Work Role Transitions Research Articles

Noninstitutionalized Work-Role Transitions: Antecedents, Processes, and Outcomes

Noninstitutionalized Work-Role Transitions: Antecedents, Processes, and Outcomes

"Switching Hats": Insights From Experienced Clinical Interviewers Turned Novice Research Interviewers.

Health professionals/clinicians interview people regularly as part of their role. However, a qualitative research interview differs considerably to a clinical interview. If clinicians approach qualitative research interviewing based on their expertise in clinical interviewing, it could cause insufficiencies in qualitative data generation. In this reflection article, we, a team of four experienced clinical occupational therapists with no previous experience in qualitative research interviewing, share our experiences while learning to become qualitative research interviewers before undertaking our first qualitative research project. We engaged in self-directed reading, formal training on qualitative interviewing, and practice interviews and used peer feedback and reflection to prepare ourselves to conduct qualitative interviews. We drew upon the work-role transitions theory to work through our adjustment to the new role. Although we set out to "switch hats" as the research topic itself was not clinical, interviewing people on health-related topics will mean bringing our clinical instincts into our research role, while still recognizing the difference between a clinical and research interview. This article can inform experienced clinicians/novice qualitative researchers as they develop this new skillset.

Tales of me: storytelling identity work, authenticity, and impression management during new CEOs' work role transitions.

This study aims to understand how new CEOs construct, revise, and maintain in their narrative, repertoire stories that represent their identity as it is associated with their new occupational role. For this purpose, we conducted a qualitative study using the Grounded Theory method, involving 47 CEOs from different sectors residing in Brazil. Our results allowed for the construction of a central category called Storytelling Identity Work, which refers to stories that individuals tell about themselves, and enable them to propose and redefine who they are during major life transitions. This paper seeks to explain: (a) under what conditions this phenomenon tends to occur; (b) what characterizes the success of Storytelling Identity Work and; (c) what leads to the revision or retention of stories in the self. Our results show that storytelling identity work tends to be used by new CEOs during their transition period into the role, and when their new position involves higher levels of visibility and alteration of prestige levels in comparison to their previous position. They also suggest that storytelling identity work tends to be more successful when the stories are co-constructed and validated with other significant individuals and when they enable new CEOs to feel "sufficiently authentic" and "sufficiently impressive." Finally, we theorize that such feelings, along with a sense of coherence between the story being told and other narratives consciously or unconsciously being narrated by the interviewees throughout their lives, lead to the retention of the story within the individual's self. This article innovates by connecting the literature on personal storytelling with identity work and exploring processes that are not only useful during the process of transitioning into the role of new CEOs but also influence the constitution of the narrative repertoire and, consequently, the identity of these individuals.

Physical therapists’ professional role identity in the clinician to leader transition

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate how physical therapists make meaning of their professional role identity when transitioning from clinician to leadership positions. Despite the importance of professional role identity in the transition from health-care provider to health-care leader, research on this topic in physical therapy remains almost nonexistent.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative, phenomenological research approach was used in this study. Data was collected through a three-part, semistructured interview process. An open coding to focused coding process was used to analyze data and develop themes which answered the research question.FindingsPhysical therapists in this study engaged in identity work, making meaning of their professional role identity by referencing a professional role identity focused on more than clinical skills, accepting the role of discomfort, focusing on relationships, exercising agency over the construction of their leader identity, recognizing consistency between clinical and leader roles and establishing a professional role identity informed but no longer bound by their physical therapist identity.Originality/valueTo the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is the first to investigate how physical therapists make meaning of their professional role identity when transitioning into leadership positions. The findings of this study highlight uniquities in the physical therapy professional role identity and the manner in which physical therapists navigate this work role transition.

The Structural Dimensions of “Double-Qualified” Teachers’ Work Role Transition Competence and Its Generation Mechanism

The competence to change work roles is a key factor for individuals in achieving a successful work role transition. In this study, we analyzed in-depth interview data of 31 “double-qualified” teachers and related teaching managers in higher education institutions using the grounded theory method and constructed a model of the structural dimensions of teachers’ work role transition competence and its generation mechanism. The model was also interpreted using work role transition theory, the Job Demand–Control–Support (JDCS) model, and employee learning theory. The research results show that the work role transition competence of teachers in higher education institutions is mainly composed of four dimensions: old role detachment, psychological adaptation, new role cognition, and resource reserve capacity; the four factors of work role demand (initiation factor), role breadth self-efficacy (internal contextual factor), social support (external contextual factor), and individual learning (direct factor) follow the theoretical logic of “demand–context–learning–competence” to influence the formation of work role transition competence. This study enriches and expands the theory of work role transition, which can help teachers in higher education institutions to effectively apply it in their work role transitions and can help higher education institutions to further improve the corresponding norms of human resource management practice.

