Emotional Labor In The Workplace Analysis

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Nearly any job we work in our lifetimes will require at least occasional interaction with other people. While some jobs may provide a lot of autonomy, and personal space, there will still come a time when we will interact with superiors, subordinates, colleagues, or clients. Other jobs will require almost constant interaction with other people. This type of position will also typically requires us to deal consistently, and professionally, with people regardless of their attitude or situation. The fact that these important interactions must be expected shows how important it is that we not only understand emotions and moods, but understand how to effectively handle them in the workplace.
The textbooks lays the groundwork for this concept
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The concept is summed up this way “Every employee expends physical and mental labor when they put their bodies and cognitive capabilities, respectively, into their job. But jobs also require emotional labor. Emotional labor is an employee’s expression of organizationally desired emotions during interpersonal transactions at work.” (Robbins, S. & Judge, T. 260). While some of my past jobs have simply required that I get along with coworkers, I have also held positions with county senior services, ministry positions, and most recently, higher education. These positions have all come with an expectation that I would faithfully care for the people in my sphere of influence. Most of the time I’m glad to do it. In fact, it’s part of what has drawn me to the positions. However, there are occasions when an individual I’m working with is dealing with a very stressful situation, or just has a difficult personality. There have been many occasions when I, or my coworkers, have been disrespected, or even mistreated but those we are working to serve. It can take a lot of emotional labor to keep our attitudes, or at least actions, in place when having this type of …show more content…
A “climate of trust” goes a long way helping coworkers know that they can support each other, even in stressful situations. We cannot control the way clients or outsiders will choose to interact with us. However, we can control the way we will interact with our colleagues, and the type of workplace environment we will create. Taking steps to implement the right type of systems and safeguards will go a long way in easing the amount of emotional labor we have to put into our

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