Ensuring a reliable supply of labor is among the biggest – if not the biggest – challenges facing commercial laundries today. Hiring Consultant Nancy Roberts offers ideas for tackling this challenge in a forthcoming article in Textile Services magazine. Excerpts follow.
The article, titled “Managing Reactions Under Pressure: The EQ Connection to Employee Retention,” features a strategy designed to help managers improve their communication skills by leveraging “emotional intelligence” (EQ). The goal is to boost staff satisfaction by defusing disputes and ensuring that managers consistently listen to and act on employee concerns.
In the article, Roberts notes that, “During a coaching session with a client’s key employee, I learned something the business owner didn’t know. The employee was highly stressed, felt unappreciated and was considering leaving.” She continues, saying that in this case, “The owner knew they had communication problems, but he hadn’t realized how unhappy (the employee) was. I’ve encountered versions of this situation many times. Leaders try to run a business, employees try to do their jobs, and frustration accumulates until both sides are discussing a resignation.”
Roberts offers a way out of these dilemmas through EQ. “Recently, I reviewed emotional intelligence (EQ) assessment data from more than 100 laundry industry professionals who participated in programs through TRSA, IAHTM and CSC,” she writes. “Of the five EQ dimensions measured, self-regulation, our ability to manage moods, emotions and impulses, had the lowest average score. Self-awareness, the ability to recognize our emotions, reactions and behavioral tendencies and their impact on others, averaged almost nine points higher. This combination means we may recognize that we’re frustrated and understand why, yet still struggle with how we respond.”
That becomes particularly difficult when two employees call off, production is behind and a customer wants to know where their linen is. Under pressure, employees hear frustration in our tone, see it on our faces and experience it in how we treat them. Eventually, they learn whether they can bring us a problem, ask for clarification or admit a mistake without making a difficult day worse.”
Roberts adds that, “Good employees leave for many reasons. How leaders handle themselves under pressure is one factor they can control.”
She offers three steps that company leaders can take that focus on “Managing Our Reactions.”
- Recognize what triggers you
“One of my favorite mantras is, ‘If it triggers me, it’s about me,’” Roberts writes. “When we’re triggered, we typically focus on the other person: If they would follow instructions, stop questioning us or take initiative, we could remain perfectly reasonable. Their behavior may need correction, but we also should understand why it produces such a strong reaction. Identifying a specific trigger gives you something concrete to change.”
- Examine the story between the event and your response
“A formula I use in EQ training comes from Jack Canfield’s The Success Principles:
Event + Response = Outcome, or E + R = O.
We can’t always change the event. An employee calls off. Equipment breaks down. A customer complains. Our response, however, influences what happens next.
Between the event and our response, we often tell ourselves a story.
One senior leader described an employee as lazy because she finished a project midday but didn’t tell him until the end of the day. He assumed she was avoiding another assignment. In reality, she had spent the afternoon catching up on overdue paperwork. Same event, same employee … but a very different response depending on the story he believed.”
- Practice a response that produces the outcome you want
“After identifying the trigger and examining your assumptions, consider your desired outcome.
Suppose an employee failed to report a linen shortage before a truck departed. Saying, ‘I’m tired of being the last person to know anything around here’ may accurately express your mood, but it doesn’t explain what should happen differently.
Instead, say: ‘I found out about the shortage after the truck left. I expected to hear about it before loading. Walk me through what happened.’”
Roberts advises managers to “Listen, clarify expectations and agree on what needs to change. If you are too aggravated to have a productive conversation, take a few minutes to cool down when circumstances allow. The exercise may be uncomfortable, but it gives you an opportunity to improve the employee’s experience while that employee is still there.”
Watch for the full article in the January 2027 edition of Textile Services. Click here for more on Textile Services.
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