How do you perceive yourself and your performance at work? This could be a key factor in how much you conform to the ideals of your organisation – a process known as occupational identity regulation. Research by former School of Management PhD student Dr Sarah Page-Jones and Professor Andrew Brown, Associate Dean (Research) examined this phenomenon in vets.

The study comprised formal interviews, as well as informal conversations and observations, with a sample of 39 vets at all levels of seniority working at a single chain of veterinary practices. Vets were chosen as the profession is both high-status and competitive, with prevalent issues around stress and burnout.

“It is well-established that prestigious organisations and elite professions exercise control over their members by offering them seductive, desired identities; our novel finding is that control is also enforced through feared identities,” says Andrew.

Their findings demonstrated that participants held both these ‘desired’ and ‘feared’ identities in their minds – which fed into their self-reflection and acted to either reinforce or modify their behaviour, respectively.

This was further underlined by what participants viewed as a culture of surveillance, leading to a lack of resistance against organisational norms.

The researchers identified that this cycle of pride, guilt and self-evaluation, combined with the feeling of being constantly watched, led to power being constantly asserted over the vets by their employer

“I’m very, very good at picking things up super early and diagnosing things that I know so many vets would miss.”

The vets studied were keen to be viewed as competent by their peers and skilled at saving animals by their clients. They enjoyed demonstrating their knowledge and living up to a heroic image.

“I [accidentally] gave the cat a much higher dose of the medication than it needed and it’s one obviously with a narrow safety margin … [it] still upsets me that I made a mistake like that.”

In contrast to the desired identities, the vets also expressed distress and even trauma at having made errors. They worried about being perceived as endangering – or even killing – the animals in their care.

“I always question myself and try and think should I have done something differently.”

Both the desired and the feared identities were basis for self-reflection, with the participants revealing pride in their work and wishes for public acclaim, often contrasting with guilt over missteps and concern about public denigration.

“We have [Morbidity & Mortality] meetings pretty much monthly, so, every minor mistake that people make with drugs and stuff like that we discuss.”

Vets working at the chain felt themselves to always be under the watch of their peers, both formally and informally. This acted alongside their self-reflection to moderate their behaviour, simultaneously fostering high standards and an atmosphere of anxiety.