LECTURE 3 Emo$onallabour,aesthe$clabourandthevarietyofskillsinthe

experienceeconomy“GlobalTourismandLocalDevelopment”(cod.44144),

DrGabriellaAlber$

Introduc2on: the changing nature of skills •  Skillsmaybeconsideredforhowtheyareembodiedbypeople,locatedwithinjobsandregulatedviapoli$calprocesseswithintheworkplace.

•  Emo$onallabourandsoJskillscentralincustomerorientedserviceinhospitalityandtourism

•  Managersareincreasinglydemanding‘soJskills’,suchaslookingright,enthusiasmandempathywithcustomers.

•  Giventoughercompe$$on,emo$onsandfeelingsarebecomingincreasinglycentraltoorganisa$onalperformancewithinandbeyondtourism

Todays’ lecture: aims •  Toexplore‘soJskills’inthehospitalitythroughtheconceptof‘emo$onallabour’(Hochschild{1983-2012)

•  Tounderstandbothemployersandworkersstrategiesinmanagingemo$onsintheserviceworkplace

•  Tocomparetheno$onsofemo$onaltothatofaesthe$candaffec$velabour

•  TodiscusssoJskillsinthecontextofthe‘experien$aleconomy’andthe‘bundlingofskills’(Baum2006)

•  Tounderstandtraininganddevelopmentofthoseskills•  Tocri$quethemanagementofemo$onsandhowemo$onalworkisgendered/racialised…

•  Todiscussexperien$alintelligence,aesthe$clabourandinequali$es

Context and theore2cal debate •  Increasingrelevanceofintangiblegoodsandservicesintheexperien$aleconomybutaccompaniedbytangible/embodiedlabour

• Exactlywhenintangibleformsofworkbecomeincreasinglycentraltocapitalistvalorisa$onintheservicesector,embodiedlabourbecomesalsomorevisibleandmorecentralwithinthelabourprocess(Wolkowitz2006,WolkowitzandWarhurst2010).

The “Managed Heart” • Hochschild’soriginaldefini$onof“emo$onallabour”

• Emo$onallabouris‘themanagementoffeelingtocreateapubliclyobservablefacialandbodilydisplay;emo$onallabourissoldforawageandthereforehasexchangevalue’(Hochschild,1983:7)

•  ThereisoJenagapbetweentheemo$onswepresentandthoseweactuallyfeel–weareskilledemo.onalmanagersintheworkplace

Classroom ac2vity

•  Exercise:“Describe…arealsitua$onthatwasimportanttoyouinwhichyoueitherchangedthesitua$ontofityourfeelingsorchangedyourfeelingstofitthesitua$on”(Hochschild1983:13)(canbeinajobornot)

Emo2ons at work: • Whendoesitoccur?

•  Emo$onallabouroccurswhenemployeesarerequiredtodisplayspecificemo$onsaspartoftheirjobcontract(theycouldbedisciplinediftheydonotgivethedesiredmessage,some$mestherecanbedetailedguidelinestofollow)

•  Managersaimtomanageemployeeemo$onstoinduceapar3cularresponsefromthepersontowhomtheserviceisbeingprovided

•  Keypointisthattheyarenotdiscre$onarybut“displayrules”–emo3onalperformanceispartofthewage-effortbargain

•  Differencebetweenserviceworkandmanual/factorywork

(see Noon and Blyton, 2002: 175-7 and Hochschild 1983)

Managing Emo2ons: •  Importanceofselec3ngandtrainingtherightpeopleforemo$onalwork:

•  Selec$ontechniquesusedtogetthe‘rightlook’and‘aftude’:•  YoungfreshfacesatDisneyland;Airlinersseekthepersonallygroomed,butalsodifferentlysexualised,classedandracialisedbodiesaccordingtothemarketsegmenttheywanttoahract

• Workersare“trained”toperformactsoncue(behaviourprescrip3on:trendofincreasingregula$on/standardisa$on)

•  Hochschild’scentralarguments:Emo$onsatworkappeartobelessundercontroloftheactordisplayingtheemo3on–andtheyaremoreunderthecontrolofmanagers/employers

‘Transmuta2on’ from private to public feeling •  Underincreasedcontrolbymanagementofworkers’emo$ons,istheirsenseofestrangement/aliena$onorwhatHochschildcalls‘transmuta$onoffeelings’increased?

