Meaning and Occupations

1. Meaning and Occupations Teresa Cardador & Michael G. Pratt University of Illinois MMM 2008

2. Goal Sometimes academics take very exciting, engaging and important work and present it in such a way that it looks like a butterfly squashed between two plates of glass. Blake Ashforth, quoted in Bartunek (2003: 203)

3. Map of the Terrain • Extensive literature on what individuals bring to the workplace (“meaning of work”): • Work values (e.g., Nord, et al., 1990; O’Brien, 1992) • Work involvement/salience/centrality (e.g., Harpaz & Fu, 2002; MOW International Research Team, 1987) • Work orientation – “preferences, or tendencies to value specific types of incentives inherent in the work environment” (Malka & Chatman 2003: 738-- see also O’Reilly 1977; Wrzesniewski, McCauley, Rozin, & Schwartz, 1997)

4. Map of the Terrain • A fair amount on “how to find meaning” • We also know about societal forces and interpretation of meaning of work (Tausky, 1995 – see Tilgher, [1930] 1958; Weber, [1904] 1958; Marx, [1867] 1971) • But where does self and society meet in meaning creation? Role of occupations & professions.

5. Data and Analysis • Data – 29 informants (work-in-progress) • 11 police officers • 11 advanced practice nurses • 7 entrepreneurs (more planned) • Purposeful sampling approach: • potential for expression of distinctive occupational identities (Eisenhardt, 1989). • differences in levels if education, training, organizational structure, etc. - differences easier to identify • Analysis - inductive analytic approach (Miles & Huberman; 1994; Strauss & Corbin, 1990).

6. Where We Were Last Year Occupations Meaning of Work

7. Where We Were Last Year Occupations • character-based • task-based Occupational Identity Role Orientation Work Schema What I Need For Work Meaning Meaning of Work

8. Where We Are Now: Overview of Findings to Date • Three primary sources of meaning: • Purpose • Work itself • Relationships • Sources of meaningfulness for each occupation influenced by: • Nature of Job – tasks, goals • One’s Occupational Identity • Construed Occupational Image • Differences result in unique “Meaning Maps” for each occupation • Dominant sources of meaningfulness result in unique behavior consequences and “meaning needs”

9. Police Identity Police Image Nature of the Job 2 4 3 5 6 Public 1 Personal Cops 7 Relationships Purpose Work Itself Fairness Recognition Support and Training Meaning Needs Associated with Each Source

10. Behavioral Consequences for Police Officers Positive: • Bonds between police officers • Seek specialized training or development of unique skills Negative: • Burnout or “checking out” • Difficulty “disengaging” at home • Hyper-vigilant in public situations

11. Nurse Identity Nurse Image Nature of the Job 3 4 2 1 Patients 5 Personal Physicians 6 Relationships Purpose Work Itself Respect Support for Mission Autonomy & Legitimacy Meaning Needs Associated with Each Source

12. Behavioral Consequences for APNs Positive: • High level of engagement in work • Able to develop positive relationships with patients/families (seen as “the good guy”) Negative: • Forced to do a lot of education / trust building • Continued struggle for legitimacy with physicians and patients

13. Entrepreneur Identity Entrepreneur Image Nature of the Job 1 3 Network 2 5 Personal Employees Relationships Purpose Work Itself 4 Common Goal To Create Something of Value Time/Money Meaning Needs Associated with Each Source

14. Behavioral Consequences for Entrepreneurs Positive: • Highly level of engagement in work • Positive work relationships Negative: • Long work hours?

15. Summary & Implications • Occupations shape meaning of work in multiple ways: • By providing specific work tasks • By providing an interpretive lens for viewing these task (occupational identity) and the people they serve • And because occupations provide services, they have interactions with the public, which creates public images that influence relationships with people they serve and with peers • These, in turn, make some sources of meaning more or less accessible: work itself, purpose, relationships

16. Summary & Implications • Examining role of occupations helps illustrate how meaning of work is “not just in your head” nor simply “imposed” (through strong socialization) • While all work may have similar “sources”, occupations may influence “meaning potentials” • Organizations may be able to address “meaning deficits” by understanding and responding to areas where meaning is inhibited (e.g. recognition for officers)

17. Concluding Thoughts • Different ways to think about our data? • Relevant literatures? • Framing? • Most (least) interesting findings?

