Workzone: Don't shed a tear at work
-
Don't shed tears at work
Share with others:
The conventional wisdom for both male and female employees when it comes to shedding tears in front of co-workers in the workplace is: Don't do it.
Things can go wrong and difficult issues can come up at work, but most workplace consultants agree that crying is not the best way to deal with job-related stress.
"Except for bad personal news, crying is perceived as over-emotional, and people who cry at work are perceived as being less together and less in control," said workplace consultant Sally Mounts, president of Auctus Consulting Group, based in Washington, Pa.
"The best rule is fewer tears are better and no tears are best," she said. "In the workplace, perception is reality. Tears could lower a person's credibility despite their overall good performance."
While employees are expected to be passionate about their work, the workplace itself is opposed to common displays of emotion, be it yelling, loud swearing, stomping out of meetings or slamming doors.
Tears are the ultimate show of emotion and fall into a category of their own in corporate America.
"Choking up a little is OK, but full-blown crying will be uncomfortable to others because they won't know what to do," said Patricia Lenkov, president of Agility Executive Search in New York.
"You may have a problem at work, but it's never a good idea to let it all hang out," she said. "We have to maintain our composure if we want people to take us seriously."
There are some instances where crying at work may be more acceptable.
Natural disasters or getting bad news about a colleague becoming gravely ill or dying would not be considered a bad moment to break down.
Tragic personal events unrelated to job stress, such as a death in the family or a divorce, tend to also be more tolerable cases for crying as long as it's a one-time bawling event. If it continues over a long period of time, it could be problematic.
Researchers at Pennsylvania State University who studied the effects of crying found that women cry four times more often than men, and men who merely tear up are viewed more positively than any other crier in any scenario they tested.
First Published February 5, 2012 12:00 am
