Based on my own personal experience in the workforce, specifically in Virginia, I have had positive workplace experiences and made connections that can only be described as family. So I began to ask myself, what are the similarities and differences in how we perceive and experience 'family' within organizational contexts compared to familial relationships separate from the workplace, and how do these perceptions impact organizational culture?
In the Harvard Business Review, it discusses how easy it is to label a work team as a family, considering you spend a third of your life at work. “Family culture” can harm employees, even when giving employees a sense of belonging is not rooted in manipulation it can be “...used to foster relationships with the expectations of the highest performance, employees will rarely be set up for success” (Luna, 2021). Additionally, as stated in the article, our perception of our personal and professional “lines” can start to blur, we can develop an unhealthy exaggerated sense of loyalty, and it can put subordinates in a position to be taken advantage of. This article helped me narrow down my research proposal because I originally was going to discuss why having a family dynamic in an organization was important, and after reading this article, I was able to reflect more deeply on my own personal experiences in the workplace. I am able to appreciate my previous family-like relationships with coworkers, while still understanding how that environment may have contributed to stress because of my exaggerated sense of loyalty allowing me to be taken advantage of.
In the Atlantic, the article “The Dark Side of Saying Work Is ‘Like a Family”, discusses how when a company introduces themselves as a family, we often think of core values such as respect, but often don't think about how most families are dysfunctional. The article references a disrespect of boundaries, imposed obligations, demand loyalty, and resentment if the organization is not priority number one (Pinsker, 2022). This article helped me narrow down my proposal by focusing my attention to not only the positive meaning of family, but allowing me to look at the topic from another angle, similar to the first article.
Studying the comparisons of an organizational family and other familial relationships is a personal interest of mine. I have found from personal experience that the morale of a team contributes to the success of the organization. However, there is a difference between having a high team morale and calling your team a “family”. I am interested in learning about the psychological effects of referring and treating your organization members as a “family”. From my own experiences, the problem that needs to be solved is using the excuse of family is often a rug to sweep the workplace issues under.
I am very intrigued to see where this research takes me further, I feel it will help me apply what we have learned about ethical communication and business practices. I am interested in discussing and comparing the organizational culture to potential collectivistic cultures, and potentially discussing Kreps 3 ethical principles. I feel that by combining my own research with what I have and will learn in this course, will give me a well-rounded understanding of a healthy work-life balance.
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