Emotional labour at the heart of the work

Objectives Three Government Agencies in NSW Australia have implemented a telephone advisory service for government agency staff to access professional advice and meet mandatory reporting requirements relating to child... [ view full abstract ]

Objectives
Three Government Agencies in NSW Australia have implemented a telephone advisory service for government agency staff to access professional advice and meet mandatory reporting requirements relating to child protection.

This presentation reports a three-year study with the telephone advisory service workers (Assessment Officers). The research finds that Assessment Officers perform high levels of emotional labour which is often overlooked and an unspoken requirement of the role. Assessment Officers work with the clients’ emotional states and are required by the technical aspects of the role and systems to listen beyond the words uttered by clients in this responsive work role.

Method
Approaching the fieldwork from a social constructionist paradigm, the qualitative data was gathered by conducting 2 focus groups, 1 dyad and 8 individual interviews, totalling 20 employees from two of the three Agencies. The data was thematically analysed using NVIVO. Emotional labour is a major theme of the research.

Results
The expertise and ability to perform emotional labour benefits both the Agencies and clients. Acknowledgement of the major function of emotional labour in the Assessment Officers’ role is lacking and largely unacknowledged by supervision or professional development. Recognition for the Assessment Officers’ level of expertise and skill in performing emotional labour and augmentation of the Assessment Officers’ role is required. Further, the technical systems Assessment Officers operate is often at odds with the performance of emotional labour, creating uneasy tensions for Assessment Officers.

Conclusions
The units were established to primarily build capacity in the governmental workforce by providing expert workers to lead staff through a decision making tool and the assessment of risk of harm to children. However, the service has developed into a unique support and advisory resource. Consideration should be given to the role design and acknowledgement of the powerful emotional labour Assessment Officers offer the sector.