<p>Middle managers in social care find themselves in a middle position. The middle management position involves demands from several interested parties. The demands affect and generate feelings both within themselves and within others and the middle managers have to deal with them all.</p><p>The aim of this study was to investigate the social care middle manager’s personal experiences of emotions in work.</p><p>We have completed interviews with four middle managers who are assigned to carry out social care. When doing the interviews we used an interview guide divided into different interview areas. The techniques used in the analysis are inspired by grounded theory.</p><p>Our results show that the middle managers experience that they perform emotional labor in their profession. It occurs in interaction with care takers, employees, colleagues and employer. Emotions occur when demands and expectations from these interested parties are inconsistent. Emotions that occur are for example frustration, wrath, anger, dejection, despair and insecurity. Colleagues are primarily the most important social support for the middle managers when it comes to dealing with emotions that occurs in their everyday work. Emotional labor can create negative consequences for the middle managers.</p>

Middle managers in social care find themselves in a middle position. The middle management position involves demands from several interested parties. The demands affect and generate feelings both within themselves and within others and the middle managers have to deal with them all. The aim of this study was to investigate the social care middle manager’s personal experiences of emotions in work. We have completed interviews with four middle managers who are assigned to carry out social care. When doing the interviews we used an interview guide divided into different interview areas. The techniques used in the analysis are inspired by grounded theory. Our results show that the middle managers experience that they perform emotional labor in their profession. It occurs in interaction with care takers, employees, colleagues and employer. Emotions occur when demands and expectations from these interested parties are inconsistent. Emotions that occur are for example frustration, wrath, anger, dejection, despair and insecurity. Colleagues are primarily the most important social support for the middle managers when it comes to dealing with emotions that occurs in their everyday work. Emotional labor can create negative consequences for the middle managers.

<p>Syftet är att få samt skapa förståelse för hur en kommun resonerar inför införskaffandet av tekniska hjälpmedel. Köpbeslutsprocessen för B2B utgör den teoretiska grunden. En kvalitativ undersökning i form av semistrukturerade telefonintervjuer genomfördes och totalt intervjuades elva respondenter. Slutsatsen är att på nämnd- och tjänstemannanivå finns ett tydligt intresse för ny teknik. Fördröjande faktorer för implementeringen av tekniska hjälpmedel är snarare personalens skepsis och ej anpassade förhandlingsdirektiv. Resultaten pekar dock på att marknaden för tekniska hjälpmedel kommer att växa.</p> / <p>The purpose is to gain and create an understanding of how municipalities argue at the prospect of procuring technical aids. The Buying Decision-making Process for B2B is the theoretical base. A qualitative study made up by semi-structured telephone interviews was conducted and in total there were eleven respondents. The conclusion is that on a political and managerial level there is an evident interest for new technology. Delaying factors are the scepticism of the staff and out-dated directives for negotiations. The results do however indicate that the market for technical aids will grow.</p>

Syftet är att få samt skapa förståelse för hur en kommun resonerar inför införskaffandet av tekniska hjälpmedel. Köpbeslutsprocessen för B2B utgör den teoretiska grunden. En kvalitativ undersökning i form av semistrukturerade telefonintervjuer genomfördes och totalt intervjuades elva respondenter. Slutsatsen är att på nämnd- och tjänstemannanivå finns ett tydligt intresse för ny teknik. Fördröjande faktorer för implementeringen av tekniska hjälpmedel är snarare personalens skepsis och ej anpassade förhandlingsdirektiv. Resultaten pekar dock på att marknaden för tekniska hjälpmedel kommer att växa. / The purpose is to gain and create an understanding of how municipalities argue at the prospect of procuring technical aids. The Buying Decision-making Process for B2B is the theoretical base. A qualitative study made up by semi-structured telephone interviews was conducted and in total there were eleven respondents. The conclusion is that on a political and managerial level there is an evident interest for new technology. Delaying factors are the scepticism of the staff and out-dated directives for negotiations. The results do however indicate that the market for technical aids will grow.

