At the time of publication of this article, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is a little under a month away from starting.
By the time you’re reading, it may be already underway.
At either point, as an accountant or bookkeeper, you’ll be feeling the strain of not just increased workload (e.g. five data gathering needs per client compared to one previously), but also transferred emotions from clients as they adapt to the changes.
In this article we look at the latter phenomenon, and ways to cope, as follows:
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What is emotional labour and why is it so dangerous?
This article is part three of our series looking at MTD for Income Tax’s introduction, in the context of well-being for accounting professionals.
Part one looked at the basics of creating head space during the MTD roll-out, while part two looked at balancing MTD capacity with the best possible mental health outcomes.
Understanding emotional labour is a core part of this, and is a mental health issue that might not feature highly in many organisational strategies or workload planning. But if you ignore it, you risk serious consequences—especially in the context of MTD.
Essentially, emotional labour means managing or even suppressing your emotions so that you can get on with clients or colleagues, and do what you need to do in the organisation.
Now, to some extent we all do this. We ignore little irritations and know when to let the annoying habits of clients and colleagues wash over us.
However, if you find yourself doing this too often and doing so becomes a struggle, then the effort can take a toll on your psychology.
The term emotional labour dates to 1983 when, in her book The Managed Heart, American sociologist Arlie Hochschild described emotional labour as having to “induce or suppress feeling in order to sustain the outward countenance that produces the proper state of mind in others.”
We won’t dig into too many specifics in this article. Hochschild makes a distinction between emotional labour and emotion work, for example. It’s worth researching if you find it’s piqued your interest.
But in the office, examples might include:
- Remembering people’s birthdays
- Agreeing to pick up a colleague’s work if they suddenly have a domestic emergency
- Providing additional, informal and unpaid support to a colleague
- Dealing with a client who is not good with deadlines or who can’t manage stress
At times of change and with the increased workload burden of Making Tax Digital (MTD), it’s the last in that list which could be most impactful. Emotional labour and the associated psychological pressure can ratchet up rapidly but insidiously.
Emotional labour and MTD for Income Tax
Being aware of emotional labour in a client context is crucial during these times of change.
Very often a client who is confused and unnerved with the new processes associated with MTD for Income Tax being introduced will simply want that confusion and anxiety to be acknowledged by their accountant before they start to take action in a practical sense.
Reassurance and sympathy are essential, and have the benefit of being relatively easy to dispense.
But you need to be aware of the dividing line between good client care on the one hand, and emotional over-involvement on the other.
Clients such as sole traders and small landlords, in particular, probably won’t have colleagues to share their fears and anxieties with. So, you could be the sole conduit.
You need to set your own boundaries in terms of emotional involvement and hours devoted to a particular client.
MTD: Why it’s important to use insight and empathy
Consider a client who appears to be angry about MTD.
In fact, it might be the new technology and processes that are causing them to lash out. It’s very likely they’re experiencing a feeling of being out of control, of being judged, and perhaps a fear of being seen as incompetent or inefficient.
One way of handling a client in this difficult position is to, after listening to their concerns, explain to them that they’re not the only one.
“So many of my clients are telling me exactly the same thing and I completely understand why they’re saying it.”
This acknowledges a client’s concerns, and normalises them.
Whereas telling them, “Don’t worry!” or “You’ll get used to it!” can sound dismissive and patronising.
Allowing a client to let off steam and express their fears and frustration can clear the air before you begin to look at the specific actions that you’re going to take to solve their problems. Don’t interrupt, no matter how tempting. Wait until there’s a clear, natural pause in their flow.
Managing clients who are stressed and anxious about MTD
So, the goal can be to acknowledge client feelings, clarify what’s actually required of them (and this can often be less than they fear) and then give them one or two specific tasks (not five or six).
On your side of the professional divide, it’s worth sitting down with your team to discuss some of the conversations they’re having with clients.
Identify how clients felt, what they complained about, and what their fears were. You can then share ideas about what responses worked in your experience and that of the other members of your team.
What was said that delivered empathy and lowered the emotional temperature? What resonated with a client and allowed them to focus on practical steps?
When talking to clients nobody wants to sound as if they’re reading from a script. But being ready for the questions, and knowing there are effective, tried and tested responses to those questions, can help to deliver a better service to clients while managing your own emotional labour. In the long run, this will safeguard your mental well-being.
As part of this you can borrow from an established therapeutic technique known as compassionate redirection.
It involves acknowledging the other person’s emotion and then steering back to action. You might want to say something along the lines of, “This is obviously really stressful for you, and I can completely understand that. What I can do is make sure the compliance side is handled so that’s one less thing on your plate. Now, let’s focus on what we need from you this quarter.”
Again, being warm, empathetic, and friendly but also clear on what exactly you need from your client will help to reduce their stress and anxiety by removing that feeling of, “I don’t even know where to start.”
You can also think about how you and your team decompress after one of these difficult conversations with a client. Giving a name to the procedure for handling difficult calls from clients—branding it, in effect—can help to embed it within your team.
The benefits of mindfulness
Self awareness is also important as a way of protecting your mental health. This is sometimes known as mindfulness, in that we aim for present-moment, non-judgmental awareness of what’s occurring.
For instance, you might need to be aware that a client who is venting is not your favourite client at the best of times. It might also be that you’re already feeling stressed about something else that is happening in your work or private life when that particular call comes in.
Taking a few seconds to check on your own mood and emotions can better prepare you to deal with those of a client: “OK, I’m having a busy day and the babysitter’s cancelled tonight so I’m feeling on edge. I’m going to have to take a deep breath and be extra patient for the next 20 minutes.”
This is the kind of simple act of self awareness that can help.
Clients expressing frustration and concern is understandable and acceptable, but being abusive and offensive is neither.
It’s worth talking to colleagues to develop a sense of where this important distinction lies. What are the words and phrases that a client should not use with you or a colleague? What is it reasonable for them to ask you to do for them and what is excessive?
Deadlines might be tight especially around key reporting dates, but, for instance, should a client be allowed to demand a piece of work at 5pm be delivered to them before 9am the next day?
Check that you have clearly defined client expectations.
It’s worth taking the time to create a written policy—and if you already have one, then reviewing it on a regular basis. It’s particularly important that more junior team members who might lack confidence and who are likelier to be charged with chasing up files and information are aware of what is and what is not acceptable behaviour by clients.
If that behaviour is unacceptable, they need to know how to respond and who to report it to.
Final thoughts
More generally, creating a culture in which people are aware of the toll that emotional labour can take and feel able to discuss mental health issues is more important than ever.
Remember that the people in your firm who are less likely to talk about their emotions or let off steam in public may well be the ones who are struggling the most.
Have they become particularly quiet and uncommunicative? Are they spending longer hours in the office or online, and missing meetings and lunch breaks?
It’s important that everyone is aware of the tell-tale signs of excessive emotional labour and its psychological impact so that they can identify those symptoms in themselves and others.
An investment of time and resources now to enable you to anticipate and preempt these problems and develop the best strategies will allow you to avoid them causing problems in the future.
E-Book: MTD for Income Tax—The final countdown playbook for practices
Accountants and bookkeepers still have time to create a repeatable plan for MTD success. This e-Book explains how, via a fast-track mindset, and a 5-phase countdown to April 2026—and beyond.
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