How service organizations can improve employee well-being and enhance the work experience

Researchers from Nanyang Technological University and EM Lyon have published a new Journal of Marketing study that describes how, under certain conditions, customer interactions can rejuvenate service employees.

The study is titled “Emotional Energy: When Customer Interactions Energize Service Employees” and is authored by Julien Cayla and Brigitte Auriacombe.

The current state of the service industry seems bleak. Hardly a week goes by without reports of customers mistreating employees. Resignations are at an all-time high due to the stress of daily customer interactions. Customers are often entitled, and service employees fatigued. Many service workers experience burnout.

However, the new study says that this is not the whole story. Contrary to the popular belief that customer interactions are essentially draining, the study shows that under certain conditions, these interactions can rejuvenate service employees. Service interactions can generate high levels of emotional energy, similar to the confidence and excitement experienced at a great concert or a thrilling soccer game.

The key question is: How can customer interactions become a source of emotional energy for frontline service staff?

The Club Med experience

The study is based on research conducted in Club Med resorts, a unique service environment where employees and customers frequently participate in high-energy activities together, such as singing, dancing, and playing sports or sharing drinks and meals. Club Med offers a rich context for studying the emotional dynamics of service work because the interactions here are not just incidental but embedded into the company’s culture.

At Club Med, certain rituals, such as the iconic “Crazy Signs” dance performed every evening by staff and guests, serve as powerful sources of emotional energy. During these rituals, the coordinated actions of participants lead to a collective emotional high. The synchronization of movements and emotions not only enhances the experience for customers but also energizes the employees who lead them. In this way, Club Med employees find joy and rejuvenation in interactions that might be stressful in other service contexts.

The research also highlights the importance of autonomy and status in generating emotional energy. Employees who have more control over their work and who are given opportunities to elevate their status, even temporarily, are more likely to experience positive emotional energy. At Club Med, employees often take on leadership roles during rituals and performances, becoming the focus of attention, and in the process, gaining a temporary boost in status. This elevation is crucial in transforming potentially draining interactions into energizing ones.

Cayla says that “our findings challenge the conventional wisdom that service interactions are inherently depleting. Instead, we argue that under the right conditions, such as opportunities for entrainment, autonomy, and status elevation, customer interactions can be a source of emotional rejuvenation for service employees.”

This has important implications for service organizations seeking to improve employee well-being and engagement. By fostering environments where positive customer interactions can flourish, organizations can help their employees maintain high levels of emotional energy that can lead to better service outcomes and lower turnover.

Lessons for Chief Marketing Officers

• Create rhythmic entrainment. Consider the famous safety announcements from Southwest Airlines. These humorous announcements foster a lighthearted atmosphere, yet this interaction also becomes a moment of mutual focus for employees and customers. It allows airline crews to move their bodies in a synchronous fashion, and through this synchronization—an example of rhythmic entrainment—converge toward the same lighthearted mood. This is a good example of how it is possible to take an existing service interaction that does not normally generate emotional energy for service employees and turn it into one that increases employees’ emotional energy.

• Increase employee autonomy and status. Cycling brands like Rapha organize outings where customers and employees ride together. These experiences act as a regenerative moment for employees because the power differential associated with serving someone is temporarily removed. Such an environment develops common ground between service employees and customers.

• Create “breathing rituals.” Organizations should consider introducing breathing rituals, moments that allow employees and customers to interact on a more equal footing. For example, in some cases, Club Med employees and guests form lasting bonds through experiences such as sharing a meal or drinks. These interactions are both pleasurable and also serve as a counterbalance to the more routine, hierarchical aspects of service work.

By recognizing the potential for customer interactions to generate emotional energy, service organizations can create conditions that protect employees from burnout and enhance their overall work experience. This shift in perspective—from seeing customer interactions as a burden to viewing them as an opportunity for emotional renewal—could help address the persistent challenges faced by the industry.

In conclusion, Auriacombe says that “by intentionally designing customer interactions with emotional energy in mind, service work can be transformed into a more meaningful and joyful experience.”