5. Relate your experiences of emotional labor: How does emotional labor improve

Question

5. Relate your experiences of emotional labor: How does emotional labor improve organizational life? How does it detract from the quality of organizational life? OP: Emotional labor is necessary in organizations because it is a part of the job. I have had customer service positions for the past 7 years and all of them required me to be nice and smile to the customers. The main role of customer service is to make the customers believe they are important and matter. We have to empathize with angry customers. They may be yelling at us for something we have no control over, but we still have to smile and find a solution to the issue. When we choose to not react to an angry customer and approach the situation in a professional manner, emotional labor plays a part because we control the response of the customer and handle the situation in a manner that people can respect. This could be a refund, discount, etc. Unfortunately, the quality of organizational life is taken away when the employee has to go through angry customers all the time and remain professional. This would be an example of over-identification and Butler, Dewine Modaff describe that this "can lead to high levels of stress and increased risk of burnout (120). Additionally, the employer can face separation issues when the "feels guilty about the gap between their ideal feelings and their displayed feelings" (Modaff Butler, Dewine, p.120). All in all, emotional labor is something that employers are well aware of when hiring someone to complete the job and they look for someone that will be able to remain professional or carry out the emotional needs that will bring the organization the most success. (263 words) can now Reply

Explanation / Answer

Emotional labor is the process of controlling emotions and managing feelings to remain professional and warm to the co-workers, supervisors and especially, customers. It requires the employees to keep a smiling and happy face irrespective of their inner feelings.

Below are the positives and negatives about emotional labor in an organization -

Positives -

1. Ensures a warm work culture and environment employees working together in harmony and avoiding conflicts

2. Ensures customer satisfaction and creates a positive impression with customers.

Negatives -

1. Creates risk of high stress levels and burnout due to the accumulation of internal feelings in the minds of employees.

2. Chance of job switch of dissastisfied employees who look for dignity in jobs

3. Employers feel guilty for asking their employees to hide their actual feels and display desired feelings.

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