Group Property 1: Roles
Workgroups shape members’ behavior, and they also help explain individual behavior as well as the performance of the group itself. Some defining group properties are roles, norms, status, size, cohesiveness, and diversity. We’ll discuss each in the sections that follow. Let’s begin with the first group property, roles.
Shakespeare said, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”11 Using the same metaphor, all group members are actors, each playing a role, a set of expected behavior patterns attributed to someone occupying a given position in a social unit. We are required to play a number of diverse roles, both on and off our jobs. As we’ll see, one of the tasks in understanding behavior is grasping the role a person is currently playing.
Bill is a plant manager with EMM Industries, a large electrical equipment manufacturer in Phoenix. He fulfills a number of roles—employee, member of middle management, and electrical engineer. Off the job, Bill holds more roles: husband, father, Catholic, tennis player, member of the Thunderbird Country Club, and president of his homeowners’ association. Many of these roles are compatible; some create conflicts. How does Bill’s religious commitment influence his managerial decisions regarding layoffs, expense padding, and provision of accurate information to government agencies? A recent offer of promotion requires Bill to relocate, yet his family wants to stay in Phoenix. Can the role demands of his job be reconciled with the demands of his husband and father roles?
Different groups impose different role requirements on individuals. Like Bill, we all play a number of roles, and our behavior varies with each. But how do we know each role’s requirements? We draw upon our role perceptions to frame our ideas of appropriate behaviors, and learn the expectations of our groups. We also seek to understand the parameters of our roles to minimize role conflict. Let’s discuss each of these facets.
Role Perception
Our view of how we’re supposed to act in a given situation is a role perception. We get role perceptions from stimuli all around us—for example, friends, books, films, and television, like when we form an impression of politicians from House of Cards. Apprenticeship programs allow beginners to watch an expert so they can learn to act as expected.
Role Expectations
Role expectations are the way others believe you should act in a given context. A U.S. federal judge is viewed as having propriety and dignity, while a football coach is seen as aggressive, dynamic, and inspiring to the players.
In the workplace, we look at role expectations through the perspective of the psychological contract: an unwritten agreement that exists between employees and employers. This agreement sets out mutual expectations.12 Management is expected to treat employees justly, provide acceptable working conditions, clearly communicate what is a fair day’s work, and give feedback on how well an employee is doing. Employees are expected to demonstrate a good attitude, follow directions, and show loyalty to the organization.
What happens if management is derelict in its part of the bargain? We can expect negative effects on employee performance and satisfaction. One study among restaurant managers found that violations of the psychological contract were related to greater intentions to quit, while another study of a variety of different industries found broken psychological contracts were associated with lower levels of productivity, higher levels of theft, and greater work withdrawal.13
Role Conflict
When compliance with one role requirement makes it difficult to comply with another, the result is role conflict.14 At the extreme, two or more role expectations may be contradictory. For example, if as a manager you were to provide a performance evaluation of a person you mentored, your roles as evaluator and mentor may conflict. Similarly, we can experience interrole conflict15 when the expectations of our different, separate groups are in opposition. An example can be found in work-family conflict, which Bill experienced when expectations placed on him as a husband and father differed from those placed on him as an executive with EMM Industries. Bill’s wife and children want to remain in Phoenix, while EMM expects its employees to be responsive to the company’s needs and requirements. Although it might be in Bill’s financial and career interests to accept a relocation, the conflict centers on choosing between family and work-role expectations. Indeed, a great deal of research demonstrates that work-family conflict is one of the most significant sources of stress for most employees.16