Member Article

Workplace displays of emotion; they’re no bad thing

“Is it unprofessional to get emotional at work?”

I was recently asked this question during a discussion with a colleague and, if I’m honest, I’ve never really considered in much depth, as I take it as a bit of a given.

Surely, businesses that hire goal-focussed people who are really attempting to reach their full potential, should understand that these highly-motivated individuals will invariably go through high pressure situations. I don’t think that showing your feelings during these kinds of tough times makes you any less of a person or any less of an asset to the team.

One of our core values at UKFast is ‘supportive’ so if people do feel like they’re struggling, there will always be someone nearby to help. It’s something we take really seriously and I think that if you encourage a tight knit company culture, people’s emotional ebbs and flows will get absorbed by the support network around them. I see no reason why they should be viewed as “unprofessional” and actually I’m not sure that attitude is a healthy one.

I think you can see it in people’s eyes sometimes when there’s something playing on their mind. And often, when you ask them, you find that it’s something going on outside of work that’s distracting them. In my experience, it’s better to get it out in the open so you can ask, “How can we help?”

Frankly, I feel sad for the kind of workplace environment that disapproves of showing emotion. You can’t expect people to act like robots! And if you think about it, we spend one third of our lives asleep, one third working and one third at home or out doing leisure activities. Why would you want to spend a third of your life devoid of emotion?

So whilst some people probably do think it’s unprofessional to get emotional at work, I would have to disagree. I certainly don’t subscribe to the idea that tears are a sign of weakness. Surely, the only thing they’re a sign of is the fact that you’re human.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lawrence Jones .