photo credit: C. K. Hartman
The workplace is a small model of the real world. In a lot of ways it’s like the television show “Survivor.” Some people survive and stay on the island; some are voted off. There are challenges all the time and those that pass the tests often are the ones who stay on.
The biggest difference between the workplace and the island is that the workplace is (hopefully) alive and always moving. At least it’s supposed to be. In this way, it is more like a ship than an island – a sip with a destination. That destination may be to fulfill the business’s mission; often it is to make a profit and survive to to fight another day.
Keeping your ship afloat and sailing
Hostility is one of those torpedoes that sink the business ship. Or it can set the ship adrift in unfriendly waters. I wanted to take a look at some of the ways that hostility can plunder your business.
This is a ship that has a galley of people who are working together, rowing toward your given destination. Tension and conflict between the people that actually get the work done can put the galley members rowing out of unison. If one side is rowing out of step with the other, your ship is going to simply go in circles. Hostility and hard feelings are one of the chief enemies of productivity. It only takes one galley member.
So what do you do when you have an employee who has a hostility issue? I say hostility because this is beyond anger. Anger is a simple feeling. No one has ever hurt anyone else with anger. It’s invisible and goes on inside the mind and body of the individual rower. It is when aggression is added to anger that problems begin.
What do you do when the crew is revolting?
When you have a hostile employee, there are several things you can do. You can, of course, simply get rid of the employee. The question is what does that cost? What’s the cost nowadays to train a new employee?
You can discipline the evildoer. How well does that work? In my experience, it often leads to further hostility.
You could keep the discipline in your pocket and work with that employee to turn him or her around. It is important that the employee know the rules of the game. It’s not necessary to like everyone, but working together is an absolute necessity in keeping your ship afloat.
I’ve worked with many employees whose hostility was rooted in needs not being met, and a lack of the basic knowledge of emotional intelligence. Simply giving the employee the tools to self-soothe, to connect with a mindful way of looking at both the workplace and the world can give that employee the opportunity to make the most of the workplace experience.
Will they all be silk purses? I doubt it, but they can learn the basic hostility reduction skill to remain a productive and valuable employee.
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