The effects of the emotional labor concept on employee performance: A qualitative application for call center employees

With the increasing importance of the concept of customer satisfaction, the expectation of managers from their employees regarding quality and standards compliance has increased, and a controlling and oppressive attitude has emerged on employees. The aim of this study is to determine the effects of the emotional labor effort of the employees, who have to shape their emotions and behaviors in the work environment according to the organizational behavior rules, on the employee performance of the relationship between burnout, job satisfaction, intention to quit and stress level. The research was applied as a qualitative study on the employees of a call center company that carries out legal debt collection processes. As a result of the research, although a clear inference could not be reached about the demographic characteristics of the participants and the effects of emotional labor effort; the results showing that the employees are more willing to show genuine acting in parallel with the increase in the income level, support the argument that emotions are a part of the service offered and gain the property of a commodity. (Hochschild, 1983; Morris & Feldman, 1996) The statements of the participants, who stated that they show surface acting are similar to the negative effects of the concept of emotional labor, such as the feeling of burnout, job satisfaction, quiting the job and an increase in the stress level, which were expressed in the previous research. (Hochschild, 1983; Morris and Feldman, 1996; Grandey, 2000)