Syftet med den här kvalitativa intervjustudien var att undersöka hur personal i ett omsorgsföretag ser på sig själva och sitt arbete i relation till kompetens, samhörighet och autonomi. Dessa tre begrepp är centrala i Self-determination theory. Resultatet visade att samhörigheten främjades av ett nära samarbete med kollegor och genom många gemensamma aktiviteter, både på arbetstid och utanför. Det främsta hindret för att uppleva samhörighet var om arbetsgruppen strävade åt olika håll eller om det uppstod konflikter i samspelet. Kompetens innebar för respondenterna att känna sig trygga i sitt bemötande av brukarna och att de visste vad de skulle göra i olika situationer. Även om de uttryckte en viss saknad av kunskap inför utagerande- och självskadebeteende så upplevdes ändå de lagar och regler som styrde verksamheten vara det som skapade störst osäkerhet och kunde vara hindrade för känslan av att uppleva sig kompetent. Resultatet visade också att respondenterna, trots att verksamheten till stor del styrdes av lagar och regler, upplevde en känsla av autonomi så länge de fick vara delaktiga i att planera och organisera arbetsuppgifternas utformning. / The main objective of this qualitative interview study was to examine how personnel elemployed at a company providing social care services, view themselves and their work in relation to competence, relatedness and autonomy. These three concepts are an essential part of Self-Determination Theory. The result showed that relatedness was promoted by close cooperation between colleagues and by frequent common activities during the workday, but also by activities with colleagues outside work. Main obstacles to relatedness appeared when the staff were striving in different directions and when conflicts emerged. The respondents felt competent in interaction with the clients and when it was clearly stated how they were supposed to act in specific situations. The respondents expressed the need for more of knowledge of self-harming behavior and similar behaviors of acting out. However, the main obstacle to feeling competent was insecurity of what laws and regulations that govern their workplace. Despite the fact that laws and regulations govern a large part of their work, the respondents expressed that they felt reasonable autonomous as long as they participated in the planning and organization of different tasks.

Enhetschefer inom offentlig vård- och omsorgsverksamhet spelar en betydelsefull roll i uppdraget att leverera välfärdsarbete av hög kvalitet. Samtidigt präglas enhetschefsbefattningar av höga personalomsättningsnivåer i kommuner runt om i landet. Hur organisatoriska förutsättningar påverkar enhetschefer inom vård och omsorg i valet att avsluta sin anställning är inte fullt förstått. Syftet med föreliggande studie är därför att undersöka tidigare enhetschefers upplevda erfarenhet av att arbeta som enhetschef inom en offentlig vård- och omsorgsverksamhet och hur de organisatoriska förutsättningarna påverkat dem i valet att avsluta sin anställning. Genom en fenomenologisk fallstudie av en vård- och omsorgsverksamhet i en svensk kommun har 17 tidigare chefer intervjuats kring deras upplevelse av sin tidigare roll och anledningar till att ha avslutat sin anställning. Studiens resultat visar att enhetschefer inom vård- och omsorg påverkas av ett samspel mellan en rad organisatoriska faktorer i beslutet att avsluta sin anställning innefattande arbetskontroll, rollotydlighet, kontrollspann, illegitima arbetsuppgifter, kollegialt och organisatoriskt stöd samt logikkonflikter. Praktiska implikationer för att upprätta en hållbar enhetschefsroll inom offentlig vård- och omsorgsverksamhet diskuteras. / Line managers in the public health sector play a vital role in delivering high-quality welfare services. At the same time, the role of line managers demonstrates high turnover rates in municipalities throughout the country. As to how organizational work environment factors influence line managers in their decision to voluntary leave their employment is not fully understood. The purpose of the current study is therefore to investigate previous line managers’ lived experience of what it is like to work as a line manager within the public health sector and how various organizational factors affected them in their decision to leave their role. Through a phenomenological case study of a public health organization in a Swedish municipality, 17 previous line managers were interviewed regarding their lived experience as health sector line managers and reasons for leaving. The results reveal that public health sector line managers are affected by the interaction of various organizational factors in their decision to voluntary leave their employment including job control, role ambiguity, span of control, illegitimate tasks, colleague and organizational support as well as conflict of logics. Practical implications for restituting a sustainable line manager role within public health sector organizations are discussed.