Employee’s Emotions: A Manageable Weapon forOrganizational Development

ABSTRACT

No well-accepted definition of the term “emotion” exists. Difficulty in defining “emotion” hampered research on it for a long time. Emotion in the workplace for many years was only considered important in relation to employee wellbeing and job satisfaction. More recently, however, it has been recognized thatemotions play a role in almost all work activities. This researchtried to find out the relevance of managing employees emotions atthe workplace. The study dealt with the identification of the causes of employee emotions, the challenges faced by managers in regard to the management of employee’s emotions and examine the measures used in managing employee emotions for strategic organizational development. Primary data was collected by administering questionnaire to a employees and management of Valley View University. Sample size of forty (40) employees and ten (10) management members were selected conveniently for the study. The study revealed that the main causes of employee emotion are, excessive workload, lack of guidance and support, meeting deadlines, role dissatisfaction and ambiguity of job description. Measures identified that can be used in managing employee emotions effectively are provision of counseling centre,organization of periodic seminars on how to deal with emotions and other work related issues, creation of harmonious relationship with employees and reduced work load. The challengesfaced by managers with regard to the management of employee’s emotions are Miscommunication and inability of the employer in identifying the personal traits of the employee.

Key Words: Emotions, Management, Skills, Organisations,

Development

INTRODUCTION

No well-accepted definition of the term “emotion” exists.

Difficulty in defining “emotion” hampered research on it for a

long time. Emotion management refers to the ways in which people

influence their own feelings and expressions and the ways in

which they influence other people’s feelings. All employees

engage in emotion management as part of their jobs and employers

often play a significant role in shaping emotion management. In

this complex situation, organizations both public and private

sector have to manage emotions in an effective way. Emotions must

be managed to keep a healthy staff and a growing bottom line.

Experiencing emotions is part of being a human being,

(Totterdell, 2002).

Over the past few years, emotions in the workplace were only

considered important in relation to employee wellbeing and job

satisfaction. More recently, however, it has been recognized that

emotions play a role in almost all work activities within an

organization. Employment involving working with people entails

learning to manage one’s own emotions in order not merely to

continue to operate, but also to arouse desirable responses in

other people, (Hochschild, 1983).

Gross and Thompson (2007) highlight the important roles that

emotions play as “they ready necessary behavioral responses, tune

our decision making, enhance memory for important events and

facilitate interpersonal interactions.”

Managing emotions plays a critical role in helping managers and

employees to cope with the dynamic changes in the business

environment. Managing emotions supports the managers and

employees to recognize and understand emotions and use emotional

intelligence to manage oneself and his or her relationship with

others (Wall, 2008).

In this light, organizations must coach their employees in

developing their interpersonal skills and coach them to perform

effectively on the job with other employees in the organization.

Emotional intelligence is one of ways by which an individual may

be able to manage his emotions. Collins (2000) defines emotional

intelligence as the ability to identify and manage one’s own

feeling and other people’s feeling.

According to The Behavioral Health Coaching Institute, emotions

can harm employees, affect how they react to pressures and be the

cause of low productivity and poor results. They state that,

“Emotional pain is described as any pain that strips people of

their self-esteem and disconnects them from work’’. Emotional

pain can come from the environment within which we find

ourselves, for example emotional pain can come from family or

personal crisis, traumas and tragedies. But it often stems from

painful incidents at work, such as the behavior of immediate

bosses, uncooperative employees, abrasive clients, poorly handled

mergers or changes, bad work policies and practices, or the

stress and grind of everyday work. However, if issues are handled

correctly and managers are successful in creating a positive work

environment, it is more likely these “emotional pains” can be

minimized.

Negative consequences arise if employees are encouraged to

suppress their emotions or allowed to have outbursts and treat

their co-workers poorly. The work environment could potentially

become hostile, resulting in a high turnover rate, sub-par

performances, and low morale, which ultimately affects the

organization. (Hochschild, 1983).

