Module 4.

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English 3134
Kim Gannon
November 10, 2010

A REVIEW OF THE
PROCESSES OF EMOTION
IN THE WORKPLACE

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 REVIEW OF THE PROCESSES OF EMOTION IN THE
WORKPLACE

It has only been since the 1990’s that management has learned that emotions do not just effect

organizations but contribute to their structure. Organizations are emotional places, organizations and

businesses use emotions to motivate employees to perform and customers to buy. People rarely follow

pure logic in decision making, we know from study of the Decision Making Process that human beings

are incapable of making perfectly rational decisions because our rationality is bounded, we have limits

on the information that we have and have to make the best decision with the information that we have,

which often involves emotion.

There are wide ranges of occupations that require an extraordinary amount client/patient

involvement; examples would be

the medical field or the ministry, in

which they put aside their feelings. Jobs

in which you have to hide your true

feelings and emotions are the

most stressful according to a large

study comparing stress levels of 24

occupations. Ambulance service

staff, teachers, social services,

customer services (i.e. Call center staff),

prison officers, clerical and

administrative and the police came out as the occupations highest on stress.

What most of these occupations have in common is a lot of face to face contact with a high

degree of “emotional labor”. Emotional Labor Regardless of the occupation all people feel emotion
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in some form in the workplace. It isn’t always the nature of the job, but the relationships that we

develop at work. These relationships can be positive or negative. Many times we have coworkers or a

supervisor that we may not particularly like. Vincent Waldron, (2000) 68-72, Managing Risk in

Communication Encounters, Strategies for the Workplace, describes several aspects of emotional

conflict at work:

Emotions can't be separated from the workplace. Some, in fact, are critical to business success.

Enthusiasm or happiness can produce workers who are more productive. But employees who let their

emotions run rampant can hurt themselves and the company. A successful boss will find ways to

control an office's emotional flare-ups.

How do employees expect their co-workers to manage their emotions in the

workplace? According to new research at the University of Missouri-

Columbia, many employees do not want their co-workers to express any

type of strong emotion -- positive or negative. According to Michael

Kramer and Jon Hess, professors of communication , found that the only

"appropriate" way to manage negative emotions at work was for employees

to hide or "mask" their emotions. Positive emotions also needed to be

expressed in moderation, according to those surveyed.

Managers expect employees to hide negative emotions in order to maintain what they call

"professionalism." They also expect co-workers to hide positive ones by not showing too much pleasure

with promotions or raises because someone else might have missed out. Kramer said he expected this

type of "masking" behavior in customer relation occupations but did not expect it as much in the

employee-to-employee jobs as revealed in his research.

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 The researchers also found that emotion management is not something that is typically taught

at work. Most organizations have traditionally focused on teaching logical and rational thinking and

have neglected emotional learning in their development programs. As such, to learn what is and is not

appropriate, most employees learn to manage their emotions by

observing others in the workplace. Without that emotional-

management component, a work environment can become toxic.

When workers perform out of fear, loathing or anger, a company

usually isn't productive.

An emotionally charged workplace can turn off employees, vendors and customers alike. Even

when the problems aren't obvious, they can damage a company's productivity. It can be a special

problem for a small business. Positive and Negative Attitudes

Unlike a corporate giant where there are plenty of places to bury emotional issues, smaller firms

provide fewer options. In many cases, the only way a staff member can escape is to quit, says Janelle

Barlow, president of TMI US, a Las Vegas-based human resources training company. How to

Manage Emotion Finally, when toxic emotional stress goes unaddressed either by the employee or

management “burnout” will occur.

One definition of burnout is a state of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion caused by long-term

exposure to demanding work situations. Burnout is the cumulative result of stress; people

experiencing burnout may experience the following:

 You identify so strongly with work that you lack a reasonable balance between work
and your personal life

 You try to be everything to everyone

 Your job is monotonous

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 You feel you have little or no control over your work
 Employees suffering from burnout become disenchanted with a stressful organization or

occupation. Employees may become exhausted, depersonalized, and experience a decrease in personal

accomplishment. These things can lead to coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, lower job

satisfaction, less commitment, and job turnover. Ways to Understand

Emotion

In summary, contrary to Frederick Taylor’s Theory of Scientific

Management, employees are not machines and cannot be predicted and

scientifically managed and measured. Thankfully, researchers have learned

in the last thirty years that employee emotions are essential in the workplace

dynamics and that feelings drive employee performance and attitude. Frederick Taylor Biography

References

Katherine Miller, (2009) 198, Organizational Communication.

http://www.bps.org.uk/media-centre/press-releases/releases$/division-of-occupational-

psychology/occupations.cfm

Vincent Waldron, (2000) 68-72, Managing Risk in Communication Encounters, Strategies for the

Workplace

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/biz/tcb/20020927a.asp?prodtype=biz
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http://mentalhealth.about.com/library/sci/0202/blworkemote0202.htm

http://www.1to1coachingschool.com/Managing_Emotion_in_the_workplace.htm

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/burnout/WL00062

http://www.resource-i.com/Articles/UnderstandingEmotion.htm

http://knowledge.emory.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1058

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