In “Faking your emotions at work” by Adam Grant, the key takeaways in the podcast are: we have to manage our emotions, other’s emotions and lack of openness in workplaces. There are various guests in the show who tell about a personal experience that involved managing emotions.
Having to manage your emotions at work plays a huge part in helping you provide great quality customer service and improve employee behavior. In a job where perhaps an inappropriate comment is made, many job titles must maintain professionalism at all times. An example of managing other’s emotions is working at a call center, receiving a phone call from an angry customer about a broken product from the company. Often when people are angry, they already have other issues going on in their own lives, but all the blame is put on you.
Learning to control your emotions while also managing someone else’s is a hard task. Many workplaces do not create a space for freedom of expression. Part of the job is keeping a smile on your face and being kind to the customers. While someone from the outside may advise someone working in a place that requires A+ customer service to quit, it is more complicated than that. While quitting would fix the problem of not coming back to that company, it would also mean a missing paycheck.
Employees would like to be able to be themselves, all while staying respectful to the customer compared to wearing a fake smile for 40 hours a day per se. These employees are real people too, just like you and I. If people could just manage their own emotions, it could be a two-way street and everyone can be held accountable for their actions. Organizations and businesses should allow more open conversation for employees, where they may voice concerns and offer advice.