In order for an organization to be successful in overcoming such

circumstance, it needs to develop employee’s emotional

intelligence skills to work effectively and efficiently in the

organization. The most important dimension of emotional

intelligence is stress management. (Miller 1994).

Statement of the Problem

Employees are tangible assets a company or an institution can

have, there is a view that every organization has a systematic

way or approach that must be followed to attain or achieve

certain goals. Over the years, managing employee’s emotions

within an organization or a workplace has been a major concern to

the employers of an organization. Since there is no well-accepted

definition of the term “emotion”, it makes it difficult for one to

identify the emotions of another person. Due to difficulty in

defining “emotion”, it has hampered research on it for a long

time. Therefore, emotion in the workplace for many years was only

considered important in relation to employee wellbeing and job

satisfaction. More recently, however, it has been recognized that

emotions play a role in almost all work activities. The impulse

of this research is to find out the causes, ways and challenges

faced by organizations in relation to emotions of employees.

Objectives of the study

The rationale behind the study is to find out the relevance of

managing employees emotions at the work place. The specific

objectives were;

To identify the major causes of employee emotions within the

workplace.

To identify the measures used in managing employee emotions

within valley view university.

To examine challenges faced by management in regard to the

management of employees’ emotions

Literature Review

Definitions of Emotion

In many situations in our daily lives, we often find ourselves

suppressing feelings and displaying a more socially accepted

emotion that is deemed more appropriate. Emotions arise through

social interaction, and are influenced by social, cultural,

interpersonal, and situational conditions (Martin, 1999).

Regulating one’s emotions to comply with social norms then is

referred to as “emotion work” (Hochschild, 1990). When our job

roles require us to display particular emotions and suppress

others, we do our emotion management for a wage. Hochschild

(1983) termed this regulation of one’s emotions to comply with

occupational or organizational norms as “emotional labor.” She

defined emotional labor as “the management of feeling to create a

publicly observable facial and bodily display; emotional

labor is sold for a wage and therefore has exchange value”

(Hochschild, 1983). The ability to manage emotions is important

in all jobs but it is most important in jobs that entail high

levels of interaction with work colleagues, customers, or

clients. Jobs involving a service role usually require employees

to express designated emotions in particular ways when dealing

with customers. Examples of such jobs include flight attendants,

hairdressers, fast food workers, call center operators, debt

collectors, and funeral directors (Martin, 1999). An undeniable

fact is that, how employees feel and how they express their

emotions affects their performance and the performance of others.

Managing emotions in organizations

Humans are complicated beings and full of emotions. According to

Totterdell (2002) employers or managers should be careful in

their attempts to influence emotion management, due to the

following reasons;

Ethics: Many individuals view emotions as very personal

experiences. Employers’ attempts to control emotions may

therefore be regarded as interference and resisted by

employees.

Emotion Display Rules: Individuals learn to use some form of

emotion management skills from infancy through to adulthood.

However, this may be hindered in their work by having to

follow inflexible corporate emotion display rules. For

instance, some service organizations require employees to

follow dialogue scripts during interactions with customers.

Unfortunately scripts do not generally lend themselves to

natural interaction and are usually insensitive to important

emotional cues from customers.

Emotional Contagion: Emotions are contagious. Therefore

spread within teams and across employee networks. Research

has found that emotional contagion can also affect team and

service performance.

Companies can benefit in a number of ways by considering new

initiatives in consultation with employees on the emotions

management within their organization.

Factors Affecting Emotion Management

There are two major factors that affect emotion management; they

are Emotional Intelligence and Emotional Labor.

Emotional Intelligence: The theory of emotional intelligence is

developed and conceptualized into three models. Thus, ability

model, traits model and mixed model. Emotional intelligence is

the ability to accurately identify and understand one’s own

emotional reactions and those of others (Mayer & Salovey 2002).