•  Threekeyelementsoftransmuta$on:•  1.“Emo$onworkisnolongeraprivateactbutapublicactboughtononehandandsoldontheother”

•  2.Feelingsrulesarenotmaherofpersonaldiscre$onbutspelledoutpublicly-e.g.onacompanyhandbook

•  3.Socialexchangeistransmutedinthesensethatitbecomesinstrumental

Employee responses: •  Employeecanengagein:

•  Surfaceac.ng–behaviouralcompliancewithdisplayruleswithoutinternalisa$on–emo$onsarefaked(typicallylowlevelservicework).

•  Deepac.ng–internalisingtheroleandahemp$ngtoexperiencethedesiredemo$on(e.g.flightcrewareexpectedtointernalisetheaftudethatawkwardcustomersarenotwrongorannoying,butthey‘haveproblems’suchasfearofflying,theyshouldreallybehaveasiftheyempathisedwiththem)

(Hochschild1983|);•  Rolecongruence–wheretheexpecteddisplaysareconsistentwiththeindividualsinnerfeelings(fromnursestoenthusias$cgraduates)

(Ashforth and Tomiuk, 2000, cited in Noon and Blyton, 2002) See also chapter 9 of Managed Heart

Employee Resistance:

Ayoungbusinessmansaidtoaflightahendant,“whyaren’tyousmiling”.Sheputhertraybackonthefoodcart,lookedhimintheeyeandsaid,“I’lltellyouwhat.Yousmilefirst,thenI’llsmile”.Thebusinessmansmiledather.“Good”,shesaid.“NowfreezeandholdthatforfiJeenhours”(Hochschild1983,p.127).

Coping with emo2ons • Copingwithdissonance:emo$onsand“misbehaviour”

• Workersresponseordertocopewithemo$onaldemands:‘lefngoffsteam’outofsight(e.g.callingcustomersnamesbehindtheirbacks)

•  Theymayalsomaintaintheirdisplaywhilstresis$ng:

• Adultera$ngthefoodofa‘bad’customer;“s$ckingtothescript”(maintainingthesanc$oneddisplaybeyondthepointatwhichitfunc$ons).

•  Thiscanleadtonega$veoutcomesforthefirm!

From emo2onal labour to emo2onal self-management?

•  Cri$quebyBoltonandBoyd(2003)ofHochschild’sManagedheart:

•  Bybecomingawareofemo$onmanagementworkersmaycomplyonlyselec$velywiththefeelingrules:theycan“resistandmodify”thedemandsbybothcustomersandmanagers

•  Incontrasttofactorywork,theemo$onworkersowntheirmeansofproduc$onandhavemorediscre$ontodecidethedegreeofsincerityintheirservicedelivery

•  “Mul$-dimensionalnature”oforganisa$onalemo$onality

Aesthe2c labour

•  Thetypesofworkinvolvingbothmanualac$vi$esandmoreintangibleformsoflabourinthecustomerserviceindustrieshavebeendefinedintermsof‘aesthe$clabour’(Witzetal.2003),wherebyemployersmobilize,developandcommodifyworkers’bodilycapaci3esasmuchastheirvariouspersonala?ributes(includingdeportment,voice,sexualdesirability),withtheaimofproducing‘anaesthe3cstyleofserviceandsensoryexperienceintheencounter’(WolkowitzandWarhurst2010:229).

Aesthe2c labour( Warhust and Nickson 2007) •  Ini$allyWitzetal2003madethepointthatembodimentneededtobeforegrounded

analy$callyasanextensionofemo$onallabour-Hochschilddidnotdevelopfurtherthebodilydimension?

•  ‘Serviceencountersinvolvenotjustsocialinterac$onbutalsosensoryengagement,mostobviouslyvisuallyandaurally.Theimportanceofemployeeappearanceforbothobtaininganddoingjobsaspartofemployerlabourstrategiesthereforeneedstoberecognizedandresearched’(WarhustandNickson2007:106)

•  Aesthe$clabourhasbecometranslatedinthepopularpressasemploymentbasedon‘lookinggood’and/or‘soundingright…(p.131)

•  ’‘Lookism’isevenbeingsuggestedasthelatestformofworkplacediscrimina$on(Oaff,2003).

