All the job's a stage: Role-playing in the services industry

People who work in service positions — police officers, hair stylists, dentists, real estate agents &mdahs; are aware that they are on stage, playing a role, while on the job. Playing a role involves knowing when and how that role's being played, and setting some boundaries between you and your clients or customers. In a recent study published in Group & Organization Management, Blake E. Ashforth, management professor at the W. P. Carey School of Business, and his co-authors interviewed 105 different "service agents" about the ways in which they manage the line between who they "really are" and their working role.

The larger break room at a luxury resort in Scottsdale, Arizona is undergoing renovations, but there's one element that's likely to be retained. "We have mirrors so we can check to see how others see us," said Thomas Williams, bell captain for the Scottsdale Fairmont Princess and a 15-year veteran of the resort's staff.

There's something else, though, that Williams says is just as important: "It's a sign that says, 'It's showtime!'" "It's showtime," he repeated, "and that's what it is when we go out where the guests are." Williams and his team at the Fairmont Princess are acutely aware of the role they can play in "taking a moment and making it memorable" for the resort's guests.

They know they provide a kind of performance, and they actively work at their assigned roles in a drama called "resort." That awareness of playing a role is shared by nearly everyone who works in service positions as diverse as police officer, hair stylist, dentist or real estate agent, according to a recent study published in Group & Organization Management.

Knowing your part on the job

Playing a role involves knowing when and how that role's being played, and setting some boundaries between you and your clients or customers. Blake E. Ashforth, management professor at the W. P. Carey School of Business, collaborated with Carol T. Kulik of the University of Melbourne, and Marc A. Tomiuk, of cole des HEC, in interviewing 105 different "service agents" about the ways in which they manage the line between who they "really are" and their working role.

Interviews focused on the ways in which people "get into" and out of their roles, how they distinguish "front stage" and "backstage," and how they learn to manage their emotional involvement in interactions with customers or clients. In other words, "Do you need to play a role, how do you do it, and what happens to you as you do?" Ashforth said.

Getting in and out of a role may appear to be simple, but it involves complex adjustments. For many service agents, a daily commute provides the easiest, fastest way to separate the public and private self. That physical break can help to promote a psychological transition, too.

Both physical and psychological transitions become so ingrained with many service agents, they're no longer noticed. That's when people can shrug and say, "It's just what I do." Nonetheless, the transitions provide important cues that help the person to recreate the role each day or each time it's needed.

Setting up boundaries between personal and professional

One of the most important elements in playing a role is setting the boundaries that surround client and customer interactions. One particularly noticeable boundary marker can be a uniform, with elements of the uniform cuing the role itself. Thomas Williams' crew at the Fairmont Princess, for example, all wear a different uniform indicating their specific role within their service context.

A police officer may use a hat to indicate that he's acting in an authoritative capacity, and a nurse may don a lab coat to perform a medical procedure. These elements are all a part of what most service agents define as "professional behavior," which helps to separate them from clients or customers. Professional behavior also allows service agents to bond together in presenting a united front that is seen as part of flawless customer service (or performance).

When boundaries blur: "But we're really friends!"

Boundaries often blur as we pursue the illusion that our hairstylist, dentist, dry cleaner and others who provide services in our lives are also our friends. Over time, too, service relationships alter in subtle ways, allowing long-term clients and service agents to develop the patina of friendship and, occasionally, genuine friend-friend relationships. Blurring happens frequently, according to Ashforth, even though it is difficult to transcend.

"The initial relationship always colors the following relationship in some way," he said. Better service is not always the result of such blurring, he noted, since the overlay of another relationship can make providing service difficult. For instance, a funeral director who has become friends with members of the community he serves is acutely aware that his visits to a hospitalized friend may not be perceived as consoling.

Blurring roles can happen internally as well as externally, which makes a "backstage" critical in allowing agents to work with facility while "onstage." Whether it is a formal break room, or simply time away from being in front of people, it's a respite that gives service agents a chance to psychologically regroup and prepare for their next time in front of their customers or clients.

Offstage

"Backstage matters precisely because it isn't front stage. It's important to decompress to allow yourself to re-engage with the role," Ashforth explained. Decompression allows service agents to candidly discuss client interactions, critique one another's performances, and to bond in order to deliver improved service.

That sort of bonding assures that service agents can present a united front when engaging with clients and customers, a technique that helps present a sense of flawless performance — or excellent customer service. Backstage is the physical equivalent of the psychological demarcation most service agents employ to distinguish their private lives from their public roles. Most employ a combination of partitioning and distancing techniques, often using rationalizing to help frame their interactions with clients.

For instance, in service roles in which there can be regular instances of rejection, setbacks and similar disappointments, willful optimism is frequently employed. A real estate agent who's lost a sale is likely to say, "There'll be another house and another buyer tomorrow." Teachers with students who have learning disabilities firmly believe that they can provide those students with the help or tools they need to be successful.

Rehearsals would improve the show

What's really surprising, Ashforth said, is that very few service people receive extensive training about how to create and manage their working role. "The conceit management would like to believe is that their employees are the role (policeman, realtor, customer service representative) they're playing," he said. Most companies train representatives by giving them "scripts" to follow in dealing with the public, concluding with the mantra that "the customer is always right."

But this approach, Ashforth said, contributes to cynicism and ultimately burnout for those in service positions. While additional training to create more awareness of the on-the-job role-play would likely increase effectiveness, heighten customer satisfaction, and improve retention, it would also require giving service agents latitude in directing the flow and direction of client interactions. "Sometimes this [resolving problems] can be difficult," Thomas Williams said.

"You can never tell a guest no, but there are times when you need to offer them other options in resolving their needs. We do have the ability to find or create those options. And there are times when the options are not what is wanted. We just need to know we have done our very best in giving them options that could help resolve the issues."

Most companies, Ashforth said, prefer the predictability of prepared scripts for such interactions. "But allowing people to improvise on the fly helps create unique resolutions and a more personalized approach for each customer — that's what sells. You may not always agree with your employees' solutions. On the other hand, you'll have a stronger staff and, finally, keep more customers with higher satisfaction levels."

Bottom Line:

• Shakespeare was probably right — the world's a stage and most people play carefully defined roles. People providing services — the police, your hair stylist, dry cleaner and real estate agent, among others — are very aware of the differences between their role on the job and their personal identity.
• People use cues, including physical and psychological transitions, to prepare themselves for their work-related roles. Commuting time and even uniforms can enhance those transitions.
• Just because your hair stylist is friendly, that's doesn't mean you actually have a friend-friend relationship.
• If you have a complaint or issue with some aspect of service, you'll often get a better response if the service provider is alone when you discuss the problem.
• Additional training could help service providers better identify and handle the differences between their work roles and personal lives, and even enhance performances by providing leeway for improvisation.