...Understanding the role of perceptions, personality and emotions in the workplace Perceptions, personality and emotions cannot be ignored when discussing the workplace because quite simply, the workplace is made up of people who come with different personalities, subject to different emotions and ways of looking at things. A successful company will understand this and its managers will work to create a positive atmosphere. Emotions, personalities and perceptions all have an effect on how employees interact with one another, how decisions are made, how managers are able to motivate their employees to increase productivity, and how conflicts and negotiations are handled. It stands to reason that if employees are happy and enjoy coming to work then they will be more productive. According to Barsade and Gibson, “…the evidence is overwhelming that experiencing and expressing positive emotions and moods tends to enhance performance at individual, group, and organizational levels” (Barsade & Gibson, 2007). Frost describes a mechanism of “emotional contagion” where when the leaders express positive emotions, the staff will be influenced by this and the outcomes tend to be positive (Frost, 2004). It would stand to reason then, that in a company with displays of negative emotions, the opposite would result. Affect is an umbrella term used by Barsade and Gibson as a range of discrete emotions (fear, anger, joy), moods (cheerful, sad), dispositional traits (negative, upbeat)...
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...for Positive Influence in the Workplace Influencing is committing oneself to work successfully with others. Influencing is using a range of skills to get work complete and maintain good relationships with others. This plan will address specific differences and how each difference influences behavior in the attitudes, emotions, personalities, and values of people to collaborate with in the workplace. Also, the differences will be addressed on how to effectively address these behaviors to positively influence the team. Differences Attitude is the way people feel about their work and the approach that is taken towards the work. Others can feel the belief through another’s attitude towards work. A positive attitude can be a transfer of feelings to others. Attitudes are focused around three components; beliefs, intentions, and feelings. Attitudes can be addressed by creating the proper workplace climate, establish rules of discipline, overcoming resistance to change, and dealing with age and cultural differences. A change in a person’s thinking is the best way to make a change in others people’s life and workplace. People’s attitudes are affected by organizational changes, life imbalances, less social interactions, and new technologies. These can affect a person’s attitude to be negative in the workplace. To address these stresses, organizations need to develop employees through training and group meetings. Emotions are experienced daily in workplace among all workers. These are...
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...Is it OK to Cry at Work? Managing emotions in the workplace Managing emotions in the workplace is a challenge for many organizations. Emotions are not measurable, and cannot easily be predicted, and this can be difficult for management. Emotional outbursts are still often seen a sign of weakness or as an indication of irrational thought or behavior (Robbins, 2015, p. 95). Emotions are not easy to regulate, although emotional regulation as part of the study of emotional intelligence is being studied (Robbins, 2015, p. 107). The ability to control emotions may be a “strong predictor of job performance” (Robbins, 2015, p. 107). The show of emotion is inherent in each of us, and individuals can show very different emotional response to the same stimuli, so response to the same event can be very different, based on the individual’s current mood and others factors. Many people can become very good at masking emotions, and in fact in some jobs it might be very important to achieve a high level of emotional dissonance, however this disparity between what we are feeling and what we are displaying can be counterproductive. In fact, in one study it was determined that “individuals with highly developed self-monitoring capabilities are more negatively affected by emotional dissonance” (Abraham, 1999, p. 451). Another factor that may come into play in attempting to manage emotion in the workplace is gender differences. It is commonly believed that in the US men are taught...
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...2014 Abstract The purpose of this research paper is to explore emotions in the workplace. By having a thorough understanding of how emotions affect individuals, companies can be more productive. Keywords: emotional dissonance, positive and negative emotions, Introduction In order to understand the motivation behind individuals in the workplace, one must understand feeling and emotions. Emotions are defined as intense feelings directed at someone or something (Robbins, pg. 90). Emotions cover a broad range of feelings. Feelings such as elation and happiness are considered positive emotions while feelings of hate and anger are negative emotions. Also, with the discussion of emotions in the workplace, there are felt emotions and displayed emotions. Felt emotions are an individual’s actual feelings whereas displayed emotions are those that are required by the organization for a specific job (Robbins, pg. 102). By understanding emotions, a positive work environment can be developed. Managing Emotions The workplace offers a bountiful opportunity to experience a wide range of emotions (Muchinsky, 2000). There are several factors that make organizations ineffective at managing emotions. Not having a full understanding of emotions and how they affect the workplace is one factor. Items such as one’s personality, time of day, day of week, stress, amount of sleep, age and sex can affect one’s emotions. For example, if a manager knew that levels of positive affect...
