He who knows his anger, knows oneself. But from business perspective knowing anger is just not enough, you need to also know how to manage not just your own temper but also help others in your firm do the same. When it comes to the hospitality sector, anger issues of employees can be disastrous. Nobody would want to be waited by an angry steward or check-in into a hotel where the reception greets you in a frosty manner.

Here we will list the common factors seeding workplace anger and easy pointers on how to manage such situations.

Things that ticks the employees

There are a wide variety of reasons that leads to workplace anger. Some of them are work or workplace related, while others may be personal. Many a times, it is misdirected anger that leads to incidents of desk rage or office violence. In Hospitality sector, if such misdirected rage reaches the customer, then the reputation of the hotel is at stake. So it is advised to try and reduce any factor contributing to rage that originate in the office. Some of these are listed below:

• General harassment, whether mental, physical, sexual or of any other form.
• Favoritism of one employee over another.
• Insensitivity by owners or managers.
• Criticisms of employees in front of staff or clients.
• Depersonalized workplace environment.
• Unfair performance appraisals or criticism.
• Lack of resources for the employee to meet his/her objectives.
• Withdrawal of earned benefits.
• Betrayal of trust extended to manager or owner.
• Unreasonable demands on employees.
• Lack of flexibility on part of owner or manager.
• Poor communication.
• Primary tone of feedback is negative.
• Micro-managerial environment in which staff decision making opportunities are limited.

No matter whatever may be the reason for rage, it becomes pertinent for the authorities to intervene and find a solution in a fair manner, instead of trying to protect their own business.

When rage reaches customers

Whenever an employee with pent up anger operates in an organization, he/she is very likely to get involved in negative or unethical actions. Such actions may seem trivial but in the long run it may eventually escalate to the point of expulsion. Angry and frustrated employees will not be able to utilize their full potential while working; especially the ones that face clients directly, because pent up frustration will, in time, come out one way or the other. So, it is better to resolve issues that lead to such situations.

What you can do

You could work upon an open door policy to listen to the problems that your employee face on a regular basis. If someone has a complaint against anyone in the firm or against some policy of the firm or the firm itself, then the situation should be taken into consideration and unbiased evaluation should be conducted before taking any action.

This may be useful to avoid anger issues at a later stage. But handling an employee who has already reached breaking point should have a different approach. Generally, the administration on receiving a complaint becomes defencive and asks the said employee to calm down or check their emotions. This does not help the situation, instead, it makes matter worse. The person is already overwhelmed by emotions and will not able to think reasonably. You could try asking them to explain the situation in as much detail as they can remember. This not only gives time for emotions to subside but also helps both sides understand the chain of events that led to such scenario.

If things have escalated to a level of physical aggression, be it on an object or person, then the situation should be given extreme priority and the conflicting parties be separated, each side heard and appropriate action should be taken.
Unchecked anger is always destructive. With these tips, now you should be able to handle anger related issues more effectively.