Emotional Wage

The barista at Rooster Coffee is getting paid regular wage, remembers not just a customer's name and order but their child's name, is someone who clearly loves their job. The wine consultant at LCBO-St.Lawrence Market is in a union but provides uplifting service to her customers by emailing "my top five picks" every month just because she cares. And the flight attendant at Porter who is getting paid market wage but happily serves you a complimentary glass of wine with a snack on every flight to earn your business.

What they have in common is emotional labor. Like physical labor, emotional labor requires you to provide more engagement with your customers even when you don't feel like it. Fortunately, you cannot pay a higher wage for more emotional labor. It requires time and focus to seek out those who innately have this soft skill and provide the culture to support it. Aside from creating a reputation for your business, these people attract others like them into your organization.

The reality is the person who brings emotional labor to every client, employer or charity organization they volunteer, will only continue to do so in a culture they support and an environment they respect. Otherwise, they will move on to another company that values their special gift that is rare in the market place and provide their emotional labor there.

It is not surprising when an owner provides emotional labor to their customers, the key is for the same owner to provide emotional labor to their employees/team everyday. The result is drastic, the first owner would add value to their business while the second would multiply value to their business.

Is your business paying the proper wage to attract this employee?