Exploring the connection between Work Orientation and Resilience

1. Brianna Barker Caza May Meaning Meeting 2008 Exploring the connection between Work Orientation and Resilience

2. Background • Stemmed from an observation from my dissertation work on certified nurse-midwives • Brewed in my conversations with others doing similar work in other contexts • Hoping to address these issues further in two future studies

3. Goals of this Presentation • Present some very preliminary ideas • Talk about two different contexts in which to study them • Get YOUR feedback • Interrupt whenever!

4. Research Question What is the relationship between work orientation and resilience at work? (and between perceived meaningfulness of work and resilience)

5. Resilience at Work Resilience is dynamic process of positive adaptation after experiences of adversity (Luthar, Chicchetti, & Becker, 2000). Resilience at work is an individual’s ability to continue on a positive developmental trajectory in the face of adversity; characterized by demonstrated competence in the context of adversity, professional growth, and the ability to handle future challenges

6. Resilience at Work Resilience involves three abilities: • the ability to absorb strain and preserve (or improve) functioning despite the presence of adversity (both internal adversity-such as rapid change, lousy leadership, performance and production pressures-and external adversity--such as increasing competition and demands from stakeholders); • an ability to recover or bounce back from untoward events. As the system becomes better able to absorb a surprise and stretch rather than collapse, the 'brutality' of an audit decreases • an ability to learn and grow from previous episodes of resilient action. From: Weickand Sutcliffe. (2007). Managing the Unexpected: Resilient Performance in an Age of Uncertainty. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. (p. 71)

7. Resilience and Meaning • Survey of 220 CNMs testing a model of identity-based resilience at work. • Predicted perceived meaningfulness of work to be key mechanism of resilience • Controlled for work orientation, but did not explore it’s impact directly • Expected that individuals with a calling orientation would be more likely to show resilience at work

8. Meaningfulness & W.O. • Perceived Meaningfulness of work: individual’s sense of purpose of their work • Work Orientation • Job - individual is primarily concerned with the financial rewards of work** • Career - individual is focused on advancing within the occupational structure • Calling - individual works not for financial gain or career advancement, but instead for the sense of fulfillment that the work brings**

9. **Controlled for Work Orientation (path added to each of the three dvs)

10. Survey Findings • Perceived meaningfulness was significantly associated with reduced burnout but NOT associated with resilience at work • Addition of work orientation as a control did not change any of the relationships between model variables (whew), but did account for an bit of variance in resilience at work • However, the direction of the relationship was different than expected. Specifically, individuals with calling orientations reported less resilience in the face of critical workplace adversities.

11. NS - **Controlled for Work Orientation

12. Why? • Why would perceived meaningfulness of work NOT be associated with resilience at work (but is associated with reduced burnout)? • Is there an indirect relationship? Helps you avoid dysfunctional behaviors but not necessarily promote functional behavior? • Why would one’s orientation toward their work as calling lead to lowered functioning in the face of adversity?

13. Working Assumption Individual Functioning (Burnout/ Resilience) Work Orientation (Job vs. Calling) Perceived Meaningfulness of work **Note: I am assuming that reporting a calling orientation is associated with increased perceived meaning in one’s work.

14. Insights from Qualitative Data • CNMs who talked about going into midwifery as a calling, had a harder time adjusting to unexpected setbacks. • “If I were not going to retire in a few more years, I would leave. In fact, I never would have gotten into it. This is not what I thought I would be doing when I dreamed of catching babies.” • “This field is not what it what it when I first got into it. It has changed, and it is hard to watch something you love disintegrate.”

15. Insights, cont. (2) • CNMs who did not talk about going into midwifery as a calling seemed more flexible about making changes to adapt to their context. • “I think in the beginning I was concerned about making concessions and I was gonna change the world and then somewhere along the way I realized there are some people who don’t want that kind of experience, they do not want to have a home birth, they do not want to have an unmedicated birth, and that does not mean they should not be advocated and supported as well. …Ultimately I ended up working in the inner city for a number of years and it was pretty far cry from the midwifery I was trained for. I was working with inner city girls, but at the same time, nobody screams needing a midwife than a fifteen year old homeless girl. So it’s a different kind of midwifery that I just did not know existed until I became one.”

16. Insights, cont. (3) • Not ALL the CNMs who talked about their work as a calling showed decreased resilience in the face of adversity. In fact, some talked about it as a reason for their positive functioning in the face of hardships: • “I do this work because it was what I was made to do. And so, even when I have a week full of sleepless nights, thankless patients, and hard labors, I still look forward to each and every birth.”

