The Peer to Boss Transition: A Dialectic Perspective

Abstract

Subjects relating to job transitions have been well-studied. The experience of becoming a boss over a former peer group has not. To explore this issue, 12 recently promoted health care workers were interviewed about their experiences of the transition. The findings were interpreted in light of dialectic theory which states that social phenomena are experienced in terms of contradictions and tensions. The results and analysis demonstrate that participants experienced tensions related to interpersonal, intrapersonal, and organizational issues. Lack of training prior to the promotion was widely identified as the main contributory factor. Differences in how dialectic tensions were experienced, and the strategies used to negotiate them, emerged between full and part-time new managers. In general, the strategies used help the participants reduce the experienced tensions over time.