Capturing bank employees’ subjectivity as a management technology: study of an performance evaluation instrument

Abstract

Introduction:

under neoliberal capitalism, worker domination has shifted from the subjection of bodies to the control of subjectivity. Among the management technologies involved in this process are the performance evaluation instruments. Given the centrality of the financial system in capitalist society, technological innovations with the potential to spread throughout society usually occur in companies in this field.

Objective:

to identify the underlying rationality of these technologies, this article analyzes a performance evaluation instrument used by a Brazilian private bank.

Methods:

a documentary analysis of the explanatory manual was conducted.

Results:

the instrument, by means of a mathematical algorithm and a 360-degree evaluation, determines a minimum percentage of workers with unsatisfactory performance and limits the maximum percentage of workers who can achieve the highest performance. Workers are thus encouraged to compete among themselves to occupy pre-determined positions.

Conclusion:

we identified in the instrument a paradigm illustrative of the managerial rationality underlying the most diverse management technologies which encourage competition among workers, contributing to an unhealthy work environment.

Keywords:
occupational health; work; mental health; neoliberalism; bankers