Question

Case Incident:

As this chapter has shown, emotions are an inevitable part of people’s behavior at work. At the same time, it’s not entirely clear that we’ve reached a point where people feel comfortable expressing all emotions at work. The reason might be that business culture and etiquette remain poorly suited to handling overt emotional displays. The question is, can organizations become more intelligent about emotional management? Is it ever appropriate to yell, laugh, or cry at work?

Some people are skeptical about the virtues of more emotional displays in the workplace. As the chapter notes, emotions are automatic physiological responses to the environment, and as such, they can be difficult to control appropriately. One 22-year-old customer service representative named Laura, who was the subject of a case study, noted that fear and anger were routinely used as methods to control employees, and employees deeply resented this use of emotions to manipulate them. In another case, the chairman of a major television network made a practice of screaming at employees whenever anything went wrong, leading to badly hurt feelings and a lack of loyalty to the organization. Like Laura, workers at this organization were hesitant to show their true reactions to these emotional outbursts for fear of being branded as “weak” or “ineffectual.” Research indicated that while employees who could regulate their emotions would refrain from acting on their anger, employees who were low in self-regulation and didn’t think the boss would do anything were likely to retaliate.

It might seem like these individuals worked in heavily emotional workplaces, but in fact, only a narrow range of emotions was deemed acceptable. Anger appears to be more acceptable then sadness in many organizations, and anger can have serious maladaptive consequences. Many people find their negative reaction to hearing an angry outburst lasts, making it difficult for them to concentrate at work.

Others believe organizations that recognize and work with emotions effectively are more creative, satisfying, and productive. For example, Laura noted that if she could express her hurt feelings without fear, she would be much more satisfied with her work. In other words, the problem with Laura’s organization is not that emotions are displayed, but that emotional displays are handled poorly. Others note that the use of emotional knowledge, like being able to read and understand the reactions of others, is crucial for workers ranging from salespeople and customer service agents all the way to managers and executives. One survey even found that 88% of workers feel being sensitive to the emotions of others is an asset. Management consultant Erika Anderson notes, “Crying at work is transformative and can open the door to change.” The question then is, “Can organizations take specific steps to become better at allowing emotional displays without opening a Pandora’s box of outbursts?”

Questions

Do you think the strategic use and display of emotions serve to protect employees, or does covering your true emotions at work lead to more problems than it solves?

Have you ever worked where the free expression of emotion was part of the management style? Describe the advantages and disadvantages of this approach from your experience.

Research shows that acts of coworkers (37 percent) and management (22 percent) cause more negative emotions for employees than do acts of customers (7 percent). What can Laura’s company do to change its emotional climate?

Answer 1

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Do you think the strategic use and display of emotions serve to protect employees, or does covering your true emotions at work lead to more problems than it solves?

I believe that as a society we are conditioned to believe that displaying emotions is a sign of weakness, especially within the workforce. The case incident provides examples of how when employees in higher positions use fear, anger, or manipulation against their employees it can lead to anger and resentment from the employees. It is also stated that the resentment that the employees feel leads to lack of loyalty amongst the corporation. Our case states that only few emotions are deemed acceptable in the workplace and it is noted that anger is more acceptable than sadness amongst workplace industries.

It is proven that employees that are able to express themselves freely are more satisfied workers than those who feel oppressed by upper management. Employees feel that displaying emotions in a proper and productive way can lead to much better communication amongst the workplace environment. I think that the strategic display of emotions serves to protect employee’s ability to feel as though they are heard and appreciated at work.

With that being said I feel as though any and all emotions displayed should be done in a professional and productive fashion where there is open communication amongst all parties involved. In my opinion, covering emotions only leads to resentment amongst employees and can lead to a severe outburst if emotions are bottled up and not addressed for a long period of time which could lead to a multitude of additional problems.

Have you ever worked where the free expression of emotion was part of the management style? Describe the advantages and disadvantages of this approach from your experience.

I do not personally think that I have ever worked in an environment where with their management style I felt as though I could speak up or express my emotions in a free manner without punishment. I felt as though there were an immense number of disadvantages to this method because I was often left feeling defeated and unappreciated. These feelings that I have of feeling defeated lead to the feeling of unimportance which lead to a lack of desire to preform to the best of my ability.

All of these things ultimately lead to me choosing to find somewhere else to work. The company that I worked for had a high employee turnover rate and I feel that that is because they did not offer any initiative for people to stay as loyal employees. The only advantage to this method was that administration had complete control over every employee.

Research shows that the acts of coworkers (37 percent) and management (22 percent) cause more negative emotions for employees than do acts of customers (7 percent). What can Laura’s company do to change its emotional climate?

Three terms are clearly intertwined throughout chapter 4: affect, emotions, and moods. Affect is a generic term that covers a broad range of feelings, including both emotions and moods. Emotions are intense feelings directed at someone or something. Moods are less intense feelings than emotions and often arise without a specific event. There are positive and negative emotions. We all experience moods and emotions differently so it is hard to specifically determine what can be done to change the emotional climate of Laura’s workplace. There will probably have to be multiple actions that need to take place in order for each employee involved in the company feels a shift towards positivity in the emotional climate of the workplace.

I think that it Is possible for organizations to become more sensitive to emotional displays without causing harm to the organizations structure. The allowance of creativity could lead to employees feeling as though they are freer to express themselves within the workplace. The feeling of freedom of expression could have a positive impact on the motivation and drive of employees.

Higher motivation can lead to less deviant behavior amongst employees which gives leaders more time to focus on leadership skills and their abilities to help the organization succeed. Better leadership can lead to better customer service and better job attitudes for the employees. In conclusion, it seems to me as though the way to improve and change the emotional climate of an organization is to allow for freedom of expression, that is expressed in a professional manner, amongst employees. Freedom of expression has the ability to lead to improvements in all areas of the workplace.