That Ties that Bind Us: A Qualitative Study on Friendship & Kinship in Professional Kitchens

• In Event: 3222 - Organizations, Occupations, and Work: Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 min): Table 14: Organizations and Their Environments

Abstract

This paper examines and discusses the types of personal relationships that are developed among coworkers in professional kitchen settings. Professional cooks work in difficult, stressful, and intense work environments. Research indicates that interactions with coworkers can exacerbate or reduce these stresses and have been shown to directly impact job satisfaction and employee retention rates. However, this research has largely been focused on organizational outcomes rather than examining the relationships in their own right. This paper assesses how participants conceptualize their personal workplace relationships. Specifically, this paper examines how professional cooks conceptualize friendship and kinship. To better understand the nuances found between friendship and kinships, I propose that the two seemingly separate categories should be viewed as points on a spectrum of relationships.

Author

• Karlie Tessmer, Simon Fraser University