Meaning-Making Profiles During Emerging Adulthood: A Person-Oriented Approach in the Context of Romantic and Working Conditions

Empirical evidence supported the existence of different meaning-making profiles among youths, however, it is unknown whether these profiles are related to specific transitional conditions. The present study applied a multi-group Latent Profile Analysis to examine the generalizability and criterion-validity of meaning-making profiles across two samples of emerging and young adults living different contextual situations (pre-COVID-19 vs during COVID-19), and to investigate their association with the balanced versus imbalanced conditions in the romantic and work role transitions. Three meaning-making profiles, searchers (high search, average presence of meaning), in-between (low search, average presence), and fulfilled (very low search, high presence) were supported by strong generalizability and criterion-validity evidence (i.e. fulfilled individuals showed higher well-being). As expected, older individuals were more likely to be fulfilled, while gender wasn’t a predictor of profiles. Imbalanced individuals in love and work were more likely to be searchers, while fulfilled individuals were predominantly living a balanced condition.

Too many teams? Examining the impact of multiple team memberships and permanent team identification on employees’ identity strain, cognitive depletion, and turnover

AbstractAs the prevalence of multiple team membership (MTM) arrangements continues to grow, researchers have argued that shifting between teams and work roles induces MTM identity strain and other harmful outcomes. Drawing from work role transitions research on role identity and integrating it with social identity theory, we investigate this line of reasoning by conducting two studies, one field and one online panel study, focusing on blended MTMs, in which employees are concurrently assigned to a permanent team and several temporary project teams. Specifically, we examine the theoretical mechanisms explaining a positive relationship between number of temporary teams and turnover decisions. In Study 1, we surprisingly found that number of temporary teams negatively related to turnover decisions through MTM identity strain with permanent team identification strengthening this effect. In contrast, in Study 2, we found support for the hypothesized relationships: number of teams indirectly positively related to turnover intentions, mediated by MTM identity strain and cognitive depletion, and permanent team identification weakened the indirect effect. We provide explanations for these mixed findings and suggest theoretical and practical implications for MTM research.

Association Among Work Characteristics, Role Transition, and Job Burnout in Nurse Practitioners in Taiwan.

Workplace burnout is common among nurse practitioners (NPs) and often occurs during role transition from a registered nurse to an NP. This study aimed to explore the predictors of job burnout in nurse practitioners (NPs). A quantitative cross-sectional design was conducted on 361 convenience sample of NPs from four hospitals in central Taiwan. Data on the demographic and working characteristics (hospital grade, years of experience as an RN and NP, practice setting, working shifts, working hours, average number of patients take care, salary, and performance bonus), Chinese version of the Nurse Practitioner Role Transition Scale, and Occupational Burnout Inventory were used. The enrolled NPs showed medium-level role transition scores (mean = 65.73, SD = 9.59), and the prevalence of personal burnout, client-related burnout, and over-commitment was 51.2%, 19.4%, and 49.9%, respectively. Role transition, hospital grade, practice setting, working hours, and number of patients take care were significant predictors of personal burnout, client-related burnout, and over-commitment after adjusting for cofounding variables, possibly explaining 52.8%, 42.1%, and 36.3% of variance, respectively. Hospital administrators should provide necessary assistance to help NPs transition to new role and ensure a positive work environment and reasonable workload so as to prevent the impact of job burnout on NPs.

Identity work in refugee workforce integration: The role of newcomer support organizations

How does professional employment support provided by newcomer support organizations (NSOs) influence highly-skilled refugees’ professional identities and workforce integration? To answer this question, we draw on interviews with 25 managers and staff of NSOs in Canada and 11 recently arrived, highly-skilled refugees. We contribute to the literature on refugee workforce integration by shedding light on the dynamic process of employment support in which NSOs engage in sensegiving practices and influence refugees’ understanding of career options, assessment of opportunities, and their professional identity responses. We found that NSOs attempted to manage refugees’ expectations of career opportunities while fostering hope for the future and that refugees reacted to NSOs’ sensegiving practices by resisting expectation management messages, recrafting a new identity, or bracketing the present as transitory. We highlight the role of external agents in sensemaking and identity work by exploring work role transitions caused by forced migration. Furthermore, we uncover the dynamics of power and contextual constraints that influence sensegiving interactions. From a practical point of view, we argue that in the absence of quality employment opportunities, the reliance on refugees’ resilience and their motivation for long-term professional integration may further marginalize them.

