By:
Tri Siwi Agustina
Lecturer in the Management Study Program and Chair of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Industrial Relations, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Airlangga
For almost the last 3 weeks, the global culinary world has been filled with the viral sensation of Karen's Dinner Restaurant.
This restaurant has a different concept from restaurants in general where the service is required to serve customers in a friendly manner with beaming faces and skill in order to satisfy customers. This restaurant is actually characterized by the waiters being bitchy, serving by saying harsh words at customers and being lazy. Suddenly, in a short time, there were pro and con responses from the public commenting on the restaurant's service which ignored the motto "The Customer is King". Until now, the pros and cons are still not over, but recently the news about the restaurant has shifted to visitors who are ready to face the waiters' surprises.
If the waiters are "warned" not to engage in body shaming, mechanical fighting (for example: slamming or deliberately breaking cutlery) and bullying customers. Conversely, what about customers? Where does the control come from not to do body shaming, not engage in mechanic fights or even bullying the waiters? In fact, in one of the YouTube broadcasts on the Nadya Alaydrus Channel, Bella, one of the restaurant waitresses who was going viral, said that her friend experienced bullying from visitors while they were working. Viewed from a business ethics perspective, of course this will deal with ethical matters which should be the company's obligations to employees. Ethical responsibility is not only enough to provide salaries or wages, but also the obligation to maintain the physical and mental health of workers. This article is intended to inspire entrepreneurs or prospective entrepreneurs, because it is common in Indonesia that if there is a business that is successful and popular in the mass media, it will be imitated. Therefore, in order not to just "copy paste" the restaurant business concept, it is necessary to consider the workers' side, especially the waiters, who are the main actors in the uniqueness of the restaurant business. Don't let this happen, the profits achieved by business owners are not balanced with the welfare of employees in terms of mental health. For business owners, it could be a simple thought, if visitors are bored and exhausted by their curiosity about the unique services of their restaurant, then they can easily change their business processes or move to another city. But what happens to workers who are already unable to differentiate between the emotions that accompany their role in the workplace and actual emotions (felt emotions) and their impact on themselves and the people around them?
Emotional Labor and Emotional Dissonance
Emotional labor is generally experienced by frontline workers such as customer service, cashiers, receptionists, nurses, waiters, drivers and so on.
The challenge they face is when they have to show an emotion (for example, wanting to be angry or annoyed with a customer) while simultaneously feeling like they have to show a sincere face accompanied by a big smile so that the customer is satisfied and wants to come back. Such an emotional gap is called emotional dissonance. Likewise with the waiter workers in the restaurant where they must play an antagonistic role towards customers but must not be provoked by anger in carrying out their work. Emotional dissonance that is not managed well will have an impact on the individual himself, for example: frustration, irritability, anger without cause, depression, withdrawal from the work environment, a change in attitude from open to closed and the desire to finish the job or resign which ultimately causes emotional exhaustion and mental disorders. What is worrying about restaurant workers with a concept like this is that emotional fatigue appears when serving customers so that the boundaries of the roles they carry out become blurred. Learning from these conditions, business owners should be aware of the impacts before determining a business concept.
Questions such as "what is their responsibility towards the mental health of their restaurant waiters?" , "What approaches should be taken" they have to think about. Aren't they the same as other workers who play a role when carrying out their work? who must be good at managing their emotions when working in order to satisfy customers. Undoubtedly, helping workers deal with the consequences of emotional labor will improve employee morale and reduce employees' desire to leave the organization. Approaches that can be taken.
The following are several approaches that restaurant management can use to help their workers face the demands of emotional work:
1. Socialize the business concept from the recruitment process. When announcing to the public that the restaurant will be opening job vacancies, an overview of the restaurant's business concept should be given, that the concept of "bitchy" for customers is "entertainment" which aims to provide an "experience" that is different from the restaurant concept in general. By knowing an overview of the restaurant business concept, it is hoped that prospective applicants will already know the demands of the job and prepare the energy, both physical and mental, to carry out the job.
2. Search through a selection process. Selection aims to find workers who suit the job requirements among the many applicants. “Whether or not the applicant is able to carry out his role? ” Various tools can be used to test the mental resilience and long-term mental health tendencies of prospective workers.