•  ‘packagingtheserviceprovider’(Solomon,1985):growingimportanceofuniformandcode•  Surveyconductedwithemployers:“Askedtoassessthecentralityofemployeeappearancetobusinesssuccess,53%ofemployersdescribeditascri$caland40%asimportant.Therewasalsoextensiveevidenceofahemptstocon$nuetomouldemployeeappearanceinsupportofthecorporateimagethrough,forexample,uniformsanddresscodes”

•  Lookismandgenderdiscrimina3on:selec$onproceduresthatwereovertlybasedonjudgingbothmenandwomenbytheirlooks,thoughseeminglymoresoforwomen

Undervalued emo2onal skills

•  Thoseadeptatemo$onalworkoughttobeconsidered“soJly-skilled”:

•  Emo$onaldisplaysarereliantonindividualdiscre6onindisplayingtheappropriatedemeanourinvarioussitua$ons–thisrequiresexperience.

• …BUTtheseskillsaredifficulttocer3fy,codify,ormeasureunlike‘hard’technicalskills’.

•  Emo.onalworktooo;enbecomescategorisedasan‘innateability’orpersonaltrait,thusensuringitremainsunderstoodas“non-skilled”

(see Bolton, 2004)

Emo2onal Skills and Gender

•  Emo$onalworkalsoreinforcesgenderstereotypes:

• Womenareexpectedtodomoreoftheemo3onalwork,evenwhendoingthesamejobsasmen!

• Womenaremorelikelytobeinvitedtodothe‘customerfacing’elementsofajob(frontdesk),buttheseelementsofworkaretypicallylessvaluedandtechnicalskillsmaysufferasaresultof$meawayfromothertasks.

• Womenareseenassomehow‘naturally’moreadeptatmanagingtheiremo$ons–buthowmuchisthissocialised?

• Womenholdresponsibilityforemo$onmanagementinthedomes$csphere–theyhavemoreprac$ce!–butthisdoesn’ttranslateintoa‘natural’talent,itisalearnedskillthatisrela$velyundervalued.

Emo2onal Skills and Social Closure

•  ‘Ra$onalism’associatedwithmasculinityandvalued–emo$onassociatedwithfemininityandgivenlowerstatus

•  Nursestypicallypaidlessthanhospitalmanagers–whodoesmostforpa$entcare?

• Womendominateposi3onsinlowlypaidrolesinshops,hotels,restaurants,etc.–thesejobsareassociatedwithservituderatherthanemo$onalskills!

•  Theundervaluingofemo3onalskillsplaysaroleinthesocialconstruc$onofinferiorfemalestatus.

Summary of key points: •  Theriseininterestinemo$onallabourrunsparallelwithanincreasingmanagerialdemandthatspecificemo$onsaredisplayedatwork(especiallygrowingservicesector).

•  Problemswithemo$onaldissonanceandassociated‘misbehaviour’resultfromthe‘gap’between‘displayed’and‘felt’emo$ons(‘transmuta$onoffeelings’andworkeraliena$on)

•  Arguably,difficul3esmeasuringemo3onalskillsandwomen’sposi$onassupposedly‘natural’emo$onallabourershaveledtoemo$onalworkbeingundervalued–despiteitscentralitytocontemporaryservicesectorstrategies

•  Managersareincreasinglydefiningtheemo$onalskillsthattheorganisa$onrequiresasvaluable,andthereisnocounterweightapparatustoensurethatthoseengaginginthisworkareabletogetrewardedforthevaluetheyadd.