The Work-Role Transition of Part-time Clinical Faculty: Seeking to Validate the Nurse Educator Transition Model.

Part-time clinical nurse educators who simultaneously work in both a clinical and an academic setting experience a unique work-role transition. Identifying and addressing their needs during this time may assist in new faculty retention. As part of a larger study examining the work-role transition of part-time clinical nurse faculty, a specific research question was developed to determine how these individuals experience the phases of the Nurse Educator Transition (NET) model. This qualitative phenomenological study used both purposive and snowball sampling to recruit 14 RNs who were part-time clinical educators. Study findings validated all 4 phases of the NET model. In addition, several participants indicated a sense of returning to the first 2 phases of transition at the beginning of new semesters and courses. The NET model is applicable to the part-time clinical nurse educator population. This theory can be used as a framework to design orientation and mentorship programs that specifically target part-time clinical nurse educators.

Role Transition of Clinical Nurse Educators Employed in Both Clinical and Faculty Positions.

The aim of this study was to explore how nurses experienced the role transition from clinical expert to part-time clinical faculty member when they worked in both a clinical and academic setting. In response to the current nurse faculty shortage and the anticipated return of a nationwide shortage of registered nurses, the use of part-time clinical nurse educators has been increasing. Fourteen RNs were interviewed using online video conferencing for this qualitative phenomenological study. Study findings revealed seven key themes: different background-different experiences, guidance and support, challenges along the way, maintaining two work roles, influences of prior work experience, influence of personal attributes, and recommendations for successful transition. This work-role transition was found to be highly individualized and multifactorial. Results of the study may be beneficial in future administrative decision-making.

How well are Swiss French physicians prepared for future practice in primary care?

BackgroundMoving from postgraduate training into independent practice represents a major transition in physicians’ professional life. Little is known about how Swiss primary care graduates experience such a transition. The aim of this study was to explore the extent to which primary care physicians who recently set up private practice felt prepared to work as independent practitioners.MethodsWe conducted 7 focus groups among recently established (≤ 5 years) primary care physicians in Switzerland. Questions focused on positive and negative aspects of setting up a practice, and degree of preparedness. Transcripts were analysed according to organisational socialisation and work role transition frameworks.ResultsParticipants felt relatively well prepared for most medical tasks except for some rheumatologic, minor traumatology, ENR, skin and psychiatric aspects. They felt unprepared for non clinical tasks such as office, insurance and medico-legal management issues and did not anticipate that the professional networking outside the hospital would be so important to their daily work. They faced dilemmas opposing professional values to the reality of practice which forced them to clarify their professional roles and expectations. Adjustment strategies were mainly informal.ConclusionAlthough the postgraduate primary care curriculum is longer in Switzerland than in most European countries, it remains insufficiently connected with the reality of transitioning into independent practice, especially regarding role development and management tasks. A greater proportion of postgraduate training, with special emphasis on these issues, should take place directly in primary care.

Boundary-crossing careers and the ‘third space of hybridity’: Career actors as knowledge brokers between creative arts and academia

This article examines how boundary-crossing careers influence creative knowledge combination by looking at a group of creative artists whose careers straddle professional arts and academia. Whereas previous research has treated individuals as vehicles for knowledge transmission across intertwined networks, this study emphasizes their active role as knowledge brokers. It examines how work role transitions trigger a dynamic interplay between actors and contexts, and brings about changes in the cognitive frames of individuals and their propensity to connect knowledge across contexts. The study employs Bhabha’s concept of the ‘third space of hybridity’ to denote the agency space where career actors construct hybrid role identities and engage in knowledge brokering. The analysis identifies two categories of hybrid with different boundary-crossing careers and shows how work role transitions influence the topology of the third space where knowledge brokering occurs. The ‘artist-academics’ whose careers span art and academia concurrently experience recurrent micro-role transitions. They are ‘organic’ hybrids operating at the ‘overlapping space’ where knowledge translation and integration occur naturally in everyday work. They are ‘embedded’ knowledge brokers. The ‘artists-in-academia’, who cross over from the art world to academia, experience more permanent macro-role transitions. They are ‘intentional hybrids’ who make conscious efforts to bridge two discrete work domains by creating a separate ‘transitional space’. Their knowledge brokering activities are instrumental in transforming both their own knowledge and that of their work context: they are transformative knowledge brokers. The study advances our understanding of career mobility as a mechanism that facilitates creative knowledge combination by highlighting actor agency and the underlying cognitive-behavioural mechanisms.