17. What is the relationship? • Complicated relationship; not a clear cut direct relationship • Calling orientations seem to both exacerbate and ameliorate individuals’ reactions to adversity • MAYBE there is an indirect relationship: • Individuals with different work orientations use different tactics in reacting) to adversities • Interaction: different tactics work differently for people with different work orientations

18. Work Orientation Negative Event Coping Tactics Individual Functioning (Resilience)

19. Tactics • Cognitive, affective or behavioral actions individuals take in response to a stressor • To demonstrate resilience, these tactics should: • allow individuals to absorb strain and preserve (or improve) functioning despite the presence of adversity) • Lead individuals to bounce back from untoward events quickly and easily. • Allow individuals to learn and grow from previous episodes of resilient action, so that they can better respond in the future

20. Context 1: Interprofessional Relationships • General purpose: Study of conflict management between nurses and physicians in a Midwestern hospital system (design and test intervention) • My part: Want to understand how individuals react (cognitively, affectively, and behaviorally) to these instances of conflict, and the impact of various individual factors (e.g., work orientation) • Methods: Context very open to access (as of now). Plan to use diary/journaling, interviews, and surveys **with A. Avgar & L. Wang**

21. Tactics for Resilience in the Face of Conflict • Cognitive: Cognitive reframing, attributions • Behavioral: Utilizing social support networks, confronting individual, avoidance, filing a complaint • Affective: effective management of emotions (having a mix of positive and negative emotions)

22. Context 2: PGA “Q-School” • General purpose: To understand how golfers demonstrate resilience during the PGA tour qualifying tournament, and the tactics they use in each of these situations • Short-term (bad shot/round) • Long-term (between tournaments) • This study: Understand the specific tactics (cognitive, affective, social, and behavioral) individuals use for both short and long-term resilience, and how work orientation impacts the use of these tactics. • Methods: Pre/Post Survey; Interviews; Observation. (Access unknown) **with G. Northcraft**

23. Q-School • One of the most intense and important events in a golfer’s life • “It launches the careers of future legends and serves crushing blows to past stars looking for one more chance. Every fall, more than a thousand veterans and talented hopefuls sweat through three phases of hell in the Q school, as the tournament is universally known, vying for the 30 slots available on the PGA Tour.  It is a test all but a handful of the most brilliant players have to endure, and it's not just another tournament in which a player can try again next week if he misses the cut. At Q school, a bad round or the wrong mind-set means you're out for the year.”

24. Context 2: PGA “Q-School” • General purpose: To understand how golfers demonstrate resilience during the PGA tour qualifying tournament, and the tactics they use in each of these situations • Short-term (bad shot/round) • Long-term (between tournaments) • This study: Understand the specific tactics (cognitive, affective, social, and behavioral) individuals use for both short and long-term resilience, and how work orientation impacts the use of these tactics. • Methods: Pre/Post Survey; Interviews; Observation. (Access unknown) **with G. Northcraft**

25. Tactics used in PGA • Short-term (in tournament): • Focus on their strengths • Attribute their mistakes to situational variables • Surround themselves with individuals who will provide encouraging and optimistic comments. • Maintain positive affective state • This leads to increased self-efficacy and psychological hardiness, which will be key in cultivating resilience short-term

26. Tactics used in PGA • Long-term (between tournaments): • Adopt a learning orientation ; focus on improving weaknesses • Internal attributions of mistakes/errors • Surround self with individuals who will provide critical feedback (instrumental social support) • Indulge both positive and negative affective states • This leads to a period of learning and growth, which will allow individuals to better demonstrate resilience long-term

27. Context 2: PGA “Q-School” • General purpose: To understand how golfers demonstrate resilience during the PGA tour qualifying tournament, and the tactics they use in each of these situations • Short-term (bad shot/round) • Long-term (between tournaments) • This study: Understand the specific tactics (cognitive, affective, social, and behavioral) individuals use for both short and long-term resilience, and how work orientation impacts the use of these tactics. • Methods: Pre/Post Survey; Interviews; Observation. (Access unknown) **with G. Northcraft**

28. Summary of Projects

29. Questions for You • What do YOU think the relationship is between work orientation and/or perceived meaningfulness of work and individual functioning in the face of adversity? • Will these things impact preference for or effectiveness of certain tactics? • Are these useful questions to be asking? • Which context do you like? Which do you not like? • Any recommendations on how to study this?