“Let Me Tell You About My Job”: Exploring the Terrain of Emotion in the Workplace

Abstract

Because of the rapid growth in literature on emotion and communication in organizations and the many disciplinary homes of this work, scholars use many conceptualizations of emotion in the workplace. In this article, the authors map the terrain of emotion and communication in the workplace. They first review extant literature and argue for five types of organizational emotion: emotional labor (inauthentic emotion in interaction with customers and clients), emotional work (authentic emotion in interaction customers and clients), emotion with work (emotion stemming from interaction with coworkers), emotion at work (emotion from nonwork sources experienced in the work-place), and emotion toward work (emotions in which work is the target of the feeling). They then explore these types of emotion through an analysis of workplace narratives from the books Working (Terkel, 1972) and Gig (Bowe, Bowe, & Streeter, 2000). Themes that characterize workplace emotion are considered, and directions for future research are proposed.

Reconsidering Consultants' Strategic Use of the Business Case for Diversity

“…However, I consider these potential risks in relationship to the possibilities for action the discourse of the business offers diversity consultants. More specifically, I suggest that consultants use the business case strategically to gain access, motivate leadership and employees, and accomplish emotional work (Miller, Considine, & Garner, 2007). Ultimately, Business Case 389 I demonstrate the importance of acknowledging the occupational demands that prompt use of the business case because it allows scholars to identify strategies that meet those demands but carry less of the dehumanizing risk associated with the business case.…”

“…Thus, the consultants used the business case to perform emotional work, which Miller et al (2007) suggest involves the management of authentic (as opposed to superficial) emotion that ''stem(s) from the work itself and involve(s) interaction with some kind of client'' (p. 233). The following comment was made by a consultant who had worked extensively in team development and other areas of professional development before becoming a diversity consultant: [A] consultant or a manager encounters resistance in anything we do.…”

“…Next, the theory section explains how taking a grounded in action approach (Fairhurst & Putnam, 2004) extends the applied potential of critiques of the business case by identifying specific moments of intervention in the everyday interaction of consultants. After clarifying the methods of the research, the analysis demonstrates how consultants use the business case to meet three occupational demands (1) Business Case 385 organizational access, (2) motivation, and (3) emotional work (Miller, Considine, & Garner, 2007). I argue that in order for diversity scholars to make a significant impact on diversity work and consequent social constructions of human difference, they must identify action-based interventions specific to these occupational demands.…”

Número complet

“…Los estudios sectoriales dificultan confirmar dicho supuesto, y analizar una muestra representativa de los ocupados lo hará factible. No se pierde de vista, en cualquier caso, que hay autores como Miller et al (2007) que plantean que las emociones no siempre van asociadas a la interacción con los usuarios, sino, por ejemplo, con otros empleados o con otros aspectos de la actividad laboral.…”

Qui a peur des émotions organisationnelles?

“…Élaboré par plusieurs chercheurs et chercheuses (Ashforth et Humphrey 1995;Ashforth et Tomiuk 2000;James 1989;Leidner 1999;Miller, Considine et Garner 2007;Wharton 1993), le travail affectif se définit par l'effort, la planification et le contrôle nécessaires à l'expression, à travers l'interaction sociale, des émotions prescrites par l'organisation (Morris et Feldman 1996). La pratique inclut le contrôle des émotions de l'individu lui-même et de celles des autres.…”