Between Reward and Suffering: The Bank Workers’ View of the Flexibility Discourse

Authors

  • Rejane Prevot Nascimento Universidade do Grande Rio (UNIGRANRIO)
  • Lígia do Carmo Martins Damasceno Universidade do Grande Rio (UNIGRANRIO)
  • Diana Rebello Neves Universidade do Grande Rio (UNIGRANRIO)

Keywords:

Flexibility. Banking Sector. Human Resources Management. Work. Control.

Abstract

Purpose: To analyze critically the impact of the flexibility discourse on banking industry practices, from the perspective of bank employees.

Originality/Gap/Relevance/Implications: This research is relevant in that it deals with the issue of flexibility from the point of view of the employees, a matter that is still being debated in the academia. It also tries to close a gap in the subject, namely on whether employees identify the use of the flexibility discourse as being an instrument of control.

Key methodological aspects: The study used a qualitative approach and semi-structured interviews for its data collection. This data was analyzed using the content analysis method.

Summary of key results: The transformation of bank workers’ profiles to ones that are more flexible has exposed them to perverse management practices and, encouraged by corporate discourse, they have ended up becoming slaves to high performance. The bank employee is now primarily seen as a sales person. Even though they are dissatisfied with their working conditions, the interviewees readily submit themselves to the pressures of work to maintain their standards of living.

Key considerations/conclusions: Flexible practices are so embedded in the day-to-day work of bank workers that they do not perceive them as being tools of control or domination over them. Finally, the conclusion reached is that the prevailing ideology in society enhances the discourse of human resources management, which, in turn makes the flexibility discourse operational, as pointed out by Sennet (2008) and Gaulejac (2007).

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Author Biographies

Rejane Prevot Nascimento, Universidade do Grande Rio (UNIGRANRIO)

Cientista Social (UFRJ), Doutora em Engenharia de Produção (COPPE/UFRJ). Professora dos Cursos de Mestrado e Doutorado em Administração do PPGA/UNIGRANRIO Vice-Líder do Grupo de Pesquisa em Estudos Organizacionais Críticos. Atua nas areas de Sociologia do Trabalho e Estudos Organizacionais; Pesquisadora dos temas Trabalho e Relações de Trabalho; Flexibilidade do Trabalho; Envelhecimento e Trabalho. Publicações mais relevantes: A ampliação das estruturas de controle por meio das tecnologias de informação e comunicação: a onipresença do 'pan-óptico eletrônico' no setor bancário. Cadernos EBAPE.BR (FGV), v. 11, p. 65-84, 2013; A Aprendizagem Organizacional como Forma de Controle dos Indivíduos. In: Claudia Simone Antonello; Arilda Schimdt Godoy. (Org.). Aprendizagem Organizacional no Brasil. São Paulo: Bookman, 2011

Lígia do Carmo Martins Damasceno, Universidade do Grande Rio (UNIGRANRIO)

Administradora, Mestre em Administração (UNIGRANRIO). Professora do curso de Graduação em Administração da UNIGRANRIO. Pesquisadora do Grupo de Pesquisa em Estudos Organizacionais Críticos. Principais temas de interesse: Trabalho e trabalhadores do setor bancário. 

Diana Rebello Neves, Universidade do Grande Rio (UNIGRANRIO)

Graduada em Administração de Empresas pela PUC-Rio (2007), Mestre em Administração de Empresas pela PUC-Rio (2013). Doutoranda em Administração de Empresas pela UNIGRANRIO (Universidade do Grande Rio), com início em 2014. Tem experiência de pesquisa na área de Administração, atuando principalmente nos seguintes temas: trabalho, relações de trabalho e organizações e sociedade. 

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Published

2016-09-15

Issue

Vol. 17 No. 4 (2016)

Section

Human and Social Management

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