As a manager, you have many responsibilities and many tough tasks. One of the most difficult may be dealing with an employee with a negative attitude.  We all have encountered them or know them.  You know the ones who are always complaining about everything or are just cranky all the time.  “Debbie Downer” or "Negative Nancy" or "Grumpy Greg" are all names we have heard describing people with a particular demeanor.  Their negative attitude spreads throughout the workplace and brings down the mood. The "Debbie Downer" type makes it hard to feel a sense of teamwork as nobody wants to work with that person and possibly run the risk of losing the employees with the positive attitude. More importantly, when it comes to sales and customer service, these types of people don’t just bring down the mood or company morale, they bring down the sales.

Most people would rather support a company with a “Positive Polly” than a “Negative Nancy.” This means that the managers have a responsibility to help these employees improve their attitudes. The mirror check is one way to accomplish this. Have employees take a long look in the mirror, let them decide if they want to make the choice to change their behavior and then come up with actions that will help them improve their problem areas. Let them know how you, co-workers and their customers view them.  In order to see their attitude change and sales increase, these employees need to be coached to help change their behavior and improve their performance.