Ethics of care and co-worker relationships in UK banks

Citation

Laaser K & Bolton SC (2017) Ethics of care and co-worker relationships in UK banks. New Technology, Work and Employment, 32 (3), pp. 213-227. https://doi.org/10.1111/ntwe.12099

Abstract
Utilising an analytical framework based on an ethics of care approach, this article examines the changing nature of co-worker relationships in UK banks under the rise of performance management practices. It illustrates that with the implementation of performance management practices in general, and electronic performance management monitoring in bank branches in particular, co-worker relationships have become increasingly objectified, resulting in disconnected and conflict-ridden forms of engagement. The analysis reveals the multi-layered and necessarily complex nature of co-worker relationships in a changing technologically driven work environment and highlights the possibilities for people to defend the capacity to care for others from the erosive tendencies of individualized processes.

Keywords
co-worker relationships, ethic of care, electronic performance monitoring, bank work; disconnection; performance management; surveillance; financial services; target setting; marketisation

Journal
New Technology, Work and Employment: Volume 32, Issue 3

People

Professor Sharon Bolton

Emeritus Professor, Management, Work and Organisation

Dr Knut Laaser

Lecturer, Management, Work and Organisation