Syftet med studien är att bidra med ny kunskap om medarbetarsamtal och hur det kan påverka medarbetarens motivation. Anledningen till att studera detta område är för att hjälpa en given organisation i dess utveckling av medarbetarsamtal. Det som studeras är nuvarande arbetssätt för medarbetarsamtal, hur de nuvarande arbetssätten påverkar medarbetarens motivation samt hur arbetssätt för medarbetarsamtal kan utvecklas för att i större utsträckning påverka medarbetarens motivation. För möjlighet att uppnå studiens syfte har semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts kombinerat med en litteraturundersökning inom det studerade området. Resultatet visar på en variation av arbetssätt för medarbetarsamtal som praktiseras. Ett årligt medarbetarsamtal tillsammans med kontinuerliga uppföljningar och daglig feedback är arbetssätt som förespråkas och anses påverka medarbetarens motivation. Studien visar på vikten av att förmedla syftet med medarbetarsamtalet till samtliga medarbetare inom en organisation samt att organisationens och chefernas prioriteringar för medarbetarsamtal har stor inverkan på hur medarbetarsamtal praktiseras inom organisationen.

The present thesis explores talk in institutional settings, with a particular focus on how institutionality and institutional norms are constructed and reproduced in interaction. A central aim is to enhance our understanding of how institutional agendas are talked into being. In line with the ethno­methodological approach, norms are viewed as accomplished in everyday interaction, whereas institutionality represents dimensions of talk where participants demonstrably orient to particular contextual constraints. Five studies were conducted using Conversation Analysis (CA), focusing on how institutional constraints impact sequential trajectories and shape different opportunities for participants. The data consists of two corpora of video recordings: group tutorials at a Swedish university (UTs), and performance appraisal interviews in an organ­ization (PAIs). The thesis pays particular attention to the interactional management of knowledge, entitlement and stance, and analytic foci include how speakers manage epistemic claims and rights at a certain point in interaction, and how they accomplish social positioning. The UT studies examine the negotiation of rights to speak for others in a group (Study I), and how diver­ging understandings of the institutional activity-at-hand can be negotiated on the basis of students’ advice-seeking questions (Study II). In Study III, orientations to institutional and sociocultural norms are investigated in the PAIs, where managers and employees treat negative stances on stress as problematic. The relationship between theory and institutional practice in the use of question templates in PAIs is also examined, through an analysis of the delivery and receipt of a particular question in different interviews (Study IV). Focusing on different adaptations of a preset item, this analysis shows how the same question sets up for a variety of subsequent actions. Finally, deployment of the verb känna (‘feel’) in managing epistemic access and primacy is examined (Study V). It is argued that ‘feel’ allows for a reduction of accountability when making epistemic claims. The studies highlight the relationship between linguistic formats and social actions and illustrate how institutional agendas have consequences for participant conduct. Attention to the details of actions in institutional interaction can thus shed light on social and linguistic underpinnings of the enactment of institutional norms.

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The purpose of this study is to describe how the employee appraisal is perceived by managers, employees and representatives from human resources departments. The empirical material con-sists of 15 interviews: respondents were two representatives of the human resources departments, four unit managers and nine employees who work at a state institution or municipal management. In the study, I adopt a sociocultural perspective, with the communicative relational perspective. The latter is a special education perspective in which the interpenetration of participation, com-munication and learning emphasized. The result shows that the majority of employees would like to see that the talks will be held more frequently than once a year. One of the managers has in cooperation with his co-workers devel-oped a model based on that each year, in addition to salary talks, have an individual conversation, a conversation with each group and individual follow-up talks. Having a clear objective or goal of the discussions is also something that is requested and it is interesting that managers and employ-ees do not know what the management and staff units' purpose of the discussions is. The value of the talks could be that it is time to reflect and quietly get the chance to talk ready for what is set mode. Something that many had opinions about where the material used and they ex-pressed different views on how it could change. / Syftet med studien är att beskriva hur medarbetarsamtalen uppfattas av chefer, medarbetare och representanter för personalavdelningar. Empirin består av 15 intervjuer: respondenterna var två representanter för personalavdelningar, fyra enhetschefer och nio medarbetare, som arbetar på ett statligt verk eller en kommunal förvaltning. I studien utgår jag från ett sociokulturellt perspektiv tillsammans med det kommunikativa relationsinriktade perspektivet. Det senare utgör ett specialpedagogiskt perspektiv där sammanflätningen av delaktighet, kommunikation och lärande betonas. Resultatet visar att flertalet av medarbetarna gärna ser att samtalen hålls tätare än en gång om året. En chef har tillsammans med sina medarbetare utarbetat en modell som bygger på att varje år, förutom lönesamtal, ha ett individuellt samtal, ett samtal med varje grupp och ett individuellt avstämningssamtal varje år. Att ha ett uttalat syfte eller mål med samtalen är också något som efterfrågas och det är intressant att chefer och medarbetare inte vet vad ledningens och personalenheternas syfte med samtalen är. Värdet av samtalen kan vara att det blir tid att reflektera och i lugn och ro få möjlighet att prata färdigt om det som är angeläget. Något som många hade synpunkter på var det material som används och det uttrycktes olika uppfattningar om hur det kunde förändras.

