Everyone has one on their team: that person whom family and friends are tired of hearing about at dinner. Today it was this problem; tomorrow, it’ll be another. Why can’t they just do what they’re asked to do? Their manager has thought more than once about letting them go. Maybe that’s the right call.

Or, maybe it’s time for a promotion.

Try to suspend your frustrations – the things you already know are problematic about their behavior – just for a minute. What else could be going on? Is there something underneath their not-so-graceful approach, a message about something happening in your organization that nobody else is talking about? Here’s a tough question about employee engagement that can lead to great opportunities:

Which of our company values are we not living up to that is causing them to be frustrated?

It’s easy to push a disgruntled employee out the door. Managers have the power to make their life miserable and to turn others against them in subtle or not-so-subtle ways. Here are three ways to help managers open up new possibilities instead:

• Assume they’re a spokesperson. Whatever it is they’re speaking up about, it’s a lock that others are feeling it, too, and either aren’t willing or feel they can’t afford to risk saying something. Don’t let their silence convince you that the problem is isolated. It isn’t.
• Be careful with communications. If the manager is down on this person, everyone on the team has already picked up on it. They’ll almost always side with the team leader one way or another out of self-preservation. It’s the leader’s job not to let them influence an already difficult employee situation.
• See dissent as a force for good. The single most difficult task for leaders is to get honest feedback from their team by giving them a safe environment to share what they’re really thinking. You don’t have to be a great leader to know how to create such an environment, but doing it makes you a great leader.

Here are five questions leaders can ask to start listening in a new way. As you’ll see, the purpose of these questions is two-fold. Most importantly, it’s to let employees know that there’s nothing wrong with having views that are counter to the prevailing wisdom of the moment. It’s also a way to bring them into the conversation in a more active way, to move them from the sidelines to active involvement.

• The thing we do that frustrates our customers the most is _________________________.
• The thing about our company that I like the least is _________________________.
• The part of my job that I wish I didn’t have to do so often is _________________________.
• The thing I see us over-promise that comes back to bite us is _________________________.
• The thing we do where I think to myself “there must be a better way” is _________________________.

If managers make it okay to answer these questions honestly, they might discover that their disgruntled employees are anything but. In fact, they might be an incredible ally in the quest to create a truly great culture and business. Are they rough around the edges? Sure. Do they make too big a deal out of minor issues? Probably.

Wouldn’t it be great if there were more of them?

PS. Want to turn your unhappy employees into brand ambassadors? Send them to the five-question survey online at https://refound.com/the-culture-quiz. You’ll get the results via email. 

Jonathan Raymond is the author of the new book Good Authority: How to Become the Leader Your Team is Waiting For. He currently works with business owners, executives and managers to help them create high-performance cultures and become better leaders and is the former CEO and CBO of EMyth.