5 Signs Your Employees Are Unhappy At Work

Despite what landing pages and promotional brochures would have you believe, not all workplaces are blissful productivity zones. Most people work to make money and provide for themselves and their families, and happiness isn’t a vital part of that process. Even so, if you’re running a business, it’s extremely important that you make an effort to keep your workers happy.

Why? There are many good reasons. Happy employees are more loyal, inclined to stay with you even when they could materially benefit from leaving. They’re more productive, able to complete more tasks without burning out. They’re also more fun to collaborate with, and the best working environment is one in which everyone — be they CEO or apprentice — can have a good time.

In this post, we’re going to look at five signs that your employees are unhappy at work. In doing so, we’ll dodge some of the most obvious, such as your employees explicitly telling you they’re unhappy at work — if you’re missing those signs, the outlook is grim. Let’s get started.

They’re ‘joking’ about being stressed or frustrated

A good boss pays attention to how their employees are faring, taking the time to ask them how they’re feeling. In that vein, you might pose the question of “How’s your week going?”, only to receive a singsong answer of “Well, I’m only somewhat stressed, so that’s good”. How would you respond in that situation?

You could laugh at their hilarious exaggeration, figuring that they’re obviously in a fine position if they’re willing to joke around. Alternatively, you could take it seriously and probe them about the underlying truth — but they might dismiss the whole thing as trivial, stating and restating that they’re not really feeling stressed and it’s all fine, so you don’t need to do anything.

Very often, an employee feeling unhappy due to stress is extremely reluctant to have it addressed, as they fear being perceived as inadequate (not up to the job) or just whiny. They turn to jokes as a way to say how they feel without anyone taking them seriously. So what should you do if someone keeps ‘joking’ about their frustrations?

Perhaps the best way to proceed is to do some detective work to infer their sources of stress (changing responsibilities, new processes, maybe even health issues) and take action to help without needing them to bluntly state how they feel. If you can make their situation better without confronting it, they may even be willing to be open up after they’ve perked up.

They’re avoiding communication, formal or otherwise

Not many people like formal communication. Client meetings, company meetings, training sessions, 121s… They’re often tiring and tricky to endure, particularly for those who don’t have great attention spans. Due to this, it isn’t rare for workers to shy away from formal exchanges they’re not obliged to participate in — but what about social company communication?

It’s normal these days for companies to have Slack channels (other platforms are available), and colleagues tend to use them to enjoy small exchanges throughout their workdays. Even introverted types like to do this. So if you have an employee who’s gone quiet, staying away from all internal comms, it suggests they’re feeling very detached from the team.

This might be because there’s bad blood within the team or because they’re having personal problems that drive them to avoid others, but it’s often the case that a distant employee is staying quiet because they’re unhappy with their job and don’t want to talk about it or be reminded of it more than is strictly necessary.

If your employee is being extremely quiet, you may want to arrange an informal chat with them. It’s possible that a relaxed phone call will allow them to open up a little, allowing you to figure out what’s making them unhappy (and what you can do about it).

They’re being extremely self-critical

It’s really awkward when an employee wraps up a project but can’t see anything good about what they’ve done. They brush off any praise you send their way, dismissing it as hyperbolic or vacuously motivational, but will halt on any crumb of criticism (or even just negative feedback). They can see the great things their colleagues are doing, but not their own successes.

This can happen because someone is genuinely modest and thrives on aiming for perfection, of course — and when that’s the case, it can be a really good thing (provided they don’t let that perfectionism get out of control). But when someone who used to show satisfaction with their work stops accepting anything other than negativity, it’s a sign that something’s seriously wrong.

The source of this relentless self-deprecation tends to be insecurity. They may fear for the security of their job (particularly if they’re a manager in these times): perhaps they’re feeling overwhelmed by the tasks facing them, see their colleagues as confident and assured, and worry that they’re only given praise because it’s mistakenly assumed that they’re similarly composed instead of a frantic mess.

In truth, this situation is very hard to resolve neatly, because you can’t make someone see their utility and value as you do — but what you can do is offer them some strong reassurance.

Tell them that their job is safe, they’re doing well, and you make plenty of mistakes so it’s fine if they get things wrong. And when you need to give them constructive criticism, frame it in a positive way. Show enthusiasm for what they can achieve. Don’t give them any negativity, because it’ll only add to the negativity they’re already feeling.

They’re not showing enthusiasm for anything

You’ve likely heard of the term ‘quiet quitting’: it’s been doing the rounds in the world of employment for a while now, after all. Instead of leaving their jobs and venturing to pastures new, today’s employees might opt to stay in their roles and simply embrace apathy, doing the bare minimum required to get by. They’re still around — but only just.

The most unkind interpretation of this phenomenon paints those people as cynical parasites, taking advantage of generous worker freedoms (particularly in the remote age) and draining money from their employers while giving fairly little in return. But that interpretation misses a lot of vital context. In reality, most people hate feeling like parasites.

Most employees want to feel like valuable assets, hard-working figures who earn the money they make. If nothing else, believing that you’re earning your money makes it feel safer. After all, just skating by can induce a persistent fear of being caught and thrown out. If you’re doing an excellent job, you’re bulletproof. Nothing to worry about.

Now, it’s admittedly true that some people are naturally stoic, just as it’s true that an employee doing only what they’re required to do is hardly an unforgivable sin. Going-the-extra-mile levels of enthusiasm are technically optional extras. But the average worker will feel that way about something they do, at least — so when someone has stopped showing interest in any part of their role, it’s an indication that something needs to change.

They’re performing erratically (or not at all)

As noted, happy people tend to be more productive, so an employee who’s stopped hitting their usual heights (or any heights at all) might not be ‘quiet quitting’ because they’re unhappy: instead, their dissatisfaction might be disrupting their ability to get work done, ruining their concentration and leading them to overthink everything they do.

It’s important to look at the tasks they’ve had, though, as sometimes a dip in results can simply reflect a change in workload. Someone’s who’s moved into a loftier position can understandably struggle to get things done. If that’s the case, the solution might simply be to take the pressure off, give them time, and let them get into the swing of things.

If dissatisfaction is truly the issue, then the challenge is getting your approach right, because everyone responds to input and feedback differently. One employee might need some tough love to resurrect their motivation, while another might require some sympathy. Remember that their productivity is ultimately your responsibility, so make it a priority.

Quick tips for making your employees happier

You already know the classic tactics (pay people more, give them better perks, etc.), so here are some tips you might still need to invest in:

Reduce admin tasks whenever possible. Getting into a flow state is vital for being happy at work, and admin tasks make this all but impossible. Today’s online businesses can benefit hugely from SaaS tools, but don’t just focus on tasks like financial management: what a tool like Chargebee can do for recurring billing, plenty of other tools can do for tasks ranging from time-tracking to productivity monitoring.
Stop micromanaging them. The less performant your team becomes, the more tempted you’ll be to manage them more strictly — but as is the case with a finger trap, being too forceful will only make things worse. Be present and ready to offer guidance, yes, but allow people the freedom to work as they prefer.
Be more careful with your tone. Too many bosses make the mistake of thinking that what they say is all that matters. If you tell everyone that things are going well but your tone is dreary, they’ll go away with the suspicion that disaster looms on the horizon. So keep a positive tone at all times. It makes a huge difference.
Cater to their unique interests. Don’t use the same perks and incentives to encourage everyone, because they’ll vary significantly in impact. Instead, listen closely to what your employees say, and come up with solutions that meet their needs. It doesn’t matter whether those solutions would work for you.