Managers are required to be emotionally sensitive while handling

their employees both at the office and outside the office. One

can be emotionally intelligent if he or she deal with the

emotions, moods and impulses of a person with a lot of

sensitivity. Emotional Intelligence is a different way of being

smart. It includes knowing what your feelings are and using your

feelings to make good decision in life. Dalip Singh, (2001)

mentioned that application of emotional intelligence supports the

managers and employees to recognize and understand emotions and

using emotional intelligence to manage oneself and his or her

relationship with others. The application of emotional

intelligence in the organization includes the areas like

personnel selection, development of employees, teams and the

organization. The organizations must coach their employees in

developing their interpersonal skills and coach them to perform

effectively on the job with other employees in the organization,

(Bar-On et al, 2007). Organization’s to be successful, need to

develop employee’s emotional intelligence skills to work

effectively in the organization, (Wall, 2008). Effective use of

emotional intelligence gives better team harmony (Ashforth et al,

1995). Leaders with high emotional intelligence are able to

understand their employee’s needs and provide them with

constructive feedback. Success in sales requires emotional

intelligence ability to understand the customer and provide

service to customers (Murray, 1998).

Emotional Labor: Emotional Labor is defined as the control of a

person’s behavior to display appropriate emotions (Chu, 2002).

This means that, a person evokes or suppresses certain emotions

so to conform to social norms. Emotional labor plays a crucial

role in managing employee’s emotions in an organization.

According to Hochschild, (1983) emotional labor is performed

through either Surface acting or Deep acting. Deep acting is an

emotional labor strategy wherein the employee makes a cognitive

effort to produce the needed emotional display by changing both

expressions and feelings that match the particular situation

hence aligning their true feelings with the desired emotions

possibly by concentrating on positive thoughts or reevaluating

the situation. Surface acting is an emotional labor strategy that

contains complying with organizational display rules by managing

and hence simulating emotional expressions that are not actually

felt by the employee. This also contains repression and hiding

felt emotions, which would be inappropriate to demonstrate

(Hochschild, 1983).

Payne, Jick and Burke (1982) concluded that emotional labor

affects acute and permanent states of mind equally. As a result

of negative effects, an individual may lose not only his or her

inclination or propensity, but ability to perform emotional labor

because negative effects, unlike positive consequences,

accumulate in time. However, the effects of emotional labor on

individuals are significantly dependent upon the level of

emotional labor chosen. According to the findings of Rafaeli and

Sutton (1987), genuine acting is free from emotional dissonance,

and emotional dissonance is most often dissolved through deep

acting too, while being a constant concomitant of surface acting.

METHODOLOGY

The research was basically a descriptive research, which involves

the collection of extensive narrative data. The population of the

study comprised employees and management of Valley View

University. The sampling technique that was employed by the

researchers is non-probability sampling. Thus convenience

sampling technique was used to conduct this study; primarily

respondents who were available and willing to answer the

questionnaires were used. The sampling size comprised ten (10)

management members and forty (40) employees. The study relied on

primary data as it source of data. The primary data was obtained

from the respondents through a carefully constructed

questionnaire. Questionnaires are often used as part of a survey

strategy to collect descriptive and explanatory data about

attitudes, beliefs, behaviours and attributes (Buame, 2006 cited

in Akafo, 2012). Questionnaire was used since it was cheaper and

guaranteed anonymity. Items on the questionnaire sought

respondents’ views on objectives of the study. The questionnaire

was designed to capture the demographic data of respondents and

their opinion with respect to the research questions. The

questionnaire was divided into four sections. The section A

collected data about the demography of the respondents. The

section B collected data about the causes of employees’ emotions

in the work place. The section C also collected data about the

ways management use in managing employees’ emotions and the

section D was used to collect data about the challenges

management face in dealing with emotions of employees.

