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Does your job require that you “grin and bear it” when dealing with the public. Some jobs do have unreasonable requriments with undesireable results. In spite of what we believe having to smile, externally or internally, on a constant basis does not make one feel better.
There is nothing wrong with feeling unhappy about working conditions that cause us to act in ways inconsistent with how we really feel. When we do, we usually build levels of frustration that can lead to behaviors inconsistent with our desired work outcomes. Jobs that require lots of “grinning and bearing it” can lead to high disstress levels and burnout. Research has shown that individuals who have heavy doses of public contact are prone to developing high blood pressure. And, that will usually lead to high health care costs, absenteeism and turnover.
In order to reduce the unintended consequences of “grinning and bearing it” public contact jobs need to include methods or process for providing avenues for dealing with frustrating experiences.
The TV show AIRLINE is in a new season. It depicts many examples of customer contact by Southwest Airline employees. We are shown cases of “grinning and bearing it” on the part of the staff of the airline. And, in most every incident it is evident that Southwest has devoted extensive resouces in training and development to prepare its employees “to grin and bear it.”
The lesson from Southwest is training can avoid many of the frustrations created by customer interactions. Other methods that have been used include a screaming room, a room with sticks and punching bags, freedom to take breaks to cool off, supervisors who just listen and contests for the best description of a bad encounter.
Training coupled with a time and place for venting is a way to support “grinning and bearing it” and avoiding the frustrations and unintended consequences.
Taking the time time to train and vent may not seem consistent with production demands but in the long run production is likely to increase due to lower uninteded consequences such as absenteeism and turnover.
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