OVERVIEW

CEOs and administrators, auditors and financial officers visibly shudder at the discussion of Emotional Continuity Management. They rail against it as not valuable , measurable, justifiable, or belonging to that human resources domain. Managers join in this position to keep their jobs. Some of them sneak up after a seminar and whisper desperate stories as they look about hoping their bosses won't catch them being "emotional." Some speak up at seminars the ritualized comments based on the mistaken belief that it isn't their job to know about people's feelings and emotions. They flock to programs on disaster planning and business continuity with company-specific programs and snappy lingo while quickly deferring emotional issues to another category. They roll their eyes and say, "we have an HR person for that, and I think we have a guy who will come out if we have a disaster." Sometimes more defensively they say, "Hey, I'm not my employees ' clergy or spouse! If they need a counselor I send them to our EAP provider."

As they continue trying to convince themselves that managing people has absolutely nothing to do with emotional information, they follow the disclaimer with a current rant about their most difficult challenges that, of course, are all emotional in nature. The dialogue goes something like, "Oh, it's all the bickering and the little things that take up all my time. I don't know why people aren't just getting along and remaining productive. It takes all my time to keep my boss off my back, track the bottom line issues, and then I have to deal with staff that acts like they are still in high school." The few managers who straggle into a seminar about Emotional Continuity Management, and emotions in the workplace are looking for a magic bullet, a cure, a tool, or something to get some relief from the emotional content in their company. Eventually they come to understand that someone is actually listening to them and offering tools to manage. They sigh and complain that they cannot do anything about emotions at the work site and how it takes up most of their productive time managing emotional spins . Then unfortunately , many of them go out the door of the seminar, with tools in their handouts, knowing they need support, buy-on, and training that they won't get. So, they wander off to the next seminar.

Well-meaning managers share impressive stories about theatrical, emotional events and how they must grapple endlessly with tedious procedures and antiquated policies. Most are convinced that there is no way they have the capacity to know when someone is impaired, dangerous, in need of help, or an emotional risk. With few exceptions they do not feel confident about their education, expertise, or, most especially , authorization to address emotions at work. When asked about how much time and salary is spent dealing with this, they have astonishing numbers .

Take a few moments and do your own math. Consider the last few weeks, or months of your work time spent mitigating workplace emotions, then multiply it by your salary. Now, take the salary of your boss and multiply it times the hours you spend reporting on problems. Extrapolate it out for the year. Now, call a local counselor at an agency and a private practice. Ask them how much they are getting paid by the hour to do what you do every day.