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...Crying At Work: Displaying Strong Emotions in the Workplace Tamara L. Ginter Southern New Hampshire University Crying At Work: Displaying Strong Emotions in the Workplace We all feel emotions. Yet, it is a well-known “fact” that emotions do not belong in the workplace. Business literature for decades has reinforced the stereotype that emotions negatively affect the workplace (see, for examples, Taylor, 1947; Whyte 1956). Only recently has research begun to focus on the many facets of emotions on organization behavior (Huy, 2012; Kluemper, DeGroot, & Choi, 2013; Mirela & Iulia, 2013; Muchinsky, 2000; Perrone & Vickers, 2004; Zineldin, 2012). This paper will address several aspects of emotions in the workplace, including: managing emotions, displaying emotions, management styles that use emotions as a tool, and changing an organization’s emotional climate. Managing Emotions Of the five categories of emotions defined by Lazarus and Lazarus (1994, cited in Muchinsky 2000), only two of the three categories consist of positive emotions. Muchinsky (2000) hypothesizes that it is how we respond to emotions, our coping efforts, that “are a major contributing factor in understanding job performance” (804). Several factors can make some organizations ineffective at managing emotions. The first is due to coping efforts, which are “not just a fixed set of strategies…but a changing pattern that is responsive to what is happening” (Muchinsky, 2000, p. 804). For some...
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...Do Emotions Effect Job Performance Monica Colbert Virginia College Abstract Emotions are pure human physiological phenomena. Experiencing emotions is a part of being human. It’s a must that it be managed to keep a healthy staff and a growing bottom line. Emotions have a profound effect on almost everything we do in the workplace. What employees feel and how they express their emotions affects their performance. Emotions directly influence decision making, creativity and interpersonal relations. An employee is critically affected by their behaviors in the workplace (Perez. 2010. Pg 1). An employee’s emotions and overall temperament has a significant impact on his job performance, decision making skills, team spirit, and leadership skills. Leadership is actually about emotion management and emotions don’t just affect businesses but contribute to their structure. 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. It also states that “Emotional pain is an inevitable part of life. It can come from the outside, 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.” Do Emotions Affect Job Performance Almost any job that we have, there is a point in time where things get emotional;...
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...Rajendran, Downey & Stough :Assessing Emotional Intelligence in the Indian workplace: a preliminary reliability study. 55 Assessing Emotional Intelligence in the Indian workplace: a preliminary reliability study Diana Rajendran (drajendran@swin.edu.au) Department of Management Swinburne University, PO Box 218, Lilydale, Victoria, 3140, Luke A. Downey: (ldowney@swin.edu.au) Brain Sciences Institute Swinburne University, PO Box 218 (H99), Hawthorn Vic 3122, Australia. Professor Con Stough (cstough@swin.edu.au) Professor in Cognitive Neuroscience, Director, Brain Sciences Institute. Swinburne University, PO Box 218 (H99), Hawthorn Vic 3122, Australia. Abstract The concept of Emotional Intelligence (EI) has recently attracted a great amount of interest from HR practitioners and academics alike. Whilst the majority of research in this area has been conducted in Western countries, recent studies have begun to assess the generalisability and validity of the EI concept in cross-cultural settings. The purpose of this paper was to assess the reliability of the Workplace version of the Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test (Workplace SUEIT) in an Indian population. The Workplace SUEIT demonstrated adequate reliability in the sample of 110 participants in India, although the mean scores for the sub-scales were significantly lower than in the Australian normative population. The results are discussed in the context that EI tests need to undergo...