Work role transitions – expert nurses to novice preceptors

PurposeSeveral issues are reported in the literature regarding the preparation and training of nurses for the preceptor role. The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences, growth and development of nurses transitioning to the preceptor role in allied health contexts.Design/methodology/approachA basic interpretive qualitative research method was used for this study. In total, 20 preceptors who were practicing in a variety of healthcare settings participated in in-depth interviews.FindingsThe preceptors of this study found meaning through their teaching and learning encounters with novice nurses. Their meaning making led to identity development and new perspectives on both the nursing and preceptor roles.Research limitations/implicationsThis study extends the literature on informal learning and training by focusing on the unique work role of nurse precepting. Conclusions of this study call for additional research that examines other occupational areas in which workers have transitioned from expert to novice again, and how training can enhance these transitionsPractical implicationsParticipants described several areas of improvement for preceptorships: additional administrative support, guidelines and standards for preceptor training and preparation and additional time and support for transitioning to the preceptor roleOriginality/valueWork role transition theory was used in this study to examine the preparation and training of preceptors. This study features the voices of nursing preceptors who have experienced changes in their employment status and major shifts in their work roles transitioning from expert to novice to expert again.

Modes of cross-cultural leadership adjustment: adapting leadership to meet local conditions and/or changing followers to match personal requirements?

In this article, we present a study that explores modes of cross-cultural leadership adjustment (CLA) and investigates the forces influencing them. Nigel Nicholson’s theory of work role transitions was used as the theoretical foundation to explore work role requirements (consisting of role discretion and novelty of job demands) as potential predictors of modes of CLA. Our data were collected from expatriate senior managers working in Thailand. The results show that the majority of our expatriate executives make adjustments to their leadership approach and try to change Thai employees – thus demonstrating the adoption of an exploration mode of adjustment – and that role requirements, Thai employee characteristics, the local hierarchy system and the expatriate leaders’ perceptions all influence the latter’s modes of adjustment. Based on our findings, we develop a theoretical framework and a number of research propositions. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings.

Sensemaking of organizational innovation and change in public research organizations

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine through a sensemaking lens the transforming nature of scientists’ work role in public research organizations (PROs), resulting from organizational innovations in the form of collaborative culture. Design/methodology/approach Based on a symbolic-functionalist theory of work role transition, the paper uses interview data from a case study to explore scientists’ sensemaking of work role change. Findings Work role transition and identity processes among scientists in traditional PROs reveal tensions regarding organizational restructuring to the extent that organizational innovations are changing scientific work conflict with organizational norms, procedures and reward structures in hierarchical, bureaucratic PROs. Research limitations/implications As the paper is based on only one case study, further research should be carried out on the difficulties involved in transforming the nature of the scientific work role and the way scientists recognize, contradict and make sense of changes. Originality/value The novelty of this paper is in the un-discussed role of organizational innovations in enabling new work roles for scientists in public research centers and how scientists make sense of and react to these innovations. Therefore, this paper could be beneficial for PROs facing pressure to restructure.

Nurses' perceptions and experiences of work role transitions: a mixed methods systematic review of the literature.

To understand nurses' perceptions and experiences of work role transitions. Globally an uncertain healthcare landscape exists and when changing work roles nurses experience periods of transition when they may not cope well. A greater understanding of work role transitions may help facilitate workforce retention and successful careers. Mixed methods systematic review. Six data bases were searched for peer reviewed primary empirical research, published in English language between January 1990 and December 2014, supplemented by hand and citation searching. Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre methods for systematic reviews principles were followed. Analysis and synthesis of the qualitative and quantitative papers was conducted separately using thematic analysis. A third synthesis combined the narrative findings and a narrative synthesis of results is presented. Twenty-six papers were included. Across nurses' work role transitions two pathways were found: Novice and Experienced. 'Novice' comprises pre-registration and newly qualified nurses. 'Experienced' comprises, Enrolled/Licensed Practical Nurse to Registered Nurse, experienced to specialist nurse and clinical role changes. Each pathway results in different emphasizes of two themes; 'Striving for a new professional self' includes emotional upheaval and identity while 'Know how' includes competence and boundaries. Novice nurses are more susceptible to the extremes of emotional upheaval while experienced nurses' competence eases aspects of transitions while boundary issues pervade. Informed work and educational environments are required for all groups of nurses. Using existing models of transition can facilitate successful individual transitions and develop the workplace.

