We all know that working in a hotel or spa requires more than just simple guest interactions and meeting basic job requirements, particularly when it comes to luxury and award-winning properties.
Guests expect excellent, personalized, and memorable service and experiences, which involves emotional labor, the process of managing emotions to align with workplace expectations. In other words, we ask a lot of our teams.
The findings of a study published in Tourism Management exploring how emotional labor affects hotel employees’ mental health over time, suggest that there can be significant consequences related to anxiety, depression, and emotional exhaustion.
The impact of emotional labor
The study followed 534 hotel interns over an eight-month period, tracking changes in their mental health. The findings show that anxiety and depression increased within the first three months of employment.
Emotional labor, particularly “surface acting,” where employees fake or suppress their emotions, was a key contributor to these negative outcomes. Surface acting led to consistently higher levels of anxiety and depression. Employees who engaged in this form of emotional regulation experienced greater stress, possibly because suppressing true emotions requires constant effort and creates an internal conflict between feelings and outward expressions.
Deep acting, where employees attempt to genuinely feel the emotions they are expected to display, had a more complex effect. In the short term, deep acting reduced anxiety and depression, but over time, deep acting contributed to emotional exhaustion, ultimately leading to higher anxiety and depression levels in the long run.
Emotional exhaustion as a key factor
The authors theorize that emotional exhaustion played a role in the long-term effects of deep acting. While it may seem beneficial at first, the sustained effort to modify emotions eventually drains employees, leaving them mentally and emotionally fatigued, increasing the likelihood of anxiety and depression. Unlike surface acting, which immediately takes a toll on mental health, deep acting may be a slow-burning issue leading to psychological strain over time.
Implications for hotel management
These findings underscore an already recognized need for hotel managers to take employee mental health seriously. Emotional labor is an unavoidable part of customer-facing roles, but its negative effects can be reduced through thoughtful workplace policies and support systems.
Not overloading schedules and ensuring workloads are reasonable and that employees have adequate time for breaks can reduce overall strain. Open door policies with approachable leaders keep communication flowing so that when issues arise, management is aware rather than kept in the dark until it’s too late. Regular check-ins between managers and employees can identify early signs of emotional exhaustion, allowing for intervention before it affects job performance. Providing access to mental health resources, such as counseling services or employee assistance programs, may help staff cope with stress before it escalates into burnout.
Comprehensive training and onboarding programs help eliminate confusion and overwhelm, which can lead to stress, while training programs can also address stress management skills and help employees develop emotional resilience.
The hospitality industry thrives on positive guest experiences, and these require a well-supported and engaged workforce. Leaders should recognize that employees in guest-facing roles may require different forms of support than those in other departments. Realistic job expectations and fostering an environment where employees feel comfortable discussing mental health challenges can make a difference.
Spa Executive is published by Book4Time, the leader in guest management, revenue and mobile solutions for the most exclusive spas, hotels, and resorts around the globe. Now part of Agilysys. Learn more at book4time.com.
About Book4Time
Book4Time is the leading cloud-based spa and ancillary revenue management software for the world’s top hotels and resorts, used by more Forbes 5-Star resorts than any other vendor. Book4Time manages the end-to-end guest experience for hotels, resorts and clubs in over 100 countries worldwide and is the preferred solution for some of the world’s largest and most prestigious hospitality brands including Marriott, Accor, Hilton, Hyatt and Four Seasons.