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...Organizational behavior process in the workplace includes knowledge of the understanding of perception and its link to learning, emotions and attitude, and organizational culture. With perception and learning these two primary activities in human behavior are important aspects in the workplace. These elements are always around us; how one is perceived is a major factor in the workplace. In society there is a process on how we break ourselves and others down by belonging to different societal groups like culture, gender, or profession. Human being inherently want to feel good about themselves even in the workplace and associate with the groups that tend to make them feel that way. Through the use of interactive learning tools such as training, meaningful interaction, and accountability employers are minimizing the biasing effects of stereotyping and making to wrong judgments based on perception. “Organizing people and objects into preconceived categories that are stored in our long term memory” (McShane & Von Glinow, 2010, p.70). A final perceptual activity about a person can influences their behavior to act in a consistent manner with those beliefs. There are perceptual errors found in the workplace which managers must strive to minimize perceptual biases by improving perceptions through empathy and self-awareness. There are three fundamental ways in which we learn: behavior modification which is learning through reinforcement, social learning theory which is learning...
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...Affective Events Theory 1/26/2012 Abstract Emotions and moods are an important part of daily live and work live, and can influence our job performance and job satisfaction. The affective events theory demonstrates how employees react emotionally to things that happen to them at work, and that their reactions can influence their attitudes and behaviors at work. The theory, which was introduced by psychologists Howard M. Weiss and Russell Cropanzano, states that negative emotional episodes in a work environment can produce shocks that then produce lasting affective reactions. Emotions and moods are an important part of daily live and work live, and can influence our job performance and job satisfaction. The affective events theory demonstrates how employees react emotionally to things that happen to them at work, and that their reactions can influence their attitudes and behaviors at work. The theory, which was introduced by psychologists Howard M. Weiss and Russell Cropanzano, states that negative emotional episodes in a work environment can produce shocks that then produce lasting affective reactions. Work events can include, but not limited to hassles, tasks, autonomy, job demands, emotional labor and uplifting actions. Emotional labor occurs when an employee displays the company’s desired emotions during interpersonal transactions at work. These work events affect employees positively or negatively. Employee mood directly affects the intensity of their reaction...
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...Communication at Work Professional communication is one of the most coveted skills in the workplace today. The number one cause of wasted work time and effort is poor communication. Poor communication not only contributes to wasted effort, but also causes frustration and poor employee morale in both the workers and managerial staff. Whether we are an individual performer, manager, or Vice President, effective professional interpersonal communication is an essential skill that will both ensure our stability in the corporation and the major indicator for our promotion. In this essay, we will discuss the principles and misconceptions of effective professional communication in the workplace, explain how perceptions, emotions, and nonverbal expression affect interpersonal relationships, and describe a systematic approach to guide us through interpersonal conflicts in the workplace. Principles of Professional Communication In today’s troubled economy, corporations are basing their future success and longevity on their business principles, conduct, and reputation. To build a solid reputation, they focus on integrity, business ethics, and a code of business conduct designed to make them stand out above the competition. The same basic principles hold true for the successful employee workforce. With interpersonal communications skills being one of the most coveted skills in the workplace today, each employee must focus on improving in this area. Integrity, respect, openness...
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...1. What factors do you think make some organizations ineffective at managing emotions? There are many factors that make some organizations ineffective at managing emotions in the workplace, such as personality issues or depression or different culture or lack of management involvement with employees. It is hard to help them when they keep it as a secret and not willing to tell anyone. Each person may not act in the same way in a same situation due to cultural background (Robbin 2013). As a result, organizations face difficulties when they are handling with their employee’s emotions. In addition, sometimes leaders of the organizations cannot control their own emotions as well, since everyone has his/her difficulties and bad mood in sometimes. On the other hand, emotions are considered disruptive which they felt interfered with employees’ ability to work in organizations. Employees are not allowed to express frustration within the workplace, but they didn’t realize that emotions are a part of daily life. 2. Do you think the strategic use and display of emotions serve to protect employees, or does covering your true emotions at work lead to more problems than it solves? In my opinion, covering your true emotions at work lead to more problems that it solves that will not solve your problem in a long term and it will make thing worse. Although, it make people feel less trustful and disrespectful on his/her works. Therefore, you should perform a professional manner when you are...
