Navigating Employee Concerns with Grace: A Guide for Empathetic Leaders

You’re the boss, you’re in your office, and one of your employees asks for a moment. They share a concern.  

“The team is feeling a great deal of pressure right now, and I see productivity is suffering as a result.”  

“There is a concern among the team about our IT resources and whether they are sufficient and reliable.” 

“I’m afraid the corporate announcement about the change in vacation policy is being received very poorly by my team.” 

These are significant concerns, expressed professionally. If you’re on the receiving end of these expressions of concern, the worst thing you can do is to ask, “who said that?” or “that sounds like something Bob would say – did Bob say that?” 

This is seeking the source of the complaint rather than the reason for the complaint. It puts the messenger in a tough spot, and it sends the signal that you’d prefer not to consider the possibility the complaint might be real as opposed to the being just the opinion of a disgruntled or disloyal employee.   

So here are a few tips when someone brings you a concern like this: 

• Don’t attempt to track the concerns back to the source(s). This makes you seem paranoid rather than open and curious. 

• Don’t argue about whether you think the concern is credible. It doesn’t matter what you think at this point – it matters what others are thinking. You may find there’s been a misunderstanding, or poor communication, or even distrust at the core of the concern, but being patient and curious can help you get to the source rather than dismissing the concern as the result of bad attitudes or cognitive deficiencies.  

• Explore the concern. There may be more to the concern than meets the ear. Look for broader root causes and don’t just band-aid the issue. 

Do you notice I’m not using the word “complaint,” and you shouldn’t either. Labeling something as a complaint makes it sound neurotic and peevish. Thinking of it as a concern leads you to think of it as something that’s a result of thought and observation and not just emotional response.  

These tips should help you respond in a manner that builds trust and promotes a healthy work environment.