Variety of skills in the hospitality sector

•  TomBaum(2006)“skillsbundlinginservices”(beyondtechnicalahributesofwork)

•  PineandGilmore’s“experienceskills”(problemofconfla$onofexperiencewithwider“services”e.g.carwashing,bankingservices…thereissomethingpeculiaraboutthe”experien$algood”

•  Different“accultura$on”ofemployeesfromdevelopedvsdevelopingcountriessothatthe“learningdemand”ontheirexperien$alskillsisalsodifferent(Americantraitsofhospitalityculturedespiteinterna$onalisa$onoftheindustry-pioneerMarriotandHiltoninterna$onalhotelchains)

•  Baum’sar$cle’sproposalthatExperien3alIntelligence(ExQ)isanindicatorofthisdifferenceintermsofworkplaceskills,itexpandstheno$onofEmo$onalintelligenceasitencompassesculturalandexperien$alfactorsinshapingtheeffec$venessoftheservicedeliveryandhasimplica$onsfortraininganddevelopment(e.g.specificneedsofemployeesindevelopedcountries…(buttoadapttotheWesternisedmodelratherthanchange/enrichit?)

From low skilled work to experien2al intelligence? • …‘thefirstrequirementforworkersinatransforma$on(experience)businessisthattheytrulycare’(PineandGilmorep.182).

•  BaumextendsPineandGilmore’sworkontheexperien$aleconomywonderinginwhatwayseconomicandculturalcontextinfluenceontheExperien$alintelligenceofemployees?IEasadevelopmentofEmo$onalIntelligence?BaumNicksonandotherauthorschallengedthelong-las$ngconcep$onthatworkinhospitalityis“lowskilled”

• Westerncentricunderstandingofwhatskillsareworthof:•  “ratherrecogni$onoftheimportanceofwhatcanbestyled‘genericskills’(communica$on,problemsolving,ICT,languages)withinhospitalitywork(Baum,2006)aswellasbothemo3onal(Hochschild,1983)andaesthe3c(Nickson,Warhurst,&Witz,2003;Warhurst,Nickson,Witz,&Cullen,2000)dimensionsasfeatureswithinthebundlingofhospitalityskills.”

Beyond technical skills

• Burns’sdefini$onofhospitalityskillsseekstogobeyondthepurelytechnicalcapabili$esthatthoseusingunskilledor‘lowskills’descriptorsassume.ThiscanbelinkedtoRitzer’s(2004)dramaanalogyfortheserviceworkplaceinthesensethatworkinginsuchanenvironmentrequiresmorethananabilitytooperateatatechnicallevel.Emo$onaldemandsaremadeofemployeestoconstantlybeinaposi$ve,joyfulandevenplayfulmood.Anabilitytocopewithsuchdemandsmustberecognisedasarealskill.

•  Technologycannotsubs$tuteforwelcomingemployees(Poon1993,p.262).

Defini2on of emo2onal intelligence

•  ‘Thecapacityforrecognizingourownfeelingsandthoseofothers,formo$va$ngourselves,andformanagingemo$onswellinourselvesandinourrela$onships’(Goleman1998,p.317).

•  Emo$onallabourandemo$onalintelligencearenotenough:needtoadd“theskillsdemandsofaesthe$clabour(Warhurstetal.2000andNicksonetal.(2003)thatistheskillsrequiredtolook,soundandbehaveinamannerthatiscompa$blewiththerequirementsofthejob(andtheaesthe3cofbrand)andwiththeexpecta$onsofyourcustomers(seeBaum2006,p.130)

•  Aesthe$clabourisnotjustaboutappearancethoughbutalsoabouttheculturaldemeanourandbehavioursexpectedincustomersinterac$ons(doseofculturalandeduca$onalcapitalforthemtobeabletochatwithclientsaboutcertainmusic/poli$cs/economicthemes…)

Differences between developed/developing countries employees •  1.Havingstood/ornotintheshoesofthoseguestsbeforebecominghospitalityemployees(sharedexperienceofconsumerandserver-meaningthespecificexposuretothe”interna$onalizedmodeloftheexperience”,lessersocialdistance)

•  RitzCarlton’smoho‘weareLadiesandGentlemenservingLadiesandGentlemen’

•  2.Digitalandtechnologicalgapbetweentwogroupscrea$ngsocialdistance•  3.Learningalanguage(English),widerculturalcommunica$ons,orlearnaboutWesterncookerymayrequireextralearningandskillsfordevelopingcountriesemployeesininterna$onalchains,thusnoseamlesspassagebetweendomes$ctocommodifiedhospitalityservices(thisismorerelevantindevelopedcountriesnowthatmigrantscons$tutebigsec$onofworkforce)

