Employees of Greatness: Signifying Values in Performance Appraisal Criteria

The spread of performance-based and variable pay systems has affected expectations on employee contributions and remuneration, which have become increasingly personalized and individualized. Based on a theoretical valuation studies approach, this study of performance-based pay systems in Sweden shows that performance appraisals are (e)valuations of employees’ yearly performance in which they are prized and (ap)praised at the same time. Through a document analysis of performance criteria from four organizations, the study analyzes how values expressed refer to Boltanski and Thévenot’s six orders of worth. The analysis resulted in a theoretical construction of a joint ideal of Employees of Greatness, against which employees are measured and remunerated. The existence of the ideal of employee greatness is explained by the increasing congruence of organizational ideals in private and public sectors, as principles from emotional and cognitive forms of capitalist organization are superimposed on traditional industrial capitalist organizational ideals

Yrke, status & genus : en sociologisk studie om yrken på en segregerad arbetsmarknad

This dissertation is a study of occupational prestige/status with the purpose of describing and interpreting perceptions of occupational prestige. The analytical focus is the relationship between occupational prestige and gender. Three methods have been used in the study: a survey, focus group interviews and an analysis of public descriptions of occupations. The survey was conducted in 2002 and questionnaires were distributed to 3032 respondents. The response rate was 61 percent. Four focus group interviews were conducted where participants were asked to rank order 20 occupations. The Swedish national labour market board’s (AMS) occupational descriptions were analysed to find out to what extent these reproduced stereotyped images concerning gender and class. The ranking order of occupations is similar to those found in earlier studies. Occupational prestige may be perceived as a stable phenomenon in society. There is a strong agreement on the status of different occupations between different subgroups in society. The ranking orders constructed by the focus groups were also equivalent to the survey ranking order. Levels of income, educational requirements, levels of influence and a positive reputation have a positive influence on occupational prestige. The share of women within an occupation has a negative effect on occupational prestige but only in occupations found on the top of the occupational ranking order. Educational requirements were stronger criteria for occupational status in some occupations, while income was stronger in others. It also seems as if different factors have varying significance for occupational prestige, depending on the occupation being discussed. In addition, several of these criteria of prestige have also in other studies been associated with masculinity. The public descriptions of occupations that were analysed did not reproduce images of gender. However, class seems to be a factor affecting the occupational descriptions, since prestigious occupations are described with a more advanced language and with a frequent use of titles

Föreställningar om klass och kön i Arbetsförmedlingens yrkesbeskrivningar?

Notions of Class and Gender in the Employment Service Job Descriptions This article examines whether job descriptions emphasize different characteristics and competences depending on the occupations’ social class and gender relations. The study is partly a replication of a similar analysis conducted by Gesser in the 1970s. The purpose is to examine the prevalence of stereotypes in occupational descriptions provided by the Swedish state, and if the descriptions contribute to class and gender labeling of occupations and, by extension, its practitioners. Previous research has shown that career guiding materials are characterized by notions of the appropriate practitioner’s class and gender. In this study we depart from the concept of doxa and argue that stereotypical images of occupations are based on common sense that remains unquestioned. The study draws on a quantitative content analysis of 420 job descriptions analyzed by various statistical methods. The overall results show that there are systematic differences. In general, social class seems to have greater impact than gender on what kind of competences that are emphasized in the descriptions. Social skills are emphasized in female dominated occupations, while physical abilities are highlighted in male-dominated occupations. To some extent, these results are uncontroversial, as it also portraits abilities necessary to do the work in different kind of occupationsSociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv</p

Föreställningar om klass och kön i Arbetsförmedlingens yrkesbeskrivningar?

Notions of Class and Gender in the Employment Service Job Descriptions This article examines whether job descriptions emphasize different characteristics and competences depending on the occupations’ social class and gender relations. The study is partly a replication of a similar analysis conducted by Gesser in the 1970s. The purpose is to examine the prevalence of stereotypes in occupational descriptions provided by the Swedish state, and if the descriptions contribute to class and gender labeling of occupations and, by extension, its practitioners. Previous research has shown that career guiding materials are characterized by notions of the appropriate practitioner’s class and gender. In this study we depart from the concept of doxa and argue that stereotypical images of occupations are based on common sense that remains unquestioned. The study draws on a quantitative content analysis of 420 job descriptions analyzed by various statistical methods. The overall results show that there are systematic differences. In general, social class seems to have greater impact than gender on what kind of competences that are emphasized in the descriptions. Social skills are emphasized in female dominated occupations, while physical abilities are highlighted in male-dominated occupations. To some extent, these results are uncontroversial, as it also portraits abilities necessary to do the work in different kind of occupationsSociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv</p

“Being” or “Doing” a profession : work as a matter of social identity

Occupations are a basic unit for categorizing people: One of the first questions we ask a new acquaintance is, “What do you do?” Occupations are closely related to social identity. But occupational identity has been questioned by researchers who claim that nowadays people no longer identify with their occupations making the concept outdated. This article explores whether people express occupational identity. Using quantitative data we analyze how people talk about their occupations in self-presentations. The findings suggest that occupation still defines social identity – especially for incumbents with a defined education, a high-status occupation, in a profession, or in an occupation with a strong cultural framing

On the Discrepancy of Descriptive Facts and Normative Values in Perceptions of Occupational Prestige

Previous research has argued that occupational prestige is a social fact founded in the collective conscience and prestige perceptions morally grounded. Ideas of strong consensus in perceptions rest on comparisons of compressed mean values, and the similarity between what prestige an occupation has and what it ought to have has not previously been empirically explored. Drawing on survey data and a discrepancy index, the present study explores the resemblance between descriptive facts and normative values in perceptions of occupational prestige and consensus and discrepancies in prestige perceptions. The analysis showed discrepancies in descriptive and normative prestige perceptions for welfare and cultural occupations. The differences in perceptions can be explained by sex, beliefs about what factors give prestige to an occupation, and the prestige of one’s occupation

The legitimacy of performance-related pay in Swedish public sector organisations

This study analyses the legitimacy of different pay determination principles in Swedish public sector organisations. The aim is to explore what dimensions of worth exist in pay determination and to analyse the extent to which differences in legitimacy can be explained by organisational position, professional identity and organisational context. Theoretically, the article is influenced by “valuation studies” and the “institutional logics” and “orders of worth” approaches in analysing the existence of multiple dimensions of pay determination. Empirically, the study is based on surveys to employees and managers. The main results are that individual performance is the most legitimate dimension of worth, although job requirements and employee behaviour also have a high level of legitimacy. Formal individual competence and market value have a somewhat lower level of legitimacy, while organisational results is the dimension that has least legitimacy. In addition, the perceptions of legitimacy are shown to vary somewhat with position, profession and organisational context