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It's a modern day epidemic. Rage rules. On the road. In the airways. At sports events. And increasingly, on the job as well. There's lots of anger in the American workplace today. More people are mad as hell and acting out their anger than ever before. As it turns out, our stressful society produces hostile individuals on and off the job.
To make matters worse, anger is indiscriminate. It affects and afflicts all parties: workers, customers and, even, supervisors and managers.
The scary part is anger is a self-defeating, self-destructive and counterproductive emotion. It doesn't solve problems. It only creates them or makes them worse. It has no redeeming value.
Anger is a dictator that can control lives and drive behavior. It blots out reason and blurs good judgment. Worst of all, it can lead to dangerous outbursts of violence or other destructive behaviors. Obviously, anger has no legitimate place in any business, office, shop or factory. When it occurs, someone has to see that it doesn't take root or take over the workplace. If managers don't do it, who will?
That's why handling anger on the job has become a new survival skill for leaders in all fields. Good supervisors know how to diffuse employee anger, placate angry customers and control their own angry impulses as well. Fortunately, any manager or supervisor can learn how to do it. A good place to start is by implementing proven measures for containing anger among employees and staff members.
Helping Employees Handle Anger
Workers get angry for a variety of reasons. Some are merely responding to the pressures and stress of everyday living. Some are actually mad at themselves or family members; but their anger spills over into the workplace.
Others are angry with coworkers because of personality clashes, prejudice or alleged affronts. A growing number are also outraged by perceived mistreatment from their bosses or employers.
It's not just postal workers who are upset and lashing out today anymore. It can happen in any business or industry. More and more workers in all fields are mad about layoffs, increased competition, loss of privacy and mounting pressure to do more with less.
Many employees feel they are powerless pawns in an...