1. Why might the working environment of these Santa performers be described as an ‘emotional cauldron’? What does this mean for the performers, agency management and customers?
2. How might the Santa performers’ experience and management of emotions such as fear and anxiety be understood?
3. How do these emotions impact on the ways in which the men manage their performance and interactions with clients?
4. From an HR perspective, what measures might be introduced to make the working environment less stressful?

This case study encourages students to consider service work in what is an emotionally charged setting, along with the darker side of such work and the demands it places upon employees and management. Adopting the concept of the ‘emotional cauldron’ (Albrow, 1992), the first question provides students with an opportunity to reflect on the ways in which particular combinations of factors – such as the nature and expectations of customers, the desires and motivations of the employees, and the cultural expectations surrounding the job – can significantly intensify the expectations surrounding the emotional content of the work and its management. The study then directs students towards considering the darker and more damaging emotions that might be experienced by such employees, including anxiety and fear, as they undertake what ostensibly is a job associated with positive emotional experiences. As such, it asks them to consider the possible damaging consequences of altruistic forms of emotion work (Bolton, 2000), especially that which involves a commitment to the authenticity of the emotional performance, when faced with emotionally distressing, or potentially hostile, responses from customers and other members of the public. The final two questions draw attention to how both employees, and potentially HRM professionals, might act in order to minimize both the emotional and psychological risks associated with difficult or hostile emotional responses. In the former case, this might involve active modifications to how roles are undertaken, or the potential for collective support and reassurance amongst colleagues akin to Korczynski’s (2003) ‘communities of coping’. The latter might involve students reflecting on the potential for the active intervention of HR managers to ensure employees are protected from, or are trained to manage, such encounters