Have you ever told someone to calm down when they were upset? I imagine the experience was not pleasant. I would assume it created an even greater adverse reaction. We know that part of our role is to deal with employees’ problems as they arise. In fact, I would say that we spend a great deal of time in this area more than in other areas. It is like a roller coaster ride at times. One moment things appear to be working out well, and the next, it’s chaos, and no one is happy.
Part of our job is to work through emotions – bringing us to stress in the workplace. We cannot eliminate all stressors, but we do have an obligation to limit them. Among many others, Alshaer & Kavinai; Barar & Singh; Harris & Lee (and the list goes on) identified several stressors that we can control. These include role conflict, role ambiguity, working conditions, fear of job loss, family circumstances, lack of support, and strict deadlines—lastly, my favorite is poor management and or leadership.
How do you manage all of that? First, I suggest you take it one crisis at a time. I use the word crisis because when people are in the “eye of the storm,” sometimes they cannot see beyond their panic. Second, you have to be calm. You cannot feed into their panic, anger, frustration, or whatever they are expressing and feeling. This isn’t always easy, especially if you have a vested interest in the problem. Third, take their feelings seriously. I would argue that one of the worst things we can do as leaders is discount our people’s emotions.
Goldman and Boyatzis suggested that a leader drives collective emotions in a positive direction and clears the smog created by toxic emotions. Simply, we redirect their focus toward a productive outlet that encourages them to move forward and not get stuck where they are. Well, that seems easy enough, right? Ya right! Sometimes people need a moment to vent and let out their frustration. We have to know when those moments are. Other times, we have to spend time discovering what is truly bothering them. You may find that it is not the initial statement but something underlying that perhaps they were unaware of.
Dr. P.,
I wholeheartedly agree with your article. This is one of the reasons why I think industrial and organizational psychologists, come into play as they continue to provide insightful and meaningful research for consumers in the workplace (e.g., employers, employees, recruiters, HR, CEOs, etc.).
Now more than ever Americans are working beyond their expectations (stress was not a workplace concept until the 80s, during the Reagan administration). Social scientists coined stress as neurasthenia, though it did not play well with society. By the end of the 19th Century and the beginning of the 20th Century, workplace stress began to arise dramatically and thus affecting millions of American workers in the manner you pointed out.
Emotions can make or break the individuals, though I do not believe that CEOs, or employers are appropriately equipped to educate their employees on how to manage their emotions. Typically emotions are indirectly managed by the HR laws and regulations (e.g., don’t be late or else type of scenarios) . One solution or suggestion is for employers to bring professional consultants like organizational psychologists, or corporate behaviorists (e.g. training blocks, organizational development, etc.), to share tips on ways to manage their behavior (essentially, emotions will drive behavior anywhere).
Learned behavior takes and I still side with you that employees can learn better ways to manage their behavior (emotions, feelings, etc.). Thank you for your insightful knowledge.
Jay
Thank you, Jay! You bring up an excellent point. Training is essential. Bringing outside agencies is an excellent alternative and may allow our people to feel more comfortable expressing themselves. Likely they are reserved around their supervisors. However, bringing outside people can help relax them and suggest that there are not being judged as they learn.