Michael C. Juliano, Staff Writer
Published: 09:48 p.m., Friday, June 18, 2010
Anger in the workplace has become more common as employees work harder than ever because of layoffs, according to a Fairfield University professor.
Donald Gibson, professor of management and chairman of the management department at the school's Charles F. Dolan School of Business, recently received the 2010-2011 Robert E. Wall Faculty Award to research the phenomenon of workplace anger and how it can be used constructively.
"This is not about asking people if they are angry, because we know that," said Gibson, who conducted a Gallup poll study four years ago that showed that 25 percent of workers were angry from being overworked and unable to achieve goals. "This goes back to making it so that people can talk about their emotions to determine what is causing the anger."
Gibson said he intends to interview 350 managers and 100 employees from various fields to reveal the best ways that colleagues on both sides can express their anger so that neither explodes.
"Understanding causes and consequences of anger can help the person expressing it and the people around that person," said Gibson, who also will consult psychologists' academic research conducted on anger since the 1990s. "Understanding it is better than ignoring it."
Gibson said he is performing the study partly because of the frustration he has had with failing to accomplish tasks in the workplace.
"All of my work has been focused on how do we help people in the workplace," he said, adding that he hopes bosses also will find his book useful. "As a manager, you want to be able to communicate openly with your employees before a problem gets too large."
Employers who are fair, supportive and approachable are less likely to have angry workers, said Andrea Goodman, a licensed clinical social worker and therapist from Fairfield.
"Employers and managers need to consider what kind of environment they are creating and whether they are approachable," she said, adding that overworked employees tend to react unfavorably sooner or later. "That's a very unhealthy environment."
Managers should address anger in the workplace right away by talking with the disgruntled employee and perhaps coaching him or her on appropriate responses, said Jennifer Moran Pignataro, president of the southern Connecticut chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management.
"It's best not to sweep it under the rug," she said, adding that unchecked anger can lead to absenteeism and decreased productivity. "That can be counterproductive to business results."
Gibson worked for Lorimar Productions, managing distribution for television and movies, before earning a master's in business administration degree and a doctorate from the University of California at Los Angeles in the 1990s to study workplace emotions. He is editor of the Current Empirical Research section of Organization Management Journal and has served as program chairman and executive director of the International Association for Conflict Management. The courses he teaches at Fairfield University include "Leadership" and "Managing People for Competitive Advantage."
From Newstimes.com published on Friday, 18 June 2010
