Emotional Intelligence: Spare a Thought for Customer-Facing Roles

According to Markus Groth, an associate professor at the Australian School of Business, employees who have to manage their emotions when dealing with difficult customers are providing emotional labour. It is distinct from physical or cognitive labour and bosses need to take this work and the effects it can have on workers into account. Research into parking officers shows they can be more productive if they display authentic emotions in abusive situations, but other occupations require a different emotional intelligence. There's a need for experiential training and managers should take time to debrief with staff after critical incidents.