, and similar to all threats implement, mitigating controls and objectives to prevent the risk from becoming actual threats. This post examines example risks that are raised and suggest ways to prevent the unhappy employee from damaging an organization.

There are many risks associated with an unsatisfied employee. Unhappy employees become a dark cloud of negativity, bringing down team moral with negativity and a pessimistic outlook on all objectives. Often times they speak up against the team saying “this is not going to work out,” or “even if we do get them as a client, they aren’t going to be happy.” This type of attitude and these comments can bring a shock to team morale, dampening the spirits of the team.

Further, unhappy employees are generally the first to introduce a culture of duplicity into an organization. They are the first to talk badly about others behind their back and often serve as the fuel for the gossip mill. Often this duplicity and gossiping puts others in uncomfortable positions. Further, unhappy employees can quickly damage an organization’s reputation by posting complaints on job boards and other social networks about their employer.

Finally, unhappy employees will often ignore security policies as a way of “speaking out” against the employer. This introduces a whole new level of risk beyond human error as it is deliberate actions to go against the security policy.

It is vital that organizational leaders address the satisfaction of employees to ensure that damage is not being done. Though there are often external factors that lead to employees’ dissatisfaction, organizational leaders and risk managers need to understand the potential damage that can be cause by an unhappy employee.

Ways to be successful in keeping team moral high and individuals satisfied with their job is to introduce and maintain a positive organizational culture that focuses on employee satisfaction. Ensuring duplicity does not occur and encouraging employees to speak freely about issues of concern lowers the risk of unhappy employees. Further, open communication of organizational objectives, shared goals, and the celebration of accomplishments as a team encourages unity and a win-win attitude.

As risk managers, it is important to address the risk associated with all employees, both satisfied and unsatisfied. We have discussed the topic of human error in previous post, but it is also important to address the risk associated with unhappy employees. With your leadership team, assess the current situation and identify any potential unhappy employees. Find out the source of unhappiness and see what can be done to alter the employee’s views. This just may save the company’s reputation or a serious security breach.