Have you ever answered ‘fine’ or ‘ok,’ or even ‘great,’ to a colleague asking how you feel, when in fact you have felt just the opposite? Have you ever held back your true feelings in a review or appraisal for fear of negative outcomes or stigma?

Recent research carried out by Emotion at Work, has discovered that ‘the extent to which people can express how they feel, across a range of emotions, improves emotional wellbeing outcomes at work.’ Improved emotional wellbeing can reduce stress and enhance overall job satisfaction.

Organisations that encourage frank and honest discourse about emotions can be more successful at building trust with their staff and retaining their people.

For many organisations the shift from the long-established workplace attitudes, where a show of emotion is deemed unprofessional, to a more open and honest environment, where people are encouraged to speak out, can be a bit uncomfortable.

With this in mind, we have come up with three ideas to help managers support the emotional wellbeing of their teams and manage any cultural barriers they may come up against:

Check-ins

To ensure staff feel comfortable talking about their emotions with their line managers there needs to be regular dialogue between the manager and team member.

Our Check-ins software is designed as an informal performance management tool and features a wellbeing area to record conversations. Any notes can be completely confidential, to only be viewed by line manager and report.

The Check-ins system will send automatic reminders to line managers, at a frequency chosen by them, to ensure they follow up on these meetings and are in regular conversation with their team members.

Wellbeing Barometer

Our Wellbeing Barometer tool is a simple sliding scale where staff are asked how they are feeling. At one end of the scale, 1, suggests they are feeling absolutely awful, and 10, at the top of the scale, suggests they are on top of the world.

The barometer can be set to pop-up and ask staff how they are feeling at a frequency to suit the organisation – be that daily, weekly, or monthly – and reports can help identify ongoing low mood where support may be required.

Improving Communication and Empathy Skills – Online Training

Good communication skills are key for managers if they want to get the best out of their teams. Equally, for those who struggle to talk openly about emotions, having some techniques up their sleeve can help them feel confident as they start conversations.

Our Communication faculty within our Infinity Library of online soft-skills courses is packed full of training courses that offer tips and advice. Particular titles include:

• Are You Really Listening?
• Ask Better Questions
• Building Confidence in Others
• A Manager’s Guide to Stress in the Workplace
• Create Understanding and Trust – The Johari Window
• What is Emotional Intelligence?
• The Importance of Empathy

As younger Millennials and Gen Z continue progress within the working environment, it may be the case that emotional expression is going to become more commonplace. Less taboo, more something we are encouraged to do, and something organisations need to consider embracing.