Role awareness is quite necessary in any organizations

A.B. Susanto, The Jakarta Consulting Group, Jakarta

One of the keys to allow a member of an organization to contribute significantly to the organization is to understand his role and then play it the best way he can. We know that in carrying out an activity, an organization is based on a process that links one part and the other in a well-arranged system. This means that an organization is made up of individuals undertaking certain activities harmoniously, just as in an orchestra. The piano player in an orchestra knows well what to play. The violinist, the flutist and other musicians know their own roles well and, based on the direction from the conductor, they produce harmonious music.

Organization is very much the same. Each member of an organization must understand their own role in the harmonious movement of an organization. In an organization there is a structure, with positions occupied by individuals. In a position or status there is a certain behavior that the status holder must assume. This is what is known as a role. A role is often broader than just the description of a position. In a description of a position, details of activities of a position are given and also how this position relates to other positions in an organization. A role has a significance of a broader scope because it is not related only to formal matters but also to informal ones.

In every role, there is role expectation, which is a hope for an attitude which the role player assumes in the situations faced in organizational life. At first, role expectation is reflected when someone joins a working environment. When he first becomes a member in this environment, he will feel a psychological contract depicting an agreement about the expectations desired by the employer and other employees.

In a discussion on role awareness, it is very important to pay attention to someone's point of view about how he must act and behave in a particular situation (individual role perception), which will be very much influenced by someone's background, the values he believes in and his education. If this individual role perception differs with the group's role perception, consequently there will be disharmony in teamwork.

What must not be missed in relation to role awareness is role identity. Role identity is an attitude or behavior consistent with the role one plays. In a particular situation, an individual must have the ability to read the changes in his role, and in this way he will quickly make an adjustment and change the identity of his role. Take, for example, a salesman promoted to the position of sales supervisor. He must change the identity of his role and also change his behavior in relation to his fellow salesmen as they are now his subordinates. A change in the identity of a role followed by a change in position laterally and vertically often gives rise to unsteadiness and puts someone in an awkward situation. A change in improper behavior will also produce a similar result.

What must be a source of alertness is role ambiguity, a situation in which it is not clear what must be achieved, and what rights, obligations and authority one may possess to do a job that suits one's position. This may lead to a low level of occupational satisfaction and job inefficiency.

In reality, an individual plays a multiple of roles so that it often happens the demand of each role clashes and the result will be role conflict within the individual concerned. Some of the role conflicts that may come out are a person-role conflict (if someone's daily needs conflict with his viewpoint of life, an intra-role conflict (resulting from a different expectation for a particular role) and an inter-role conflict (resulting from several roles played simultaneously).

The role that an individual plays in an organization is actually more important than its position in the organization. So, if an employee has an enhanced role awareness and prioritizes the fulfillment of the role, he or she may have a better career.