Pan-Pacific Conference XXXIV. Designing New Business Models in Developing Economies

The emotion management competencies challenges that labour relations
practitioners face in the South African Public Service
Botha Chris
Senior Lecturer: Department People Management & Development, Tshwane University of Technology
Private Bag X680 Pretoria South Africa
bothact@tut.ac.za
Schultz Cecile
Associate Professor: Department People Management & Development, Tshwane University of Technology
Pretoria Private Bag X680 South Africa
schultzcm@tut.ac.za
Bezuidenhout Adéle
Professor: Department of Human Resource Management, University of South Africa
Pretoria P O Box 392 South Africa
bezuia@unisa.ac.za
ABSTRACT
This article reports on the findings of a qualitative
content analysis study to explore the emotion
management competencies required of labour
relations practitioners in the South African public
service. Data were gathered through semi-structured
interviews, where seventeen labour relations experts
were interviewed, representing the labour relations
component in the South African public service. The
data were coded and categorised and themes were
identified that characterised the participants’
experiences, perceptions, views and evidence
regarding the emotional management competencies
of labour relations practitioners. Six emotion
management competencies that are essential to
success and efficiency in the role of labour relations
practitioners were identified. The findings of this
study could lead to a new theory for the
advancement, training and development of labour
relations practitioners.
INTRODUCTION
Labour relations is a complex and dynamic
discipline which exist in shops, offices, factories,
mines, hospitals, public service departments, on
farms and in private households between domestic
workers and their employers [7, p. 1]. Labour
relations manifest within the broader context of
many roles, rights, expectations, obligations and
duties in the workplace, and what makes it even
more complex is that these roles, rights,
expectations, obligations and duties may either be
individualised or managed in group terms [13, p.
435]. Emotion management is the ability to
maintain control when situations, people and events
make excessive demands [1, p. 365].
LITERATURE REVIEW
The practices and activities in managing public
service workplace labour relations can be viewed as
those aimed at improving relations and cooperation,
and optimising conflict levels among a variety of
employees, irrespective of the existence or
nonexistence of trade unions [21, P. 487). The
functioning of labour relations within the
environments as well as workplace level labour
relations management practices in the South African
public service dictates specific roles, responsibilities
and competencies of the labour relations
practitioners in order to promote cooperation and
integration and minimise conflict in public service
labour relations [3, p. 80].
Emotion management is an important mechanism
for public servants to acknowledge emotions and
recognising coping strategies [1, p. 365]. Emotions
can be classified into several components such as
happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise and disgust
[17, p. 3]. As a result of skilful emotion
management, individuals gain interpersonal and
material rewards, status hierarchies and existing
structural arrangements are sustained, and group
cohesion is generated (through norms of sympathy
and gratitude exchange, for example [8, p. 206]).
In order to research more thorough into the topic
Emotion management, it is important to clarify a
few words that will be used throughout this paper.
Firstly, conflict management is the landscape
against which the management of emotions will
take place. Conflict management entails the
approach to facilitate between parties to find a
peaceful solution to a disagreement between them
[8, p. 565]. Conflict is inevitable in human
relationships, it may be real or perceived; it can be
prevented or resolved; it can be managed and can be
eliminated [13, p. 5].
Secondly, emotional intelligence means the ability
to monitor one’s own and other’s emotions to
discriminate among them and to use the information
to guide one’s thinking and actions. Furthermore it
involves self-awareness (ability to understand one’s
own emotions), self-management (ability to keep
negative emotions and impulses under control), and
self-motivation (the drive to achieve despite
setbacks, developing skills to attain target and
taking initiative to act on opportunities) [17, p. 1].
Thirdly, diplomacy is described as tact when
dealing with people [9, p. 24]. Furthermore
diplomacy implies an understanding in terms of a
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