From Being to Doing: Exploring the Situated Discourses and Performances of Work Engagement

IF 1.9 4区管理学 Q2 COMMUNICATION

Management Communication Quarterly Pub Date : 2024-08-02 DOI:10.1177/08933189241271401

Carol Linehan, Elaine O'Brien

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

What does work engagement mean to employees in contemporary work environments designed to be fun, highly engaging and productive? Engagement studies tend to focus on ‘being engaged’ rather than ‘doing engagement’ with little consideration given to organisational processes which influence employee agency in engagement. This study aims to contextualise the concept of engagement as a situated performance that involves navigating organisational discourses and expectations. Through in-depth interviews, we explore what engagement means to workers, and what performances are required in a contemporary technology company. Our analysis uncovers how ‘engagement’ functions as a discourse to normalise particular behaviours, moving the theoretical focus from the state-based focus on ‘being’ engaged to ‘doing’ engagement. We elucidate the discursive forces dictating what engagement means and the kinds of work/worker that hold value, providing an alternative to the current individualistic framing of engagement, illuminating a missing element in discussions on engagement - the performative element.

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从 "存在 "到 "行动"：探索工作参与的情境话语和表现

在被设计成有趣、高度参与和富有成效的现代工作环境中，工作参与对员工意味着什么？敬业度研究往往侧重于 "被敬业 "而非 "做敬业"，很少考虑影响员工敬业度的组织过程。本研究旨在将 "参与 "的概念背景化，将其视为一种涉及组织话语和期望的情景表现。通过深入访谈，我们探讨了敬业对于员工的意义，以及在当代科技公司中需要什么样的表现。我们的分析揭示了 "参与 "作为一种话语是如何将特定行为正常化的，从而将理论重点从基于国家的 "被 "参与转向 "做 "参与。我们阐明了决定 "参与 "含义的话语力量，以及具有价值的工作/员工类型，为当前个人主义的 "参与 "框架提供了另一种选择，揭示了 "参与 "讨论中缺失的元素--表演元素。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Management Communication Quarterly Multiple-

CiteScore

4.30

自引率

16.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Management Communication Quarterly presents conceptually rigorous, empirically-driven, and practice-relevant research from across the organizational and management communication fields and has strong appeal across all disciplines concerned with organizational studies and the management sciences. Authors are encouraged to submit original theoretical and empirical manuscripts from a wide variety of methodological perspectives covering such areas as management, communication, organizational studies, organizational behavior and HRM, organizational theory and strategy, critical management studies, leadership, information systems, knowledge and innovation, globalization and international management, corporate communication, and cultural and intercultural studies.