The questions were all closed ended. The questions were designed

based on the five point Likert scale. The questionnaires were

personally administered to the respondents. The respondents were

required to indicate the extent of their agreement or

disagreement with each of the statements on a score of one (1) to

five (5). A score of one (1) represented strong disagreement with

the statement, while a score of five (5) represented strong

agreements. This type of scaling was suggested when items are to

be judged on a single dimension and arrayed on a scale with equal

interval (Alreck & Settle, 1995). The data collected were

analysed through descriptive statistics. They were analysed

through frequency distribution tables. The data were later ranked

through mean scores (represented by response average) for the

respective responses. Responses with the response average of 4.0

and above were used for the discussion. The data were analysed

with the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences, (SPSS

Version 14.0).

DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

The gender of the respondents consisted 60% males and 40%

females. The age group of the respondents was 65.8% were between

18-28 years. This age group is mostly considered as the working

class. Again, 15.8% were between 29-39 years, 15.8% were between

40-50 years and only 2.6% were between 51-60 years.

Tab. 1 Causes of Employee Emotion

Causes of

Emotions

Strongl

y

Disagre

e

Disagr

ee

Neutra

l

Agree Strongl

y Agree

Respons

e

Average

Meeting

Deadlines

2.5%

(1)

5.0%(2

)

12.5%(

5)

45.0%(1

8)

35%(14) 4.05

Excessive

workload

0%(0) 5.0%(2

)

5.0%(2

)

57.5%(2

3)

32.5%(1

3)

4.18

Lack of

Guidance and

Support

0%(0) 7.5%(3

)

15.0%(

6)

37.5%(1

5)

40%(16) 4.10

Unfair

treatment by

managers

0%(0) 10.0%(

4)

17.5%(

7)

42.5%(1

7)

30.0%(1

2)

3.93

Quarrels with

co-workers

2.5%(1) 7.5%(3

)

22.5%(

9)

42.5%(1

7)

25.0%(1

0)

3.80

Role

dissatisfacti

on

0%(0) 2.5%(1

)

17.5%(

7)

52.5%(2

1)

27.5%(1

1)

4.05

Verbal abuse 0%(0) 10.0%(

4)

17.5%(

7)

47.5%(1

9)

25.0%(1

0)

3.88

Conflict

arising from

work in

diversity

team

0%(0) 7.5%(3

)

15.0%(

7)

50.0%(2

0)

27.5%(1

1)

3.98

Ambiguity of

job

0%(0) 2.5%(1 10.0%( 67.5%(2 20.0%(8 4.03

description ) 4) 7) )

Lack of

rewards

0%(0) 10.0%(

4)

22.5%(

9)

32.5%(1

3)

35.0%(1

4)

3.93

The study revealed that among the factors that cause emotions

among employees of Valley View University, excessive workload was

adjudged the highest factor with response average of 4.18. The

second highest factor that causes emotion among the employees was

lack of guidance and support relating to work with response

average of 4.10. Meeting deadlines and role dissatisfaction came

next as factors that cause employee emotions with each having

response average of 4.05. Again, ambiguity of job description was

seen as the last factor that causes emotions among employees.

From the Tab. 1 it can be seen that higher percentages were

recorded both Strongly Agree and Agree relating to almost all the

factors that were considered by the researchers as causes of

employee emotion at work place. Therefore, in other to get the

main causes of employee emotions, the researchers used the

average responses.

Tab. 3 Measures used in managing employee’s emotions

Measures Strongly

Disagree

Disagree

Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

Response

Average

Reduced work load

0.0%(0)

7.5%(6)

15.0%(6)

45.0%(18)

32.5%(13)

4.03

Provision Counseling Centre

2.5%(1)

2.5%(3)

10.0%(4)

45%(18) 40%(16) 4.18

Easy accessibilityto managementby employees

12.5%(5)

5.0%(2)

17.5%(7)

40.0%(16)

25.0%(10)

3.60

Manage employee forums to address concerns

7.5%(3)

5.0%(2)

30.0%(12)

42.5%(17)

15.0%(6)

3.53

Create harmonious relationship with employees

5.0%(2)

5.0%(2)

2.5%(1) 52.5%(21)

35.014) 4.08

Relaxed work schedules

7.5%(3)

15.0%(6)

10.0%(4)

40.0%(16)

