The Complex and Contextualized Construction of Identities in the Emotional Labour Process

THE COMPLEX AND CONTEXTUALIZED CONSTRUCTION OF IDENTITIES IN THE EMOTIONAL LABOUR PROCESS: OR… MAKING SENSE OF A HAPPY WORKFORCE

Sarah Jenkins and Rick Delbridge

CardiffBusinessSchool

Full Paper

Abstract

This paper presents an empirical examination of identities amongst interactive service workers based on a detailed qualitative case study of an out-sourced high-quality reception service consistent with Frenkel’s (2005) classification of a mass-customized call-centre. Female employees engage in the complex deployment of emotions involving high levels of discretionary judgment reflective of Bolton’s (2005) framework of emotional management (see Jenkins et al Forthcoming). The paper is informed by Alvesson et al’s (2008) integrated framework of identity formations, identifications and identity regulation to develop a multi-faceted and contextualized account of employee self-identities and multiple organizational identifications. In so doing, the study examines the nature of the emotional labour process, the material relations of work and situates this within the broader labour market in order to explain the ‘happy workforce’. Conceptually, we seek to demonstrate the ways in which actors are knowledgeable in engaging in processes of identity construction and these constructions are informed by the dynamic interplay between work and home.

Introduction

The focus on normative control over the past two decades (for example, Ray, 1986; Kunda 1992) has led to an increasing emphasis on the significance of employee identities in understanding processes of organization and management control. Initially research concentrated on how mechanisms of identity regulation within the organization worked upon the employees’ sense of self and produced compliant (even motivated) workers who incorporated managerial definitions of ‘what we do around here’, accepted organizational objectives as legitimate and as a result engaged in widespread self and peer control. Recently, Fleming and Sturdy (2009) have extended the notion of normative control and developed the concept of neo-normative control to highlight the ways in which workers’ ‘authentic identities’ are utilised by organizations so that workers are encouraged to ‘be themselves’ in and through their work albeit within specified organizational norms of behaviour. In such cases, rather than construct ‘appropriate’ identities within the workplace, organizations seek to draw on employees’ own identity in order to exploit their sense of self, particularly in relation to their interactions with customers when engaged in emotional work. A potential problem with each of these arguments is that they run the risk of downplaying or ignoring the knowledgeability and agency of individual employees. They also tend to treat ‘identity’ as something that is simple and constructed or appropriated in a fairly straightforward manner. In particular, whether normative or neo-normative controls are invoked, the majority of ‘identity studies’ have focused on the individual and their immediate social context without a broader examination of how these processes may be influenced by both the nature and context of work (see Grugulis et al 2000 for an exception). Indeed, one significant criticism of the normative control literature is that it underplays the nature of the labour process and so has a tendency to disregard the potential of the medium of work to provide workers with a positive sense of self-identity. For example, Leidner (2006: 447) notes, employees’ positive understanding of work continues to be a relevant feature of work and of their subjectivity ‘whether or not management actively incites and exploits them’.

This study aims to offer an empirical and conceptual contribution to the identities literature. The paper presents an empirical examination of identities amongst interactive service workers based on a detailed qualitative case study of an out-sourced high-quality reception service consistent with Frenkel’s (2005) classification of a mass-customized call-centre. Female employees engage in the complex deployment of emotions involving high levels of discretionary judgment reflective of Bolton’s (2005) framework of emotional management (see Jenkins et al Forthcoming). The paper is informed by Alvesson et al’s (2008) integrated examination of identity formations, identifications and identity regulation to develop a contextualized account of identities within the workplace. In so doing, the study examines the nature of the emotional labour process, the material relations of work and situates this within the broader labour market in order to explain the ‘happy workforce’. Crucially, this research identifies how emotional labourers’ experience of work can have a positive influence on their self- identities beyond the workplace. The conceptual contribution of this paper offers a contextualized account of employee identities by focusing on the content and context of work in an examination of employee self-identities and, in relation to multiple organizational identifications. Specifically, we seek to demonstrate the ways in which actors are knowledgeable in engaging in processes of identity construction and these constructions are informed by the dynamic interplay between work and home.

Examining Identity

One of the first tasks when discussing identity matters is to determine what is meant by identity. Such an endeavor is far from straightforward (and the complexities lie beyond the scope of this paper) because the topic is informed by different disciplinary and ontological perspectives (see du Gay, Evans and Redman 2002). As a consequence of the varied interpretations and the variety of ways in which identity research has developed, critics such as MacInnes (2004) argue that there is a danger that the concept of identities becoming practically meaningless. Part of the concern with identity is that the research field tends to be overly abstracted rather than being empirically grounded. To ensure that identity research illuminates rather than obscures it is important to clarify how we are going to delineate the concept of identity. For the purposes of this study we will focus specifically on identity within the field of work and organizations. There has been a burgeoning of research on matters of identity in organizations (see review Alvesson et al 2008). This research has focused on how identity has become a focus of control, a source of shared values and meanings to reinforce workplace subcultures, informs relations across gendered, ethnic and racial relations, is a significant feature in understanding employee misbehaviour and resistance and what it means to be a manager, and a worker within contemporary workplaces (e.g. Alvesson and Willmott 2002; Ackroyd and Thompson 1999; Collinson 2003; Kondo 1990; Kunda 1992; Thomas and Davies 2005; Watson 2008; Webb 2006).

