By Gemma Hartley — 2019
Effective strategies for discussing the invisible load you’re shouldering in the workplace.
Read on www.fastcompany.com
CLEAR ALL
Sadness is a central part of our lives, yet it’s typically ignored at work, hurting employees and managers alike.
Much like the struggle to recognize the economic contributions of childcare for stay-at-home parents, there could be a similar gap in the working world. The definition of emotional labor being used here is that of unpaid, invisible work.
When workers’ emotions deviate from what’s expected of their gender, they are often left to process the backlash on their own.
We hear a lot about the struggles of working women and the notion that we can create some semblance of order between managing responsibilities at home and at work. It’s the elusive work/life balance every working woman longs to achieve.
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COVID-19 is hard on women because the U.S. economy is hard on women, and this virus excels at taking existing tensions and ratcheting them up.
“The research is pretty clear that surface acting is almost always bad for you.”
All those little details, necessary but distinctly un-flashy, are sometimes referred to as “emotional labor.” In the workplace, that labor may include booking a room for a meeting, reserving an event space, or keeping morale going with a Secret Santa exchange.
It could be dragging down your job performance and psychological health.
What will you leave behind in 2019? Here’s one suggestion: toxic workplace emotional labour. If you’re an administrator or manager, you may have influence over that not only for you but for employees in your sphere of influence.
With the possible exception of Sesame Street’s Oscar the Grouch, very few of us have the luxury of being able to be completely and utterly ourselves all the time at work.