27.5%(11)

3.65

Organize periodic seminars on how to deal with emotionsand other

0.0%(0)

5.0%(2)

10.0%(4)

55.5%(22)

30.0%(12)

4.10

work related issues

The researchers observed from Tab. 2 that a higher percentage was

recorded for almost all the factors above as being the measures

that can be used to control employee emotion at the workplace. As

a result of this, the response average was used to determine the

ways in which management use managing employees’ emotion. After

using this criterion, the researchers found that the measures

used by management were through provision of counseling centre

with response average of 4.18. The second measure was through the

organization of periodic seminars on how to deal with emotions

and other work related issues with average response rate of 4.10.

Creation of harmonious relationship with employees and reduction

of workload were the other measures used by management in dealing

with employees’ emotions at the workplace.

Tab. 3 Challenges faced by managers with regard to the

management of employee’s emotions

Challenges Strongly

Disagree

Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

Response

Disagree

Average

Miscommunication between manager and theemployee

0%(0) 5.0%(2)

7.5%(3) 60.0%(24)

27.5%(11)

4.10

Inability to know personality traits

0%(0) 2.5%(1)

10.0%(4)

62.5%(25)

25.0%(10)

4.10

Inability to support employees with emotional difficulties.

2.5%(1)

5.0%(2)

25.0%(10)

40.0%(16)

27.5%(11)

3.82

Inability of employees to express emotions well to aid assistance

2.5%(1)

5.0%(2)

10.0%((4)

60.0%(24)

22.5%(9)

3.95

Communication gap between managers and employee

2.5%(1)

7.5%(3)

20.0%(8)

40.0%(16)

30.0%(12)

3.88

The ability to recognize employee emotion by manager

0.0%(0)

5.0%(2)

17.5%(7)

62.5%(25)

15.0%(6

)

3.88

From Tab. 3 above, the researchers wanted to find out the

challenges that arise in relation to management’s ability to

manage employees’ emotions. The study revealed that among the

situations that posses as challenges to management,

miscommunication between management and employees, and inability

of management to know the personality traits of the employees

were the most pressing challenges with response average of 4.10

each.

Moreover, observation from the Tab. 3 shows that most of the

factors posed by the researchers had higher percentages for both

strongly agree and agree. Therefore, for the researchers to come

out with the most challenging factors, average response rating of

4.0 and above were set to determine the challenges.

From the results of the study it is not surprising that among the

challenges faced by management in dealing with employees’

emotions, inability to know personal traits and miscommunication

between managers and employees came up as the most among the

challenges. Emotion is something that is felt by only the person

or individual who experiences it. Therefore, unless it is

exhibited by the person feeling it either through facial

expression or mood or acts by the individual, it will continue to

become a challenge for management to be able to know it and

manage the emotions well.

Sometimes also, employees are unable to communicate their

emotions well to their managers to help them offer appropriate

help the employees. Emotion, if not well communicated is

something that can be very difficult to diagnose.

Discussion of findings

Emotions as has already been stated is one

CONCLUSIONS

No well-accepted definition of emotion exists. Difficulty in definingemotion hampered research on it for a long time.

REFERENCES

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Ashforth, B.E., & Humphrey, R. H. (1993). Emotional labor in

service roles: The

Influence of identity.

Bar-On, R. (2010). Emotional intelligence: an integral part of

positive psychology.

Rafaeli A., Sutton R. (1989): The expression of emotion in

organizational life.

Totterdell P., Holman D. (2003): Emotion regulation in customer

service roles:

Testing a model of emotional labor.

The elements of emotional intelligence—being aware of ourfeelings and handling disruptive emotions

well, empathizing with how others feel, and being skillful inhandling our relationships—are crucial

abilities for effective living.We should be teaching the basicsof emotional intelligence in schools.

—Daniel Goleman (2001)

Goleman, D. (2001). Emotional intelligence. [Online]. Available: The George Lucas Education Foundation Web site at http://www.glef.org/eihome.html.