WHAT CHARACTERISTICS OF WORKING CONDITIONS HAVE AN IMPACT ON RECOGNITION AT WORK? THE CASE OF A FRENCH UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL CENTER

Abstract

In France, hospital staff have been denouncing for several years a deterioration in their working conditions due to budgetary restrictions, understaffing and the increase in administrative tasks. At the same time, many health professions are calling for better recognition of their qualifications and the arduous nature of their work. This is not new, since it was the nurses who were the first to claim better recognition at work and this, as early as 1988 [1]. Can we highlight the relationship between working conditions and recognition?In management sciences, research on recognition has mainly focused on the identification of recognition practices, or non-recognition, and on its effects on the behavior of employees in the organization. Few studies deal with the factors that have an influence on recognition. The impact of changes in working conditions is mentioned but is not based on empirical results. In this research, we retain the multidimensional approach of recognition of Brun and Dugas [16] to test five hypotheses on the relationships between certain characteristics of working conditions and certain dimensions of recognition on the basis of the exploitation of 26 interviews and a questionnaire administered in a French university hospital center in 2018. Working conditions have a similar influence on all dimensions of recognition. Autonomy at work, support from the hierarchy and the means available to carry out one’s work are the characteristics of working conditions that have the strongest influence on recognition. On a more descriptive level, the results show that doctors, nursing staff and medical-technical staff are those who express the greatest lack of recognition.