Introduction
It is normal for human beings to have emotional or moral sensitivity, especially about personal principles. According to experts, feelings have numerous effects on an individual in terms of one’s perception of things, people, places, and ideas (Kreamer, 2011).
Behavior and attitude are some of the main indicators of the way emotions affect an individual. Studies have established that emotions can either affect someone in a positive or negative way.
This depends on factors such as their immediate environment and maturity levels. The workplace is one such environment where people develop feelings, which affect them in different ways. According to experts, feelings in the workplace influence a lot on the success of an organization in terms of employee experiences and the ability to build good relations with their clients (Drexler, 2013).
A positive work environment helps the employees to relate well with each other, while negative feelings dampen everyone’s moods that lead to unfulfilling emotional states.
Experts argue that positive emotional states by employees help to boost productivity because everyone has enough motivation to give their best output in their respective duties (Kreamer, 2011). Most organizations in the contemporary world tend to hire individuals with high levels of emotional intelligence.
This plays a crucial role in building the right workplace environment for good productivity. Organizations also incorporate emotional management strategies in their employee training and development programs. Such training help employees to understand the negative effects that feelings in the workplace have on important elements such as productivity (Drexler, 2013).
Discussion
One of the main reasons for the increased interests in the concept of feelings in the workplace is the need to improve employee welfare. This means that organizations should design their workplace environment and structure in a manner that allows employees to express themselves appropriately (Wartzman, 2013).
Experts argue that feelings are an integral part of every human being’s life and cannot be taken for granted. People often express their feelings through speech, behavior, and attitude. For example, it is easy to tell when someone is in pain because they will say it, show it through their body language, or act in a certain way (Kreamer, 2011). Organizational leaders have a huge responsibility of ensuring that they understand the emotional state of their employees.
The most important thing is to ensure that employees learn to develop positive feelings as a way of preventing negative emotions from developing (Wartzman, 2013). Studies have established that emotional intelligence is one of the most desirable qualities in the contemporary workplace environment. It is defined as the ability of an individual to identify his or her emotions, analyze them, and understand the way they can affect others (Kreamer, 2011).
For example, if someone knows the way he or she feels when they are under pressure, they normally avoid making appointments at such a time (Goudreau, 2013). The reason for this is that they can be late or fail to deliver because of overwhelming work. Therefore, it is important for all employees to be emotionally intelligent because it influences on the level of organizational success in a positive manner.
The emotional state of employees can either motivate them to give their best output in their duties or dampen their spirit. In addition, the nature of employee relations in the workplace depends on their feelings and the way they respond to them (Wartzman, 2013).
According to experts, employees in the workplace respond to feelings in a passive and aggressive manner, mostly denoted by non-verbal cues. These responses entail a situation where someone has anger towards his or her colleague but chooses to communicate silently instead of voicing out their feelings.
In most cases, employees develop negative feelings due to reasons such as lack of promotions, poor remuneration, lack of rewards, sexual harassment, verbal abuse, and too much work among others (Wartzman, 2013). Such feelings are hard to express, thus most people tend to change their attitude towards work, colleagues, organizational goals, and desire for professional development. However, experts argue that some employees can fail to show their feelings by choosing to keep quiet (Goudreau, 2013).
Negative effects of feelings in the workplace on the behavior of employees
Studies have established that most feelings in the workplace have negative impacts on the behavior of employees. According to experts, feelings in the workplace tend to have numerous effects on the behavior of employees. The first effect is the lack of motivation to work (Drexler, 2013).
The way people choose to deal with their feelings can lead to the development of a highly destructive pattern, which results in conditions such as depression. A build-up of negative feelings often leads to someone developing a state of self-denial and hatred. When this kind of energy is moved to the workplace, most of the people working with such an individual often start mirroring their attitude and behaviors (Kreamer, 2011).
A negative state of mind kills the motivation of employees to work, especially when they cannot express themselves in their desired manner. Experts argue that an employee needs to feel appreciated and wanted in their place of work as a way of motivating them to give their best output (Wartzman, 2013).
Experts argue that the behavior of employees in the workplace is highly dependent on the way some crucial aspects of the workplace are addressed. These aspects include conflict management, job description, and information management. Studies have established that these three elements influence the way employees relate to each other and their level of motivation to achieve organizational goals (Kreamer, 2011).
The second effect is low confidence levels among employees. Studies have established that most employees tend to develop negative feelings in the workplace due to the lack of strong, effective, and visionary leadership (Goudreau, 2013). Apart from meeting organizational goals, employees have their own career goals that they hope to achieve in their places of work. However, poor leadership can cause many employees to lose their belief in their abilities to deliver on their work demands.
Such negative thoughts compel employees to lose confidence in their colleagues as well (Goudreau, 2013). Studies have established that a clear job description that defines the duties and responsibilities of every employee play a crucial role in building confidence among employees.
It is often the responsibility of organizational leaders to ensure that all employees understand their duties and responsibilities. However, if the leaders fail to do their work effectively, employees will start developing a negative attitude towards their jobs. This results in employees lacking the necessary confidence due to issues such as conflicting interests (Drexler, 2013).
Another negative effect of feelings in the workplace is the loss of passion for professional development. Studies have established that negative energy in the workplace affects the attitude of employees towards their work. This often kills their passion to advance in their careers (Goudreau, 2013).
Job satisfaction plays a crucial role in motivating individuals in the workplace to improve their educational qualifications and acquire new skills. Experts argue that the problem can become deeply rooted in an organization if organizational leaders and the management team suffer the same problem (Drexler, 2013). Employees depend a lot on their leaders for motivation and guidance in terms of career development and fulfilling their duties.
Numerous studies conducted to establish the effects of negative feelings in the workplace established that the behavior and attitude of employees change the most when feelings develop. This eventually affects organizational success due to factors such as high employee turnover rate, low morale to work, and lack of commitment to organizational goals. Organizations experience extremely low employee retention rates due to lack of motivation to work (Goudreau, 2013).
Conclusion
Emotional intelligence is one of the essential qualities that employees in the contemporary workplace environment ought to have. It is important for employees and organizational leaders to identify, analyze, as well as understand their feelings and the way they can affect other people.
Organizational leaders have a responsibility to ensure that they create a workplace environment that creates positive energy. The emotional state of employees in the workplace depends a lot on their immediate environment. A positive work environment helps the employees to relate well with each other, while negative feelings dampen everyone’s moods.
References
Drexler, P. (2013). Emotions and Work. Web.
Goudreau, J. (2013). From Crying to Temper Tantrums: How To Manage Emotions at Work. Web.
Kreamer, A. (2011). Taking Your Feelings to Work. Web.
Wartzman, R. (2013). When You Wear Your Emotions at Work. Web.