Video: Finding Identity in Work

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Do curso por University of Minnesota

Preparando-se para gerenciar Recursos Humanos

1483 classificações

University of Minnesota

Preparando-se para gerenciar Recursos Humanos

1483 classificações

Curso 1 de 5 em Specialization Human Resource Management: HR for People Managers

De uma forma ou de outra, todos os funcionários são geridos. Mas as formas de abordagem para gerenciar empregados variam de empregado para empregado, de trabalho por trabalho, de gerente para gerente, de organização para organização e de País para País. Este curso fornece uma base para o desenvolvimento de sua própria abordagem para gerir funcionários com habilidade, ilustrando estratégias alternativas de gestão de recursos humanos (GRH), introduzindo a importância do contexto jurídico, e te fazendo pensar sobre o que motiva os funcionários. Este curso vai te dar os fundamentos e conceitos básicos para o desenvolvimento de competências específicas, habilidades para gestão crítica de recursos humanos em cursos complementares e subsequentes para contratação de funcionários, gestão de desempenho e remuneração de funcionários. Não sabe nada sobre gestão de recursos humanos? Sem problemas! Conclua este curso com uma nova compreensão do leque de opções disponíveis para o gerenciamento de funcionários, uma compreensão do que torna os trabalhadores envolvidos, e a disponibilidade para desenvolver suas próprias habilidades de GRH.

Na lição

What Makes Employees Work Revisited...Non-Monetary Motivations

Welcome to the third module of this course! We'll be focusing on the non-monetary reasons for working, and the lessons for managers that result. After completing this module, you will be able to… • Explain at least four different reasons that people work not related to money. • Identify key managerial concerns when workers work for different non-monetary reasons.• Develop strategies for addressing these key concerns using insights from psychology and sociology. • Justify the (in)application of insights from economics, psychology, and sociology in different situations.

Video: Work is About More Than Money3:10

Video: Seeking Fulfillment from Work9:15

Video: Finding Identity in Work7:55

Conheça os instrutores

John W. Budd
Professor and Director
Center for Human Resources and Labor Studies

In the previous video we looked at intrinsic motivation in the pursuit of

fulfillment from your work.

We talked about satisfaction, competence, belonging,

essentially trying to derive positive self-esteem and psychological well-being.

Now some workers might be looking for something deeper.

They might be looking for identity in their work.

What is identity?

Identity is a sense of who you are, and

where you fit into the broader social scheme.

So when work provides a source of identity,

it gives you more than just satisfaction or fulfillment.

It provides a sense of meaning, understanding.

So in this way, it's a deeper psychological and social set of rewards.

Now there's a variety of ways in which identities are created.

We can name ourselves, others can name us, and maybe even at a deep level we can ask,

well what does it really mean to be human?

So first naming ourselves.

So we can just potentially identify ourselves

by some descriptors attached to our work.

I might identify myself as the author of several books or the creator of this MOOC.

In addition to looking inwards, individuals can further construct their

identities by categorizing themselves into groups.

So my understanding of myself is derived from what it means to

be part of various groups.

I might categorize myself as a University of Minnesota professor, or

as a social scientist.

And I might derive some meaning for myself about what those groups represent to me.

In other words, when I look in the mirror, what do I see?

Well we cannot name ourselves simply in a vacuum.

Our understanding of what it means to be part of these groups

is derived from this meaning that society bestows upon these groups.

I can only fully understand my identity as a professor

by considering the social standing of professors.

The social expectations of professor's roles.

And society's evaluation of my fulfillment of these roles.

Or at least my peers' evaluation of these roles.

So our identity is being generated by identification with different groups.

And if I fail to live up to what it means to be a part of this group

then it can't be a strong part of my identity.

So for example,

when you hear that I'm a professor, you probably expect me to teach.

If I never teach, how can I consider myself to be a professor, or

at least, how can I consider myself a good professor.

So, in other words,

I can't rely solely on what I see in the mirror to define my own identity.

It matters what I think you see when you see me, or

what I think other professors see when they see me.

So this has an important managerial implication, which is that you should

expect employees to act in ways that conform with societal expectations, or

with peer expectations for

that occupation, even if the organization wishes them to act differently.

Now, if you've risen through the ranks to manage within your own occupation,

you probably understand these norms.

But if you're coming from outside that occupation, you have some learning to do.

For example, think about a finance person who now finds herself managing engineers.

And there might be a lot of occupational norms that manager needs to become

acquainted with.

Identification with groups has important implications for managers.

We can pull out lessons from two different theories.

Now, I know theory can be an intimidating word, but we'll try to keep it simple and

focus on the application.

So first, social identity theory.

Social identity theory essentially says

that you categorize yourself as members of groups in order to boost your self esteem.

And so, when you identify with your own group, called an in-group.

You emphasize the positive traits of that group compared to other groups

which are called out-groups.

And so this pursuit of self-esteem by identifying with

groups magnifies the differences between the groups you identify with

compared to those that you do not.

So this can lead to discrimination as well as inter-group conflict.

For example, Hispanic employees might choose to speak Spanish in an American

work place because of an in group social identity attachment.

But this can lead to prejudicial treatment by whites as a outgroup.

A second theory to quickly look at is called self-catergorization theory.

Which essentially extends social identity theory by digging

deeper into the cognitive processes that are going on here.

And so, essentially this theory says that by identifying with different groups,

you're essentially depersonalizing things.

So instead of thinking of members as different groups as individuals, you

replace them with images of stereotypes based on group characteristics.

Now this may start to sound sort of academic, but

the implication here is that a group becomes a true singular entity

with shared values, norms, and therefore behaviors.

So, do you want to create high performing teams?

Well, then create a shared social identity and workers will internalize

the values of this group, and use it as a basis for behavior and decision making.

Also, wanna create organizational identity?

Well, then help workers derive self-esteem by being aligned with the values of your

organization and seeing themselves as part of your group, part of your organization.

Now notice this can be challenging when organizations treat their employees as

short-term disposable commodities or even as highly paid free agents.

So lastly, we can also ask whether work defines what it means to be a human.

Now, not everybody would go this far but

some people see work as an essential quality of being a human being.

So this is a reinforcement for

why we should take the quality of work very seriously.

If work really is part of what it means to be human,

then we need to pay particular attention to the conditions under which people work.

Note, however, that the importance of work for fulfillment and

add an even deeper level, identity, has a dark side.

What happens when work conflicts with one's authentic or true self?

For example, one element of this dark side.

Suppose you have a belief of who you truly are.

For example, you wanna be creative and autonomous,

what happens when your work doesn't allow you to fulfill those expectations?

What happens when work is scripted drudgery?

What happens when we're expected to portray certain demeanors that conflict

with how we really feel?

What if a customer service worker is expected to provide service with a smile,

but they're having a bad day?

What happens when care givers need to suppress difficult emotions and

deliver bad news with a professional demeanor, or in some cases, even a smile?

This is called emotional labor.

It can cause real stress for workers.

Now returning to the previous video in this lesson, I indicated that intrinsic

motivation stems from psychological needs like autonomy, confidence and relatedness.

So continuing with this dark side theme,

what happens when someone's work is stressful?

When coworkers undermine them and they feel like a failure?

Now, just as good work can yield positive psychological rewards,

then it must be the case that bad work can cause psychological damage.

Presumably, the stronger someone thinks intrinsic motivation is,

the more damaging must be the effects when it is repressed and left unfulfilled.

So manage your human resources carefully and with a deep appreciation for

the deep importance of their work.

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