Social distance and Experien2al intelligence

”Thebundleofaddi$onallearningandskillsdevelopmentrequiredwillvaryfromcontexttocontextbutcouldincludelanguages;moregeneralcommunica$onskills;e$quehe;culinaryandbeverageculture;useandapplica$onofequipment,facili$esandtechnologyandarangeofothertangibleandnontangibleareas”(Baum2006:132)•  Theexperienceeconomyisnotsolelyabouttheexperiencesdemandedbyconsumers.Itis,equally,aboutthetypeofexperiences,culturalandsectorspecific(inthiscase,hospitality-related)thatemployeesbringintotheworkplace.

•  Importantimplica$onsfortheimpactofpoorEQindevelopingcountriesandforworkersthemselves…needtobere-trained?

High/low skill divide: does it apply to hospitality? •  “Burns(1997)ques3onsthebasisforcategorisinghospitalityemploymentintoskilledandunskilledcategories,arguingthepostmodernistcasethatthissepara$onissomethingofasocialconstruct.Thisconstructisrootedin,firstly,manpowerplanningparadigmsforthemanufacturingsectorand,secondly,inthetradi$onalpoweroftradeunionstocontrolentryintotheworkplacethroughlengthyappren$ceships”

•  AndersonandRuhs(2010)arguethatskillsaresociallyconstructedandthatwhenitcomestotherecruitmentofmigrants(e.g.intheUKmarket)employersprefermigrantsratherthanlocalsonthebasisofassump$onsontheirhumanresourcecharacteris3csratherthanskillsperse(e.g.reliability/flexibility/greaterdependencybecauseofmigra$onstatus)

Is it about ‘look’ and a]tude, or about disposability of workers?? •  ‘Wehadtogothroughagroomingcheckbeforewewenttowork.Theycheckedyourshoes,theycheckedyourhair,ithadtobe$edbackwithadarkhairbobbleandboysweresentawaywithdisposablerazorsbeforetheywereallowedtogotowork…oneguy…gotsentbackbecausehedidn’tpassthegroomingcheck’.(citedinWarhurstandNickson2007:112)

•  Thetemporaryagencyemployedmoresubtlestrategiesofwagededuc$onsanduseofunpaidlabourinthemanagementofworkshi:s.OnoneoccasionIwasaskedtoremaininthe‘recrui$nghall’or‘prepara$onroom’ofthehotel‘LushCafe’(wherethewaitersusuallygetreadyexpec$ngtobecalledtotheshiJbytheagencymanager)becausetherewassomethingwrongwithmyclothes.Withtheexcuseofanimproperdetailinmywai$nguniform(thesolesofmyshoeswereofadifferentcolour,insteadofbeing‘completelyblack’!),Ihadtowaitinthehallforonemorehourun$litcametolightthattheworkerIwassupposedtoreplacewasavailablesothatmyshiJwasnotneededanymore(Alber$2011)

Training or inheri2ng so_ skills?

•  InWarhustandNickson(2007)ssurveyofemployeesacrosshospitalityandretailmostdeclaredthattrainingoftechnicalskillswasmoreprominentthatthatofsoJskills,howeversomeexamplesremained:forthosewhoreceivedit,62%indresssenseandstyle,60%inbodylanguage,and29%inmake-upandgrooming

•  16percentoftheorganiza$onstriedtomouldthevoiceandaccentoftheemployeesbytraining

•  …sometraininginemployeeappearanceisprovidedbycompaniesthoughcompaniesarekeenertorecruitthantraintherightappearance.Thisfindingechoessimilarresearchinrela$ontoaftudes(CallaghanandThompson,2002).

•  Priorskillforma3onandthepossibilityofthisforma$onhavingdiscriminatoryoutcomesthenbecomeconsequen$alissuesforbothaftudesandappearance(outsourcingofskillsreproduc$oncosts/’buying’workersalreadytrained??)

