When at work, we all know the feeling of being around someone who is unhappy. Grumpy staying is a new term for a trend of workers who need some help and support to shake their office blues.

We’re going to be tackling the causes of grumpy staying and offering solutions to help clear those darkening office skies.

Let’s lay out 9 clear signs a grumpy stayer shows at work, and what you can to fix them. Ready to dig in?

What exactly is ‘grumpy staying’?

Researchers introduce new and simple terms for complex issues quite quickly. Starting with the Great Resignation of 2019, then came the trends of “quiet quitting” and “loud quitting”, and we know it can be hard to keep up.

But what about those people left over? We’re talking about those staff who feel like they’ve had enough and would like to quit, but won’t speak about it. They stay at the workplace, and what comes from their negative feelings is an air of grumpiness and sadness. Recognizing the genuine and authentic emotions of your staff is one of the best skills a manager can ever use.

A leading contributor to this unhappiness is a lack of workplace trust. Employees need to feel a deep sense of trust to be at their most productive. Not just with their colleagues, but equally important is their trust in management. A 2021 Gallup Panel survey showed a meager 23% of U.S. employees strongly agree that they trust the leadership of their organization. A lack of trust is only going to make a grumpy stayer grumpier.

It’s crucial that you respond to this rise in grumpiness within your teams, first by knowing grumpy staying when you see it, then acting on what’s causing it.

The signs that someone is grumpy staying

Here are 9 of the clearest signs of someone who is grumpy staying, and what you can do to help lighten their load.

Plunge in productivity

One of the most straightforward signs of someone grumpy staying is that their productivity drops over a long period of time. Everyone has off days, but when slumps become the norm, red flags are showing. Employees who used to be diligent and always “on-the-ball” now mentally clock out, like their work output, decided to take an extended tropical vacation, leaving their bodies behind at the office.

Recognizing a drop in productivity as a sign of grumpy staying needs to be carefully considered. The employee’s drop in performance needs to be over a long, sustained period of time, like 3 or 4 months to a year. The issues need consideration, as the problem might be a personal one, which is difficult to manage.

Causes of productivity slumps could be work burnout, lack of motivation, or unchallenging work. You might solve some of these productivity issues by making sure you regularly and sincerely show appreciation, and support them. Make sure you’re providing a healthy work-life balance to a slumping performer, with ample holiday usage, as a well-rested employee is a productive employee.

Team ghosting

To use a modern word, “ghosting” describes the act of a person who no longer gives essential information, leading to a communication breakdown. A member of staff going quiet enough to be called a ghost is an indication of someone who is grumpy staying. 

They avoid social interactions that they used to enjoy, skip out on team meetings, or they might shy away from collaborative projects. During team activities, they sometimes hang out on the edges of the group, both physically and emotionally checked out.

The major contributors to this sign of grumpy staying could be a lack of workplace recognition or a form of poor team dynamics. While interacting with others, they might see themselves as part of a toxic work environment, and so it’s on you, as manager, to fix this. You have to get into creating a more positive work environment for them, using positive reinforcement and team bonding activities. It may be useful to include more people in the decision-making processes to make them feel more valued. Stop that ghostly behavior before your teams have major communication breakdowns!

Frequent breaks and distractions

Grumpy staying can show signs in lots of different ways, and one of the clearest is an increase in how often they take a break and engage with distractions. It’s almost like they have their special spot reserved at the coffee machine. That’s our office grumpy stayer, and it takes a skilled manager to do something about it.

Someone taking frequent breaks and engaging in distractions is going to cause bigger problems down the road. This person might have their phone practically glued to their hand, while you need all hands on deck. It’s crucial to make sure you promote employee connections over a connection to their phone or time spent breaking away from others.

So what are the causes of this symptom? Well, deep down they might feel frustrated at a lack of challenge, bored of the same tasks day in, and day out. Your soft skills become crucial here. They’re going to need a heart-to-heart. A casual chat can work wonders, and since you’re pulling them up for unacceptable behavior, this is best done in a private section of the workplace. Sometimes a grumpy stayer just needs to feel heard and seen.

Growth Apathy

Here’s a real indication of someone who isn’t happy with their job. Someone who is grumpy staying at work will grow uninterested in professional growth. Apathy is the lack of feeling or emotion someone shows. It is dangerous when it is towards something that other staff find engaging or exciting.

Grumpy stayers who are apathetic toward growth would rather cozy up to their desk than leap at the chance to expand their skill set. You might see this clearly shown on a “bare minimum Monday”, as they stick to their comfort zone and are hesitant to venture beyond it.

On top of comfort zone syndrome, they might feel something like ‘burnout blues’. Swamped with tasks, they're too wiped out to even think about leveling up their skills. Your solution is to make learning feel rewarding. It needs to display that learning leads to somewhere, and helps them to achieve their own goals. Don’t let your workplace stars go unnoticed, show them the importance of growth.

