Emotion in a call centre SME: A case study of positive emotion management

SummaryMuch has been written about the negative emotional experiences of customer service representatives (CSRs) within large Anglo-Saxon call centres and very little is known about the potential positive emotions involved in this form of employment. Our research, which is based on a case study of call centre CSRs within one small-to-medium sized enterprise (SME) in the Greek telecommunications sector, challenges the ‘vocal sweatshop’ image and constructs a different type of story about call centres. We explore the nature of emotion management in this workplace by looking at the context and control of emotional performances and the conditions that would guide positive work feelings. The findings illustrate the ways in which supportiveness, caring and nurturance intertwine to form a ‘humane’ and ‘understanding’ workplace. They indicate a call centre environment where work feelings are expressed as philanthropic emotions and emerge from the reciprocal social exchange in the workplace. This paper emphasises the positive side of emotion management and suggests that emotions in this study identify with work feelings rather than emotional labour.