essential-guide-to-qualitative-in-organizational-research

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– REPERTORY GRIDS –––––––––– 69Profiles of career successAs part of the repertory grid process interviewees were asked which constructs were importantfor success in their organization. There were some interesting differences in the constructshighlighted by men and women. The most prominent factor mentioned by women was thesignificance of managing the work/home, public/private split. This re-affirms the centralityfor women workers of juggling home and work commitments. The next theme linked in tothe difficulties associated with balance. This factor was labelled the ability to be organized,efficient, be able to prioritize and meet deadlines. The third most significant theme wasambition and having the drive, determination and will to succeed. The role of decisivenesswas also identified and was linked with the ability to make decisions, accept responsibility andtake the initiative. Other key factors were approachability, being able to appear to be incontrol, and trust and honesty.Looking at how men rated their constructs, the most important factor for success wasambition, drive and determination. Men had a very clear perception that it was the individual’sown abilities, skills and commitment to the job that would produce success. Trustworthinessand honesty were also seen as significant factors, in particular being reliable to others was seenas important. Strategic thinking and the need to take a business approach (as opposed to takinga bureaucratic approach) were described as vital. Having the right kind of personality, beingextroverted and outgoing was seen as useful in your career. Finally having experience andknowledge about the industry and the task in hand was important.The importance of these two profiles was that an overarching theme in the analysis was thatwomen needed to maintain a strong (but hidden) link with home/family commitments, andthat women were more strongly embedded in the world of the relationship. They thereforesaw the successful management of this dynamic as the key determinant of potential success.EVALUATION OF THE TECHNIQUE ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––There are a number of advantages of using the repertory grid technique, both in this and othercontexts. The most obvious advantage is that the interviewer has access to how the individualis construing and making sense of their own world, in their own words. Within this contextfor example, it would be difficult to see how we could have accessed such in-depth accountsabout how performance was evaluated without the construct elicitation process. As Kellysuggested, the technique of construct elicitation encourages the emergence of the implicit,which is not always easily recognized, one of the main benefits of the technique. Thereforethe technique offers insights to a rich source of data, in this case not just about evaluationsof performance, but also about how individuals construed the meaning of work in theireveryday lives.Additional advantages emerge from the way that the process of construct elicitationengenders reflexivity on behalf of the interviewee. That is, the interviewee has the opportunityto reflect on their own assumptions, in this case, about how performance was assessed withintheir company and the differential assessment of performance between women and men. Aspart of the ‘conversational technology’ the interviewer also had the chance to expand in moredetail on the individual’s constructs and to identify the ways in which they fit together to forma construct system. A further advantage that the repertory grid has is that it enables the