Venting in the Workplace

It doesn’t matter how amazing a team, leader, or organization might be. At some point, employees are bound to get frustrated, angry, or upset—and in those situations, they might want space to vent.

Venting in the workplace can be a controversial topic—with many thinking that allowing employees the opportunity to vent about frustrating experiences will create a culture of complaining.

But venting in the workplace can actually be beneficial, both for the employee and the organization—if it’s handled correctly.

So what, exactly, does that look like? Let’s take a look at everything you need to know about venting in the workplace—how to vent effectively, how to help others vent effectively, and how to use venting as a springboard for growth, both at the individual and organizational level:

What is venting in the workplace—and what is it not?

First things first. Before we jump into the benefits of venting in the workplace, let’s quickly cover what venting at work actually is—and, just as importantly, what it is not.

Venting is a term used to describe the process of expressing an upsetting or frustrating emotion—with the end goal being to release some of the tension associated with that emotion so that the person can move on from the frustrating or upsetting experience.

It’s like making a pot of tea. When you’re heating up the water for your tea , it’s important to allow the steam to vent so that the water doesn’t boil over. It’s the same thing with venting emotions; by airing your grievances or frustrations, you allow some of the emotional charge to release so you don’t become overwhelmed by the experience.

As such, venting in the workplace is venting specifically about a person or situation at work—and generally, venting about that person or situation to someone else in the workplace. For example, let’s say you’ve been working hard for months to land a big promotion—and then feel like you were unfairly passed over in favor of someone with less experience. In that situation, you’d likely be feeling frustrated or upset—and perhaps would want to vent to a friend on your team to talk through your emotions.

Venting is a brief, in-the-moment expression of a frustrating emotion with the goal of getting it out so that you can acknowledge and voice your feelings—and then move on to find a solution. This differentiates venting from complaining (which generally happens chronically and is more focused on the problem vs. the solution) or gossipping (which is about talking negatively about another person vs. owning your own emotions).

The benefits of venting at work

Now that you know what venting is, let’s cover some of the potential benefits of venting in the workplace.

Creating space for people to vent at work can deliver a number of benefits, both for the individual and the company, including:

• Helps to lower stress. When employees vent in the workplace, they’re sharing their feelings with someone who is likely to understand (and potentially even experience) them, like a colleague or manager—and that sharing can help make people feel better and less stressed out. For example, one study found that sharing challenging emotions with someone experiencing a similar emotional state (like two people dealing with a similar workplace conflict or challenge) can help reduce feelings of stress.

• Can foster a more open, honest company culture. In order for employees to feel like it’s ok to vent at work, they need to feel like the company culture is one that welcomes openness and honesty. By welcoming (appropriate) venting, you can create a sense of psychological safety at work—which can empower employees to not only vent when they’re feeling challenged, but to also share helpful feedback or insights that can improve the organization. 

• Helps to identify—and solve—issues. When people vent, they’re venting for a reason. Giving team members the opportunity to vent can allow managers and leadership to identify potential problems within the organization—and take the steps necessary to fix those problems (and ideally, prevent any future venting related to the issue).

• Can help improve performance, engagement, and retention. Employees vent because they want to be heard and acknowledged. And if you allow them to do so, it can lead to a host of positive effects—including better performance (according to research from Salesforce, employees that feel their voice is heard at work are 4.6 times more likely to feel empowered to perform their best work), higher engagement (according to a study from The Workforce Institute at UKG and Workplace Intelligence, at 92 percent, highly engaged employees are significantly more likely to feel heard than less engaged employees, at 30 percent), and improved retention—as not feeling like they have the space to vent can cause employees to want to leave the company (according to the UKG report, 34 percent of employees would rather quit their job than voice their true concerns to their management team).

Tips for more effective venting

You know what venting in the workplace is. You know the benefits it can deliver, both at the individual and organizational level. Now, let’s talk about how to make venting work in the workplace.

