Pleasanteeism: A new workplace trend that leads to fake smiles and forced engagement
fake smiles and enthusiasm at work to appear cheerful even when they are overwhelmed and stressed. This facade of maintaining constant positivity at the workplace is called “pleasanteeism”.
Though the term first came into existence during the Covid pandemic, it has become a common phenomenon now. But when employees continuously suppress their feelings and are forced to put up such a false face, it affects their mental health, which further leads to reduced engagement and productivity.
Lalitha M Shetty, Vice President-HR at Omega Healthcare, says pleasanteeism arises when employees feel compelled to maintain a positive facade every single minute at work. This could be driven by organisational culture, fear of judgement or job insecurity.
Drawing a distinction between pleasanteeism and professionalism, she says while the latter upholds workplace norms, ethical behaviour, and empowers employees to balance emotions, pleasanteeism demands the suppression of genuine feelings, often affecting well-being.
This trend, according to her, is powered by emotional labour, particularly in customer-facing roles, where employees are expected to exhibit positivity regardless of their internal state, and societal pressures that value affability over authenticity.
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