Related posts
- Tips for helping remote staff deal with work chaos and friction
- 5 digital detox tips to remedy digital nomad fatigue
Telecommuters can not escape global chaos, conflict and civil wars
Teleworkers working at home can not escape news and images of global chaos, political and business transformations, wars and civil conflict. I know remote workers take pains to do so. But we can’t.
For instance, the 2024 election results, hyper inflation, societal upheaval, norms confusion, food famine, economic slow downs or overheated economies (depending upon the statistics read for the day), claims that more variants of the COVID-19 on the horizon. Oh. Did I not mention war in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Columbia, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Iraq, Mali, Mexico, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Yemen Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Myanmar, and Israel (see the list of global conflicts with war casualties from 1,000 to 10,000).
The global stage appears to be blowing up. Right before our very eyes. Its no wonder. How might we keep our sanity? How do we go about our daily work life? How do we maintain our productivity, improved product quality, engaged customer service, lowered costs, and high employee morale in the midst of such confusion? Is it even possible? One way is through mental resilience.
You would think that remote workers working from home would be less impacted by worldwide societies in disarray. Systems torn asunder. But we are not. War, conflict and discord inflicts pain upon everyone. Just take a look at the data.
Negative impact of war on families and children
The American Journal of Psychiatry estimated about five years ago that more than 1 billion children live in war torn countries that are engaged in armed conflict and terrorism. And, unlike what many falsely believe, war can last a long time. Psychiatrists determined that wars throughout history have been engaged over periods that can last the entire childhood span of growth and development.
In addition to the livelihoods the world’s most vulnerable, about 60 million people worldwide says the United Nations High Commission of Refugees estimated were involuntarily displaced (using aggressive force) from their homes.
And as we spend a large portion of our day on our computers, we are bombarded with images of destruction, victims of natural disasters, civil war and inner city conflicts and struggles.
These may be of interest
- 9 signs your remote workplace is toxic
- Workplace safety tips when working from home
- Avoiding becoming the target of crime as a digital nomad
How does these negative events: war, conflicts between nations, and worldwide havoc effect remote workers, online business entrepreneurs, digital nomads working from anywhere and virtual team members?
High emotional demands= Workplace chaos
A review of the literature indicates that emotional demands related to work life can be expressed in the following manner:
- witnessing, being exposed to, or informed about the suffering of clients under your purview (book of business),
- becoming the victim or target of client threats of violence or client initiated violence,
- being on the receiving end of unrealistic demands and impractical expectations from clients.
These factors are particularly relevant for staff working at home. We are inundated with images flashing on our monitors of riots, political conflict and negative comments as we scroll to social media and news websites. Employees staffing remote jobs spend about 13 hours daily viewing the screens of our devices (Harvard Business Review).
Emotional demands in workplace (remote and in office workspaces) defined
Beyond virtual exposure to violent and emotionally disturbing image, workers are also exposed to situations requiring mental toughness in the workplace (home office workspace and in office environments). The European Work Conditions Survey No. 6 defined the emotional demands as those that occur when a person is carrying out his/her/their daily job tasks. In this regard, when an employee is faced with exorbitant amount of emotional demands beyond the societal norms of extending and receiving mutual positive regard in client interactions, the employee must:
- hide one’s true emotions and feelings while simultaneously being attacked personally or placed under pressure,
- handle communications with angry clients (as a key job function) in a professional, nondefensively,
- work with a high level of competency in situations that can be emotionally disturbing.
Want to quickly see an infographic? Staff working virtually must keep our shield up to guard against these four factors:
Review of industrial organizational psychology (I/O) studies on emotional pressures of work
Based upon these definitions, Small Business Economics set out to learn more about emotional demands (situations and events that require sustained mental and emotional effort) under stressful conditions. Economists conducted research based upon 273 entrepreneurs based in France. They found that overburdensome emotional demands were closely associated with entrepreneurial burnout.
International findings overall: emotional demands mean more emotional labor
What is meant by emotional demands?. An emotionally demanding work environment (at home or office) comes about when employees must suppress their own emotions and manage outward expressions when interacting with customers and clients. Its taking these adages in a bundle. “The customer is always right. Don’t wear your heart on your sleeve. Keep a stiff upper lip,” in action in the face of adversity, conflict and varying view points.
Research was undertaken to determine how emotional demands impact the well-being of service workers. The study findings based upon data from almost 3,000 participants and published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health demonstrated that the emotional pressure placed upon customer service workers by both clients and colleagues were equally stressful.
