Citizenship or careerism? Perceptions and impressions of goodness

Tamara: Journal of Critical Postmodern Organization Science, 2003 by Landen, Mary

ABSTRACT

Trends in organisation and in organisational activity, which have resulted in increasing dependence on the discretionary efforts, initiatives and judgements of employees, have left management with the problem of how to ensure that such discretion is exercised appropriately in the service of the organisation. The Human Resource Management approach, relying as it does on strategic integration and underpinned by a value-driven approach seemed to be an ideal mechanism, particularly when designed as encouragement to commitment via social identification and a shared sense of meaning.

If culture is the enacted manifestation of organisational identity, management aspiration is that the 'good' employee is one who will learn the cultural reality and enact it appropriately. Expectations of 'good' employees are that they will exhibit not only the appropriate competence, but will also possess the necessary commitment, via identification and emotional engagement, so that they can be trusted to regulate themselves, take decisions that are in the best interests of the organisation and even go that extra mile for the company and the customer. This paper gives attention to such expectations and explores their implications.

INTRODUCTION

Aspirations towards the notion of the 'good' employee assume an uncomplicated relationship between organisational aspiration and individual response, provided, of course, that the appropriate strategies, policies and practices are in place and activated. The feelings and behaviours elicited and enacted are expected to arise from the individual feeling a part of the organisation. The social constructivist perspective used in this paper allows not only for some critical arguments surrounding changes in the exercise of managerial power but also permits speculation that might serve to shed further light on the possible organisational and individual consequences of the pursuit of a trajectory which views deviance as a threat to the social (i.e. managerial) definitions of reality and ascribes bad action to an inherent fault in the individual's internal functioning.

The arguments here suggest that employees have and exercise more discretion about their commitment than managerial discourses might care to admit, particularly when wider discourses encourage the individual to be entrepreneurial about their conduct and when market conditions cannot guarantee that employee trust and commitment can be reciprocated. Under such conditions, image work and impression management tactics are to be expected with their consequent effect on relationships and performance, and complete success in the management of commitment in line with organisational expectations more likely to remain an aspiration than a reality.

With more discretionary effort needed from employees (Jacques, 1996), trends in organisation and in organisational activity have focussed managerial attention away from merely utilising labour power and towards capitalising on the whole person (Flecker and Hofbauer, 1998). As a result of changing skill and attitudinal requirements (Warhurst and Thompson, 1998) and greater reliance on workers' initiative, discretion, responsibility and judgement, there has been a shift in interest from managing 'abilities for achievement' to managing 'willingness to achievement' (Flecker and Hofbauer, 1998) manifested through motivation, engagement and identification with the company.

Commitment, as opposed to mere instrumental compliance, has come to be viewed as essential to competitive advantage (Ulrich, 1998, Walton, 1985). Commitment figures prominently in the Human Resource Management literature (Beer et. al, 1984, Walton 1985, Sissons, 1993, Storey, 1995 Legge, 1995, Guest, 1998), HRM policies designed to promote mutuality were expected to give rise to commitment (Walton, 1985). Policies included employee participation and involvement (Sissons, 1993), providing opportunities for personal growth (Ulrich, 1998), changes in management style (Beer et al, 1984) and the management of culture change (Legge, 1995). Underpinned by a values-driven approach (Legge, 1995, Guest, 1998,) these mechanisms were designed as encouragement to social identification and a shared sense of meaning.

Atypical example is The New Agenda' (Gratton, 2000). Building the soul of the organisation is to be achieved by building a psychological contract on the basis of commitment, trust and flexibility (Gratton, 2000, Herriot et al, 1998). The route is through emotional involvement and providing opportunities to be the self (Gratton, 2000). This approach is found to result in employees who are proud to be members of the organisation and care about its fate, in which identification and involvement prompt desirable behaviours such as innovation and entrepreneurship, team behaviour and customer orientation (Gratton, 2000). One of the principles on which the New Agenda is premised appears to be that when a person identifies him or herself with an organisation, personal goals become consistent with organisational goals.