Dial E for Emotional Labour? Experiencing Emotional Labour by Call Centre Employees

There are two ways of measuring the demands of a job-time and effort. In last three decades a new element has been added: emotional labour. From a customer service representative in a call centre to a teacher or manager, the emotional demands of any job have increased. In call centres the profit margins are so tight that customer service representatives are under constant pressure to meet tough deadlines and stick to strictly scripted interactions and manage a cheerful disposition through it all. They are expected to provide the customers with certain pleasurable emotional exchange by continually repressing their own emotions. The equation of providing empathy to another while denying it to oneself is complex. The main focus of this paper is to explore the concept of emotional labour in the context of call centres. The study is based on the secondary data & literature review and desk research on emotional labour in call centres has been carried out. The results revels that emotional labour influences physical and psychological wellbeing of customer service representatives of call centres which further affect the organizational effectiveness.