EMOTIONAL SOCIALIZATION IN TIMES OF DISRUPTION: A MIXED-METHODS CASE STUDY OF EMOTIONAL LABOR AMONG NONPROFIT EMPLOYEES DURING COVID-19

Purpose: Rarely is emotional labor explicitly discussed as a required aspect of crisis response work. While the gender inequities in withdrawal from the workforce emerging from the pandemic are well documented, we know little about the emotional toll of managing the ongoing disruption of the pandemic for women with different degrees of membership in organizations. Design: This research uses a dynamic mixed-methods approach in studying emotional labor among women during times of disruption. Specifically, we explore with surveys, daily diary entries, and semistructured interviews the emotional experiences of women working at a California-based nonprofit organization during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. With our data, we are able to compare the emotional expectations and experiences of full-time (FT) and part-time (PT) employees. Findings: Results show differences in emotional experiences and labor by group membership, with FT employees reporting higher rates of surface acting: FT employees suppressed (28%) and inauthentically expressed (12%) emotions more often than PT employees (23% and 5%, respectively). Qualitative evidence suggests socialization is occurring more formally for FT employees and informally for PT employees, influencing perceived emotional expectations and subsequent emotional labor. Research Implications: The contributions to this volume focus on an under- studied topic in nonprofit management: Emotional experiences in times of disruption. Novel evidence on differing emotional experiences, particularly surface acting, as a function of group membership may motivate other research to disentangle issues of change management during crises. Practical Implications: These differing rates of surface acting have meaningful implications for burnout and retention of employees in a sector that is heavily reliant on voluntary and PT engagement. Thus, this work serves to provide organizational leadership and management insight on mechanisms shaping employee outcomes. Social Implications: The findings here have important implications for employee well-being and are crucial to the way individuals across society manage the stress of working during times of crisis. Originality/Value: PT work is subject to different emotional norms than FT work. These novel findings provide value to organizational leaders who oversee a workforce with varying degrees of group membership. © 2023 by Emerald Publishing Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.

Nonprofits as a Resilient Sector: Implications for Public Policy

Lester Salamon first characterized nonprofits in the United States as "the resilient sector” in 2003. He based this characterization on the sector's growth, its ability to adapt to new economic and political conditions over time and its increasingly adaptive entrepreneurial culture. The view of nonprofits as resilient institutions has been reinforced since by their performance in recent crises including the COVID pandemic beginning in 2020 and the financial crisis of 2008–2009, though not without exception or assurance that nonprofits would necessarily be resilient in future crises. This paper examines some of the strategies nonprofits have employed to navigate recent crises and prepare themselves for less certain futures. It also teases apart the nature of resilience, asking how resilience at the organizational level differs from network level and sector-level resilience. Such differences have important implications for public policy vis-à-vis nonprofits. In particular, policies that would strengthen nonprofits at the organizational level may differ from, even conflict with, those that would strengthen the nonprofit sector as a whole. [ FROM AUTHOR]

Does COVID-19 Portend a Shocking Future for Nonprofits?

COVID-19 caught many nonprofit leaders by surprise. The impact of the pandemic was unprecedented in recent history. Has this shock provided a wake-up call for nonprofits to better prepare for possible future shocks, notably those related to climate change? This article presents a number of questions that have emerged from the COVID-19 experience, pro-vides several sources of guidance on preparedness planning, and notes the opportunity for new courses to address leadership needs for preparedness. © 2021, University of Alberta Library. All rights reserved.