The problem with bringing your whole self to work

Ever wish you didn't have to check yourself at the sliding glass door? Think it would be a lot easier to get through the day if you could just bring your whole self to work?

Well, this may cause more problems that you think (to both you and your employer!)

True, studies have shown that job related emotional labor (having to smile when you're sad or cheer people up regardless of what's going on in your life) has been linked to increased work-family conflict, so being able to openly express your emotions can lead to less strain and conflicts. Also, Dr. Russ Eisentat's research found that people who do not have to compartmentalize, but can bring all of their home, social, and other selves to the workplace are happier.

However, a recent Fortune Magazine article made some convincing points about why bringing all of your life's drama into the workplace could be detrimental to everyone, and I've got a few reasons of my own to add:

1. You could be alienating the single or childless employees. If everyone knows that Carol wants to leave early in order to catch her daughter's soccer game, whereas Kathy wants to head out early to get in a run before the sun goes down (both will be logging on later that night to make up the work), managers who need the coverage will have to prioritize. And although we don't exactly live in a society that supports families, Carol's may just seem a more pressing matter. And if this continues, Kathy (and other childless employees) may just start to get pissed.
2. Let's look at ROWE, shall we? A Results Only Work Environment (ROWE) is one in which employees are evaluated on outputs, performance, and results only. Here, it does not matter where, when, or how you work (you could be working upside down in a fish tank at midnight) as long as you perform. ROWE is all about accountability and letting the individual be in charge of his or her own workstyles. This is kind of an extreme example of bringing your whole self to work (wherever you are!), and it's important to keep in mind that this can only be successful if everyone buys in to this huge workforce change. 
3. In our society, we can't all be best friends at work. Although having a best friend at work helps increase engagement and happiness, having everyone be your best friend makes actual business decisions extremely difficult. On-boarding, layoffs, and promotions become extremely personal, and the fact that managers will know all the complications going on in their direct reports' lives will mean that they need to be case managers and social workers as well! While this may work for a small, family owned company, you may run into some big troubles in a mid to large sized organization.

What do you think? Should we be bringing our whole selves to work, or is this another question of "are you a segmenter or integrator?" 

Be. Well. Now.