EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE WORKPLACE PPD 2200

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN
THE WORKPLACE
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE EMOTION ANALYSIS

Tran Ai Thu Ho
PPD 2200
Marketa Nabiany
September 10th 2020
1358 words

Table of Contents
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 EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE WORKPLACE PPD 2200

1. Introduction........................................................................................................................3

2. Description of the situations...............................................................................................4

2.1 Negative Experience 1................................................................................................4

2.2 Negative Experience 2................................................................................................4

2.3 Positive Experience 1..................................................................................................4

2.4 Positive Experience 2..................................................................................................4

3. Analysis..............................................................................................................................5

3.1 Negative Experience 1................................................................................................5

3.2 Negative Experience 2................................................................................................5

3.3 Positive Experience 1..................................................................................................5

3.4 Positive Experience 2..................................................................................................6

4. Conclusion and Recommendation......................................................................................7

References..............................................................................................................................8

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1. Introduction
This report is going to give some outlines about my experience’s emotions analysis
during my internship at Room Service at Zurich Marriott Hotel. The report will mention
two negative and positive experiences respectively, then indentifies, analysizes my
emotions based on four cases above, finally conclusions and comes up with some
recommendations for myself. Before going to the main point, let’s first find out what EI is,
Emotional Intelligence is a type of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor
one's own and others' emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use the information to
guide one's thinking and actions (Salovey & Mayer 1990). My emotional experience,
analysis and recommendation will be based and focus on EI concepts such as Emotional
Labor, Surface Acting, Deep Acting, Basic Emotions, Emotional Contagion, Stress, Self-
Control and Cognitive Reformulation.

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2. Description of the situations

2.1 Negative Experience 1

It was the first month at my very first internship at Zurich Marriott Hotel, I was
doing Room Service Early Shift, I had an order but I was late for it because of the chef’s
lateness. I then offered the guest free meal and some complementary. However, later he
wrote a complaining letter that I was not nice, I dropped the tray and messed up his room
while I did not, which made me sad and disppointed.

2.2 Negative Experience 2

The next accident occurred when I was doing late Room Service Shift. I mistook the
order, the guest was really angry when I delivered the meat sandwich instead of vegan one.
Then I quickly brought a vegan one and asked my manager’s permittance to give him free
breakfast and taxi service to the airport as his family had an early flight the next day. The
guest was satisfied with my attitude and offer.

2.3 Positive Experience 1

It was on my fourth month of internship, I was doing Minibar shift then I suddenly
received a call from my manager that I needed to come to his office immediately. When I
stepped into the office, my colleagues were all there and he announced I was the best staff
of the month as I performed very well, I was very happy.

2.4 Positive Experience 2

It was a event from Air China, I was the only one in my team chosen by my
manager to serve the guests. I was doing my job then there was a man coming, talked to
me and asked me if I had any desire to become a cabine crew. Then he offered me to work
for them, he talked to my manager and they all said yes that I had the ability to improve
myself and had enough qualification to do it, which was a surprise for me.

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3. Analysis

3.1 Negative Experience 1

After the accident, many of my emotions are combined, at first I was very nervous,
dithered as I had never met such a mad guest before, I almost forgot what I had to do. That
was one of the short term stresses I experienced but I gradually calmed down and finished
well the rest shift, which was freeze response (Nunez 2020). Then the situation really made
me difficult to keep emotional labour and I even lost sleep. But it I did surface acting
because I was scared when facing the guest but I acted as if I was really composed when
dealing with him since I was aware that I should follow emotional labour, based on the rule
– service with a smile, I could not let the guest realise that I was really worried (Payne
2016). Without exception, I received a reprimand from two managers, I was so shocked
and angry and a bit disgusted when reading that complaining letter but I explained the
truth. My manager was a typical of emotional contagion as he always tried to keep me
positive and comfort me. It was really a big motivation for me (Morris 2017).

3.2 Negative Experience 2

When it comes to this case, I have to say I was extremely ashamed at first as it was
such a basic mistake. Although having more experience than the first accident, I was still
so feared, worried. My next reponse was that I regained my self-posession to solve the
problem quickly, I performed well in front of the guest so he becamed symphathised with
my mistake. However, both of the cases I did surface acting and even fake smile so others
can not realise anything wrong happening with me (Casserly 2011). I realise that everyone
could make mistake but if I always stressed myself, it would lead me to long term stress
(Segal, Smith, Segal and Robinson 2020). Instead, I refomulate my thoughts, thought of
amazing time I would have if I perform well at my internship and from my peers,
managers and stay optimistic. And at the same time, I was quite alert to my blocked
emotion for a long time that if they explode, it would destroy my relationship with others
in the company, so I tried to find fun at work, that the trouble at work would give me more
memorable experiences, and I overcame everthing (Elsa 2019).

