Emotional labour, burnout and work engagement amongst service centre employees in South Africa

Résumé

Orientation: Transforming public service delivery is crucial for the South African government. Emotional labour (EL), managing emotions during client interactions, is essential in service centres. Research purpose: This study examined the relationship between EL, burnout and work engagement (WE) amongst service centre employees in a South African government organisation. Motivation for the study: South African government organisations, as sole service providers, require employees to deliver ‘service with a smile’. This increases mental workload and job stressors, leading to negative responses among service centre employees. Research approach/design and method: Cross-sectional, correlational and nonexperimental quantitative research design was used. The sample consisted of service centre employees in a government organisation. Main findings: The main findings indicated a positive correlation between EL and burnout, a negative correlation between burnout and work engagement and a negative correlation between EL and work engagement. These findings imply that higher EL leads to increased burnout, and reduces work engagement levels. Practical/managerial implications: Training on emotional regulation techniques could assist employees with effective emotional management, thereby reducing the negative impact of surface acting on mental well-being. Additionally, it is recommended that the organisation should focus on person–environment fit and personality traits during recruitment to minimise emotional dissonance and burnout amongst employees. Contribution/value-add: This study is the first of its kind in the South African government organisation and provides insight into the relationship between EL, burnout and work engagement of client service employees.

Citer ce document

Accès au document

Texte intégral en lecture en ligne, réservé aux abonnés SPHAERO et aux membres de l'institution. Se connecter

Voir l'article sur le site de la revue

Auteur(s)

Statistiques

Consultations : 1

Téléchargements : 0