Bringing emotions to work should be a pleasure, but in practice it is often a pain

Résumé du document

Companies have become aware, over the last several years, that emotions conveyed by employees, in facing customers, constitute key components of success. They determine the customer reaction. They influence his emotional state (fear, confidence, sympathy), and his will to buy. They determine the quality of the service, and more specifically, the company quality. Defined, controlled and correctly managed emotional activity of the employees has become a necessity for companies. The employee has to conform to “emotional rules,” which are pre-established. He must be smiling, attentive, and enthusiastic.

He must avoid distant, apathetic, and tense behavior. This prescriptive emotional management imposed by the company requires employees to consider a significant amount of emotional work on themselves. Arlie Hochschild (1983), American sociologist, defines emotional work as the individual capacity to understand, evaluate, and manage one's own emotions, as well as the emotions of others. The employee must adapt his way of thinking, reacting, and communicating. The employee is an ‘actor' of the company.

Extraits

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[...] They will be also regarded as being more capable to assume the emotional aspect of work and respect emotional requirements from the company. This point is confirmed by Grugulis (2007, p.105) Women are more considered to be naturally better at subordinating their own emotional needs to those of others Thus, women will be mainly brought to work to associate with customers and occupy minor professional positions (waitress; airline hostess; secretary They do not have access to the same opportunities and professional chances of evolution than men. [...]

[...] I just love to meet them «They make my day, they really do This response is not surprising. McDonald's belongs to companies which recruit their employees according to precise criteria; the first being the sense of how to build relationships. This way, McDonald's makes sure that emotions brought to work are ‘naturally' done. It is a pleasure for the employee. That has an influence on his mind and spirit. He is inclined to listen and observe rules defined by the company (dress code). He facilitates the manager's quality of work. [...]

[...] For certain employees, this exercise is naturally carried out and with pleasure. For others, this exercise can prove to be painful and dangerous for their personal health. It can lead to resistance acts. Mandatory emotional work can also be discriminatory for women. They are indeed considered to be more capable of naturally realising the emotional work requested. They will be privileged to work in contact with customers and handicapped to occupy managerial positions. We can thus conclude from it that bringing emotions to work is not always a pleasure. [...]