18. Any Questions?

19. Nature of the Job Erodes Sense of Purpose For most, it’s a sort of a losing battle. Maybe you’d like to think you’re, you know, doing something. Or, you know, when they first get into police work, you know, “I wanna make a change.” You know? It doesn’t really happen. …. There is no end to it. There is no fix to it. You know, we can say all we want about drugs and all we want about crime. It’s there, and it will always be there. I could quit tomorrow, and so could everyone here, and nothing would change. We could hire a thousand police officers tomorrow, and nothing would change. We have officers that are incredibly great and work their tail to the bone, and if they leave tomorrow, it makes no difference. [12006]

20. Nature of Job Promotes Meaning from Work Itself I enjoyed being a detective. But after 10 years, even that enjoyment, I was in doing a lot of financial crimes toward the end of it. That’s when I needed a change several times, you know. And I think you try new challenges and try different things. Patrolman, detective, juvenile officer, field printing officer, sergeant, then a training sergeant.[12008]

21. Police Identity Strains Personal Life It is, because for somebody who works patrol and is on the street—when you get in your squad car, the moment you get in your squad car, you’re panning around constantly. When I’m getting into my squad car, I’m thinking, “Okay, where is this sniper that would take me out if somebody wanted to take me out?” So I’m thinking that when I get in my personal vehicle, walking out of Kmart. Nineteen years of thinking that every single time you get in a car has an effect on you, and that’s an effect that people notice. When you’re in sociable situations and you’ve always got your back to the wall and you’re looking around to see who’s walking in every time the door opens, you’re gonna see who’s that coming in. When you do that all the time, you do that all the time. It’s really hard to switch that off. [12026] And some people leave this job really messed up and you don’t see it because its not really overt. But you see it in all the other relationships they have with everybody else. I mean it plays out that they can’t trust. I can think of some people here who are never going to have a decent marriage because they can not trust. [12026] Having done this for 10 and a half years it does affect how I live my personal life as far as when I’m off duty, where I sit in a restaurant, what I see that other people that I’m with that aren’t police officers have no clue that’s going on. It affects me off work because I maintain that kind of mental safety barrier that I’m always looking around, trying to see what’s going on …I just don’t hang out anymore. I don’t go out, I don’t do anything. [12002]

22. Public Image StrainsRelationships with Public It’s akin to being a black man. You know … people automatically have an opinion of you before they even met you. It takes so much to change it. You are not seen as an individual; you’re part of a group. Every negative thing that’s been done by your group is attributed to you. … if anything goes wrong and you’re around, it’s automatically attributed to you. [12007]

23. Police Identity Strains Relationships with Public The average person I walk up to on the street, I’m willing to be courteous and be friendly and we’ll talk, but I don’t believe a word they say, until I see something that suggests what they say is actually what’s happening, and that’s just the way I am…Yeah, but at the same time, when I leave this job, I do not want to be one of those guys looking over my shoulder and saying, “That guy’s going too fast.” I want to be done with it. So, the challenge for me is going to be to pull myself back out of it. [21026] Yet officers strive positive relationships and exhibit professionalism: Well, I mean, I like to help people and I like to solve problems. I don’t like seeing when people fight. You know? I often spend more than a couple minutes, as an officer, trying to get to know ‘em a little bit further and delve deeper into the problem, and I like to problem solve. And I like to get to know people ‘cause next time I see them on the streets, they might help me be a witness, you know, if they saw something.—If they know we had a connection, they’ll come up to me and tell me the information I need to know, and whether I see them again—whether it be the convenience store or whatever’s open twenty-four hours and where I’m at—or maybe I’ll need their help if I’m the only one and I get attacked by somebody else. You just never know. [11027]

24. Nature of the Work Inhibits Positive Relationships with Public People are happy when they see the fire truck roll up, or happy when they see the ambulance roll up, people aren’t usually too happy when they see a police car show up. Even if they’re the one’s that need the help. And they’re not usually to shy to let you know they’re not happy to see ‘ya. Especially, you know, it’s a domestic situation. The generalized female may be getting the snot kicked out of her, some neighbor calls and obviously they know what’s going on, but the female wants nothing to do with us even though we’re there to offer assistance and help.[12003]

