How to Reduce "Emotional Labour"

The term “emotional labour “is used to describe the things that workers do in the service industry that goes beyond physical or mental duties. Workers in the service industry are often required to show genuine concern for customer’s needs, smiling and making a connection with customers. When these kinds of activities are essential to a workers performance it is known as “emotional labour”.

When you have to deal with aggravated or unpleasant people, emotional labour can become very challenging. A large part of the difficulty stems from needing to conceal your real emotions and continue to be pleasant when receiving negative or critical comments.

Staff in jobs that contain high levels of emotional labour tend to have higher levels of absenteeism, staff turnover and less engagement.

When an employee engages in emotional labour, they are essentially controlling their feelings to satisfy the goals and expectations of their organisation. This means these workers are:

• Only expressing positive feelings
• Hiding or managing their negative feelings
• Creating an appropriate emotion for the situation

There are two emotional labour techniques –

• Surface acting – Pretending to have an emotion by using unnatural and artificial body language and verbal communication. Smiling and using soft tones of voice can help you to display emotion that you don’t really feel or hide emotions that you do feel.
• Deep Acting –This is done by controlling your internal emotions and making yourself believe that you are actually happy and enjoying your interaction with the other person. Rather than pretending you convince yourself that you’re not having a negative reaction.

When you constantly need to display only the emotions that are fitting for the job, regardless of how you really feel, this can often lead to an emotional struggle between your real emotions and the ones you show to others. Some researchers believe that this leads to emotional exhaustion and a burnout for workers.

There are some strategies that organisations use to help their staff deal with the demands of emotional labour-

• Buffering – Some companies assign front end workers to manage the emotional demands of customers. This way by the time the customers reach back end workers they can focus on business.
• Teach ‘display’ rules. Staff are taught how to behave, and are sometimes even given scripts to use when dealing directly with clients. Therapists are taught to act neutrally, retail workers positively and bill collectors aggressively.
• Staff assistance programs – investing in facilities that provide access to stress management and emotional health services.
• Teaching problem solving techniques – Some companies help their staff to solve problems more effectively. This boosts workers confidence and reduces their negative reactions to angry or unpredictable situations.
• Improving emotional intelligence – The ability to recognise other people’s emotions is an effective way to reduce the burden of emotional labour.

Managing Workplace Stress

It is normal to experience some workplace stress, however if this stress becomes excessive it can interfere with your productivity and your health – emotional and physical. Your ability to cope with this stress can be the difference between success and failure in your career.

Finding strategies to manage workplace stress is not necessarily about making huge changes but focusing on the thing that’s within your control – you.

There are many different ways you can reduce your stress levels in the workplace.

These start with:

• Making a commitment to improving your physical and emotional health.
• Staying away from people or habits, when possible, that leave you feeling negative or stressed.
• Learn communication skills to improve your relationship with colleagues and management.

When you feel overwhelmed at work you can easily become withdrawn, irritable and insecure. This decreases your productivity and makes you less effective at your job. It can also make you feel like your job is less rewarding. When stress begins to interfere with your ability to do your job, it’s time to do something to remedy it. Begin by making sure that you’re looking after yourself. When your own needs are taken care of you are more capable of dealing with stress.

Try organising and prioritising your work. This can help you to reduce your stress by helping you to feel as though you’re in control.

Here are a few simple tips for time management:

• Don’t spread yourself too thin. Avoid scheduling meetings back to back or trying to get everything done in one day. If you have too many things to be done, drop the tasks that aren’t a priority to the bottom of the list.
• Don’t rush. Leaving 10 minutes earlier can mean the difference between running around madly and being able to take your time. Being late or rushing to be on time will only add to your stress levels.
• Factor breaks into your schedule. Taking a few short break throughout the day will help you to relax and de-stress. Have your lunch outside or at least away from your desk.

You can also gain a large amount of self-control by understanding and practising emotional intelligence. This is the ability to manage your emotions and use them in positive and productive ways.

Emotional intelligence in the workplace is composed of four major elements:

• Self-management, controlling your emotions and behaviour to adapt to changing circumstances.
• Self-Awareness, recognising your emotions and their impact.
• Social Awareness, the ability to understand and react to others emotions.
• Relationship Management, the ability to connect to others and manage conflict.