Professional work in turbulent times: A conceptualization of public professionals’ navigation tactics in shifting service settings

Abstract

Public professionals such as medical doctors, teachers, and police officers are key actors in delivering public health, education, and security. However, the service settings in which professionals operate and the cases they face are affected by societal turbulence. The sudden spread of pandemics, geopolitical upheaval, or new digital technologies affect the societal context, organizational resources, and clients’ demands. In this paper, we contribute to debates on professionalism in public service provision amid societal turbulence by studying how frontline professionals navigate their work in such volatile circumstances. Based on a narrative literature review, we develop a typology of public professional ‘navigation tactics’. We show how frontline professionals deal with pressures at the point where turbulence in the societal context meets their service setting, and at the point where the service setting intersects with their cases. Our search generates four tactics; professionals might (1) persevere, by maintaining their work as ‘business-as-usual’, (2) pragmatize, by finding innovative solutions to changing cases, (3) propagate, by fueling reforms in wider environments, or (4) pioneer, by steering environments and proactively readjusting approaches to cases. At the end of the paper, we draw conclusions, address implications, and discuss future research avenues.