Case Study of Mental Health in the Workplace: Symptoms and Solutions

This case study examines the mental health of an employee, Emma, in a hospitality setting, focusing on her signs of distress, reactions to stress, and the impact of conflict on her mental well-being. The case highlights Emma's rude behavior towards a client, potentially stemming from work-related or personal stress, leading to customer dissatisfaction. It delves into how conflicts with customers can heighten anxiety and stress, further complicating mental health issues. The analysis includes reflections on alternative approaches Emma could have taken, emphasizing the importance of a welcoming demeanor and effective communication. Furthermore, the case study outlines strategies for Emma's manager, including interventions like immediate solutions to customer problems, special discounts, and proper training in hospitality management, communication skills, and strategic management to handle difficult situations effectively. The rationale emphasizes that effective communication and interpersonal skills are crucial for maintaining positive client interactions and satisfaction.

Running head: MENTAL HEALTH IN WORKPLACE
Mental Health in Workplace
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

MENTAL HEALTH IN WORKPLACE
Signs of mental distress: Emma exhibiting
Emma was initially rude to her client as being in a hospitality industry, Emma did not
great her client or customer is a nice and proper way. She refused to made eye contact and
after the “steamroller” said “excuse me”, it is after few seconds that Emma responded “can I
help” without even looking up to her (client) or greeting her with a smile or “hello”.
Moreover, while addressing the query of her client, Emma was always rude. While asking her
to fill the boarding form, she did not even cared to see whether there is pen over the desk or
whether she (client) needs any additional help to fill the form. These two features as executed
by Emma showed that she is under mental distress. She is pre-occupied with anxious
thoughts or might be other job related / personal life related stress, which is creating difficulty
for her to execute her work in a proper manner. According to Driskell & Salas, (2013)
anxiety and job related stress creates mental distress than is exhibited by poor performance in
job.
Reaction to response Emma’s stress level
In response to Emma’s stress level, I would like to say that, I confused about the
source of Emma’s source of stress. This is because, the video does not provided any direct
source of evidence showing the Emma is drowning in piles of work or is under extremely
high work pressure. Her high level of stress might be due to some personal reasons, which is
not highlighted. Her high level of stress leads to the in-appropriate behavior with her client
leading to customer angst and dissatisfaction. According to AlBattat & Som (2013) high
stress level hampers the performance of job and impact the overall corporate image.
Conflict and Emma’s mental health

MENTAL HEALTH IN WORKPLACE
According to Garbarino et al., (2013), work-related stress plays an important role in
the development of mental health complications especially those who are in a profession of
direct customer reaction. Since Emma is a receptionist her main job role encompass direct
client reaction. Prolong or frequent conflict with customer can increase her level of anxiety
and stress and the same is evident from her expression towards the end of the video. The end
of the video shows that Emma is embarrassed when her client was shouting and the
surrounding bystanders notices the same. This embarrassment further increase the level of
stress leading to heightened increase in the mental health complications (Garbarino et al.,
2013).
Client approach and impact n by standards
The client was impatient and rude to Emma from the very beginning her approach and
sentences were extremely arrogant. The approach of Emma was also not justified from the
point of view of a receptionist whose main role is hospitality. She did not showed greeting
glances nor she maintained eye contact. The by-standards were negatively impacted taking
into consideration the high pitch of aggressive conversation of the client with Emma.
Emma shoes
If I was in Emma shoes, I would have greeted my client with a warm welcoming
smile and listened to her every conversation via maintaining eye contact. This will make her
feel, that I as a representative of the hotel is concerned for her and thereby helping her to
come down. I have also addressed her problem in much efficient manner via providing her
effective solution without waiting her. Ariffin (2013) is of the opinion that eye contact and
warming smile are two best tricks in hospitality management.

MENTAL HEALTH IN WORKPLACE
Emma’s manager
Strategy: Eye contact and warming smile. This will make the client feel welcome and
reducing her level of stress (Ariffin, 2013)
Interventions: Immediate solution to her room problems via providing her substitute
room immediately. Instant actions prevent the heightened increase of agitation (Brazil et al.,
2013)
Techniques: Giving her special discount due to her harassment. Getting reward helps
to reduce agitation (Nazari, Tojari & Esmaeili, 2014)
Best support
 Proper training of the receptionist in the domain of hospitality management towards
greeting and treating client irrespective of the level of client’s aggression
 Training in proper intra-personal skills, communication skills and strategic
management in order to handle difficult situations
The rationale behind this, effective communication and intrapersonal skills help the
hospitality manager to maintain proper body language, eye contact and communication skills
while greeting and treating the clients and this increases client’s level of satisfaction
(Garbarino et al., 2013).

MENTAL HEALTH IN WORKPLACE
References
AlBattat, A. R. S., & Som, A. P. M. (2013). Employee dissatisfaction and turnover crises in
the Malaysian hospitality industry. International Journal of Business and
Management, 8(5), 62.
Ariffin, A. A. M. (2013). Generic dimensionality of hospitality in the hotel industry: A host–
guest relationship perspective. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 35,
171-179.
Brazil, K., Maitland, J., Walker, M., & Curtis, A. (2013). The character of behavioural
symptoms on admission to three Canadian long-term care homes. Aging & mental
health, 17(8), 1059-1066.
Driskell, J. E., & Salas, E. (Eds.). (2013). Stress and human performance. Psychology Press.
Garbarino, S., Cuomo, G., Chiorri, C., & Magnavita, N. (2013). Association of work-related
stress with mental health problems in a special police force unit. BMJ open, 3(7),
e002791.
Nazari, S., Tojari, F., & Esmaeili, M. R. (2014). The relationship between mental health with
job stress, quality of work life, and self-efficacy among referees. International
Journal of Sport Studies, 4(5), 531-539.