Summary of the hidden cost of good service (from an ex-waitress)

00:00:00 - 00:10:00

The video discusses the idea of emotional labor and how it is often required of service workers in different industries. The author discusses how this labor can often be invisible to employees and how it can create a sense of ease for customers.

• 00:00:00 In this video, Melissa discusses the hidden cost of good service, which she learned from 1,156 reviews on the internet. She explains that the term "emotional labor" was created by Dr. Arlie Russell Hochschild and is the work employees do to evoke or suppress healing or emotion in the service of doing paid work. She discusses how emotional labor is often overlooked by customers because of social expectations and the way it is commonly used to disarm and create a sense of ease for employees. She also discusses how emotional labor can be invisible to employees and how it can be used in many industries.
• 00:05:00 The video discusses the hidden cost of good service, which can include managing one's emotions and remembering orders. Brilliant, an interactive stem learning platform, offers an extensive course catalog in subjects ranging from geometry, algebra, statistics to physics and is for anyone who wants to learn at any skill level. Sabrina and Taha conducted a study in which they looked at Google reviews of businesses in 27 different service sectors in five different countries, and found the largest associated cities. They then mapped the location and service sector of the business and selected the best and worst reviews for the narrator to read. The results showed that the most intense reviews had one of two motivations- one was seeking revenge or satisfaction for a previous bad experience, and the other was simply wanting to drop in and say "you go girl." The narrator decided to print the reviews in color and began to notice patterns in the reviews. She started to pick up on words that people use often when they write good or bad reviews, such as professional or rude. She estimates that she will have finished reading all of the reviews by the end of the night.
• 00:10:00 The author discusses the idea that service workers should be polite and friendly, and notes that this is often an extra duty that is required of service workers in different industries. She discusses the importance of understanding the business relationship that is being created, and how emotional labor (e.g. being friendly and polite) can be seen as an extra task for service workers.