The organisational, managerial and individual means alleviate the negative effects of emotional labour on an individual’s work well-being. An integrative literature review
Dudley, Taru (2017)
Dudley, Taru
Laurea-ammattikorkeakoulu
2017
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2017102416280
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2017102416280
Tiivistelmä
The aim of this Master’s thesis is to identify the factors which could alleviate the negative effects of emotional labour on an individual’s work well-being. The research question of this thesis is: What are the factors that could alleviate the negative effects of emotional labour on an individual’s work well-being? An integrative literature review was chosen as the research methodology for this thesis. This method was considered to be the most efficient approach to examine the extensive research already existing on the subject while being the most suitable method to answer the research question. The literature review was conducted as systematically as possible, with all the stages carefully planned and documented. Data was collected during June 2017 using two different databases; EBSCOhost and SAGE Premier 2012. A manual search was done using Google Scholar. After the careful two phased screening process, where the original studies were evaluated against the pre-set inclusion criteria, 10 publications were accepted into the final research. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. The literature review identified three distinctive ‘means’. These different means offer a variety of ways to alleviate the negative effects emotional labour poses on the individual’s work well-being. These means are the organisational means, the managerial means and the individual means.
The organisational means that were identified in this literature review, were social sharing, strong team climate, co-worker support and job complexity. The data suggests that the working environment is important and can be extremely beneficial for those performing emotional labour. Support can be provided through a strong team climate, through co- workers as well as providing opportunities for individual workers to share their frustrating work experiences. Also, the complexities of emotional labour jobs should be examined, as there is a clear indication that high job complexity can alleviate some of the negative effects of emotional labour.
The managerial means identified in this literature review were supportive management, enabling worker autonomy, trust in a supervisor and positive supervisor affectivity. The data suggests that the negative effects of emotional labour on an individual’s work well-being can be alleviated by paying attention to the management style of an organisation. Management should be able to provide enough support, while eliciting trust and enabling and promoting worker autonomy. Positive supervisor affectivity was recognised as one of the ways to alleviate the negative effects of emotional labour on an individual workers work well-being.
The individual means that were identified from the literature were chosen acting strategy, sense of self-efficacy, self monitoring, emotional intelligence and emotional resilience. The results demonstrate that workers should be encouraged and supported in developing skills to cope with the demands of emotional labour. Training in areas such as the emotional labour strategies, emotional intelligence and emotional resilience, are thus immensely important. The results also highlight that the selection and recruitment processes of an organisation should pay attention to individual’s abilities, as certain qualities seem to also be more fitted to perform emotional labour.
The organisational means that were identified in this literature review, were social sharing, strong team climate, co-worker support and job complexity. The data suggests that the working environment is important and can be extremely beneficial for those performing emotional labour. Support can be provided through a strong team climate, through co- workers as well as providing opportunities for individual workers to share their frustrating work experiences. Also, the complexities of emotional labour jobs should be examined, as there is a clear indication that high job complexity can alleviate some of the negative effects of emotional labour.
The managerial means identified in this literature review were supportive management, enabling worker autonomy, trust in a supervisor and positive supervisor affectivity. The data suggests that the negative effects of emotional labour on an individual’s work well-being can be alleviated by paying attention to the management style of an organisation. Management should be able to provide enough support, while eliciting trust and enabling and promoting worker autonomy. Positive supervisor affectivity was recognised as one of the ways to alleviate the negative effects of emotional labour on an individual workers work well-being.
The individual means that were identified from the literature were chosen acting strategy, sense of self-efficacy, self monitoring, emotional intelligence and emotional resilience. The results demonstrate that workers should be encouraged and supported in developing skills to cope with the demands of emotional labour. Training in areas such as the emotional labour strategies, emotional intelligence and emotional resilience, are thus immensely important. The results also highlight that the selection and recruitment processes of an organisation should pay attention to individual’s abilities, as certain qualities seem to also be more fitted to perform emotional labour.