In Sion, does having to appear calm come at a cost?
In healthcare, Alpine tourism, winery hospitality and customer relations in hydropower, work situations may require people to remain calm despite anxiety or irritation. For a manager in Sion, the question is specific: how can professional relationships be maintained without making the concealment of emotions a permanent requirement?
What the literature establishes
Ute R. Hülsheger and Anna F. Schewe (2011, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology) distinguish in their meta-analysis between surface acting — changing one's expression without changing one's feelings — and deep acting, which seeks to change the feelings themselves. Surface acting is associated with greater impairment of well-being and less favourable job attitudes. A friendly demeanour therefore says little, on its own, about the psychological cost of providing a service.
The mechanism behind the professional face
Alicia A. Grandey (2000, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology) proposes a theoretical framework that analyses emotional labour as emotion regulation in response to organisational expectations. Concealing irritation and trying to feel more understanding are not the same strategy. This framework makes it possible to examine the display rules imposed by management, rather than attributing every difficulty to an employee's personality.
The premature conclusion
One might conclude that teams simply need to learn to feel the expected emotions. The meta-analysis by Ute R. Hülsheger and Anna F. Schewe (2011, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology) describes a more favourable pattern for deep acting, particularly regarding customer satisfaction, but does not establish that training in this strategy would prevent health problems. Prevention therefore cannot be reduced to making employees better at meeting a demanding requirement. (our executive and employee training programmes)
What these data cannot settle
The associations synthesised are insufficient to isolate a causal effect: working conditions may contribute to both surface acting and poor well-being. They provide neither a universal threshold for emotionally taxing interactions nor an estimate specific to Sion's sectors. In practice, a customer satisfaction questionnaire does not measure the emotional effort required to achieve that satisfaction.
A practical check in Sion
As part of SHR's « Risques psychosociaux » programme, a team in Sion could test a handover rule for emotionally difficult interactions over two weeks, whether in consultations, tourist reception, a winery or a hydropower provider's customer service. The rule would specify who can take over the interaction and how to request that support without penalty. An anonymous, aggregated log would count requests for a handover and those actually fulfilled, allowing the proportion fulfilled to be calculated. This result would check the arrangement's actual accessibility, not its health effectiveness, and would help adjust work organisation rather than assess individuals. To go further: explore the Psychosocial Risks training in Sion in the canton of Valais, or browse our executive and employee training programmes in Switzerland.
In pictures: Psychosocial Risks in Sion
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