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