Emotions in the Workplace

To create a thriving workplace leaders are encouraged to focus on mental health and wellbeing and to better understand the importance of harnessing emotions in the workplace.

Emotions in the workplace and organisational culture

Today workplaces need to engage and motivate their employees by understanding what employees need from their work. We know employees want to grow, want to be valued, involved, and to feel part of the organisation. Each generation may have differing needs and not factoring in employees’ values, needs and expectations leads to strong emotions at work which can lead to decreased productivity.

Emotions and customer experience

Acknowledging the emotions and impact of a challenging customer interaction and working towards a resolution is more effective than deciding who is right or wrong. This requires a skill set involving de-escalation and staying calm. We can support you to manage angry or disgruntled customers, respond in a way that builds relationships, learn how to make customers feel heard and meet their emotional needs.

Are negative emotions in the workplace bad?

Emotions are contagious so it is important to listen, be aware and address underlying issues before the emotions impact on others within the workplace. It’s unrealistic to expect people not to have emotion, but they need to learn how to effectively manage their emotions. One way to manage emotions in the workplace is for leaders to know how to have a constructive conversation which includes active listening, de-escalation and providing feedback.

What do we unwittingly do that creates negative/positive emotion?

Insight and awareness around the impact of behaviour on others is a skill that can be learned and developed – paying attention to body language and others’ reactions is key. It’s important that you choose your moment to seek feedback or deliver information.

Managing emotions- Emotional Regulation

•  What works? Upskilling and training managers to manage emotions is important. Many managers get promoted for their technical skills and abilities and may experience difficulty managing strong emotions. These skills should include: de-escalation skills, skills to keep calm, active listening, reflecting and summarising. 
• Modelling behaviour from the top down It’s important to model the behavioural response that you want to see in others. Leaders set the tone for organisational culture and communication. Consultation is key; that is, consulting with employees to understand the type of culture everyone wants to create. Role modelling that behaviour is important as employees become disillusioned if they do not feel heard and their value isn’t acknowledged.
• Managing difficult emotions/trauma Acknowledging emotion, without deciding whether the emotion is valid or not, is very powerful. People want to feel that their emotional response is heard and understood. Your first step is to calm the situation by listening with real empathy. The person is then ready to work with you to generate solutions.

Our EAP in Focus App provides a quick Check-In function that can be a useful tool in stress level awareness for individuals, for further assistance our Relationship Management Team are here to help.