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3.3 Positive Experience 1

One of my first emotion when receiving this good news was amazement. I felt
myself being trusted and recognized after a lot of effort, learning from mistakes. That time
I was really used to my job, and one of the reasones why I was chosen among the staff
apart from my well-done job was because I also had Emotional contagion which I learned
from my manager, my colleagues all felt my positive mind influence when working with
me as I was such a reliable, accountable helper, willing to develop as an autonomous
employee and manage emotional cues well (Akers and Porter 2020) . I was proud and more
confident of myself.

3.4 Positive Experience 2

The suggestion from the manager of Air China came as a present for me. I was quite
not only surprised, joyful but also wondered why he chose me so fast after only a few
hours watching me work (Cherry 2020). He said he could feel my desire with hospitality. I
always talked to myself that I should be professional, follow Emotional labor and do my
best. I actually did surface acting as I already worked the whole day and worked overtime
for the event so I was exhauted but the compliment from my manager and that manager
really supported me and I felt like I myself was going on the right way for my passion and
career.

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4. Conclusion and Recommendation

In conclusion, I have discussed both negative and positive experiences, which left
me valuable lesson. Experiencing both short term and long term stresses, most stresses are
from myself as I wanted to learn everything quickly, the working environment there was
great, but as I was in the middle of Europe and it is an international company, the culture
was extremenly new and strange to me. Unlike Asia, it was opener there, I could speak my
voice, I was in less control but as the same time it unintentionally made a culture shock for
me, I also underwent stress at first as I almost had no experience working in a five-star
hotel before, which altogether was challenging for me (Work-related stress 2012). But after
all, I learned how to deal with difficult people , that whatever condition is, I should face
negative emotions, deal with angers, sadness and fear. Emotions are much more complex
than most people realize , Emotional intelligence, emotional labour, surface acting, deep
acting and Emotional contagion are what I have learned and it worked effectively. To
overcome stress, I would recommend myself to do some exercise, yoga, simplify your life,
eat healthily, drink a lot of water, get enough sleep (M. Pearson 2017). EI really plays an
essential role to me as it makes me more self-aware, self-managed, motivative and
empathetic (Why emotional intelligence makes you more successful n.d.).

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References
AKERS, M. and PORTER, G., 2020. What Is Emotional Intelligence (EQ)?. [online]
Psych Central. Available from: <https://psychcentral.com/lib/what-is-emotional-
intelligence-eq/> [Accessed 8 September 2020].
Betterhealth.vic.gov.au., 2012. Work-Related Stress. [online] Available from:
<https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/work-related-stress> [Accessed
8 September 2020].
CASSERLY, M., 2011. Faking It Makes You Miserable. [online] Forbes. Available from:
<https://www.forbes.com/sites/meghancasserly/2011/05/13/fake-smiling-makes-you-
miserable-happiness/#78f6da713ecc> [Accessed 10 September 2020].
CHERRY, K., 2020. The 6 Types Of Basic Emotions And Their Effect On Human
Behavior. [online] Verywell Mind. Available from: <https://www.verywellmind.com/an-
overview-of-the-types-of-emotions-4163976> [Accessed 8 September 2020].
ELSA, S., 2019. Intense Emotions: How To Cope With Hypersensitivity At Work. [online]
Welcometothejungle.com. Available from:
<https://www.welcometothejungle.com/en/articles/intense-emotions-how-to-cope-with-
hypersensitivity-at-work> [Accessed 8 September 2020].
M. PEARSON, C., 2017. The Smart Way To Respond To Negative Emotions At Work.
[online] MIT Sloan Management Review. Available from:
<https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/the-smart-way-to-respond-to-negative-emotions-at-
work/> [Accessed 8 September 2020].
MORRIS, C., 2017. Emotional Contagion: Everything You Need To Know. [online]
Issup.net. Available from: <https://www.issup.net/knowledge-share/resources/2019-
11/emotional-contagion-everything-you-need-know> [Accessed 8 September 2020].
Nest., n.d. Why Emotional Intelligence Makes You More Successful. [online] Available
from: <https://www.latrobe.edu.au/nest/why-emotional-intelligence-makes-you-more-
successful/> [Accessed 8 September 2020].
NUNEZ, K., 2020. Fight, Flight, Or Freeze: How We Respond To Threats. [online]
Healthline. Available from: <https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/fight-flight-
freeze> [Accessed 8 September 2020].

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PAYNE, S., 2016. Are You Surface Acting At Work?. [online] Workhuman.com.

Available from: <https://www.workhuman.com/resources/globoforce-blog/are-you-
surface-acting-at-work> [Accessed 8 September 2020].
SALOVEY, P., & MAYER, J.D., 1990. Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition,
and Personality, 9, 185-211.
SEGAL, J., SMITH, M., SEGAL, R. AND ROBINSON, L., 2020. Stress Symptoms, Signs,
And Causes - Helpguide.Org. [online] Helpguide.org. Available from:
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[Accessed 10 September 2020].

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