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...you supposed to be rude back because it’s not fair to be treated disrespectfully? This is a case of something called emotional labor. Organizational Behavior, by Robbins and Judge, defines emotional labor as an employee’s expression of organizationally desired emotions during interpersonal transactions at work. This being said, a person who expresses emotional labor would shake off this verbal abuse from his coworker to keep his behavior appropriate for work. A factor that may contribute to someone’s ability to be able to show emotional labor is the idea of emotional intelligence. Organizational Behavior says, Emotional intelligence ( EI) is a person’s ability to ( 1) be self- aware (to recognize her own emotions when she experiences them), ( 2) detect emotions in others, and ( 3) manage emotional cues and information. With these two concepts taken into consideration, one can hypothesize that someone with a high level of emotional intelligence would be able to engage in emotional labor. If the aforementioned new employee was able to manage emotional cues and information, a critical part of emotional intelligence, than they would be able to keep their emotions in check and display emotions that were acceptable at the workplace. Emotional intelligence isn’t the only factor that contributes to a person’s ability to engage in emotional labor, however, there...
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...relationship in our social world. However, when looking at interpersonal behavior in the workplace, things become a little more complicated. Interpersonal behavior affects the relationships between coworker and coworker, coworker and supervisor, and even worker and customer. Interpersonal relationships are important in career and job success. Positive relationships can lead to harmonious work achievement, overall happiness, and even success. Negative relationships can lead to poor work performance and can hinder problem solving and conflict resolution. Throughout this journey into interpersonal behavior, certain issues that can hinder the overall success or the organization will be dissected and different solutions to these issues will be proposed. The organization being used in this study is CB Richard Ellis Service Desk at Baylor. The unit consists of 10 employees. They come from different backgrounds and all have different goals. While a tight knit group, there are some interpersonal behaviors that hinder the organization as a whole. Throughout this project interpersonal behavior is substituted for words such as interpersonal skills and interpersonal relationships. Problem Statement Interpersonal skills are important attributes in maintaining a positive business atmosphere. Without these skills, relations inside a business become hostile resulting in workplace dissatisfaction. The main issue regarding the organization is the lack of positive interpersonal...
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...What factors do you think make some organizations ineffective at managing emotions? Some factors that make some organizations ineffective at managing emotions could managers don’t understand psychology, or the organization does not offer programs such as anger management to employees. Emotions are strong feelings directed at someone or something (Organizational Behavior, page 98). Some managers do not have any experience handling employee’s emotions, or they may not know how to approach any issues dealing with emotions. Understanding emotions is important for organizations and managers to understand, because detecting emotions can lead to creating an effective environment. So I think organizations should offer employees a training session or show a video on how to manage emotions in the workplace, and to have guidelines on how to manage emotions in the organization. Handling emotions in the workplace will create a positive atmosphere, and will improve production in the organization. Do you think the strategic use and display of emotions serve to protect employees, or does covering your true emotions at work lead to more problems than it solves? I think the use of strategic use and display of emotions serve to protect employees for a reason, and that even though you cover your true emotions in certain situations it’s best for the organization. Displayed emotions are those that the organization requires workers to show and considers appropriate in a given...
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...MOODS AND EMOTIONS AT WORKS Emotions in the workplace play a large role in how an entire organization communicates within itself and to the outside world. “Events at work have real emotional impact on participants. The consequences of emotional states in the workplace, both behavioral and attitudinal, have substantial significance for individuals, groups, and society”. “Positive emotions in the workplace help employees obtain favorable outcomes including achievement, job enrichment and higher quality social context”. Negative emotions, such as fear, anger, stress, hostility, sadness, and guilt, however increase the predictability of workplace deviance,” and how the outside world views the organization. “Emotions normally are associated with specific events or occurrences and are intense enough to disrupt thought processes.”. Moods on the other hand, are more “generalized feelings or states that are not typically identified with a particular stimulus and not sufficiently intense to interrupt ongoing thought processes”. There can be many consequences for allowing negative emotions to affect your general attitude or mood at work. “Emotions and emotion management are a prominent feature of organizational life. It is crucial “to create a publicly observable and desirable emotional display as a part of a job role.” Circumplex model The circumplex model of emotion was developed by James Russell. This model suggests that emotions are distributed in a two-dimensional circular space...
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