25. Nature of Job & Public Image Reinforces Positive Relationships with Other Cops …but whether or not I like officer X, I’m going to be there 100% for him if he needs me, just like I know he would be there for me, because of what we do and what we ...It’s really strange. Two cops from different places meet and there’s already a bond whether you know this person or not, whether you’re going to see this person again, or whatever. That’s your kind of a brotherhood, the thing that you’re going through. [12003]

26. Public Image of Nurses Strains Relationships with Patients/Families So, I think just maybe the negative aspect that patients out there might think about nurse practitioners, that we don’t know what we’re doing or we can’t do what they need us to do. I guess those are some of the negatives, looking at it from patients that come in…I think that the perspective of many individuals is that nurses do what the doctors tell us to do. And that maybe we don’t know what we’re doing because the doctor has always been at the top. And they’re still above us, but a nurse practitioner and physician assistant, we’re right under them. So, of course they have more knowledge; they went to school longer than us and they know more than us. But, we’re starting to work our way up. I think it’s kind of an old-school way of thinking on what a nurse does, and they don’t understand what a nurse practitioner is. It’s more education, its more knowledge. We can do more things than maybe they used to…But I think that’s gonna be confusing to the patients, because there is a difference, and we do want—I mean, I want there to be a difference. I don’t want people to think I’m a doctor.[21019]

27. APN Identity & Nature of Job Contribute to Positive Relationships with Patients/Families I mean, we’re there for all of the daily things that happen to a person, you know, big and small, all of the things that go into making someone human, we’re there to see those things. And so, there’s an intimacy, I think, that evolves through that, that other professions may not be as close to, because there are things that separate you. You go see them, and then you go home, and you take care of those intimate things at your house, where as a nurse, we’re there for all of those really personal things that oftentimes people have to have help with, whether they want it or not. And so, that being, you know, needing help with those things and me being the person to do that, in a way that hopefully is not embarrassing or humiliating for a person. It makes it different in terms of that relationship of trust that develops between a patient and a nurse. [21017]

28. APN Identity & Nature of Job Contribute to Strained Relationships Physicians What you can do from a physician’s standpoint, I don’t know. I mean, I don’t know. Yesterday I was talking to the medical geneticist, and she wouldn’t even talk to me. I said, you know, “I’m gonna do a spinal tap. Do you want anything on the CSF on this child?” And she, “Well, I want to talk to Dr. Stratton about that.” Okay! So, I hand him the phone. You know, that’s all I can do. And I can only hope that they stand up for us and say, “You know what? You could’ve talked to my nurse practitioner about this.” I don’t know. There’s some battles that just aren’t worth getting into. That was one of ‘em. [21024]

29. Nature of the Job & Nurse Identity Promote Meaning from Work Itself When I’ve had a really good day, it’s when I’ve had something that was complicated, and I sat down and I thought it through, and I came up with what was, I thought, a good plan. And sometimes that includes, like yesterday, consulting with a number of different specialists about something, and bringing it altogether, and then trying to come up with a cohesive plan and what could possibly be a diagnosis, and what we’re gonna do about it, meeting with the family, kind of letting them know. So, when I could take a patient and really get in there and problem solve, to me that’s the ballgame. I really love that. [21024] Well, for me, of course, we have a lot of autonomy…There’s a real technical aspect to it. Nurses saying, you know, “I’m very nurturing,” and that type of thing, but there is a role in that. But there’s also a role in nursing that is very technical, takes a lot of skill, takes a lot of knowledge. Well, you know, there’s a lot of different—it can meet a lot of different needs in a lot of different ways. Yeah, so I don’t think there’s one type of person that goes into that field. I think you’ll see types of nurses that kind of go into certain areas. You may see that. But there’s a lot of different areas. So, there’s a lot of opportunity. [21020]

30. Nature of the Job Promotes a Sense of Purpose To make sure that these folks get the absolute best care that we can deliver and that we’re well prepared, well knowledged—knowledgeable about it and can deliver it on a dime. Without regard to their ability to pay for it. That really doesn’t enter into it. You don’t know it, you don’t care. When they roll through the door and they’re [inaudible] you have to know how to care for them and get them to the right place. Yeah all that money stuff will come in later, but really it’s about doing the best you can do for them….that real sense of purpose in what you’re doing that drives you to do those tasks well and thoroughly, you know, that drives you to make sure that you are maintaining good interpersonal relationships with all of those players. You know, if you didn’t feel passionately about this work, you’d go into something easier. [21028]

