Tears in the Workplace
There’s been a long standing rule of business that you never want to cry at work. No exceptions. It doesn’t matter what happens – death, sickness, whatever…the rule was you don’t cry at work. Once you were branded a ‘crier’ – your career was over.
I think if we haven’t learned anything over the past 18 months, it’s that there are no more sacred cows. That includes changing the way we view work and people’s behavior. While I’m certainly not advocating crying at the drop of a hat, maybe we need to view tears in the workplace a little bit differently.
Big revelation: at work, our employees are under a tremendous amount of pressure. These days, the chances are they’ve been asked to do more work with fewer resources. It’s possible they aren’t receiving adequate training and support from their company. It’s also very possible they aren’t getting regular feedback from their manager. If that doesn’t put a person on edge…I don’t know what will.
On the home front, employees might be experiencing difficulties as well. Maybe a spouse or significant other has lost their job. Unemployment insurance payments don’t cover the rent and utilities. Savings are running low. Meanwhile, the kids need money for lunches, field trips and friend’s birthday gifts. Any of this starting to sound familiar?
I’m not a psychologist but IMHO, the culmination of all these factors can send the strongest people to the breaking point. For many, this is about survival…not just a little belt-tightening in the household budget.
Dr. Bret Simmons recently wrote a post about how to deal with crying in the office. It’s a good read so be sure to check it out. He tells us that crying should be treated as a symptom, not a problem. In addition to Dr. Bret’s observations about the possibility of crying being linked to employee engagement and morale, let me toss out my own two-cents. As leaders, it’s important to keep some perspective about what is currently happening in our companies as well as our communities and be empathetic to others.
Most of us have never dealt with the kind of economic challenges we’re currently facing. Things appear to be improving, but I think there are still some hard times ahead. Let’s not apply old school rules to a set of new world challenges.
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