For Alvesson et al (2008: 7) identity research in organizations offers both opportunities and challenges – these include the development of ‘novel and nuanced theoretical accounts, to produce rich empirical analyses that capture the inter-subjectivity of organizational life in a thoughtful and empathetic fashion, and to demonstrate how individual and collective self-constructions become powerful players in organizing processes and outcomes’. They helpfully distinguish between studies which adopt an ‘identifications’, ‘identity work’ and an ‘identity control’ perspective. Whilst Alvesson et al ‘s (2008) useful categorization focuses on these three fields as embodying different theoretical perspectives, in this paper we adopt a multi-dimensional perspective to examine identity in order to address the complexity of our case study. This integrative framing focuses on three categories; the first examines issues of identity formation by focusing on the development of self and social identities, secondly, we examine how identifications are formed and developed in organizations and finally, issues of identity regulation focus on how organizations attempt to manage identities. Each of these approaches shall be examined.

In terms of identity formations, Jenkins (1996: 142) makes the distinction between ascriptive identities which are socially constructed and based on the contingencies of birth, such as gender, and achieved or acquired identities which are assumed over time and are generally the outcome of self-direction. Workers are understood to be likely to pursue a course of action which reinforces this notion of themselves rather than an approach which contravenes their sense of self. Drawing on Giddens’ (1984) understanding of the knowledgeability and capability of human agency, this approach illustrates how a sense of self leads to certain courses of action so as to maintain and secure that self-identity. Alongside self-identities, the concept of social identities refers to the interaction between personal identities and the social context. Thompson and McHugh (2002: 334) note that social identities represent ‘the negotiated position between our personal identity and the meanings and images demanded of us in our current social context’ such that, ‘identity is a tool that we use to present ourselves as, and possibly transform ourselves into, images appropriate to our social, cultural and work context’.

Closely related to understandings of identity formations is the next category of identifications. Identification is the process by which our interests are aligned and is the expression of our identity work. Marks and Thompson (2010) draw on the concept of ‘identity work’ in order to link an examination of interests with understandings of identities. Their focus is on the way actors undertake identity work in interaction with and appropriation of symbolic resources. As Thompson and Findlay (1999:176) note, this means actors are capable of drawing on symbolic resources in their relations of contestation and co-operation for a variety of reasons, in so doing they assert their identities when contesting resources and power in order to legitimate their actions, to survive and to be satisfied within the particular conditions of work. For these authors the point of emphasizing symbolic resources is to inject materialist concerns into the way identities are constructed rather than conceiving of discourse as the main determinant in such formations. For them, the centrality of discourse implies the ‘a-priori attribution of causal powers to discourse and the elision of differences between individuals and organizations as empirical objects’ (Marks and Thompson 2010: 3).

Alvesson et al (2008: 13) have also been critical of the technical/functionalist stance of much of the identifications literature because there is an overly static and stable conception of individual perceptions of self and organizations are treated as the main source of identifications. They urge that more critical research into this area should view identifications as a complex and fluid process which can involve multiple targets of identification beyond the organization. We follow this argument to develop an approach which acknowledges multiple identificatory references by illustrating different affiliations beyond just the organization. In some cases, these different affiliations can be a source of conflict and tension. The recognition of this variety and complexity calls for an appreciation of the distinctive dynamics and dimensions of identity work undertaken by particular entities (organizations, groups and individuals) and at different levels (the self- personal and social identity) (Marks and Thompson 2010: 12-13).

Few studies of identification examine how workers identify with the content of work itself. As Thompson and Findlay (1999) acknowledge, much of the research on identity manipulation overlooks the fact that work can also be meaningful. Studies in the sociology of work have illustrated that workers gain a sense of satisfaction from doing a job well, and in service work, a positive sense of identity can be developed from providing a good service to customers (Lankshear et al 2001). As Leidner (2006: 447) notes, employees’ positive understanding of work continues to be a relevant feature of their subjectivity ‘whether or not management actively incites and exploits them’. More recently Korczynski (2009: 963) has implored sociological studies of front line service work to pay more consideration to the worker-customer relationship and specifically to address the nature of these relations when examining issues of alienation. Korczynski (2009: 956-957) notes that low levels of alienation are likely to be experienced when there is a caring empathetic bearing to the customer, when there is a greater symmetry of power between workers and the customers, and when workers and customers interact in relationships featuring repeated interactions. For Korczynski, (2009: 957) the nature of these relations such reach to the very heart of the sociology of work because it confronts the question of how far capitalism civilizes or dehumanizes work.

