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WEEK 9 - Coggle Diagram
WEEK 9
Ideal Worker & Professional Identity
Who is an ideal worker?
an ideal worker is one who is totally committed to and always available to fulfill his or her work duties
Due to a move towards a 24/7/365 work cycle, employees today are expected to prioritise work ahead of family, personal needs and even health
What is professional identity?
Role identities comprise of goals, values, beliefs, norms, interaction styles and time horizons
2 main forms of professional identities
Expected
where employers expectations and belief are paramount important
Experienced
own expectations and beliefs that one can afford tenure
Organisation employing professionals expect their workers to conform to the ideal worker image
Conflict arises when a worker’s experienced professional identity does not meet the ideal worker image
How do employees cope with conflicting professional identities?
How to professionals cope with conflict
Professionals cope with conflicting identities by “straying: from the expected identity
Tools for straying
Personal altering the structure of work (ie. passing)
Focusing on cultivating a local client base
Working on internal projects to reduce travel time
Working from home
Seeking assistance in restructuring work (ie. revealing
Applying for reduced workloads
Seeking parental and/or carer’s leave
Hiding or sharing personal information (passing and revealing)
Passing or Revealing
Passing: intentional or accidental misrepresentation of membership in the favored group (ie. that of the expected professional identity) camouflaging the truth like for example yuo say your sick but actually males
Revealing: intentional or accidental disclosure of non-membership in the favoured group. Telling the whole truth
Congruence VS Conflict
If an employees expected, and experienced professional identities are in sync and congruent they are unlikely to experience conflict
Historically, researchers and practitioners focused on women, especially those with young children as being the main cohort of professionals who would experience conflict
Integrated Identity Management Strategies for Multiple Audiences
Factors influencing the use of passing and/or revealing when interacting with audiences
Audience status
Closeness of relationship: pass to distant colleagues but reveal to close friends
Perceived access to formal accommodations
Extremity of the conflict experiences
Spillover of perceptions across audiences
Efforts to pass or reveal to one audience (e.g. high-status) can spill over and influence the perceptions held of the professional by other audiences (e.g. same- or low-level)
Passing to high-status audiences tends to facilitate passing to equal-or low-status audience
Revealing to close Colleagues often results in informal re-structuring of work
Revealing to high-status audiences often results in revealing to broader audiences across the organisation
Consequences of using integrated identity management strategies
Gender Differences
on average...
Women less likely to engage with identity management strategies that allows passing to high-status audiences and more likely to reveal
Men are equally likely to utilise formal accommodations provided by employer than men
Senior audience perceptions of professionals dictate the performance evaluation system
External perceptions & performance evaluation
High performance ratings given to:
Those who embrace the expected professional identity
Those who use passing (especially to senior-status audiences)
Low performance rating given to those who use revealing (especially to senior-status audiences) identity management strategies
High Performance rating= improved career path
Low performance rating= unstable career path
How do organisations control employees’ professional identity?
Organisational mechanisms of identity control
Structure of work
always prioritising work demands over all other demands and be available for employer at all times (ex. Employer call at 4 am you need to answer)
Performance evaluations
Can use reward system and non-monetary rewards