In the last three years, the workforce has made a complete shift in how employees communicate, mainly stemming from the mass transition to remote work. Companies had no choice but to rethink how to build a company culture online so remote workers felt part of a community. However, the sudden shift from banter at the water cooler to correspondence via Slack can cause communication to get lost in translation, which could lead to an uptick in passive aggression in the workplace.
In fact, a recent Go1 study revealed seven in 10 Americans are facing unprecedented levels of passive aggression in the workplace, with nearly one-half saying that these behaviors have increased since before the COVID-19 pandemic. This past year alone, the corporate workforce saw the birth of major employee-led movements like The Great Resignation and “quiet quitting,” all of which can be linked back to passive aggression as the root cause.
While passive aggression is seen as an issue with company culture, it can create a domino effect that interferes with a company’s operations at large. Not only can it lead to turnover, but it can create a culture where employees feel unmotivated, therefore, affecting their productivity and overall communication.
The clear solution for tackling this problem head on is to provide employees with soft skills training that not only relieve any issues of current passive aggression happening in the workplace but also prevent any from happening. According to the study, 71% of employees say passive aggressive coworkers would benefit from appropriate soft skills training. Equipping your workplace with the tools to refine soft skills like problem solving and communication can help your workplace recognize its own passive aggressive behaviors and help educate others on how to best communicate with them personally. Let’s examine three ways soft skills training can combat passive aggressive behavior.
- It Can Prevent a Toxic Work Culture
Many employees are self-aware of being passive aggressive. According to a study by Preply, 82% of people admit to being passive aggressive themselves. For many employees, passive aggressive behavior can stem from general work-related stress to frustrations with colleagues and even poor communication skills. Investing in training to refine soft skills like communication can allow employees to do some self-reflection and understand how to better convey their message.
For example, in 2020, Farmers Insurance piloted virtual reality (VR) training in an effort to improve its workplace’s learning and development (L&D). In addition to training its claims adjusters to identify and assess claims — the VR training also helped employees early in their career use simulations to learn emotional intelligence (EQ) skills.
In an industry where the organization is tasked with delivering serious news and information, it’s safe to assume we’ve all had an angry conversation with our insurance agent. By investing in soft skills training, Farmers Insurance was able to equip their agents with the tools to empathize, actively listen and remain calm during customer interactions.
Companies from across industries can learn from this approach regardless of whether they’re in customer service or not. It’s inevitable that managers and employees alike will be put in situations where they need to have hard or uncomfortable conversations. Polishing their soft skills before they get to that point can allow them to approach the conversation proactively and can result in both parties leaving the conversation with an objective message — without any feelings of a personal attack.
- Increase Team Productivity
Passive aggression doesn’t just impact company culture, but also productivity. Employees at all levels from junior to senior management understand how passive aggressive behavior can increase stress levels among their teams. High stress can distract employees from working effectively.
This is where soft skills training can become imperative because aside from communication skills training — which can teach both managers and employees how to voice concern — employees can also improve their time management and problem solving skills, which can lead to increased productivity. In fact, employees who receive soft skills training show better levels of productivity than their untrained counterparts.
Time management training not only teaches employees how to prioritize, but also teaches managers how to delegate. This can come in handy when trying to avoid burnout and making sure there is a balance in workload across the entire team. Providing the workplace with tools to disperse their time equally across projects can create a transparent correspondence with all team members. This also helps to create a culture of high trust.
For companies looking to increase their productivity, their goal should be to achieve a high-trust culture. High-trust companies not only experience higher levels of productivity compared to their low-trust counterparts, but they can also avoid micromanagement — which of employees have experienced. With these soft skills in their toolkit, employees and mangers can be more equipped to work together and be productive as a team.
- Employees Can Learn How To Educate Others
Soft skills training not only can help employees self-reflect and improve their own performance, but can also follow a similar domino effect in helping teams learn from each other. In order to address passive aggression in the workplace, employees want to feel empowered to educate coworkers on better ways to communicate, settle passive aggressive situations and motivate others to maintain a positive culture.
Employees at all levels can benefit from strengthening their soft skills muscles when aiming to educate others. A soft skill, like problem solving, can help junior employees address issues head on, like experiencing unfriendly behaviors from their senior coworkers. For more seasoned employees, problem solving can help them address the similar behaviors — whether it’s them or others showcasing it.
When navigating difficult conversations, it’s common for people to display passive aggressive behavior, whether it’s holding back on daily communication, giving the cold shoulder or failing to include their reports in important meetings or email threads. Managers and employees alike can use soft skills training to find healthier ways to have these more difficult conversations without enacting toxic behaviors.
According to a report by Carnegie Mellon Foundation, long term success is more reliant on soft skills than hard skills. However, soft skills are harder to assess. For example, an employer can better determine if an employee can code versus if they can communicate effectively. There is no “one size fits all” approach to investing in the right tools to upskill your employees; however there is a lot of room for opportunity — from VR training, to micro-credential programs to self-directed learning modules.
However you choose to deploy the learning, the reality is that soft skills training is now a necessity. To maintain a happy and healthy work environment that encourages collaboration and growth, an organization’s people must first learn how to communicate effectively — without the passive aggression.
