Directors or coaches: supervisors’ interactional practices when care workers voice their work-related concerns in care homes

Giving care workers opportunities to voice their concerns can have a significant impact on their work engagement. The aim of this article is to explore how care home supervisors discursively position themselves in relation to care workers when responding to their work-related concerns. The data consist of 19 official workplace meetings in four care homes. The analysis draws from discourse analysis and positioning theory. The care home supervisors used two interpretative repertoires that constructed two subject positions for them: the task-oriented leadership repertoire presented the supervisor as a director; and the relationship-oriented leadership repertoire presented the supervisor as a coach.