The ‘Smile’ that Delivers the Brand: Organisational Dehumanisation Among Frontline Staff in the Hotel Sector – Evidence from Sri Lanka

This study explores how Sri Lanka’s frontline employees in the hotel industry experienced and responded to organisational dehumanisation. Utilising 58 interviews, this study found that experiences of and responses to organisational dehumanisation were both positive and negative. Adhering to emotion and appearance management, as the ‘face’ of the brand, enabled employees to be recognised as professionals, gain social esteem, and develop a sense of belongingness with the organisation. However, on the other hand, employees suffered emotional strain associated with representing the emotional proletariat and handling constant discrepancies between preferences and organisational requirements. Limited organisational support received by employees to proactively handle their emotional strain led to the adoption of destructive emotion-focused coping methods aggravating the experiences of resource depletion of employees.