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Critical Perspectives on Management and Organisations (How do…
Critical Perspectives on Management and Organisations
How do Organisations Control Employees' Professional Identity?
Performance evaluations
Reinforcing the above structure of work by rewarding (e.g. promotions, salary increments, nonmonetary rewards – stars) those who fulfil such ‘expected’ professional identity requirements
Taken together, the structure of work and the performance evaluation system creates a self-fulfilling prophecy of professionals continuously adopting the ‘expected’ professional identity
Structure of work
The successful performance of the professional role been contingent upon always prioritising work demands over all other life demands and therefore always being available to the employer (e.g. stipulation of work requirements and peer-pressure)
Integrated Identity Management Strategies for Multiple Audiences
Combining Passing and Revealing
Audience Statues
Pass to high-status while revealing to same-status audiences
Closeness of Relationship
Pass to those distant while revealing to close friends (colleagues) and mentors
Perceived Access to Formal Accommodations
Reveal if having access to formal accommodations (e.g. parental leave) and pass if not
Extremity of the Conflict Experienced
When faced with extreme circumstances in work (e.g. excessively demanding project) or personal life (e.g. death of a close family member) reveal while passing on all other circumstances
Spillover of Perceptions Across Audiences
Efforts to pass or reveal to one audience (e.g. high-status) can spillover 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 audiences
Revealing to close colleagues often results in informal re-structuring of work which enables one to pass to wider high-status audiences
Revealing to high-status audiences often results in revealung to broader audiences across the organisation
An Ideal Worker & the Professional Identity
Who is an 'Ideal Worker'?
Employees today are expected to prioritise work over their family, personal needs and health due to the shift towards a 24/7/365 work cycle
An 'Ideal Worker' is one who is totally committed to and always available to fulfill their work duties
Employees who embrace this expectation are richly rewarded, especially those performing professional or management roles
What is a 'Professional Identity'?
Role identities comprise of goals, values, beliefs, norms, interaction styles and time horizons associated with a given role
2 main forms of professional identities:
Expected: Employer's expectations and beliefs
Experienced: Own expectations and beliefs
Organisations that employ professionals expect them to conform to the ideal worker image
When an employee's own experienced professional identity does not meet the ideal worker image/expected professional identity, conflict arises
This expectation has lead to persisting gender inequality in the workplace
How do employees cope with conflicting professional identities
Congruence vs conflict
If an employee’s expected and experienced professional identities are in sync and congruent they are unlikely to experience conflict
A large percentage of professionals experience conflict between the two identities
How do professionals cope with conflict?
Professionals cope with conflicting identities by ‘straying’ from the expected identity (i.e. ideal worker image)
Revealing
Intentional or accidental disclosure of non-membership in the favoured group )
Passing
Intentional or accidental misrepresentation of membership in the favoured group (i.e. expected professional identity)
Tools for straying
Personally altering the structure of work (i.e. passing) - Focusing on cultivating a local client base - Working on internal projects to reduce travel time - Working from home
Seeking assistance in restructuring work (i.e. revealing) - Applying for reduced workloads - Seeking parental and/or carer's leave
Hiding or sharing personal information (i.e. passing and revealing)
How professionals controlled their personal information dictate whether the are passing or revealing to alter work structure to cope
Consequences of using integrated identity management strategies for professionals
External perceptions and performance evaluation
Low performance rating given to those who use revealing (especially to senior-status audiences) identity management strategies to cope with conflict
High performance ratings are given to:
Those who embrace the expected professional identity (i.e. congruent with their experienced professional identity)
Those who use passing (especially to senior-status audiences) identity management strategies to cope with conflict
High performance rating results in stable and straightforward career paths and at times accelerated advancement while low performance ratings results in missing out on promotions and/or unstable career trajectories
Gender differences
On average:
Women less likely to engage to identity management strategies that allows passing to high-status audiences and more likely to reveal
Men are equally likely to use passing as well as revealing identity management strategies
The reasons for the above patterns are complex – often attributed to women being more likely to utilise formal accommodations (e.g. parental leave) provided by employer than men
Senior audience perceptions of professionals dictate the performance evaluation system
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