“Don't sweat the small stuff”: Employee identity work in a transitioning business environment

• Main Author: Gregory, Kimberly D. Weller
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01.01.2001
• Subjects: Anxiety; Behavior; Business models; Careers; Communication; Copyright; Cost control; Customer services; Decision making; Employee attitude; Employee benefits; Employees; Employment; Families & family life; Flexibility; Flexible hours; Globalization; Identity; Individual & family studies; Management; Maternity & paternity leaves; Narratives; Organizational change; Part time employment; Personal relationships; Philosophy; R&D; Research & development; Research methodology; Sociology; Studies; Trends; Workers; Working hours
• ISBN: 0493545255; 9780493545257

This dissertation provides an in-depth qualitative investigation of how employees experience the current business environment, and how these circumstances affect employees' identities. I address three research questions: (1) How do employees experience the current business environment, including accompanying expectations for employee behavior? (2) How does the current business environment affect workers' identities? (3) How have employees changed in thought and action to respond to this environment, and how are these responses constructed through communication? I interviewed 60 employees in three Florida companies. Findings show that the current business environment and accompanying expectations for employee behaviors present positive effects and challenges for workers' identities. Participants described three factors that help them to sustain a positive identity: (a) liking their work/working, (b) feeling valued and/or responsible from their work, and (c) perceiving that their multiple responsibilities are “balanced.” Employees perceive nine factors as challenging a positive identity, including: a struggle to manage work and home responsibilities, insufficient time with one's child(ren), and fatigue. While a majority of participants described ambivalencies about their identity—i.e., feeling good and conflicted about it—more described themselves as satisfied with their identity than conflicted over it. Participants developed two guiding principles and three related strategies to manage their multiple responsibilities and sustain a positive identity. First, they are guided by the belief that family should be their first priority, over one's career. As such, a majority of participants separate their professional and personal responsibilities to protect family time. Several participants integrate their work and home responsibilities, because they feel it is the only way to successfully manage their multiple obligations and roles. Second, most participants have adopted the philosophy, “Don't sweat the small stuff,” which encourages them to stop trying to exert total control over their situations and let the “little things” go. This principle is often supported through a strategy of avoiding “hyper scheduling” at home. This study describes how employees are using communication as a resource for making sense of and negotiating the demands of today's business environment. Particularly, I describe how these workers use discourse and narrative to construct and sustain positive identities.