What I am Versus What I do

As digital technologies have practically annihilated entry barriers in the field of journalism, the industry has seen the rise of many digitally native news media startups. Many of these startups are hyperlocal media, usually started by former journalists or concerned residents to provide news to their neighborhoods. Little research exists on entrepreneurship and news media and even less research exists on how these former journalists and/or concerned residents step into these new work roles and make sense of their new responsibilities. This paper explores these individuals’ work-role transition and professional identity negotiation. Analyses of in-depth interviews revealed the respondents tried to make sense of their work in relation to their professional identity by melding their responsibilities with their image of who they are. Thus, they create holistic, positive, professional identities that are more reflective of their new work and roles yet not too different from their idea of who they are as professionals.

Determinants of work role transition outcomes of Filipinos in Singapore

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to address the following questions: what factors affect work role transition outcomes of Filipino employees in Singapore? What is the influence of type of expatriation on work role transition outcomes? Two outcomes of interest are work adjustment and job satisfaction.Design/methodology/approach– An e-mail containing the link to a web-based structured questionnaire was sent to Filipinos working in local and multinational organizations in Singapore, who were also encouraged to forward the link to other Filipinos working in Singapore. The number of respondents totals 106. We used regression analysis to address the research question.Findings– Work adjustment and job satisfaction do not share common factors, indicating differences in their dynamics. Work adjustment is singly explained by the individual factor: the self-efficacy beliefs of the global employees. It is not influenced by the content and context of work but by the disposition of the individual alone. On the other hand, job satisfaction is explained by job factors (role discretion and role conflict) and organizational or job context factors (supervisory support and perceived organizational support). It is not explained by self-efficacy belief. Both work role adjustment and job satisfaction are not influenced by whether or not the global employee is company assigned or self-initiated.Research limitations/implications– Given the nonprobabilistic sampling employed, results of the study, in a strict sense, apply only to the individuals who participated in the survey. In addition, cross-sectional nature of the study also limits inference on causality.Practical implications– The null results of gender, marital status, and age imply that these are not good indicators of success and are not a good basis for selection. However, one important dimension to consider in recruitment is self-efficacy belief. Managers also need to nurture self-efficacy of existing employees by enabling them to experience success and for the managers to consciously develop and maintain high self-efficacy belief themselves to serve as role model of employees. Moreover, organizations can enhance and manage job satisfaction by providing support from both the supervisor and the organization, and designing jobs that provide role discretion and less role conflict. In addition, the null result of type of expatriation suggests that pre-departure support erodes through time such that companies that send employees to foreign subsidiaries must continue to provide support beyond the pre-departure phase and highlight the role of host country operations in providing job content and context conducive to job satisfaction.Originality/value– This study furthers the understanding of work role transition outcomes of people from Asia and the developing world who work in countries other than their own. It also broadens our perspective of work role transition by looking at two outcomes: work adjustment and job satisfaction. Moreover, this study provides an important contribution to the literature by examining the differences in outcomes of company assigned and self-initiated global employees.

The Cross-Domain Effects of Work and Family Role Stressors on Public Employees in South Korea

Understanding work and family role transition activities is very important as without knowing the mechanism, policymakers cannot design effective family-friendly programs. This research addressed two research questions: (a) Do work and family role stressors in the public sector have cross-domain effects? and (b) Does gender moderate the cross-domain effects? The Korea Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS) was used as a secondary data set to address these research questions. A random-effects model (i.e., a three-level hierarchical linear model) was used to take into account heterogeneity across families and individuals. Findings revealed that work role stressors such as monthly salary and working hours were positively related to life satisfaction, but family stressors were not significantly associated with job satisfaction, partially supporting the cross-domain effect. Furthermore, gender did not moderate the cross-domain effects.