31. Nurse Identity Strains Personal Life I think that it has to do with how you interact with people, how you see yourself in the world, and I think it’s a really big part of who I am. Sometimes that’s a really good thing, and sometimes it’s not. Because sometimes you’d like to take a step back and say, “Okay, I’m not—I want to take a break from that.” But, it’s really hard to do that….I think it can be kind of—you can be certainly very emotionally intense. I think that you can get pretty wrapped up in what’s going on with your patients or even, you know, if it’s not—I mean, like, you know, neighbors or friends or family, you know, you kind of take that same, you know, intensity with you in all of those things. So, sometimes that can be kind of overwhelming. For me personally, sometimes I think, “Okay, I have to remember that I’m personally fine, even though this person is having a really hard time.” You know, and we’re talking about it a lot or we’re dealing with it a lot—that I have to be able to separate myself out and say, “I’m okay. My life is fine. I’m not them. They’re having a really hard time, and I feel bad for them, but I’m not them.” [21017]

32. Nature of Job Strains Personal Life There’s a lot of pressure. It’s 20 hours a day. It’s what’s on your mind. And I don’t think a lot of people like dealing with that kind of pressure….Well, but it’s not even hours, because it’s constant. I mean, it’s not like you go home and eat dinner or something. Everything you think about has to be the company. Well, it doesn’t have to be, I guess. But everything I think about is the company. I mean, it kind of consumes you. [32009]

33. Entrepreneur Identity Promotes a Sense of Purpose From a purpose point of view, I’m this entrepreneurial, world-changing guy all the time, 24 hours a day. [32010]

34. Nature of Job Contributes to Meaningful Relationships with Employees and Network And, you know, not everybody does it this way, but in terms of people, one thing I’ve really learned is, you know, create a great environment for people, and let them win, and let them be significant. You know, everybody wants significance and security in life. And yet, so many work environments don’t provide that. And I think we decided early on if this thing was really gonna go, we needed great people, and we needed them to feel like they were making a significant contribution, and they were being recognized for that. And then, ultimately they got a check at the end of the day for what—and not just salary, but they would share in our upside. And so, I think that’s another ingredient, you know, of entrepreneurism, is you’ve got to, you know, care about people and want them to succeed. And that way, you know, they ultimately buy into your vision and help you create it…You know, I think more that, you know, I’m a guy with vision, that you know, I want to surround myself with good people and see them succeed. [32013]

35. Relationships Contribute to a Sense of Purpose So everybody has a story. And it’s been neat to see us bring, you know, sort of help and prosperity to people’s stories. And I didn’t always think that way. I was much more, you know, kind of driven to achieve the big vision. But now I see it’s kind of both. You know, we have this audacious vision, and that in and of itself is fun. And the other part is people and doing something that you can be ultimately, you know, passionate about and feel good about. I think those are some of the ingredients. [32013] In terms of if you have a larger organization and you have employees, you know, there is some responsibility, I suppose there, for you together as a team, to make it meaningful. And hopefully, theoretically, it’s not hard or it’s certainly not impossible to do if you’re all working together on something that you all share an interest in and that you all enjoy. Then it’s kind of—I don’t know, the enjoyment is an afterthought; it just happens naturally by the fact that you’re all part of this thing that you all wanted to be part of. [32012]

36. Nature of Job and Entrepreneurial Identity Promote Meaning through a Sense of Purpose So for me, I never considered work as being something that was—I was always energized by what I did in general. Not always. You know, obviously when you go into bookkeeping you’re not energized by that, but it is a step in getting to where you wanna be. So you kind of look—try and look at it as, okay, you’ve had a dream, you’ve had some goals. Things that lead to that don’t feel as much like work as a step in the direction you wanna be. [32014]

37. Sources of Meaningful Work • Existing research has surfaced 3 main sources: • Work Tasks: the qualities of the tasks (Hackman & Oldham, 1980; Kahn, 1990) • Purpose/Outcomes: the broader goals, values and beliefs that the work furthers (Nord et al., 1990; Schwartz & Boehnke, 2004), • Relationships: the social ties associated with work (Pratt & Ashforth, 2003; Wrzesniewski et al., 2003). • Research has examined the role of the organization in fostering meaningful work (e.g., Pratt & Ashforth, 2003)… …but often ignores role of occupations (cf. Ashforth & Kreiner, 1999)