In a new thought leadership resource, global HR research and advisory firm McLean & Company highlights that although there has historically been little room for emotions in the workplace, future-focused organizations have a responsibility to drive a healthy emotional culture for employees or else risk impacts to productivity, engagement, and the bottom line.
With the workforce continuing to grapple with a significant degree of uncertainty both in and out of the workplace, global HR research and advisory firm McLean & Company has identified that employee emotions matter more than ever in the future of work. According to a new thought leadership resource from McLean & Company, employees can no longer separate their emotions from work as they contend with blurred boundaries between work and home, heightened exposure to world crises, increasing concerns about the rise of AI, economic uncertainty, and a charged political landscape. Rather than adopting the traditional approach of avoiding emotions altogether, the firm advises that organizations need to be proactive about how emotions and work can coexist to enable workplaces where everyone can thrive. To guide HR and organizational leaders through challenging the perceptions of emotions at work to unlock the potential of a balanced and healthy emotional culture, the firm has published its latest industry resource, Demystifying Emotions in the Workplace.
“Creating an emotionally healthy culture founded on inclusion, psychological safety, and conflict resolution is critical to organizational performance and fostering employee engagement.” says Grace Ewles, director of HR Research & Advisory Services at McLean & Company. “An emotional culture does not mean emotions run wild. Rather, a healthy emotional culture encourages the appropriate expression and regulation of emotions in line with organizational norms and values.”
The firm explains in the new resource that organizations are often largely unaware of how to address and navigate emotions in the workplace, which impacts the success of wellbeing and mental health initiatives. McLean & Company suggests that all organizations have an emotional culture, whether they acknowledge it or not. To succeed and compete in the rapidly evolving landscape, the firm notes that organizations have just as much of an obligation to prioritize emotional wellbeing in the workplace as other critical organizational priorities.
In the resource, McLean & Company explains that organizations may fall under three emotional culture categories:
- Emotionally suppressive. Indicators of an emotionally suppressive organization include retributive behaviors, toxic positivity, burnout, and avoidance.
- Emotionally healthy. In an emotionally healthy organization, employees are supported through psychological safety, effective conflict resolution, holistic approaches to wellbeing, and inclusion and belonging.
- Emotionally unregulated. When an organization is emotionally unregulated, the culture is often impacted by impulsive behaviors, gossip, disrespect, and a lack of boundaries.
The firm’s insights suggest that, to achieve an emotionally healthy work environment, HR and people leaders must find the right balance between three cultural elements: leadership behaviors, cultural norms and values, and organizational processes.
However, HR is not the be-all and end-all for a healthy emotional culture in the workplace, McLean & Company advises. Improving and sustaining the emotional health of an organization is a shared accountability and requires a collective effort from individuals, teams, and organizational leaders. From executive leadership to frontline employees, every person contributes to the health of the emotional culture. It is not, and cannot be, up to HR alone.
“When we understand what emotions are and what they are not, we’re less likely to misinterpret our own emotions and reinforce negative thoughts around them or mislabel and stereotype others based on their emotions,” explains Ewles. “For example, feeling sad doesn’t have to mean someone is in a bad mood, while having a bad day doesn’t necessarily mean someone is a negative person. Recognizing these differences in ourselves and others can create empathy and understanding in the workplace and contribute to a healthier emotional culture.”
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