How to handle a disgruntled employee
- Overall review score, percent
- 76
- Competency score, percent of scale
- 76
- Ratings to fill in
- 9
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How to handle a disgruntled employee: hear the grievance privately and write it down in their words, establish the facts, fix what is fair and say so in writing, explain what is not fair and why with the handbook section that applies, agree what changes on each side with a date, and keep the discipline procedure separate for any conduct that breaches the handbook. The file that shows the employer listened is the protection whether the person stays or goes. The review template on this site records what was agreed, free; HeadcountDesk Pro keeps the file.
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Hear it first
Privately, soon, the grievance in the employee's own words, dated, with no conclusion in the first meeting. The note goes in the file.
Act on what is fair, explain what is not
Where the grievance is right, fix it in writing. Where it is not, say why in writing with the handbook section. The free employee handbook template on this site has the grievance and conduct sections.
Agree and review
What changes on each side, by when, reviewed on a date. The free review template on this site records the agreement and scores the follow-up.
Keep conduct separate
Unhappiness is a grievance; a breach of the handbook is a disciplinary matter with its own procedure. Run both, document both, and do not let one become the other. From the vendors' own pricing pages: Homebase lists Essentials at $24 per location per month billed annually or $30 monthly, with a free Basic plan for one location of up to ten employees; BambooHR lists Core at $10 and Pro at $17 per employee per month; Deputy lists Core at $6.50 per user per month. HeadcountDesk Pro is $24 a month per location.
How to handle a disgruntled employee: common questions
Should I document every conversation?
Yes: the date, what was said, what was agreed. The file is the evidence of having listened.
When does it become disciplinary?
When conduct breaches the handbook, not when the employee is unhappy.
Is the review template free?
Yes, with no account. Pro keeps the file.
Will it do what you need for How to handle a disgruntled employee?
Tell us what your business needs and we will tell you straight whether HeadcountDesk Pro does it today, whether it is coming, or whether you are better off with something else. A person reads these and replies.