The Strength of Weak Ties

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Highly Sensitive Employees: Management Tips

The following tips are not meant to suggest that any employee should receive preferential treatment because of their psychological makeup. After all, we are all psychologically unique, and all humans are sensitive beings.

These guidelines can, and should, apply to all employees, but will have an even greater use for your highly sensitive employees:

* Do not make it your goal to “toughen up” any employee. This is a futile goal and could potentially cause emotional trauma to someone who is highly sensitive.

* Do not allow this employee to skip breaks, and strongly recommend that he/she walk around the building when possible.

* Do not ever attempt to force a conversation with a highly sensitive employee. When a highly sensitive person feels “cornered,” he/she becomes very likely to have an emotional outburst. If an employee is exhibiting the signs of a highly sensitive employee and informs you that he/she needs time to think about what was said, believe this and allow the employee to get back to work.

* Understand that highly sensitive people become overwhelmed by bright lights, loud noises, and foul smells, and will eventually attempt to “shut down” if confronted with these things for too long of a period of time.

* Realize that this employee strongly desires a sense of control—help by teaching time management and prioritization skills.

* Introduce changes as slowly as possible. You may want to pull this employee aside individually to explain changes, rather than let the individual hear about it for the first time as part of a large group.

* Know that highly sensitive people have a tendency to avoid conflict. Remain vigilant for signs of unexpressed emotion, which may display as passive-aggressiveness.

* Do not shelter this employee. The individual needs to feel well informed and is often stronger than first appearances may imply.

* Understand that this employee is more likely to daydream than your other employees. Do not allow others to imply that he/she is “ditzy” or an “air-head,” even in a joking manner.

* Provide a few quiet moments at the beginning of the day, for the employee who needs this, so he/she can assess the surroundings before beginning work. Try not to confront the employee, even positively, for the first 5 or 10 minutes of the workday.

* Use specific examples, if you must provide constructive criticism.

* Give this employee independent work tasks, whenever possible.

* Allow time for a thorough orientation period, and make it clear that the employee is not expected to know everything within a few days or weeks.

* Encourage decompression through creative or physical activities, such as bringing a roll of bubble wrap into the kitchen you manage and allowing employees the chance to dance, jump, or walk on it when tensions are high, or through role-playing.

* Let the employee know that you plan to evaluate everyone’s performance during the next few days, weeks, or months, so you can get a better feel how to implement change within the department. This helps prepare the employee, because if unannounced, he/she probably will already know, even subconsciously, when you are observing him/her.

* Take the highly sensitive employee’s comments seriously, if he/she comes to you with concerns about a coworker. Do not brush these worries off as a “sensitive person’s exaggeration.” A highly sensitive employee is very adept at seeing the “real person.”

* Choose a highly sensitive employee to serve as a mentor or adviser to others. Combined with the skills at intuitively knowing people, the highly sensitive employee also makes an excellent trainer.

* Avoid nagging a very highly sensitive employee. This individual is usually very conscientious and will usually remember to complete a task when asked. He/she is very sensitive to feeling “nagged” and takes it as a lack of trust. Therefore, you should try to avoid reminding this employee of a task, until you are fairly certain that he/she has either forgotten or has chosen to not do as you asked.

* Do not appear as “too bubbly” to the highly sensitive employee. He/she often will react by appearing withdrawn or aloof, as a means of attempting to find balance between overexcitement and calmness.

* Observe the highly sensitive employee, because he/she can serve as a barometer of the overall emotional state of those surrounding him/her. This employee is highly impacted by the moods of others. This is very useful to you, as a manager. If you notice that he/she is acting in a certain way, look at your other employees and assess the departmental morale as a whole.

Bron: rd411