1. Emotions in the workplace
Sara L. Teske
Siena Heights University
January 2015

2. Emotion in the workplace
Interaction with co-workers and supervision is necessary in most jobs.
Workplace relationships, personal and professional, create a potential for wide array of emotions, positive and negative(Miller, 2015)
Tension between private and public relationship
Negative emotions spread
Conflicting Allegiances
Emotional Obligations

3. Emotional Labor – Jobs, in which, workers are expected to display certain feelings to satisfy role expectations (Miller, 2015)
Surface Acting – superficial behaviors
Deep Acting – realistic emotional display
Imagine friendly environments
Sympathizing with customers/clients
Emergency Call Center personnel, corrections officer, police officers, judges, and firefighters
Potential outcomes – stress, anxiety, resentment
Emotional Labor

4. Emotional Work - Genuinely expressing emotion on the job (Miller, 2015)
Professionals – healthcare, human services, and education
Deal with a ton of emotion
Compassionate Communication – connect with clients by being empathetic, responding in a way to make a difference
Emotional Work

5. Stress and burnout Emotions in workplace cause stress and “burnout”
Stressors – environment factors that are difficult for someone to deal with, creating strain on the individual which, in turn, causes “burnout” (Miller, 2015)
Burnout – some ongoing stressors that contribute to burnout are:
Emotional Exhaustion
Depersonalization
Lack of Personal Accomplishment
Stress and burnout

6. Emotional Exhaustion – Unable to face another day at work, frustration and fatigue
Depersonalization – service workers objectify client to protect themselves
Lack of Personal Accomplishment – seeing oneself as a failure and ineffective
Dimensions of burnout

7. Have you become cynical or critical at/about your workplace?
Have you become irritable/impatient with your supervisor, coworkers or clients?
Do you have to drag yourself to work?
Do you lack job satisfaction?
Do you lack energy to be consistently productive?
Are you using food, drugs, or alcohol to cope with your job?
Are you experiencing unexplained headaches and backaches?
Have your sleeping or eating habits changed?
Signs of Burnout

8. Causes of workplace Burnout
Lack of Control
Unclear Expectations
Dysfunctional Workplace Dynamics
Poor Job Fit
Extremes in Activity
Lack of support
Work-Life Imbalanced
Large Consequences for Failure

9. Professions with High Burnout rates
Physicians (50% Oncologists, 60% Palliative Care Doctors) (Creagan, 2014)
Nurses
Social Workers
Teachers
Attorneys
Police Officers
Professions with High Burnout rates

10. Consequences of workplace stress/burnout
The Mayo Clinic(2014), indicates that a number of physical and mental health problems are caused from burnout.
$3-$5 Billion per year indirect and direct costs from burnout
global problem
Can cause fatigue, insomnia, stroke, obesity, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, substance abuse, depression, and negative spillover into home life.
75%-90% of Doctor’s visits are stress related.

11. Coping with burnout/workplace stress
Schrupp (2005) indicates that the following things help mange workplace stress and burnout.
Employer Can Help By Providing:
Flexibility
Incentives to encourage good health
Books about self-meditation
Employee Can Help By:
Exercising Regularly
Taking Time for Leisurely Activities
Getting enough sleep
Being Optimistic
Having Realistic Expectations
Humor
Relying on Support Systems
Having strong Faith System

12. References
Creagan, E. (2014). Outwitting burnout. 11 Dec Miller, K.(2015). Organizational communication: Approaches and processes. Stanford, Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Pg Schrupp, L. (2005). Coping with workplace stress. Business Mexico, (14/15) 12/ ?accountid=28644