Emotions and wellbeing at work

This chapter examines the significance of emotions at work for the organisation and for the individual hospitality worker. It first considers academic theorists’ and practitioners’ concerns with workplace emotions and the reasons for the increasing concern for employees’ wellbeing. It then explores some of the contradictions surrounding alternative perceptions of workplace emotions. The more practical aspects of managing emotions in hospitality and related areas of service work are then considered and what research reveals about different management approaches from both contextual and cross-cultural perspectives. The chapter addresses specific issues related to hospitality employees’ well-being and considers the extent to which an individual worker’s emotion management may influence this. It explores various theoretical and practical viewpoints on the meaning of well-being, work-life balance and the hospitality employer’s possible roles in enabling and enriching its workers’ physical and psychological health. The chapter concludes with some reflections upon the hospitality industry’s responsibilities for the quality of working life of its employees and how it might promote this in the future.