Let’s take a look at a few tips for effective venting—whether you’re the one venting, the one being vented to, or a leader creating a safe space for employees to vent:

If you’re the one venting

• Choose the right person to vent to. When you need to vent, you might be tempted to just find the closest person and jump right into your frustrations—but fight that temptation. In order to make the most out of your venting—including feeling an emotional release and (hopefully!) getting some helpful feedback—you need to choose the right person to vent to. Aim to vent to someone at work that you trust, whose opinion you value, and who can help you better make sense of your feelings—for example, a close team member or a mentor.0

• Be aware of your surroundings. You have a right to vent. But if you’re going to vent about a particular situation or person, it’s important to be aware of your surroundings. The last thing you want is for a colleague to hear or see you venting about them (even if it’s justified), which can lead to hurt feelings, misunderstandings, and accusations of gossip. Instead, make sure you vent in private—whether that’s by asking your office mate to go for a walk or scheduling a secure one-on-one video vent sesh.

• Keep your venting focused on yourself and your emotions. As mentioned, venting and gossiping are two different things. Steer clear of gossip territory by keeping your vent focused on yourself, your experience, and your own emotions—instead of the actions, experience, or emotions of someone else.

If you’re the one being vented to

• Listen. When someone comes to you to vent, they just want to be heard and listened to—so give them that opportunity. Hold space for the person to share their experience. Try not to interrupt. Don’t disagree with their feelings or tell them anything that could make them feel more angry or frustrated (like “calm down” or “it seems like you’re overreacting”).

• Help to problem solve—if that’s what the person wants. For some people, venting is just about getting frustrating thoughts and feelings off their chest—and once they do that, they’re ready to let go of the frustration and move on. But other people vent because they want feedback, support, and help on how to deal with the frustrating situation at hand. Once a person has had a chance to vent, ask them if they’d like help navigating the situation. If they say yes, work with them to problem-solve the issue—for example, by asking them questions to help them better understand their feelings or to identify a better way to handle the situation if and when it comes up in the future.

• Set boundaries. Holding space for someone to vent is a choice. If you don’t feel like don’t have time or aren’t in the right frame of mind to do so, let the person know. And if you do have someone vent to you—and they cross the line from venting into complaining or gossipping territory—definitely set a boundary and let them know you’re not going to continue those types of conversations.

If you’re a leader

• Create parameters around venting in the workplace. Clearly, venting can be beneficial—but only if it’s navigating correctly. That’s why, as a leader, if you want to empower effective venting in the workplace? It’s important to set clear parameters. Educate your employees on what venting is, what it means in your workplace, and how to vent effectively. Consider training certain team members (like HR or employee experience employees) on how to manage venting conversations (for example, how to help employees problem solve and how to listen to negative emotions without taking them on)—and then let your organization know that, if and when they need to vent, they can seek out one of those trained employees.

• Give all employees equal opportunities for venting. In order for venting in the workplace to be effective, it needs to be effective for everyone. Unfortunately, according to the UKG report, a whopping 86 percent of employees feel that people at their company are not heard equally or fairly—and nearly half say that underrepresented voices (like women or minorities) are undervalued by employers. In order to reap the benefits of venting—both at the individual and organization level—all voices in the company need to be heard and valued equally. Make sure to create opportunities for venting not just for the outspoken employees who are happy to share their grievances, but also for the quieter and/or underrepresented voices who might feel less comfortable doing so.

• Listen to your employees’ vents—and act on them. When employees vent, they’re giving you insights into something that isn’t working for them. And if you want to leverage venting to improve your workplace, you need to act on those insights. For example, when you listen to your employees venting—and then actually do something to help alleviate their frustration—it shows them that you’re invested in their experience, which can, in turn, make them more invested in the company. (According to a recent report, employers that act on employee feedback regularly are 11 times more likely to have high employee retention compared to employers that don’t.)