'We're not like that': Crusader and Maverick Occupational Identity Resistance

This article explores the occupational identities of hairdressers and vehicle mechanics working in small and micro-firms. Using qualitative interview data from two UK cities, it examines the ways that workers expounded, reflected on and discursively reframed public perceptions of their occupation. A novel distinction between two types of identity reframing is proposed. ‘Crusaders’ are workers who reject characterisations as inappropriate for the occupation at large, whereas ‘mavericks’ accept that popular characterisations apply to other workers but differentiate themselves. The analysis identifies differences in occupational identity resistance strategies (crusader or maverick) when workers interact with two different publics: customers and trainees

‘Lower than a snake’s belly’ : discursive constructions of dignity and heroism in low-status garbage work.

In this paper, we consider how dignity is discursively constructed in the context of work dominated by physicality and dirt. Based on semi-structured interviews with garbage workers, our analysis considers how the deprivations they experience are cast through discourses intended to construct their individual and collective worth. We consider the manner in which dignity maybe denied to such workers through popular repudiations of individuality and status. We demonstrate how this positioning arises from contact with physical dirt, and associations with socially dirty work based on ascriptions of servility, abuse and ambivalence. We go on to consider how garbage workers respond to this positioning through discourses of ‘everyday heroism’. Heroism is evoked through three inter-related narratives that speaks to a particular type of masculinity. The first takes the form of a classic process of reframing and recalibration through which workers not only renegotiate their public position and status, but also point to the inherent value to be had in working with dirt as part of that which we identify as a process of ‘affirmation’. The second narrative arises from the imposition of favourable social and occupational comparisons that effectively elevate garbage collectors’ social position. The third discourse—and previously unobserved in respect of garbage work—centres on paternalistic practices of care. Combined, these discourses disrupt the generally held view that dirty work is antithetical to heroism and wounds dignity

‘Lower than a Snake’s Belly’ : Discursive Constructions of Dignity and Heroism in Low-Status Garbage Work

In this paper, we consider how dignity is discursively constructed in the context of work dominated by physicality and dirt. Based on semi-structured interviews with garbage workers, our analysis considers how the deprivations they experience are cast through discourses intended to construct their individual and collective worth. We consider the manner in which dignity maybe denied to such workers through popular repudiations of individuality and status. We demonstrate how this positioning arises from contact with physical dirt, and associations with socially dirty work based on ascriptions of servility, abuse and ambivalence. We go on to consider how garbage workers respond to this positioning through discourses of ‘everyday heroism’. Heroism is evoked through three interrelated narratives that speaks to a particular type of masculinity. The first takes the form of a classic process of reframing and recalibration through which workers not only renegotiate their public position and status, but also point to the inherent value to be had in working with dirt as part of that which we identify as a process of ‘affirmation’. The second narrative arises from the imposition of favourable social and occupational comparisons that effectively elevate garbage collectors’ social position. The third discourse—and previously unobserved in respect of garbage work—centres on paternalistic practices of care. Combined, these discourses disrupt the generally held view that dirty work is antithetical to heroism and wounds dignity

Hybrid managers, career narratives and identity work: a contextual analysis of UK healthcare organizations

While hybrid managers are increasingly important in contemporary organizations (especially in the public sector), we know little about why or how they become hybrid managers, or how this is shaped by the interplay of professional experience and organizational circumstances. In pursuit of a more variegated, contextualised and dynamic understanding of hybrid management, this paper focuses on how individuals transition into managerial hybrids, emphasizing the dynamic and emergent nature of hybrid management identity. Studying managers in English healthcare, we employ the concept of identity work as expressed through career narratives to examine the influence of career trajectories and organizational experiences on emerging hybrid manager identity. The study identifies three broad managerial career narratives – aspirational, ambivalent and agnostic – and relates them to experiences of doctor and nurse hybrid managers in three healthcare settings. An interpretive analysis of these narratives reveals a more variegated, situated and dynamic interpretation of hybrid managerial identities than previously considered and underscores the importance of personal and organizational experiences in shaping emergent hybrid professional/managerial identity

Service employees and self-verification: The roles of occupational stigma consciousness and core self-evaluations

Despite the growing number and importance of service occupations, we know little about how jobholders’ perceptions of societal stigmas of service jobs influence their identification with and attitudes towards work. The present study presents a framework that accords key roles to research on occupational stigma consciousness and the verification of employees’ self-views (i.e. core self-evaluations) to understand employees’ responses to occupational stigmatization. Survey responses from call center employees revealed a negative relationship between occupational stigma consciousness and occupational identification and work meaningfulness and a positive relationship between occupational stigma consciousness and organizational production deviant behaviors for employees who have a positive self-view. Opposite patterns of results surfaced for employees who have a lower positive self-view

Emotions in business-to-business service relationships

Emotion in business-to-business service relationships regarding cargo services is explored. The service relationship is characterised by mutual trust and cooperation. Contact is mainly via telephone or e-mail with some face-to-face interactions and participants providing a complex, multi-skilled seamless service. Experience rather than training plays a vital role with long-term service relationships built up and maintained. Emotional sensitivity is acquired partly by experience and a repeat customer base but mainly through a genuine desire to help and get to know others. In contrast to the view of emotional labour bringing managerial control or adverse affects to service staff, the emotion engendered by this work is authentic expression bringing personal satisfaction

On becoming (un)committed: A taxonomy and test of newcomer on-boarding scenarios

How does the bond between the newcomer and the organization develop over time? Process research on temporal patterns of newcomer's early commitment formation has been very scarce because theory and appropriate longitudinal research designs in this area are lacking. From extant research we extract three process-theoretical accounts regarding how the newcomer adjustment process evolves over time: (1) Learning to Love; (2) Honeymoon Hangover; and (3) High Match, Moderate Match, or Low Match. From these scenarios we develop a taxonomy of newcomer adjustment scenarios. Further, we empirically verify these different scenarios by examining naturally occurring "trajectory classes," which are found to display strengthening, weakening, or stabilizing of the employee-organization linkage. For this, we use a sample of 72 Ph. D. graduates whose organizational commitment history was recorded in their first 25 consecutive weeks of new employment. In closing, we discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the scenario-based approach

Not lost in translation: Managerial career narratives and the construction of protean identities

How can managers remain in charge of their own careers based on personal values and motivations, rather than surrendering to the vulnerabilities of modern day corporate bureaucracies? This question represents a core issue for managers whose careers have been significantly affected by changing business environments, new organizational forms and the related changes of work organization in modern day corporations. Managers can no longer rely on the traditional linear models of organizational careers. It is increasingly demanded that they be more flexible and direct their own careers, which is captured in new career concepts, such as the ‘protean career’. Drawing on narrative identity theory, this study sets out to investigate how managers construct a protean identity and how specific narrative practices support individuals in shaping, implementing and defending this identity. The life stories of 29 individuals, all of whom have experienced significant career changes, are analysed. Based on these stories, four core narrative building blocks at the heart of protean identity construction and related narrative practices are identified, including (i) the discovery of conflicting expectations, (ii) the exploration of one’s own values and capabilities, (iii) the commitment to one’s own path and (iv) defending that path