Employee Sensemaking of Human Resource Management Practices and Work-Related Wellbeing

This study applies a sensemaking perspective to contribute to understanding how individual employees make sense of their work, HRM practices, and their work-related wellbeing. The study examines (1) how employees’ experiences, motivations, and expectations toward work guide their sensemaking, (2) how employee sensemaking guides their HR attributions, and (3) how employees make sense of HRM practices and their work-related wellbeing. The study sheds new light on the importance of employee interpretations, perceptions, and meaning giving at work.
The study is qualitative in nature, employing narrative research methods. Empirical materials are derived from three established organizations that operate in different sectors in Finland. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, twenty-four in total.
The findings of the study show how (1) employees’ past and present experiences guide their sensemaking through identity construction and comparison, (2) employees’ motivation guides their sensemaking through meaningful relationships with colleagues and meaningful work tasks, and (3) employees’ expectations guide their sensemaking through observations of the work environment. The study found that employees’ sensemaking of who implemented and communicated HRM practices, and how, guides their HR attributions. It also found that employees make sense of HRM practices and wellbeing based on the attributes of the implementing manager, comparisons (based on fairness and equality), and observations (based on opportunities and progression).
The findings of the study offer insights for managing employees, highlighting the process through which employees actively construct meaning from their experiences, expectations, and motivations towards work, and through which that constructed meaning shapes their sensemaking about HRM practices and work-related wellbeing.