3. Form mental readiness during the orientation period. Orientation is carried out to introduce new workers to the organization where they work and also to their work. At this time, organizations can reaffirm their business concept, the rules and regulations that employees must adhere to, for example an unfriendly attitude towards visitors during service, the aim of which is once again to provide an "experience" that is different from other restaurants. Learning from Karen's Dinner, the restaurant management is strategic in protecting the restaurant waiters and also maintaining the privacy of other visitors by providing written rules and actively reminding visitors before entering about the unique concept of the restaurant business, so that it is hoped that visitors will not be easily provoked by emotions, carry out body shaming or mechanical fighting but focus on the food and drinks served and enjoying the vibes of the restaurant.
4. Actively carry out briefings and warm-ups before starting work. The briefing moment was held to prepare the workers mentally and physically and the supervisors to update various latest information related to various new programs, price changes, including reminding the waiters of the rules of service so that they are not easily provoked by emotions. Meanwhile, warming up is done as a way to switch good emotions to angry emotions. On the other hand, after work, a "cooling down" session must also be carried out at the end of the shift or after closing. This is done to prevent negative emotions from being carried home.
5. Facilitate access for workers to express their aspirations. In fact, workers can use briefings to convey the unique experiences they are experiencing, but often briefings are held a short time before work starts so time is limited. Therefore, conveying information and worker aspirations can be communicated via WhatsApp Group or Telegram. If the information is classified as light or moderate, it can be followed up through a briefing, but if the information is classified as heavy and requires follow-up action which must be decided carefully then it can be followed up through a special meeting.
6. Hold a meeting immediately if any deviation occurs by the customer. Cases of bullying of servants must be handled immediately and action taken. Not everyone who experiences bullying will be able to open up about what happened to them. Restaurant management must cultivate a culture of openness among workers so that they have the courage to "speak up", respect their willingness to reveal facts and keep this information confidential to the general public to protect their privacy. Therefore, restaurant management must also have step by step follow-up to protect their workers. For example: activating the role of leader/supervisor to provide coaching to the worker to help the worker solve the problems they face according to their abilities. Of course, this is new homework for restaurant management because they have to train leaders / supervisors to be able to act as "Coaches". If the coaching carried out by the leader/supervisor has not been able to restore self-confidence, the organization can connect with a psychologist. Apart from that, it is also necessary to consider whether you have to take legal steps, such as reporting restaurant visitors to the authorities for unpleasant behavior and violations of rules.
7. Committed to providing workers with holiday and leave rights. Generally, when a new restaurant opens, especially if this restaurant goes viral, many people are curious and want to come. Of course, this is a blessing in itself for restaurant owners, managers and restaurant workers, but instead of reaping profits in plain sight, you should also think about workers' rights to take time off. Workers can use holidays to overcome work boredom and refresh their physical and mental condition due to work demands. Therefore, restaurant management must be committed to fulfilling the rights of workers who apply for leave or exercise their right to holiday. If the restaurant is expected to be busy on national holidays, this can be anticipated by arranging work shifts and arranging leave. If necessary, in the early years of opening a restaurant, within a period of 3 months, program for joint leave and outings which are attended by all workers, managers and also restaurant owners so that togetherness can be felt more, shorten the distance of power, improve communication in the workplace and restrain workers from leaving the organization.
8. Get into the habit of holding experience sharing sessions. One effective way to help workers come to terms with emotional labor is through various experiences. Routinely every week, around 1 hour, all workers gather to listen to fellow workers share their experiences about strategies that are considered quite effective in dealing with various customer characteristics. Being given by fellow workers with the same scope of work creates optimism that they can overcome similar obstacles in their work and is believed to be able to reduce the occurrence of emotional exhaustion in the future.
9. Integrate emotional labor with performance appraisal.
To appreciate workers' efforts in managing their emotions, organizations can include elements of the ability to manage emotional labor and commitment to serving customers in employee performance assessments. "How do they deal with customers who are unreasonably angry?", "How do they behave towards their colleagues outside working hours", "To what extent are they able to be tolerant and not easily provoked by emotions when dealing with customers?". Appreciation in the form of awards and incentives can be given to servants who show intelligence in managing their emotional work. Performance evaluations for restaurant workers can be given in the form of the Best Employee Award every month (Employee of the Month) or the Annual Best Employee Award (Employee of the Year). Once again, I hope this article is useful and can be taken into consideration by culinary entrepreneurs and staff. managers (especially restaurants) should not be careless, copy paste and be more careful in determining the business concept that will be implemented.
https://www.harianbhirawa.co.id/pengusaha-kuliner-jangan-asal-copy-paste/
