Emotional labour in a government service centre: Antecedents and consequences

Abstract

The effect of emotional labour, defined as the regulation of internal feelings and modification of expressions, on service employees is well documented and a number of researchers are increasingly focusing on the effects of emotional labour on the individual, organisation, and client. Literature in fields such as business, health care, and psychology that focus predominantly on the private industry has shown mixed results concerning the antecedents and consequences of emotional labour. Unfortunately, previous research is mostly limited to profit-generated service industries where client satisfaction is a priority for survival. In contrast, emotional labour research regarding the public domain and specifically government organisations in South Africa is very rare. Key in service environments is the emotional strategy (i.e., surface or deep acting) that the service employee follows when interacting with clients, the antecedents (i.e., emotional intelligence) which leads to the choice of strategy, and the consequences of emotional labour (i.e., burnout). Government service centres form a critical link between the South African citizens and the government, and the most distinct feature of the public service centres is not efficiency but rather quality of care. As emotional labour has gained, more attention in the public sector, with the emphasis on quality service interactions, it is important to do some further exploration of this phenomenon in a South African government service centre. This study focuses on the principles of positive psychology specifically focusing on well-being in the workplace – not only in order to make practical contributions – but also to extend the existing emotional labour literature. South African government organisations are often the sole providers of their kind in the country and clients therefore do not have any alternative but to make use of their unique services. It is therefore important for the organisation to provide “service with a smile” – hence the aim to explore the relationship between emotional labour, burnout, and work engagement in the organisation under research. The immense pressure on South African government organisations to adapt to demanding clients and an increased workforce diversity motivate the second aim of this study to investigate the effect of psychological capital, emotional labour, and burnout on governments’ service delivery. The third aim of this study was to determine the relationship between emotional labour, recovery experiences, and work engagement in order to better equip HR professionals to assist employees to cope with circumstances associated with emotional labour in the government service centres. The final aim of this thesis was to explore individual experiences in the South African government organisation in order to identify the influences or antecedents and consequences linked to this unique work environment. To achieve these aims, participants were recruited from a South African government organisation located in Gauteng and Mpumalanga. A mixed method sequential explanatory design was used to collect and analyse data. In Study 1, quantitative data was collected by using the “Emotional labour, burnout, work engagement, psychological capital, and recovery experiences” questionnaires. A total number of 201 service centre employees participate in Study 1. The final sample for Study 2 consisted of 32 service employees of whom 23 participated before data saturation was reached during the qualitative semi-structured interviews. Results confirmed a significant correlation between emotional labour, burnout, and work engagement and a significant relationship between emotional labour and burnout with psychological capital moderating the relationship between the two constructs. Furthermore, a strong correlation was found between emotional labour and work engagement with recovery experiences having a mediating effect on this relationship. The findings of the qualitative study highlighted five themes that included (1) The importance of first impressions/greetings; (2) Reciprocal relationships: being friendly/approachable is beneficial to the client; (3) Importance of a support network to alleviate/diffuse the situation; (4) Difficult clients and the emotional toll; and (5) Constructive influences of positive client interactions on an individual on a personal level. The results support the notion that inauthentic behaviour can be disruptive and harmful to the well-being of service employees. Recommendations were made to the South African government organisation under research and future researchers.