The Role of Emotional Labor in Facility Management

Facility management, one of the sub-branches of management science, is a relatively new concept in our country. In a broad sense, facility management is a field of study that aims to ensure and maintain the ideal safety, efficiency, comfort and, proper use of buildings in human and social life. At the center of facility management is the service orientation of buildings of all types and characteristics, both technically and theoretically. Facility management offers a complex set of services at every stage, from project to implementation, from control and improvement to operation. In order for facility management to achieve its objectives and deliver the expected value, the service dimension involves human elements on both the supply and demand sides. Therefore, the emotional labor phenomenon, which has a close relationship with many variables in the quality of the services provided, is of particular importance. This research aims to examine emotional labor, which consists of three dimensions: surface acting, deep acting, natural behavior and also demographic factors in terms of facility management. The research was carried out with 427 participants working in companies operating in Istanbul between October-November 2022. As a result of the research, it was seen that emotional labor is an effective factor in facility management services and that demographic characteristics differ among themselves in emotional labor sub-dimensions. Accordingly, it has been revealed that companies providing facility management services and managers in this field should act by recognizing the impact and importance of emotional labor and its sub-dimensions. The findings obtained are a reference for future studies in the field of facility management to test the relationship between emotional labor and other variables.