HR professionals perform various tasks to support employees and manage workplace emotions. They provide counseling, training, communicate benefits, and ensure compliance with policies. A key role is managing stress and burnout, which can spread negatively through an organization. HR representatives help make employees feel included in decisions and provide emotional support. There are rules for appropriately expressing emotions at work, such as maintaining professionalism, confidentiality, and not using emotions to personally benefit. Well-managed emotions can improve relationships and create a supportive work environment. Statistics show increased employee retention greatly boosts profitability, so HR aims to develop coping strategies and support for employees.

1. HR Professionals and
Managing Emotion in the
Workplace
Presentation by: Christina Farmer
CTAC

2. What do HR Professionals do?
Tasks of HR representatives includes:
• Provides counseling (managers, supervisors, employees, etc.)
• Trains managers to discipline and coach employees
• Informs employees of benefits
• Recruits employees and conducts parts of their interview
• Updates policies and guidelines so they are legal and up to date as well as
monitors compliance (Gorkin, M)
• Monitors and appraises job results

4. What Questions do HR Professionals Ask to
Improve the Organization?
(Ulrich, D)

5. Emotion is Part of Every Organization!
• You can find emotion in any organization you work at. Maybe there is
a huge project coming up, maybe there is stress in workplace
relationships, or maybe you just have a leading role and many people
depend on you.
• The key to productivity and staying sane is finding a way to cope with
workplace stress and negative emotions.

6. Stress, Burnout, and Emotional Support
• A high amount of stress in the workplace causes burnout. Some
symptoms include emotional exhaustion, a highly decreased sense of
accomplishment, and a loss of identity (Miller, 2015).
• In order to solve this burnout, that can spread like the flu throughout
an organization, we must make the employee(s) feel like he/she is
actively a part of decision making and provide emotional support.

7. How Emotion Plays a Role in Workplace
Relationships
• In addition to burnout, we can also experience negative emotions
whenever we work with someone we know we have had problems
with before, or when workplace bullying occurs. We may also
experience negative emotions when we think our job is on the line
(downsizing rumors, bad performance reviews, etc.)
• We also experience positive emotions such as compassion, positivity,
and pride that can make our jobs easier.

8. • The first step to managing emotions is to be aware of them.
• The first step in managing relationships is social awareness (being
aware of what is socially acceptable and following the rules the
organization sets).

9. The Key to Managing Emotions
• Everyone in the workplace experiences positive and negative
emotions. Although it is harder said then done, the most important
thing for us to do is to stop our negative emotions from interfering
with our work.
• Focus on the positive, and when you feel negative emotions, think of
the situation you are in and what is appropriate here and now.
• Lets look at some rules for expressing emotions!

10. Emotional Rules
There is a series of rules most people agree are important for displaying
emotions in the workplace. Some of these rules include:
• Express emotions in a professional way- exhibit control and have
business etiquette. Don’t use emotional display to abuse others.
• Express emotions to the right people- direct emotions to the
appropriate person and maintain confidentiality when appropriate
(this is where an HR rep could come into play).

11. • Express emotions to help others- Others may feel the same way as
you, express emotions because we can’t read minds.
• DO NOT manage emotions for personal benefit or to throw someone
under the bus- Most likely if this is your style, you won’t have your job
for long!
• The expression of certain emotions is ALWAYS inappropriate- always
remember workplace policies when expressing your emotions.
(Miller, 2015)

12. Emotional Intelligence
• Some people are naturally better at expressing and managing
workplace emotions (Miller, 2015)
• We are not born into being emotionally intelligent, It is a learned skill
we develop over time.
• If you practice the emotional rules and manage emotions efficiently,
you can be a better communicator!

13. Why are HR Professionals Important?
• They maintain the emotional side of an organization. As we have
learned in previous chapters that if we don’t have our inner self in
check, we cannot provide quality customer service.
• Expressing our emotions in the workplace can help us maintain a
businesslike atmosphere, improve our relationships, create a
supportive workplace where anyone can seek help (bottom of pg.
202) (Miller, 2015)
• HR representatives inspire employees to develop coping strategies,
and seek support from supervisors, other employees, and/or our
department .

14. Why are we Important Cont.
• The HR team overall boosts the productivity of the workplace by
providing a place of confidentiality where employees can be heard.
• The HR department keeps employees safe by making sure everyone is
complying with rules.

15. Statistics
• A 5% increase in employee retention can generate a 25% to 85%
increase in profitability (we can keep workers if we make sure they
have proper training, great management, and an HR department)
• 89% of employers assume that their employees leave for more money
elsewhere, but only 12% of employees actually earn more from their
next company. Could culture be a factor?
• Only 40% of employees are well informed of their company’s goals,
strategy, and tactics. With a great HR department, these numbers can
change!
(Blackhawk Engagement, 2014)

16. Research Ideas
It would be interesting to look at statistics on exactly how much
productivity is influenced by the HR department
Based on the statistic of employee retention increasing profitability, we
could research what companies with a low turnover rate are doing and
what resources their employees have.

17. References Page
Ulrich, D. A New Mandate for Human Resources. Retrieved from:
https://hbr.org/1998/01/a-new-mandate-for-human-resources
Gorkin, M. A Stress Survival Guide for HR Managers/Professionals.
Retrieved from:
http://www.businessknowhow.com/manage/hrsurv.htm
Monster (2016). Human Resources Job Description Sample. Retrieved
from: http://hiring.monster.com/hr/hr-best-practices/recruiting-
hiring-advice/job-descriptions/human-resources-manager-job-
description-sample.aspx

18. Miller, K. (2015). Organizational communication: Approaches and
processes (7th ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.
Blackhawk Engagement (2014). 23 Employee Motivation Statistics to
Silence Naysayers. Retrieved from:
https://www.bhengagement.com/23-employee-motivation-
statistics-to-silence-naysayers/