Emotional Labour in Hospitality Industry

Emotional Labour in Hospitality Industry

Introduction

Emotional labour plays a crucial role in the successful running of organizations related to the hospitality industry. It was Arlie Hochschild who introduced this terminology in 1983 as a display of organizationally desired emotions while working in an organization or at the workplace (Kusluvan, 2003, pp.223). He used the word organizationally desired which explains that behaviour which is favourable and encouraged in organizational settings or when dealing with people. He further emphasizes that due to increase in competition in the hospitality industry it has become important for every organization to work hard on improving their quality of services. There is similar automation of operations and work processes in many organizations. For instance, many hotels employ similar applications and software for their daily operations. But, providing an excellent service to customers is a totally different story. Service can help them go an extra mile and compete with their counterparts. Bowen and Schneider also emphasize on the importance of emotional labour in the hospitality industry (Kusluvan, 2003, pp.223). They suggest that how employee reacts in situations of personal interaction with the customer, devises the quality and level of service. Hospitality industry is service based and requires its employees to deal with customers continuously on a daily basis. Employees' individual performance and organization's success in the hospitality industry are solely dependent upon the quality of service provided by the workers (Kusluvan, 2003, pp.223).

Discussion

According to Flora Gilliard, Hospitality industry is growing very rapidly and holds promising job opportunities and career advancement in the long run, in almost every region of the world. For instance, US department of labour states that around 9 out of 10 jobs that will be created in the next decade will be related to the service industry (Gilliard, 2008). While in UK, according to British Hospitality Association, Hospitality Industry is rated as the fifth largest employer. The president of BHA says that the Hospitality Industry is growing very rapidly. They are planning to work with government and other associations for its further growth and advancement in the future. They are offering around 2.4 million jobs today. While other companies are terminating people due to downsizing and mergers; hospitality industry is pretty stable and successful (BHA, 2010). Preparing for challenges through personal and professional training can always help people in getting into any service related organization in times of pressure and stress. Under such circumstances, emotional labour can play a significant role. Emotional labour encourages improvement on both personal and social level. According to Humphrey and Ashforth, in the hospitality industry employees expressing of personal feelings and emotions have a great impact on their service and dealings with customers. Therefore, they are expected to display their best manner and pleasing attitude, regardless of their mental or emotional state. Detachment of personal feelings from the external display of behaviour and attitude plays an effective role in the servicing of customers (Cummings et.al, 1998, pp.188).

Employees of many companies require them to deal with ...