The digitalization of Swedish preschools can be shown by three different indicators. First, the on-going revision of the national curriculum for preschool where children’s digital competences will be added. Second, the research about how digital devices (e.g. tablets) are used in preschools (e.g. Kjällander & Moinian, 2014; Petersen, 2015). Third, the introduction of learning management systems (LMS) designed for preschools.In a recent article, preschool principals in Swedish municipalities are shown to be the group of principals with the largest amount of employees (Hägström, 2017, March).Therefore, this study’s aim is to get a better understanding in which way preschool principals experience that they can use their LMS in conjunction with performance appraisal interviews with their employees. Four research questions have been developed: (1) How do principals describe their use of a LMS?, (2) What do they experience the system give insight in and what not?, (3) To which extent do they regard that the performance appraisal interviews change while using a LMS? and (4) Which ethical dilemmas do preschool principals experience by using a LMS for performance appraisal interviews?Five preschool principals in one southern Swedish municipality have been interviewed. All respondents have been using their learning management system for performance appraisal interviews. The results have been analyzed by activity theory, in particular Engeström’s (2001, 2015) activity system and his cycle of expansive learning (Engeström, 1999, 2001).The findings show that preschool principals are part of an activity system with both resources and limitations. Resources by delegating tasks and discussing and sharing in groups, while their decisions can be limited by national laws and municipal orders. In this activity system, the learning management system can be used both as a communication and an administration tool to realize two of the principals’ outcomes with performance appraisal interviews: to increase the speech time for the employees and to give them possibility to see their own professional development.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Supervisors are the primary drivers of performance management; however, little is known about factors that influence their implementation of these systems. The purpose of this study was to investigate how a supervisor individual difference—implicit person theory (IPT)—differentially predicts supervisor behaviors during, as well as both supervisor and employee reactions to appraisal interviews. In Study 1, MBA students reported their supervisors’ behaviors during their most recent performance appraisal interview (Time 1) as well as their subsequent reactions (i.e., perceived satisfaction, utility, success, supervisor support; Time 2). Their supervisors completed a measure assessing their own IPT (Time 3). Findings suggest that supervisors’ task-oriented behaviors predicted perceived satisfaction, utility, and success of the appraisal interviews, while supervisor’ relational-oriented behaviors predicted perceived supervisor support. In Study 2, supervisors recruited via MTurk completed all measures from Study 1 except perceived success. Results suggest that IPT was positively related to task-oriented behaviors and perceived utility, task-oriented behaviors mediated the relationship between IPT and all three reaction measures (i.e., perceived satisfaction, utility, and supervisor support), and relational-oriented behaviors significantly predicted supervisors’ perceived support. Overall, findings suggest that supervisors who believe people can change (hold a more incremental IPT) display more task-oriented behaviors during and see more utility in appraisal interviews. Additionally, task-oriented behaviors emerged as the key mechanism linking supervisors’ IPT and reactions to appraisal interviews. These findings demonstrate that supervisor individual differences, such as IPT, can influence performance appraisal and management outcomes.

Studien syftar till att undersöka medarbetarsamtal utifrån ett chefsperspektiv och studien intresserar sig för vilka effekter cheferna upplever att samtalet generar i verksamheten och hur de använder sig av samtalet i utveckling av verksamheten. Metoden är kvalitativ och utgörs av åtta stycken semistrukturerade intervjuer, där individer med personalansvar fick möjlighet att berätta sina upplevelser och erfarenheter av samtalet samt reflektera runt dess betydelse utifrån deras position i organisationen. Resultatet visar att medarbetarsamtalet är en tids- och energikrävande insats för cheferna som ibland måste ställa sin fritid till förfogande. Dialog och social kompetens lyfts fram som nyckelfaktorer för ett bra samtal och deltagarna i studien förlitar sig på sin upparbetade erfarenhet och känner en trygghet i sin yrkesroll vid genomförandet av samtalet. Denna studie bidrar till djupare kunskap om chefernas upplevelse av medarbetarsamtalet och dess potential som styrverktyg inom organisationer och kan medverka till framtida forskning som ett komplement till studier rörande medarbetarnas upplevelse. Studien visar att det även kan vara av intresse att via observationer av samtalet undersöka hur väl det praktiska genomförandet stämmer överens med chefens intentioner om verksamhetsutveckling. / This study aims to examine employee review, based on a manager perspective with an interest in what effects leaders' experience it is generating, and how they use the employee review in the development of their organization. The method used in this study is qualitative and comprises eight semi-structured interviews, in which individuals with personnel responsibility where given the opportunity to share their comprehension off and experience from the phenomenon employee review, and its importance based on their position in the organization. The result shows that the employee review is a time and energy-intensive effort for the managers who sometimes have to make their spare time available for the task.Dialogue and social skills are highlighted as key factors for a good conversation, and the participants in the study relies on their self-generated experience and feel confident in their professional role in the implementation of employee review. This study contributes to deeper knowledge of the managers' experience regarding the employee review and its potential as an organizational management tool, and can contribute to future research as a complement to studies regarding the employees' experience. The results shows that it may also be of interest to study employee reviews through observations of the interview, how well the practical implementation is in line with the manager's intentions on business development.