Newsgram

Frontline Supervisor: Anger in the Workplace

Q. I read somewhere that supervisors should never get angry at their employees. I am not sure I agree with that advice. Isn’t it better for employees to see the real person in a supervisor rather than a machine with no emotions?

A. The supervisor’s job is to coach, direct, develop, educate and counsel employees on work issues. He or she performs these functions as a representative of the work organization with whom the employee has a pay-for-hire relationship. Supervisory functions do not include demonstration of anger that the organization feels toward employees for failure to perform satisfactorily. Because this role does not exist, the supervisor expressing anger is implying that his or her personal boundaries have been violated, and is supplanting the organization’s relationship with his or her own. When employees disappoint, corrective tools and administrative measures exist to help them improve performance. A supervisor can feel anger, of course, but to act on these feelings and display an emotional reaction can only diminish the quality and effectiveness of the relationship the employee has with the organization.

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