How To Deal With Highly Sensitive People In The Workplace

The new trend is to say that highly sensitive people just have different traits and preferences for existing and they are no more or less valid than anyone else. This is technically true, but they can be incredibly annoying and a massive drain on productivity. While they can be attuned to the emotional needs of others their emotional needs can at times supersede the employment mandate and either make it difficult to get your work done or to get them to do their jobs. These are tips for dealing with highly sensitive people in the workplace.

1. Employers, try to find out if someone is emotionally sensitive before hiring them

It is always better to try to find out if a person is emotionally sensitive before you hire them and try to determine if this has had an impact on their productivity. Remember that it is illegal to discriminate based on handicaps and likely in bad taste to discriminate against people with emotional sensitivities. While some psychologists say emotional sensitivity is not a condition, we are betting discrimination on their personality trait would be considered ability discrimination in a court of law. Discriminating on productivity and ability to get your work done in past work experiences, however, is completely legal.

2. Employees, remember that you are not responsible for doing two jobs, doing your work and continual emotional accommodation

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When you work with people who require many accommodations to be emotionally comfortable it can seem like you're working two jobs, doing your duties and ensuring the emotional safety or comfort of your collogue. You are not paid to do this. Your employer has chosen to employee an individual with these emotional preferences and it is their job to satiate their needs, not yours. Do not attempt to intentionally trigger anyone's emotions but do not feel you have to walk on eggshells constantly or sit with them while they recover or listen to long drawn out descriptions of their emotions.

3. Remain cognizant of the fact that so long as you do your job you are not responsible for productivity losses due to the emotional accomodation process

If your boss has hired a highly sensitive person, remember that you are not responsible for productivity losses. Remember that your boss has made the decision to hire someone with a particular disposition and that person will still be expected to carry their weight. You are not to increase your output to compensate for any delays or take joint responsibility for delays if deadlines are not met due to the accommodation of emotional needs.

4. If you work with someone whose emotions impact the job tell them they are just as valuable as everyone else. Hurt feelings impact productivity.

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If you have a highly sensitive person who is struggling to get their work done, remember that they may be even less likely to do it if their feelings are hurt so make sure to tell theme their sensitivities are just character traits like anyone else's and some people prefer them and some people do not. Do not mention if their productivity is suffering. Instead, pat them on the back and let them know how much you value their emotions. While it may require a white lie here and there and seem counterintuitive, you are actually preventing an emotional meltdown which could put you behind schedule. Remember that your need to point out the obvious may not be productive either.