How to Manage Emotions in Airport Customer Services Essay

How to Manage Emotions in Airport Customer Services - Essay Example The most global definition of emotion draws from systems theory, identifying emotion as a multiattribute process that unfolds over time, with the attributes unfolding at different rates (Paynee & Cooper 2007). Emotions attributes are manifest in multiple channels (experiential, physiological, expressive, cognitive, and behavioral), and the channels themselves are loosely coupled such that measures of different emotion attributes (such as self-report and physiological) may not correlate highly. Following McDonagh et al (2003): 'The cognitive, functionalist position on emotion posits that emotions serve an adaptive function. In this view, emotions are considered the mechanisms that signal when events go wrong" (p. 9). In airports, emotions influence the occurrence and course of altruism, creativity, learning and memory, social perception and interaction, social comparison, resource allocation, self-evaluation, moral reasoning, attraction and liking, attributions and expectations, judgm ent and decision making, self-regulation and coping, irrational beliefs, and rumination. In addition, emotion is directly relevant to understanding specific topics central to I/O psychology, such as job satisfaction, worker motivation, and understanding how job characteristics (such as personal control) contribute to important outcomes, such as productivity (Paynee & Cooper 2007). The interviews with Samuel Keiley, a customer service manager and Adam Marks, a . a receptionist, allow to identify the main problems and techniques used by airport HR department to manage emotions and stress. in the interview, Adam Marks admits that anger and aggression are the main feelings experienced by customer service during a day. Because the organizational environment is largely shared, situational effects cannot entirely explain aggression. Individual differences have an impact, a statement that is not only consistent with several theories of aggression but is also supported by considerable research. Many employees feel trait anger which means "the disposition to perceive a wide range of situations as annoying or frustrating, and the tendency to respond to such situations with more frequent elevations in state anger" (Reeve 2004, p. 76). When people high in trait anger encounter an ambiguous situation, their default interpretation is one of threat or attack. Also, the anger they feel tends to be more intense and may not easily dissipate. Also, the interviewees admit that impulsiveness is also a problem for many customer service employees. Low control is to act quickly without thought or concern for the future, reacting on emotions with little reflection. Mot of these reactions and situations are caused by clients who demand additional services or feel frustration or anger. In general, customer service employees constantly regulate their emotions and emotional expressions while interacting with customers. Hochschild (1983) mentions this form of work as having positive outcomes for the organization, but requiring effort from the employee that is often overlooked. Front-line service workers expend more effort when they have feelings that are incongruent with the friendly displays required of them. Thus,