Mental Health in the Workplace: Analyzing Customer Service Reactions

This case study analyzes Emma's reactions to a difficult customer, Cusimano, in a hotel setting, highlighting the ethical implications of her actions and the impact on her mental health and other clients. It discusses strategies for handling angry customers, such as empathy, de-escalation, and solution-oriented approaches, while emphasizing the importance of supporting employees after stressful encounters. The analysis suggests providing Emma with time to recover and apologizing to other clients who witnessed the incident. Ultimately, the case underscores the need for effective customer service training and mental health support in the workplace to ensure positive interactions and employee well-being. Desklib provides solved assignments and study tools for students to enhance their understanding of such scenarios.

Running head: Mental Health in the Workplace
Mental Health in the Workplace

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Mental Health in the Workplace
Emma’s reactions were definitely showing that she became a little scared of the person
and the situation. Because of that situation, she felt anxious and afraid that the customer would
complain about her and in that reaction she handed over a different room to Cusimano which was
kept for another woman who actually paid extra for that room.
Emma’s reaction should not have been giving a new room to Cusimano as it was
ethically wrong to do. Her response should have been the same until the end that they do not
have any room and her room would be ready by 3 PM.
Cusimano was being very rude to Emma since the inception of the conversation. She took
out her frustration on Emma clearly. The people who were sitting in the lobby or near the
reception were also getting disturbed by her loud conversations with Emma. The bystander’s
reactions showed that they were not linking the way Cusimano was reacting.
If I would have been in Emma’s shoes, then firstly I would have tried to calm down the
lady. Secondly, as it seemed that it was clearly Cusimano’s mistake of not reading the terms and
conditions prior to the booking, I would not have given her a new room which was actually kept
secured for another person who actually paid extra for it. This was ethically very wrong what
Emma did. In case, the hotel has had another guest rooms for the people to get ready, Emma
could have given the access to that room to Cusimano. If there was no room available, then she
could have called any subordinate or the manager to handle the situation (Crouch, Perdue,
Timmermans, & Uysal, 2004).
The strategies which can be used with the angry customer are:
1. The customer should be shown the empathy as to relate with their emotions.
2. The person who is handling the customer should lower the voice while talking. This way the
customer will think that he is being valued (Forbes, 2013).
3. If the receptionist would imagine about the audience, she would not give an angry customer
a chance to be loud. Instead, would try and calm her down.

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Mental Health in the Workplace
4. Sometimes, the person has to accept that they are wrong in order to be right. In this case, if
Emma would have accepted that Cusimano was done wrong then Cusimano would have calmed
down a lot.
5. Try and make the customer relationship with the fact that all this was not personal whatever
happened (Campbell, 2014).
6. Lastly, the customer, in the end, is looking for the solution. Hence, the customer should be
given a solution at any cost which acts in favor of him or her.
At the time of this situation, Emma and other clients looked surprised and anxious about
Cusimano’s rudeness. The best way to support Emma would be to give her some time to digest
with this type of situation and pull herself up or get refreshed. And as far as the other clients are
concerned, they could get an apology in terms of support for they had to see such nuance (Paek,
Schuckert, Kim, & Lee, 2015).
The reason behind the strategies used to support Emma is that she should get some time
to relax and calm down so that she is able to handle the customer in an efficient manner as well
as with the calm mind, she will get new ideas to maintain good relations with the customers.
Giving apology to the other customers who were disturbed with the act will make them feel
special and they will not mind this all act further.

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Mental Health in the Workplace
References
Campbell, S. (2014). 7 Strategies to Succeed With That Demanding, Difficult Customer.
Retrieved July 2, 2018, from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/240765
Crouch, G. I., Perdue, R. R., Timmermans, H. J., & Uysal, M. (2004). Consumer Psychology of
Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure. Retrieved July 2, 2018, from
http://www.economy.gov.ae/Publications/CABI%20-%20Consumer%20Psychology
%20of%20Tourism_%20Hospitality%20and%20Leisure%20%20Volume%203%20-
%20(2004).pdf
Forbes. (2013). 7 Steps For Dealing With Angry Customers. Retrieved July 2, 2018, from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/thesba/2013/08/02/7-steps-for-dealing-with-angry-
customers/#534355206d27
Paek, S., Schuckert, M., Kim, T., & Lee, G. (2015). Why is hospitality employees' psychological
capital important? The effects of psychological capital on work engagement and
employee morale. International Journal of Hospitality Management , 50, 9-26.