Recognition in managing professionals

Abstract

There is a growing focus on securing quality in the public sector. Accreditation expresses a movement towards securing and developing quality by means of an increasingly standardized practice. At the same time, the academic regulations for the bachelor of science in nursing demands that a trained nurse is able to apply ethics, and a humanistic scientific approach, as well as experience-based knowledge in situated practices. These two demands represent two conflicting voices in the polyphonic organization: one with a focus on standards, evaluations and audits to ensure that the organization becomes accredited; one with a focus on professional ethics and individually oriented, situated practice. Drawing on Axel Honneth we show that each of the voices create certain forms of recognitions and conditions for nurses’ autonomy and personal development. The ‘accreditation voice’ recognizes correctly filled out schemas, following standardized interview guides and documentation, whereas the ‘regulation voice’ recognizes a situated practice based on professional judgment. Thus, the two voices condition nursing practice, as the autonomy, identity and self-understanding of the nurse is affected differently depending on which voice is louder. Balancing these two voices poses a challenge to the middle manager, as the voices are present at the same time in practice. In the article we analyze how the two voices create different forms of recognition. Then we propose a way for the manager to balance these opposing and conflicting, yet simultaneously occurring voices, by way of polyphonic leadership.