The Negative Impact of Naysayers on a Company

As I look around the screen at my teammates during online meetings, I often think of how lucky I am to work with such a positive, can-do group of people. Since we are a work from home company, I haven’t even met some of the members of the team face to face, but I interact with them multiple times during the day. 

One of our young team members who works on the Charter and Go system seems to be the one who receives the most changes. The user interface is critical to customer acceptance of our system, and it is imperative that we get it right the first time a potential customer sees our product. His response is always positive and gets the changes done right away. On the rare occasion when he may not be 100% behind a change, he pauses to think about why he was asked to do it. Every time, he comes up with a better solution.

When I think back to some of my earlier work experiences, I encountered many naysayers. These people do not contribute to the success of the company but, rather, damage the comradery and culture of the organization. This impacts the company in many ways; it becomes a vicious spiral that can quickly go out of control.

Negativity displayed by one individual is extremely contagious. It spreads through interactions between employees. When one person repeatedly shares negative thoughts with others, the people around him begin to exhibit some of these traits. This reduces team loyalty and motivation which slows down productivity.

When team members are not energized about their work, innovation suffers. They plod along and don’t exert the brainpower and creativity required to take their products to the next level and wow more customers.  If current or potential customers are not impressed enough by the product, they will find and turn to the myriad of products offered by competitors. 

I mentioned above that naysayers create vicious spirals. At the bottom of the spiral is the reduction in sales caused by products that have lost their competitive edge and sparkle. Lost sales impact the company’s financial outlook and valuation. I’m not going to continue this example because it is depressing.

On the positive note, what can you do to fix it? Fortunately, there are many things that can be done. Encourage positive communications between all employees: in teams and up & down the organization chart. Discourage gossip and negativity while recognizing honest communication. Ask for feedback from employees periodically. If they believe their opinions and ideas are important, they will share and keep the sparkle on your products.  From a leadership perspective, the most important thing you can do is to lead by example. Employees want honesty, fairness, recognition, and consistency in their leadership. By demonstrating this every day, the naysayers will eventually get onboard.

I am happy to say that Charter and Go has not hired any naysayers. Our team was hand-picked out of the best and brightest. Employee mindset and culture were key considerations during the hiring process.  With the energy and diverse talents everyone brings to the table, we have been able to create a revolutionary new charter management and pricing engine for the air charter industry. Check us out and book a demo today.

Ann Vinod – VP of Finance