Emotional Management and Workplace Success: Social Capital Affects Success in the Office

Even in an age when remote work is common, developing relationships in the workplace affects career success.  A recent study by Nicole Humphrey, Ph.D., assistant professor in KU’s School of Public Affairs and Administration, showed personal interactions can be as beneficial to career success as timely and competent work product. In addition, race can affect the relationships between emotion management and social capital in the workplace.

Humphrey’s research confirms that one of the trickiest tasks in the workplace is invisible. An employee’s ability to successfully manage even subtle emotional reactions with clients and co-workers elevates their social capital, as well as their perception of their social capital. In addition, the same study revealed that employees of color do not gain social capital based on their emotion management to the same degree.

Arlie R. Hoschschild, professor emerita at the University of California – Berkley, first used the term “emotional labor,” in her book “The Managed Heart,” published in 2012. Her work explored this form of labor, which requires workers to behave outside their natural demeanor — either nicer or nastier —  to be more successful in the workplace. Hoschchild’s research revealed that workers using this type of emotional labor can become detached from their feelings. As the concept evolved, scholars have delved into the how emotional labor impacts individual well-being, and how it is related to social capital within the organization.

While studies have explored individuals’ behavior and their emotional experiences in organizations, Humphrey’s research focuses on emotional management, between colleagues rather than between an employee and supervisor, and how gender and race affect the relationship. Her research showed that emotion management significantly increases social capital in the workplace, which suggests that employees who are capable of successful emotion management are more successful building social capital.

Emotion management is different from emotional labor. Rather than being offered in order to gain organizational clout, emotion management is a function of genuinely helping others in the organization. This does not directly improve task performance, but is a component of a healthy environment. In addition, employees who have social capital management experience have lower levels of depression, better health outcomes and higher satisfaction with their life at work. But employees who act engaged, or try to modify their feelings in order to present more positively than they are feeling, are more likely to experience burnout. 

The study presents evidence that emotion management is positively associated with social capital, suggesting that employees willing to invest in interpersonal relationships with their colleagues may reap the benefits of social capital. However, the results also suggest that emotion management by employees of color is less likely to generate social capital than it is for their white counterparts. As a lack of social capital can impede career advancement, managers should cognizant that they are providing opportunities for engagement to all their employees.