The third area in the literature focuses on identity regulation and is closely associated with normative control. This is illustrated effectively by Alvesson and Willmott’s (2002: 625) paper in which they define identity regulation as involving ‘the more or less intentional effects of social practices upon processes of identity construction and reconstruction. Notably, induction, training and promotion procedures are developed in ways that have implications for the shaping and direction of identity’. Alvesson and Willmott (2002: 625) stress that ‘when an organization becomes a significant source of identification for individuals, corporate identity then informs (self)-identity work’. They proceed to illustrate the different ways in which identity is influenced, regulated and changed within work organizations, stressing that ‘identity may be a more or less direct target for control as organizing practices address the actor, the other, motives, values, expertise, group membership, hierarchical location, rules of the game, the wider context’ (Alvesson and Willmott 2002: 629). However, much of the critical literature has focused on the problematic nature of identity regulation at workplace level; a range of this research focuses on employee resistance and misbehaviour (Taylor and Bain 2004; Mullholland 2004). Additionally, the concept of dis-identification focuses on how cynicism becomes a feature in how employees respond to normative controls which seek to manipulate identities (e.g. Kunda 1992; Fleming and Spicer 2003).

Recently Fleming and Sturdy (2009) and Sturdy et al (2010) have advanced the concept of neo-normative control, proposing that ‘neo-normative control works to create and sustain a corporate identity drawn from externally derived values and identities to which employees are expected to subscribe’ (Sturdy, et al 2010: 3). As Fleming and Sturdy (2009:571-572) expand, ‘Neo-normative control entails the exhortation to ‘be yourself’ or, what you are outside of work’. Under neo-normative control, Fleming and Sturdy note how organizations seek to appropriate employees’ real selves and authentic identities. In such cases, management practices thus aim to encourage ‘diversity, idiosyncrasy and the expression of ‘authentic’ feelings in the work environment’ in order ‘to enhance the expression of ‘authentic’ selves among employees’. A key feature of neo-normative control is the concern with ‘existential empowerment’ (Fleming and Sturdy 2009: 571) – the aim being ‘to enhance the enjoyment of the job via the freedom of identity and emotional expression surrounding the work performance rather than through it’ (p.572). However, an implication of this conception is that ‘authentic’ identities are rooted in one’s self-identity outside of work; employees ‘bring their identities to work’. It could be argued that identities are too multi-faceted to assume a clear separation between public and private life. Rather, self and social identities combine work and non-work values such as familial, collegial and friendship relations, religious, cultural, ethnic and political affiliations. Significantly, these values are not always neatly aligned but can be the source of potential conflict (see Jenkins and Delbridge 2007). There is also a mistaken tendency to treat non-work identities as the main source of one’s authentic self and to treat self-identities as a singular construct which obscures the multi-dimensional features of identity formations. As Rhodes et al (2007: 93) note, ‘workers’ roles in contemporary organizations can be complex, dynamic and intertwined with multiple values’. Few studies have therefore focused on theorizing the intersections, tensions and overlapping relations between different social identities.

Our overview of the identities literature identifies that these three approaches are relevant to develop a more complex framing for the analysis of our empirical data. Integrating an examination of identity formations, identity regulation and identifications may provide a more sophisticated conception of identity construction than examining each conceptionin isolation. For example, there is an assumption within some conceptions that employees enter the workplace with their set of identities pre-formed and these become subjected to manipulation. A related feature is that such conceptions fail to address the importance of context in the way identities are developed. There is also a danger that employees are conceived of as either cultural dupes who are ignorant of organizational manipulation or hoodwinked in a similar vein as Marxist conceptions of false consciousness (see criticism in Rhodes et al 2007: 89).

The paper offers four insights: first, incorporating several distinct ideas from the literature we develop a complex and multi-faceted conception of identities and identity construction that encompasses each of three aspects of employee identity - identity formations, identifications and identity regulation (Alvesson et al, 2008). Second, we utilize this framing to provide an analysis which incorporates the recognition of employees as knowledgeable agents actively engaged in processes of identity construction. This allows us to provide an explanation of this ‘happy workforce’ without exaggerating managerial control or treating employees as either ‘cultural dopes’ or, as ‘prisoners of their own authentic identities’. Our analysis highlights the importance of material and labour process features of the workplace and the variety of extra-organizational aspects which inform constructions of identities. Finally, in extending recognition of the interactional nature of identity constructions, we show how the confidence and experience of employees at work contributes to the development of individuals’ self identities in ways that are important beyond the workplace.

Research Design

The research design is a single, exploratory case study which provides an insight into the nature of work in a ’middle-range’ workplace displaying features of a mass customized call-centre setting. The study offers rich data on the nature and content of work, using semi-structured interviews as the main method for data collection. Interviews which were conducted with 66 respondents (75 percent of the workforce): Three senior managers, 48 receptionists and 15 support staff. All of the receptionists are female, two senior managers are male and one female and all the support staff are female apart from two male IT managers. The average length of interview with receptionists was 49 minutes, all were digitally recorded and transcribed. In addition, periods of observation provided valuable insights. Firstly, prior to the commencement of the field-work one of the research team ‘shadowed’ a receptionist for the day to gain an insight into the work process. Secondly, the research team spent some limited time observing how receptionists handled calls before the interviews. Descriptive observational notes were made during the field-work to build up a picture of the culture of VoiceTel. The third aspect involved the focused observation of the recruitment assessment day – one of the researchers attended this and observed the discussions which led to the hiring of successful candidates.