Angry Employees Can Improve Workplace

If you’ve got an angry employee on your hands, you may want to listen to what they have to say. That’s the finding of new research that suggests that a compassionate response to an angry employee can make your company a better place to work .

In fact, the study found that when employees are punished or fired for their angry outbursts, little or nothing is accomplished.

“Business codes of conduct are often about what we shouldn’t do as an angry employee in emotional episodes, while few, if any, tend to address our role as observers of emotional episodes,” said researchers Deanna Geddes, chair of the Temple University Fox School of Business’s Human Resource Management department.

The researchers found that a single act of support by a manager or co-worker of the angered employee can improve workplace tension.

Managers who recognize their potential role in angering an employee may be motivated to respond more compassionately to help restore a favorable working relationship,” the researchers wrote in the journal Human Relations.

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