Understanding How Employees Manage Non-Preferred Tasks at Work

Abstract

Employees experience increasing workloads in today’s organisations and are expected to be more proactive in managing their work roles. In this paper we examine how employees manage non-preferred tasks within their work roles. We also identify the role of job autonomy in managing non-preferred tasks at work. Across 2 data collections in different settings we used purposive sampling to interview 20 hotel workers and 20 university academics. Respondents in both samples reported having non-preferred tasks within their work roles. Results suggest that autonomy played a significant role in helping employees manage non-preferred tasks. We discuss implications for theory and practice, and outline future research directions.