Absenteeism and presenteeism

Staff who are grumpy staying are likely to take more days of absence. Their lack of good reasons, or constantly changing reasons for absence clearly and directly affects the company’s performance. 

‘Presenteeism’ is how business analysts describe the loss in productivity that occurs when a member of staff is not fully functioning while in the workplace. Even though they’re physically present at work, being absent-minded can lead to accidents, so this is a clear sign that their engagement level needs improving. 

Solutions come in the form of work flexibility. As workplaces become more remote and hybrid-friendly, consider an open heart-to-heart with the staff in question, and propose a more flexible work schedule. A day a week where they work from home could improve their sense of presence when at work. Use your soft skills of understanding and TLC to help them shake off the grumps and feel like they’re more ‘in the moment’ while they’re with you. Showing genuine care goes a long way!

Chronic tardiness

Tardiness is the act of being late, and when it’s done to a chronic degree, it becomes a problem you have to handle. A person grumpy staying is likely to grow too interested in the office clock. Consistently arriving late or leaving early indicates a lack of enthusiasm and engagement in their role at work.

To see this sign in a grumpy stayer takes patient observation, but you know it when you see it. They might get into the meeting only a few seconds after it starts, more interested in their coffee than the daily agenda. They check the clock like a hawk come 5 PM, and their tardiness becomes a recurring theme that casts a shadow over the team dynamic.

If tardiness hasn't been a big deal before, or the office vibe is more "whatever o'clock," actions need to be taken. Lay down the law (nicely, of course) and develop a company culture that values exactly when the clock strikes. At other times, a more personal talk might help a grumpy stayer, showing that you’re there to listen and help. Tackle tardiness with a mix of understanding and workplace structure to nudge everyone back into sync and keep teams ticking along nicely.

Unhealthy coping mechanisms

A person who is grumpy staying might start to show signs of coping mechanisms that become unhealthy. Create a picture in your mind of Bob, the office grump, sneaking out for his fifth smoke break before noon. Or Alice, the caffeine master, chugging down her fifth cup of joe with a look of despair. It's like they're trying to drown their discontentment in nicotine or caffeine.

These mechanisms might show in snacks or social media overuse, and it’s your job as the manager to remain professional and personable when trying to highlight it to them, and ultimately help them. 

Wellbeing workshops are a great way to tackle this. Solidify team morale at work with healthy coping strategies like resources on stress management and mindfulness. By recognizing these signs and addressing the root causes, you can help your colleagues break free from the cycle of grumpy staying and create a healthier, happier workplace for everyone.

Frequent conflicts

A surefire sign of a person who is grumpy staying is that they’re quicker to create, or get into, workplace conflicts. High tensions at work are never nice to be around, so you need to be familiar and comfortable with your conflict resolution arsenal when the moment comes.

Grumpy stayers aren't born grumpy. They're made that way by a collection of workplace frustrations, like feeling unappreciated or looked over for promotions. Dealing with constant conflict requires a touch of finesse and empathy. Open up to them in a one-on-one talk, and be ready to listen to their grievances. No eye rolls allowed!

Make sure you are leading by example. Show appreciation for positive contributions and don't let negativity go unchecked. Remember, conflicts are inevitable in any workplace, but with the right approach, they can be resolved constructively. Make sure you’re building a workplace where "we" beats "me against the world" any day.

Openly searching elsewhere

Employees who are grumpy staying might start to show open signs of looking elsewhere for work. The difficulty of this sign is that they might be more open to sharing with everyone else, but not you as manager, so some discretion is needed to find out. 

Grumpy stayer employees might be unsure of being able to quickly secure another or better job, so they’re going to settle for a while in their grumpiness in their current role. This needs to be addressed quickly, as it becomes a breeding ground for distrust and negative attitudes amongst your teams.

No doubt, the recent online trends of ‘quiet quitting’ and ‘loud quitting’ have made the job market look even more uncertain, so a member of staff openly searching for alternative employment becomes a clear sign that something is going wrong. They most likely feel overlooked and underappreciated at work, mentally and financially, so some serious discussions are needed. Make sure you’re there for them if and when they’re open to talking about this further. They’ll likely thank you for it.

Grumpy staying is best tackled in a positive environment. Try out one of our team retreats!

A lot of the causes of grumpy staying come from a sense of no change, the repetition of going to the same place and doing the same tasks day after day. By letting the office settings melt away on a sandy beach or taking the time to appreciate nature on a countryside retreat, grumpiness dissolves like a sugar cube in a swimming pool.

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Grumpy stayers will feel rejuvenated in happy bliss while on a work retreat, so make the most of an offsite retreat with us to leave those grumps behind.