Managerial Challenges of Emotional Labor Disruption: The COVID-19 Crisis in Mexico

The purpose of this article is to contribute to the knowledge of managing emotional labor during a crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a disrupting event, particularly affecting frontline healthcare workers and their supervisors who faced pressures to manage emotions during their interactions wit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inReview of public personnel administration Vol. 43; no. 3; pp. 411 - 429
Main Authors Varela Castro, Samanta, Pérez-Chiqués, Elizabeth, Meza, Oliver, Campos González, Sergio A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.09.2023
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
COVID-19
Crises
Emergencies
Emotions
Hospitals
Nurses
Supervisors
Workers
Mexico
Mexico
Covid-19
management
emotional labor
frontline workers
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Summary:The purpose of this article is to contribute to the knowledge of managing emotional labor during a crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a disrupting event, particularly affecting frontline healthcare workers and their supervisors who faced pressures to manage emotions during their interactions with patients. Emotional labor has been studied in emergencies; however, the case of Mexico offers insights into an understudied context and a long and singular crisis. Drawing from multi-level storytelling interviews with medical managers, physicians, and nurses in hospitals in different states of Mexico, this article argues that COVID-19 blurred relationships between performance and outcomes of emotional labor. As the organizational goal focused mainly on saving lives, some workers intensified and performed emotional labor innovatively, but others deviated from feeling rules. Managers’ role became crucial for employees to abide by affective requirements facing disruption.
ISSN:0734-371X
1552-759X
DOI:10.1177/0734371X211060735