Implications of Emotional Labor on Work Outcomes of Service Workers in Not-for-Profit Human Service Organizations

ABSTRACT

Studies reveal that emotional labor is a key feature of caring professions. The present study explored emotional labor as an occupational requirement for employees of not-for-profit human services organizations providing services to individuals with disabilities relating to work outcomes (job satisfaction, burnout, and turnover intention). A cross-sectional design was used. Data were collected from a sample of 518 human services employees. The results indicated that: (1) supervisors of direct services and their employees, front line direct care workers, reported the highest levels of emotional labor; (2) the emotional regulation strategy of deep acting increased job satisfaction; (3) the emotional regulation strategy of surface acting increased burnout; and (4) the emotional regulation strategy of surface acting increased turnover intention. The findings highlight the need to address emotional labor regulation strategies within human services organizations in order to address work outcomes and support employees, providing direct services to individuals.

KEYWORDS:

• Emotional labor
• surface acting
• deep acting
• job satisfaction
• burnout
• turnover
• human resources
• human services workers
• human services organizations

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge and thank the following people for their support on this research study: Andrea Winrow (Research Assistant), Kathy Kennedy-Ratajack, Amy Danley, Audrey Blume, Mary Guy, Kathleen Murphy, Ashley Brody, and Kristin Backhaus.

Practice points

1. Supervisors and direct care workers report the highest levels of emotional labor. This directs organizational management to target these job categories when allocating resources to support emotional labor requirements.

2. Management should direct training and development efforts to help employees build efficacy for authentic emotional labor regulation strategies, such as deep acting.

3. Inauthentic displays of emotions by human service workers related to both burnout and turnover intention. To address this, management should target emotional labor regulation strategies using training and support mechanisms.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.