Working Conditions for Service Workers in Emotional Labor

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Working Conditions for Service Workers in Emotional Labor
Definition of Emotional Labor
Emotional labor describes the need for workers to control and manage their personal feelings to satisfy the emotional requirements of a specific job. Employees are expected to keep their emotions in check as they interact with clients, colleagues, and superiors. Emotional labor includes analyzing situations and making decisions on the expression of feelings both felt and unfelt as well as suppressing emotions that are felt but cannot be expressed.
Commodity Produced By Emotional Labor
A commodity is anything that can be bought or sold. Labor is a commodity since the laborer can sell it and the employee can buy it. However, regarding work, the merchandise cannot be separated from the seller. The seller has to administer it personally. It is during this process of delivering labor that emotions come in. Just like the service the worker is providing, feelings cannot be separated from the person.
Depending on the type of service the worker is offering, employers may ask workers to present certain attitudes and emotions that they may not feel at the time. Employees working in an environment in which a particular atmosphere is being portrayed as part of the customer experience have to keep in mind that presenting the expected attitude is part of their job description. Therefore, in this case, the commodity being sold is displaying the desired emotions for a particular job.
How Businesses Control Workers Performing Emotional Labor
Service employees need to perform at certain levels if they are going to achieve the set quality of service. However, in working environments where emotional labor is prevale...