The sentimental re-education of businesses

The control of employees’ emotions has been a historical characteristic of all organizations. Manipulation of emotions, on the other hand, is a relatively more recent feature. Traditionally, businesses have focused on evoking emotions from consumers through marketing. On the employees’ side, the initial focus was on containing emotions. The industrial society (including the advanced society described by Marcuse in the 1960s) initially aimed to strip work of its affective and expressive elements, rendering it a purely instrumental relationship in which employees were defined solely by this dimension. Over time, companies have increasingly focused on the emotions of employees, moving away from a purely pragmatic view of the work environment. Employee satisfaction and emotional wellbeing have become central.