This is not new news. But it still applies.
According to Donald Gibson of Fairfield University and Sigal Barsade of Yale University, one out of four employees is substantially angry at work. Their study “The Experience of Anger at Work: Lessons from the Chronically Angry,” indicates most workers are not so angry that they’re ready to cause the boss physical harm, but they are angry enough to sabotage him.
Why are employees angry at work? The most common cause of anger at work — cited by 11 percent of the survey respondents — was the actions of supervisors or managers.
Here are some “root-causes”:
– Employee was promised a raise, promotion or important project, and it did not happen.
– Employee was told to do something he felt was wrong or incorrect.
– Employee could not live up to a supervisor’s expectations, because the expectations were too high or continuously changing.
– Supervisor was a micromanager and criticized employee frequently.
– Employee felt better qualified and skilled than his supervisor.
– Another employee doing the same job made more money.
Take a few minutes. Take a deep breath. What two or three steps can you take today to make things better around you?