Performance Management

In this chapter, the authors focus on the importance of emotion management within the organisation. While they have previously discussed some general issues related to emotion and emotional behaviour in the workplace, it is now time to reflect on how such topics should converge in performance management techniques. Leaders, and managers in general, are required to nurture the people that are part of the organisation, thus somehow recognising the outcomes, results, and accomplishments achieved by an individual, group or organisation. Favouring an organisational culture that takes into account performance as a way to enhance people's efficiency through feedback and training opportunities, managers can improve job satisfaction and limit employees' turnaround, which in turn create a positive workplace for emotion management.

Some Hot Topics in Personnel Management and Emotions

Building upon the findings from the previous chapters, the authors introduce the hot topic of perception, and the theories and models that researchers have proposed to somehow rationalise the decision-making process. In particular, they observe how individuals perceive specific situations and what factors influence such perception. This chapter is useful to reflect on past experiences, and the way you think of the people you come across in your life or within the organisation you work for. In this perspective, the authors show that perception can be manipulated through motivation techniques, using, for example, Maslow's theory of needs or Latham's SMART goals approach.

Emotions in the Workplace

In this chapter, the authors build on the classic theories from the previous chapter to better understand the role of emotion in the workplace. They introduce the field of organisational behaviour, which deals with what people, as individuals or groups, do in an organisation, and how what they do affects the organisation itself. Although it would be impossible to present all matters related to organisational behaviour as a discipline, the authors discuss issues concerning diversity in the workplace, as well as considering personal attributes that can influence behaviour and decision making in the organisation. While offering a clear definition of moods versus emotion, they also tackle the impact of personality, personality traits, and values in the workplace.

The Future of Emotions in the Workplace

In this chapter, the topic of artificial intelligence in the organisation will be presented. First of all, the authors start looking at the state of art in AI, one of the hot topics of the last decades. After discussing the practical uses of artificial intelligence in the organisation, they introduce the concept of emotional artificial intelligence that is linked to the ability of a machine to interpret human behaviour and adapt their responses accordingly. Artificial intelligence also offers interesting solutions for emotion analytics to support decision making, and to predict individuals' behaviour, whether in marketing or personnel management, among others. However, all this potential has an ethical dark side, linked to privacy issues, the loss of jobs to machines, or other threats to humanity caused by improper use of technology. While exploring more about machine learning, the authors reflect on some of the modern questions we face.

Organisational Culture and Strategic Marketing

In this chapter, the authors introduce the concept of emotion in marketing initiatives. In particular, they look at the way consumers react to emotions that arise from marketing campaigns and advertising. In this perspective, classic theories of consumer's emotional response are presented, and the reasons behind what we buy and why are analysed. Furthermore, they argue that marketers play with emotion to sell a specific product or need, while we, as individuals, tend to buy more stuff when we are not happy as a way to make us feel better. The authors also discuss the appeal certain brands have, whether because they represent a status symbol or we are genuinely more affectionate towards them for the experience they provide us. Lastly, the authors present some findings related to emotions after the buying process.

Emotions in Change Management

In this chapter, the authors focus on emotion during a time of organisational change. While we read everywhere about disruptive change, transformational management, and similar topics, it is still not clear how organisations should go about such changes in their business models, processes, and procedures. The explore emotion management during transitions in the workplace, thus identifying general stages individuals go through, while offering practical tips to deal with them. Because different emotions can arise during a period of change, the authors introduce to the dynamics of power within the organisation, and how these can influence the success of change initiatives. In particular, they mention the hygge philosophy and the Theory U movement as practical examples of change management processes.

PBL Training and Hiring for Vision

In this chapter, the authors present some original findings in relation to knowledge and personnel management. In particular, they argue that one of the major challenges modern organisations face is the ability to retain and make the most of their internal knowledge. Whether tacit or explicit, knowledge transfer is a key component of organisational success, and this should be enhanced through external and internal factors, such as individuals who benefit from an educational system that values a problem-based learning approach, and an “hiring for vision” attitude embedded in the organisation. Hiring for vision implies that employees are selected according to their technical skills, as well as their personality traits and values, which facilitate them to be active agents of the organisational culture.

Of Leaders and Leadership Through Emotions

In this chapter, the authors explore leadership and its relation to emotion. While looking at who is a leader, they present the basics around the concept of emotional intelligence, and its huge impact in the last decades. Research findings will be presented to highlight fundamental characteristics of leaders, such as mindfulness, the ability to manage emotions of the self and the others, empathy, as well as social skills, intended as the ability to handle relationships, in group and social settings. Furthermore, they introduce the concept of emotional labour, which consists of a range of work-related emotions, and the four Cs theory that suggests we should appreciate emotions according to context, challenges, communication, and community. Lastly, the authors present models and processes to measure leadership traits, such as performing a social network analysis or a personality test.

Emotions in Organisational Behaviour

In this chapter, the authors cover the basic concepts around emotion. In particular, they present an historical introduction of emotion theories, while offering several definitions of emotion, as well as research findings in the past decades. You will be introduced to the major exponents of emotion theory, such as Darwin, James, Freud, Arnold, Lange, Averill, Hochschild, and many more. At the end of the chapter, the reader should have a better understanding of the theoretical background needed to appreciate the importance of emotion in the workplace. After the conclusions, there is a comprehensive section of further readings, for those who would like to learn more about these topics.