Dr. Pooja Upadhyay
Associate Professor
AISSMS, Institute of Management, Pune.
poojaupadhyay@aissmsiom.org
Whenever we see an organization or an institution and admire it, we only see what it delivers and admire its success. But what we miss out is the very competent management, an efficient administrative force and a team of equally qualified employees behind its every effort to sustain competition and excel in its field. Now when we delve deeper we see that in spite of many employees, and every employee delivering his best, there are only a few, no more than a handful who can be called as the core team (core team type employee) who actually define the success of the organization.
Let’s have an example of IT Company where you have all technically qualified people looking after their respective responsibilities to their best, well but then not everyone is in the core team. So, we wonder what is different in all these people who constitute the core team or rather what makes them different and special. When we go into further depths, we are not very surprised to find that all the people in the core team have some very common traits which actually put them apart in a completely different league. One surprising aspect we may find within them is that other than being hardworking, punctual, intelligent they also are a very emotionally driven lot. They are really very attached to the organization from the core of their souls and everything else in their life becomes secondary.
The sense of attachment and the feel of ownership towards the organization makes them extra vigilant and boosts their loyalty and dedication towards it. Whereas a normal employee comes on time, delivers as expected and leaves on time completing his part of duty towards the organization which is very much fine but these members of the core team have no fixed timing and somehow the picture of success of the organization is going on in their minds all through the day and they get really active anytime they feel something is going wrong and might mar the reputation of the organization and they immediately start on their damage control mission, and they give their best in doing so. These are such emotionally driven souls that they do not even sleep properly if something disturbing has been going on in the organization. Even when not being told to them do certain things with a positive approach which would be very helpful for the organization, just like they were owners of the organization. And whenever anyone is emotionally involved in any work then it’s very natural that they do everything with passion and with a deep interest. And in many occasions, it’s also been seen that some of these people are not even been told to behave in that manner, it’s something within them that drives them towards being extra protective of their institution.
Many would argue that it’s never good for an employee to be emotionally attached to his organization because how much ever work he does the salary would be the same and he would not be paid for the extra dedication. Well, this is also a very logical and practical way of seeing things, but then some people are made of some different fabric and texture that this practicality does not seem to affect them. But it’s very natural and logical too that how can anyone deliver their best unless they are emotionally involved with the organization and its day to day activities, its growth and its image in public. The Workplace Dedication or for that matter the dedication towards the profession comes only when one is emotionally connected to the organization.
Late Dr. Abdul Kalam once mentioned, “Those who cannot work with hearts achieve but a hollow, half-hearted success that breed bitterness all around”. So loving your work and being emotionally involved may not be practical theoretically but for anyone to do justice to any work they are doing, it is very necessary that they get emotionally attached with that work and then they’re automatically set in a sense of ownership which in turn ensures that impeccable work would be delivered. So, it’s very necessary for any organization to have such dedicated, emotionally attached employees at its very internal and core. And if by any chance they choose to change the organization, which is very seldom, even then their attitude towards the new organization would be the very same. They would start protecting it the day they join it as if they were also owners of it.
This sense of ownership is very important for an employee to give his best to the organization. And for this very reason, many employers also offer a percentage in the company ownership (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) to capable and worthy employees just to ensure their positive involvement in the day to day activities of the organization. These employees exhibit the blend of extrinsic and intrinsic work values like integrity, organizational citizenship behavior etc.
It is said “Values are related to our emotions just as we practice physical hygiene to preserve our physical health, we need to observe emotional hygiene to preserve a healthy mind and attitudes. When once asked an employee of the core category he just wondered and said he could never think that any employee could ever deliver his best unless he was emotionally attached to the organization he worked for. Well, this view may have many counters and debates but the fact that prevails is that such thoughts exist and people having such outlook also exist and many organizations which boast of success actually thrive on the presence of such employees on their list of staff.
Another trait of a successful organization is obviously the role of administration to identify such core team employees and empower them accordingly so that they can fulfill their responsibilities to the maximum. Obviously, this exercise might take a few years where the other aspects of this employee would be put to test during various scenarios and his abilities to tackle such issues and when he satisfies all the constraints and succeeds then finally, he gets inducted in the core team. And then the organization will save a lot of time and money overlooking after many other affairs because now this will be done efficiently by this employee.
Sometimes it so happens that such employees have to report to another employee who does not appreciate the attitude of such core employee and try to underplay his efforts or paint them in a different color and such things really hurt these people and just because they are emotionally driven and they are hurt and feel cheated and then there develops a gap of mistrust and doubt, both of which are actually detrimental to both the person and organization. And this emotional bend of such people sometimes becomes their biggest handicap which cannot be either abandoned or can be carried forward without repercussions. So, personally, it is not always an asset to the person because they get hurt easily and when they are hurt the maximum damage, they do is to themselves. It is said that sometimes your emotions trouble you only in those things which you call yours.
The management should make sure such employees are identified well taken care of and well handled for, because core employees are not found easily and should be retained whenever spotted because with proper training and polishing they will definitely deliver lot more than expected and will always stand by the organization and will go to any extent to enhance its stature and image. And finally, it’s the management which should take a call on which trait of a person is required to be trained and polished, so that he fits exactly into the defined role, and what responsibilities can be bestowed on him.
There should be always an interaction between such core team employees and the management which would help the management to understand the ground issues and this will definitely be a very good trust building exercise and this trust once established will definitely go a long way and long-term relationship develops. Employees are actually an image of the organization. So the employers have to identify the employees and allocate them accordingly and decide the place which suits them.
Many Management thinkers are of opinion that too much or too less of anything is bad, the idea is to balance the emotions. But how to measure how much is too much or too less is the challenge. For that, sometimes, Emotional Agility comes to rescue. It is an important tool to be practiced in the workplace. It helps the employee to navigate life’s up and downs with Self-Acceptance, Clear Sightedness, and Open-Mindedness. The ability to manage ones’ thoughts and feelings is essential to organizational success.
Well, these are my views and views are always a reflection of perspective. So, feel free to share your perspectives and thoughts about An Emotional Employee by responding to the article on poojamgmt@gmail.com.