EMOTIONAL LABOUR

Emotional Labour

Emotional Labour

Introduction

The “emotional labour” can be defined as the effort to control emotions that employees have to do to meet the demands of their work usually with the public (Bolton, 2003, pp. 289-308). The service sector is characterized in that, during most of the workday, employees remain in direct contact with the client, patient or user, and, during his journey, not only perform mental or physical tasks, but also must express emotions during interactions with receptors that perform the service. These employees must, therefore, control their emotions during social interactions at work; the emotion is not a natural reaction of the employee but a part of the work involved (Callaghan, 2002, pp- 233-254 ).

According to Hochschild; Emotional work is controlling of ones emotions and feelings to create an observable facial and bodily display (Hochschild, 1983, pp. 6-9). This ultimately means that the workers can suppresses or evokes their emotions in order to allow their visible behaviours to conform to the social norms that are required by the current situation. However, the importance of emotional labour is critical when it comes to achievement of service excellence and loyalty of customers. The overall sector of service providers, including the sales jobs for the purpose of this study, is explained as the economic activities in which the customers keep this expectation that they can obtain the value through access of labour, skills of professionals and goods (Korczynski, 2002, Pp. 15- 45). This study has a purpose to examine the term 'Emotional labour or Emotional work' and the relevancy of it on the service sector.

Discussion

The term emotional work was first introduced by Arlie Hochschild (1983), in her book which is known as “The Managed Heart”. She has made an argument that emotional work is purely a gesture in everyday social exchanges of life which are not only applied socially but also professionally. This term is moreover explained in the book 'Management of emotions' which has an underlying motive in order to gain profit by organizations in a 'service-producing society' (Hochschild, 1983). It yet can play a very important part in the business of service delivery.

Johansson and Woods (2002) has showed through their study conducted over the hospitality of organizations, that emotions can play a very important and complex role at the delivery of customer loyalty and service excellence. This importance of this emotional work can also be understood within the service sector when skills can be compared that are required in the manufacturing sector to the service sector. In the manufacturing sector, physical and mental strengths and skills are used in order to craft the tangible products, where as in the service sector, the products used in the process of production are generally intangible and can become available when consumed and bought (Ashforth, 1993, pp. 88-115).

Moreover, Hochschild gives a view in her study that, provision of services generally involves the emotional interaction between the workers and the customers. Therefore, for the successful delivery of products in the service sector, the ...