The role of human resources in dealing with emotion in the workplace

1. By Chris
Calcaterra
THE ROLE OF HUMAN
RESOURCES IN DEALING
WITH EMOTION IN THE
WORKPLACE

2. Organizations are more than just logic based.
People in the work place build relationships.
Interaction with clients.
These things can lead to emotions in the work
place.
EMOTION IN THE WORKPLACE

3. Human resources is in charge of managing
people at work.
This not only means that they are in charge of
managing talent and making sure goals are
met.
They need to make sure they can understand
employees on an emotional level as well.
WHAT DOES HR HAVE TO DO WITH EMOTION
IN THE WORKPLACE?

4. Being able to understand and control your own
feelings understand the feelings of others.
Understanding why someone is mad
Understanding why you feel the way you do in
a situation
Complex
Helpful when understanding others in the
work place
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

5. Requires emotional intelligence
Rules for emotions in the workplace
Example: Expressing emotions at work in a
professional way.
This example of an emotional rule is used so
that people can maintain a “business like”
atmosphere without ignoring their emotions.
EMOTIONAL RULES

6. Emotional rules and emotional intelligence
work together
When people are emotionally intelligent they
can understand their emotions they can
understand how to handle their emotions in
the workplace.
DO EMOTIONAL RULES AND EMOTIONAL
INTELLIGENCE WORK TOGETHER?

7. According to HR manager Ranjith Gunarathne
being emotionally intelligent at work is more
important than most places.
It can be helpful in work aspects of HR such
as:
Planning
Recruiting/Hiring
Job planning
HOW IS BEING EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT
HELPFUL TO HR?

8. Being emotionally intelligent is also helpful
when it comes to conflict management.
According Gunarathne to Poor conflict
management skills can lead to:
Distrust to management/HR
Distractions in the workplace
Low levels of productivity
HOW IS BEING EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT
HELPFUL TO HR?

9. Being emotionally intelligent in the workplace
is important.
According to Gunarathne these are the these
are the main reasons why it is important to be
emotionally intelligent at the workplace.
 It will be easier for others to work in teams.
Employees can adapt to change easier.
People can build relationships with one
another.
Employees will be more productive overall.
WHAT IS THE OVERALL MESSAGE?

10. Work can be an emotional place for some
employees and HR has to know to to manage
them effectively.
According to the HR insights blog and
yourerc.com there are are many reasons why
employees can become emotional at the
workplace, and there are 10 ways to
effectively handle them.
HOW CAN HR DEAL WITH EMOTIONAL
EMPLOYEES?

11. According to HR insights at yourerc.com
Employees can feel emotion at the work place
for many reasons.
Co workers can frustrate each other and hurt
each others feelings
Managers can frustrate employees by having
unrealistic expectations, by being poor
communicators, or by having bad attitudes
overall.
Change in the workplace
WHY ARE EMPLOYEES EMOTIONAL AT THE
WORKPLACE?

12. According to HR insights blog at yourerc.com
there are 10 ways to effectively deal with
emotional employees in the workplace.
1. Read emotional cues
Keep the emotions of the employees in mind.
Understand language, tone, and body
language being used.
HOW TO EFFECTIVELY MANAGE EMOTIONAL
EMPLOYEES

13. 2. Empathize with those who have been hurt
 It is easy to belittle the employees problem
and just tell them to deal with it.
 Make sure to show compassion and try to
empathize when an employee feels hurt.
3. Understand Triggers
 Understand that there may be some
underlying problems.
 Really try to dig in and understand why the
employee is feeling the way they do.
HOW TO EFFECTIVELY MANAGE EMOTIONAL
EMPLOYEES

14. 4. Transform the problem
Once you understand the problem use it to try
and make a positive change in the workplace
5. Give them space
 Give them time to themselves
 Also includes giving a day off, or lightening the
work load of the employee
6. Keep their dignity in tact
 Never make an employee feel bad about
showing emotion in the workplace (i.e. crying,
feeling frustrated)
HOW TO EFFECTIVELY MANAGE EMOTIONAL
EMPLOYEES

15. 7. Reframe your messages
 Make sure to choose your words wisely.
 Make sure to think through what you want
to say so you can clearly and effectively
communicate your message.
8. Anticipate and handle responses to change
 Change can stir up emotions in employees
 Be prepared, and give employees time to
discuss their concerns.
HOW TO EFFECTIVELY MANAGE EMOTIONAL
EMPLOYEES

16. 9. Stay connected and caring
 Ask questions to gauge how employees are
feeling.
10. Train supervisors and managers
Conflict management training
Communication skills training
Positivity training
HOW TO EFFECTIVELY MANAGE EMOTIONAL
EMPLOYEES

17. Managing emotional employees in the
workplace can be hard.
To effectively deal with this challenge, HR
must become more compassionate leaders
among employees.
Employees with good compassionate leaders
can be more effective, and can have better
relationships with one another.
HOW TO EFFECTIVELY MANAGE EMOTIONAL
EMPLOYEES

18.  In HR it is important to be emotionally
intelligent to help get tasks done and deal
with conflict in the work place.
It is HR’s job to make sure they know how to
effectively deal with emotional employees
without having a, “deal with it” attitude to
make sure employees feel valued.
In turn being able to effectively deal with
emotion in the workplace will make for more
effective employees.
SUMMARY

19. Have you ever seen an emotional employee
being managed in the wrong ways? In what
ways can you change the situation.
There is an employee that seems to always
have issues with others, how do you use deal
with that employee?
Can you think of any other ways to deal with
emotional employees?
QUESTIONS

20.  Miller, K. (2012). Organizational communication
approaches and processes. Australia: Cengage.
 When Work Gets Personal: Managing Emotional
Employees. (2015, June 25). Retrieved March 23,
2017, from
https://www.yourerc.com/blog/post/When-Work-
Gets-Personal-Managing-Emotional-Employees.aspx
 Gunarathne, R. (2016, February 11). Emotional
Intelligence at Workplace - An HR Manager’s point
of view. Retrieved March 23, 2017, from
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/emotional-
intelligence-workplace-hr-managers-point-view-
gunarathne
WORK CITED