Work, Meaning, and Multiple Identities

Framing Growing interest around the inter-relationships among identity / identification, meaning, and work Understanding how we make it all work: multiple roles, multiple identities, multiple meanings Designing new study with several colleagues at U of Illinois (such as Teresa) – want general and specific feedback

Goals To examine how organizational practices, individual differences in work orientation, and organizational affiliation contribute to distinct types of identification. To examine the effect of these distinct types of identification (4) on organizational outcomes.

Model: The “Big Picture” Organizational Practices work social context Experienced Meaningfulness in working at work Patterns of Identification Professional Identification Work Orientation job career (A) & (B) calling Low High Organizational Commitment Professional Identifier Non- identified Low Organizational Identification Org. Citizenship Behaviors Org. Identifier Dual Identifier High Affiliation proximity temporal factors administrative control social linkages Job Satisfaction

Proposed Context Medical context (2 health care systems – 1 religiously affiliated) Numerous professional groups Different backgrounds, training, certification, status orientation, job perceptions, ideologies Different levels of identification with profession and organization

Identification Patterns Organizational & Professional Assume that Identification is not “fixed pie” (can simultaneously identify with numerous targets) Professional identifiers (e.g., cosmopolitans) Organizational identifiers (e.g., locals) Non-identifiers (within workplace) Dual identifiers

Organizational Practices Work: changing what members do, changing the nature of the job tasks meaningfulness in working stronger link to professional identification? Social Context: changing various aspects of the social context (e.g., culture, work relationships) meaningfulness at work stronger link to organizational identification?

Work Orientation Job: economic focus predictive of ‘Non-Identifiers’? Career A: achievement focus – advancement within an organization predictive of ‘Organization Identifiers’? Career B: achievement focus – advancement across organizations predictive of ‘Professional Identifiers?’ Calling: fulfillment, transcendence predictive of ‘Dual Identifiers’ or ‘Professional Identifiers’?

Affiliation Proximity Temporal Factors Administrative Control Social Linkages Interaction is Co-located vs. Not co-located Full time vs. Part time Not paid vs. Paid firm vs. other payroll Contact with organizational others is high or low Continuous vs. Interrupted Size of network internal external Short-term vs. Long-term Exclusive vs. Not Exclusive Adapted from Pfeffer and Baron (1988)

Affiliation Still working on specific hypotheses for affiliation In general, we believe that lack of proximity, and working alone will have a larger influence on organizational identification than professional identification

Experienced Meaningfulness Want to assess: meaningfulness in working meaningfulness at work No “set measures” that we know of – likely be the focus of qualitative analysis Need to determine whether or not to “split” different aspects of meaningfulness at work (e.g., ‘culture’ and ‘relationships’)

Organizational Commitment Might different types of commitment be related to different identification patterns (and work orientations)? Continuance – non-identifiers (and job-oriented)? Affective – organizational and dual (and career A)? Normative – professional and dual (and career B and calling)?

Other Outcomes OCB’s: e.g., task conscientiousness, helping others, participating in organizational politics, positive attitudes Job Satisfaction

Need Specific Feedback About… Career A and B Does this distinction make sense Will we get differences between career B and callings? “Non-traditional” outcome variables Can we do more than OCBs and job satisfaction? Logic of predictions? Missing aspects of affiliation? Capturing meaningfulness in and at work? Look for “transcendent” practices?

Thank you!

Meaningfulness in and at Work (Pratt & Ashforth 2003) Meaningfulness in Working Practices Meaningfulness at Work Practices Role: What Am I Doing? Membership: Where Do I Belong? Identity: Who Am I? Meaningfulness: Why Am I Here?

Organizational Practices Meaning in Working Meaning at Work Job redesign Building cultures, identities, ideologies Employee involvement Transformational, charismatic or visionary leadership Path-goal leadership Recruitment Selection Socialization Building communities Nurturing callings Providing a cosmology Promoting psychological safety Enacting with integrity Transcendence