Skills, class and the re-loca2on of skills

•  ConceptofhabitusbyBourdieuandtheno$onthatthemannerofspeech,bodylanguageanddressforexample,producehabitusor‘systemsofdurable,transposabledisposi$ons’(Bourdieu,1990:53and56).Hence,inprac$ce

•  -thereisrecogni$onthatwaysofbeingcanbetrainedthroughfamilialsocializa$ontobecome‘internalizedasasecondnature

•  Func$onofhabitus:differen$ateanddifferen$a$ng,deno$ngaclass.Thusmannerofspeech,bodylanguageanddressvaryaccordingtoclass.Consequently,notonlyisthenega$veconsequenceofaesthe$clabourintermsoflabourmarketaccessanissuebutalsothe(re-)loca$onofskillforma$on.

•  Problemoffamilialloca3onofskillsforma3onreproducingclassinequali3esacrossgenera3ons(e.g.middleclassstudentspreferredbyemployersdisplacingotherworkerswhocouldbeemployed)

Moving beyond rigid categories of skills/labours?

•  Beyondemo$ons:‘Affec$velabour’:intangibleservicesbutlabouralwaysembodiedandnotimmeasurable(Dowlingetal.2007)(vs.NegriandHardt2001).Relevantsocialnatureofwork

•  Massumi:differencebetweenaffectsandemo$ons:thefirstreferringtomorepre-consciousdynamicsthesecondmoresocial/rela$onal

•  Hospitalityworkshowstheimpossibilityofaclearboundarybetweenmaterialandimmaterial,tangible/intangible:researchques$ontheinterpreta$onoftheaffec$veworkinvolvedinthehospitalitysectorasatypeof‘immateriallabour’.Indeedthedifferentformsofworkperformedevenwithinasinglehoteladiverserangeof‘skills’thatblurtheboundariesbetweenmaterialandimmaterialwork.Similarly,their‘products’arenotstrictlydefinableineitherterm.

•  S$llformuchhospitalityandretailworkappearanceandaftudeappearmoreimportantthansocalledtechnicalorhardskills

•  Thegenderedandracializedlearningofemo$onalandaffec$vework•  Thecycleofserviceassembly(MahhewColePhD)

Cri2que of ‘experien2al intelligence’

• Whileitcontextualizeskillsinthewideremploymentrela$onsandcondi$ons(e.g.turnover,lackofcareer,lowpay)itdoesnotsucceedatcri$cizingtheveryexpecta$onsofexperien$alintelligence

• Makesimportantpointofinfluenceofinterac$onwithguestbutendsupreproducingtheideathatworkersindevelopedcountriesareinferiorbecausetheydon’thavetheAmericanisedexperienceofhospitality

•  Asiftherecouldnotbealterna$vehospitalityculturesorexperiences?Mereadapta$onstoastandardofexperien$alskills

•  Doesnotproblema$zethedominanceofAmericancultureofhospitalityininterna$onalchainsorwhatguestsactuallywant

•  Conflatedifferenttypesofsocialskills(onethingistolearnEnglishtoallowcommunica$on,anotheronetoadoptcertainWesternculturaltraits)

Cri2que of Warhurst, Nickson and Witz

•  Thetypesofworkinvolvingbothmanualac$vi$esandmoreintangibleformsoflabourinthecustomerserviceindustrieshavebeendefinedintermsof‘aesthe$clabour’(Witzetal.2003),wherebyemployersmobilize,developandcommodifyworkers’bodilycapaci$esasmuchastheirvariouspersonalahributes(includingdeportment,voice,sexualdesirability),withtheaimofproducing‘anaesthe$cstyleofserviceandsensoryexperienceintheencounter’(WolkowitzandWarhurst2010:229).

•  ‘Aesthe$clabour’hastheadvantageofrecognisingtheimpossibilitytoseparatethementalandbodilyskillsinvolvedininterac$veserviceworkBUTConceptofEmo$onallabouralreadycontainedastrongelementofembodiment(butnotonlyas‘extension’ofemo$ons):persistenceofabody/minddivideinno$oniofaesthe$clabour?Hochschildaheadofthegame?

•  Importantinclusionoftheembodimentofthe‘brand’(organiza$onalmarke$ngaspectsaswellaslabourmanagementperse)

•  YOURREADINGOFTHEMANAGEDHEART??