What good does it do to complain?

As near as I can tell, nobody ever got rich by complaining. Recently at a trip to the post office, I became agitated myself at the counter worker’s constant complaining and bad mouthing his employer, the U.S. Postal Service. Granted, it was the holiday season, and it did appear like he was short handed, but still, what good can possibly come out of complaining? Not only was his situation not going to be rectified, but he was speaking to people, who at best didn’t care about his situation and at worse, could potentially call this boss and create a real problem for him. He was complaining to the very people who write his paycheck, the postal customer.

There are many issues going on here that need to be addressed:

1. Negativity doesn’t sell. If the post office had a competitor for regular mail, this branch would be in danger of chasing it’s customers away. People like to shop in an inviting friendly environment.
2. Input is great, but talk to someone who can help. If there are problems with your system, speak to the ones who have the power to change it. Everything else is just gossip.
3. Don’t hire bad apples. In his tirade to a previous customer in line, the postal worker commented that he was supposed to have gotten his lunch an hour ago, and that’s exactly why he had quit his previous job, at another area post office. Stating that “They pulled the same crap.” Seems to me, a little checking up on the guy, especially since he was in the same company already, would have revealed his shortcomings in this area.
4. Don’t forget why you are there. Companies make money, and workers get paid when the cash register rings. Disturbing the cash flow pipeline for any reason is not only selfish, but downright malicious, and stupid for that matter.
5. Go help. There were other workers in the back of that post office, and I assume a supervisor among them, who were letting this guy fail. If need be, get out there in the front line and save the day. Don’t wait to react when you get a negative phone call, or forgive the pun, letter mailed from a customer to you.
6. Take action. If need be, get rid of the cancer in your sales force. Today his lunch was late, tomorrow, he will need to leave early for a court hearing, next week, his equipment won’t work right and on and on. Tough action and short term pain have long term benefit. Don’t be a coward and tolerate sub par and damaging behavior.