In this above I/O psychology study, not only were front line workers negatively impacted by the occupational requirement to suppress their own emotions. Supervisors and managers responsible for adversely impacted staff were captured in the web too where they needed to present themselves as positive, calm and pleasant when internally their feelings were the exact opposite. What feelings to be exact? Frustration, anger, confusion and stress. Conversely, high emotional demands of clients had a positive association with managers without direct supervisory responsibility of the impacted front line workers.
Emotional demands at work: Korean study
Another study focusing on high emotional demands based in Korea examined the mental health of more than 50,000 workers from not just customer service or self employed entrepreneurs, but encompassing all occupational classifications. The study spanned regular fulltime employees, unpaid workers in family sweat shops, and independent contractors.
As with the study informing us on the stressors imposed upon entrepreneurs, it was found that if other stressors where added in addition to the typical stress a small business owner faces daily (meeting payroll, having enough resources to cover sales and pay bills, and building a pipeline of new customer orders) there was a significant possibility that the entrepreneur would experience depression and anxiety.
Denmark: Emotional demands study in the workplace
Korean workers were not alone, across the globe in Denmark, researchers concluded that emotionally demanding work, emotionally disturbing situations revolving around work, and emotional involvement in work were associated with “a 1.5-fold increase in risk of long-term sickness absence and also associated with a 1.19 or 1.32-fold increase in risk of hospital-treated depressive disorder.”
What were some of the other stressors acerbating the problems associated with high emotional demands?
- low social support from others (family, friends, work colleagues, and supervisors), and
- low job security (business uncertainty, economic instability and competition from other unemployed job seekers).
While the results of the I/O psychological studies we’ve mentioned above may pose a depressing picture. There is good news to be shared.
Remote jobs are buffers against negative emotional tension
There are two evidence-based buffers that will help workers prevent the burnout associated with emotional pressure in the workplace as well as some of the preventable (?) global chaos occurring right now. At this moment.
- job autonomy, or the flexibility to determine how best to schedule their day and/or carry out their job functions. The very concept of remote flexibility is as varied as the workers who prefer this type of working arrangement. Harvard Business Review puts it this way, “the ability to connect and get work done from anywhere,” or working for an employer who “we’ll let you work from home a couple times a week.”
- job satisfaction, says Positive Psychology can be defined as “as any combination of psychological, physiological, and environmental circumstances that cause a person to truthfully say that they are satisfied with a job.”
In these two instances, hybrid, remote workers, digital nomads working from anywhere, remote members of virtual teams can rest assured that job autonomy and job satisfaction are embedded in the very essence of remote work.
While we are ecstatic about the barriers telecommuting naturally offers against mental instability; mental toughness is an ability that remote workers can further develop. When we make a conscious effort.
Why mental toughness is a vital skill to develop in the workplace
Why is it important to develop mental toughness? Organizational psychologists have found that mental strength, stamina, grit and perseverance are critical for “high performance in competitive environments and stressful situations.” (Kaiseler et al, 2009). Just because we work from home doesn’t mean that we operate in a vacuum.
Front facing remote jobs where we must interact with irate clients and difficult remote staff are more common than we admit. Suppressing our frustration and other negative emotions can take its toll. The ability to maintain the façade of calm positivity is a key success trait that we must develop to thrive.
Further, remote working environments are highly competitive. How so? Because remote jobs are in high demand. And demand outweighs by a huge margin, supply.
How teleworkers can strengthen their mental toughness in face of high emotional demands
Earlier, we described the four elements that can cause workplace conflict, friction and chaos. But, how do telecommuters working on a remote job build their mental toughness to ward against emotional imbalance?
Studies show that mental toughness is derived from four beliefs. Remember, we do have 100% control over our thoughts. We must use them to our personal, professional and financial benefit.
- Control. We must stand fast resolving that we hold the ultimate control of our lives and our emotions. Remote workers must demonstrate a resolve to act (actions can drive emotions) with positivity and purpose
- Commitment. Virtual telecommuters should make a sincere commitment to oneself first (family and employer second) to be deeply vested in achieving one’s personal and professional goals regardless of life circumstances
- Challenge. Remote contractors and teleworkers must take the perspective, “bring it on!” when life brings us unexpected challenges and detours. And to take negative events as fuel for further self development, upskilling, reflection. And again –> positive right action.
- Confidence. Remote team members, at all times, should demonstrate self confidence in one’s on abilities. Further, remote team leaders should take every opportunity to build the confidence of their subordinate team members. While confidence is often a product of work competence and proficiency in work job skills; it also is the inherent belief that at our core, we are truly worthy and deserving of success.
