Professional Identity at Risk: Case of Machine Operators in a Context of Technological and Work Transformations
Therriault, Pierre-Yves
Professional Identity at Risk: Case of Machine Operators in a Context of Technological and Work Transformations - 2004.
75
For several decades, companies have struggled in the face of severe competition to regain an advantage over foreign competitors. For this reason, new management trends, usually based on price reduction, high-quality products and speed production, have become part of companies? strategic reorganization plans. These trends have had a high impact on work organisation, particularly in terms of greater demands put on workers and the heavy toll that these have taken. Thus, the incidence of mental health problems in the work place has risen sharply in recent years and currently counts as one of the leading causes of work absenteeism. A study based on the psychodynamics of work was conducted among machine operators working in a high-technology company in the aviation sector. Important management and technological transformations had been recently introduced in the factory. The content analysis of the study showed that the implantation of the management model based on high-quality products was not carried out in an accurate manner. This situation has had a major impact on the professional identity of the operators. On the one hand, the new work organization keeps the operators from being able to accede to the new competences that are now requested by the production model; on the other hand, they can no longer rely on their old model of identity. There is also the strong belief among the foremen that the machines are perfect and that mistakes can only come from the operators. Deprived of professional competences, blamed for most of the mistakes on the production process, operators are left with no sense of professional identity. They tend to keep to themselves and to relate to others in the same situation.
Professional Identity at Risk: Case of Machine Operators in a Context of Technological and Work Transformations - 2004.
75
For several decades, companies have struggled in the face of severe competition to regain an advantage over foreign competitors. For this reason, new management trends, usually based on price reduction, high-quality products and speed production, have become part of companies? strategic reorganization plans. These trends have had a high impact on work organisation, particularly in terms of greater demands put on workers and the heavy toll that these have taken. Thus, the incidence of mental health problems in the work place has risen sharply in recent years and currently counts as one of the leading causes of work absenteeism. A study based on the psychodynamics of work was conducted among machine operators working in a high-technology company in the aviation sector. Important management and technological transformations had been recently introduced in the factory. The content analysis of the study showed that the implantation of the management model based on high-quality products was not carried out in an accurate manner. This situation has had a major impact on the professional identity of the operators. On the one hand, the new work organization keeps the operators from being able to accede to the new competences that are now requested by the production model; on the other hand, they can no longer rely on their old model of identity. There is also the strong belief among the foremen that the machines are perfect and that mistakes can only come from the operators. Deprived of professional competences, blamed for most of the mistakes on the production process, operators are left with no sense of professional identity. They tend to keep to themselves and to relate to others in the same situation.
Réseaux sociaux