After pain comes joy: identity gaps in employees ' minds

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to bridge the theory of organisational identity and the practice of HR management.

Design/methodology/approach

This conceptual paper starts from the fundamental questions about employees ' defining-self in workplaces. Specifically, this paper examines the organisational identity by adopting a process model of sensemaking which assumes a dynamic cycle between the sensebreaking and sensegiving activities. Based on this, this paper develops and provides a practical framework for HR practitioners and a theoretical implication for academic researchers.

Findings

The author introduces the concept of identity gaps, a relatively under researched area in the social identity literature and HR management. Then, three types of identity gaps are identified: individual-individual gaps, organisational-organisational gaps, and individual-organisational gaps. Based on this categorization, this paper shows the matching HR practices for each type one by one.

Originality/value

Today ' s practices of HR seem to underestimate the importance of employees ' activities of defining self-identities even though academic research on employees ' identity is flourishing. By providing clear and structured framework for managing employee ' s identity, this paper can bridge the theory of identity and the practice in HR management.

Citation

Park, J.S. (2014), "After pain comes joy: identity gaps in employees ' minds", Personnel Review, Vol. 43 No. 3, pp. 419-437. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-01-2013-0001