Determinants of emotional labour among employees in the hospitality industry in Accra, Ghana

Sarah Blankson-Stiles-Ocran,Abigail Opoku Mensah,Eunice Fay Amissah

doi:10.47963/ajthm.v1i1.137

Sarah Blankson-Stiles-Ocran, Abigail Opoku Mensah + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.47963/ajthm.v1i1.137

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Abstract

   The purpose of this study was to investigate the determinants of emotional labour among frontline employees in Ghanaian hotels. Specifically, the study identified the determinants of emotional labour which were hypothesized to have significant effects on emotional labour. A total of 205 frontline employees participated in the paper-pencil survey. The questionnaires contained items measuring individual, situational and organisational factors of emotional labour. The results indicated that among the determinants, gender, age and variety of emotional displays had significant effects on emotional labour. These results suggest that gender, age and variety of emotional displays play a critical role in employees’ performance of emotional labour in hotels.  

Highlights

Frontline employees in hotels are expected to provide good customer service (Amissah, 2017)
It is concluded that males are less able to manage their feelings as opposed to their female counterparts
Bolton (2005) and Hochschild (2003) argue that gender is an issue with regards to emotional labour since most service jobs are performed by women whose association with using feelings and emotions at work and in the home goes back to the gendered division of labour that emerged because of capitalism

Summary

Introduction

Frontline employees in hotels are expected to provide good customer service (Amissah, 2017). This process is defined as the management of emotion and expression in order to conform to organisational rules and expectations (Hochschild, 1983). Such emotional labour consists of maintaining an exciting tone, showing concern and empathy, being friendly and happy as well as suppressing feelings of anger or irritation. Due to the affective events occurring in organisations, there are many circumstances in which the emotions felt by employees differ in type and intensity from the prescribed display rules among workers (Andela, Truchot, & Borteyrou, 2015), especially in hotel operation, resulting in different forms of emotions being displayed. The intangibility and inseparability elements of the service encounter require some form of employee involvement in the service delivery process (Lashley, 1999, Amissah 2017)

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