Are you dissatisfied at work? Learn how to file a complaint as an employee, and what effect it can have on you as an employee
Recently I came across a post on LinkedIn about this very topic. The original post was created by Kelly Harrell a Marketing Strategy Specialist at Cox Media.
Kelly’s Original Post:
Ever heard the adage “don’t burn your bridges”? This especially applies to badmouthing a former employer. It only makes YOU look bad…and other potential employers notice it. Never mind you’re eliminating the possibility of becoming a “boomerang” employee to that employer should they change their leadership/culture. Look it up – boomeranging happens much more than you think! The best advice is: if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
We are living an a social media age where as disgruntled people want to take to social media to complain about everything. Kelly is right, it can do you more harm than good. It can make you feel better at the moment, but it can come back to bite you.
For the most part the comments on this topic were in agreement with her, but there are some that are triggered and feel entitled to post negative reviews. I know, I have experienced it myself from a couple people that were triggered by something I may have said in a comment.
I do not know who these people are or what I may have posted that triggered them to look me up and write a bad review on Google. I am thinking it may have been a political post I made on one of my personal accounts.
Here is an example of one of the comments on this post. I won’t divulge (He/Him They/Them) name because I respect (He/Him They/Them) privacy,
(He/Him They/Them) Comment: “If an employer abuses its employees, they deserve to be called out in a public way. I love that gen z, particularly, does this constantly. You’ve got to get loud to change entrenched systems of abuse.”
There is a lot I can say about that to include the use of pronouns. That tells me right off that (He/Him They/Them) has no concept of proper grammar, but that’s a topic for another day.
One of the first things employers do when considering a candidate for for a position is check their Social Media accounts. If you appear to be a negative person with a lot of complaining posted, it will look bad on you as Kelly pointed out.
Proper Way to Take Action With Complaints
This is my take on how to make a proper complaint. If you do it the right way it will not look bad on you, and just might actually resolve the issue.
If you are unhappy, or you feel you are being abused in some way take the proper steps.
#1: Keep your mouth shut and collect evidence of the abuse such as video or recorded conversations. Collect any documents you may need like testimonies or proof of misconduct.
#2: Go through the proper channels to file complaints with proper documentation. If that does not work there are other sources that you can use to include legal resources.
#3: Be sure you have your ducks in a row and take a good look at yourself. Ask yourself, what did I do wrong? How did I react? Is there anything that can be used against me?
#4: Just move on, At some point if the issue is not resolved, just move on and forget it. I know it’s hard at times, but you will be the bigger person for it and bad employers or managers usually end up getting discovered. Companies take note of issues accumulated over time and start to look at reasons why they cannot retain good employees.
Please leave any comments below, all are welcome.
Basictech Information Services 