Workplace Negativity: How HR and Managers Can Stop It Early

Overview

Workplace negativity is often treated as a “people problem,” but HR professionals know it can quickly become a culture, productivity, and retention problem.

Most of us have seen it happen. Rumors, gossip, repeated complaints, unresolved conflict, poor communication, or a few disruptive attitudes can move through a department faster than expected. What begins as frustration in one corner of the workplace can soon affect morale, collaboration, absenteeism, turnover, employee engagement, and even profitability.

This is especially important now. Gallup’s 2026 workplace research found that global employee engagement fell to 20% in 2025, its lowest level since 2020, with low engagement tied to an estimated $10 trillion in lost productivity worldwide. Gallup also reported that manager engagement dropped from 27% to 22% between 2024 and 2025, which matters because managers are often the first line of defense when negativity begins spreading inside a team.

SHRM’s workplace civility research also shows how costly negative workplace behavior can become, estimating that U.S. organizations lose about $2.3 billion per day from reduced productivity and absenteeism linked to incivility.

The challenge is that many resources on workplace negativity either stay too general or become too complicated to use in daily management situations. HR professionals, supervisors, and managers need practical steps that make sense in the real world — not theory that is difficult to apply when employees are frustrated, teams are divided, or managers are unsure how to respond.

This webinar will focus on common-sense, easy-to-implement ways to identify where negativity thrives, understand why it continues, and stop it before it becomes part of the workplace culture. Participants will learn how to address rumors, gossip, conflict, and other behaviors that weaken trust, morale, productivity, and employee engagement.

The goal is simple: help leaders create a more positive, accountable, and productive work environment before negativity becomes the accepted tone of the team.

Areas Covered in the Session

• Where Negativity Thrives
• Why Negativity Thrives
• Ways of Stopping Negativity in its Tracks
• Action Item for Participants

To support implementation of the concepts discussed during the webinar, attendees will receive the following handouts:

• Workplace Negativity Triage & Escalation Guide
• Manager Early-Intervention Scripts & Documentation Toolkit

Why Should You Attend?

Workplace negativity is not always easy to manage because it often falls between employee relations, communication, conduct, performance, morale, and culture. It may begin with gossip, repeated complaints, rumors, unresolved conflict, or poor teamwork, but the impact can quickly reach productivity, absenteeism, turnover, engagement, and the overall work environment.

This session is especially valuable because it is led by Bob McKenzie, who brings more than 40 years of human resources management experience across public and private sector workplaces. His background gives him a practical understanding of how workplace behavior affects managers, employees, HR, and the organization as a whole.

Rather than treating negativity as a vague attitude problem, Bob will focus on common-sense steps HR professionals, supervisors, and managers can use in real workplace situations. Attendees will learn where negativity tends to grow, why it continues, and how to stop it before it becomes part of the workplace culture.

You should attend if you want practical guidance from an experienced HR professional on how to protect morale, improve collaboration, support managers, reduce unnecessary conflict, and create a more positive and accountable workplace.

Who will benefit?

This webinar is designed for professionals responsible for managing workplace culture, employee behavior, team morale, communication, and day-to-day employee relations. It will be especially useful for HR leaders, managers, and supervisors who need practical ways to recognize and stop negativity before it affects productivity, engagement, and retention; those include:

• Human Resources Managers/Human Resources Directors
• HR Business Partners/Employee Relations Managers
• Employee Relations Specialists/People Operations Managers
• Talent Management Professionals/Organizational Development Professionals
• Training and Development Managers/Workplace Culture Managers
• Compliance Managers/Operations Managers
• Department Managers/Team Leaders
• Supervisors/Frontline Managers
• Office Managers/Plant Managers
• Shift Supervisors/Small Business Owners
• Business Unit Leaders/Executive Directors
• Nonprofit Administrators/Public Sector Managers
• School Administrators/Healthcare Practice Managers
• Senior Managers responsible for employee performance and morale