New Ways of Working: Sense making Processes of non-managerial Employees - A Case Study
March 2016 | Martine van Weerdenburg, Sandra Brunia
Purpose
The existing research on New Ways of Working (NWoW) lacks clear and convincing evidence for a relationship between intervention and its effects of NWoW on the non-managerial employees. The purpose of this paper is to reveal elements of this relationship.
Methodology
In this case study NWoW is approached through the lenses of organizational change and sense making theory to gain insights into the experiences, thoughts, ideas and interpretations of non-managerial employees with the change to NWoW and their own role in it.
Findings
The findings indicate that the expressions and experiences of non-managerial employees in relation to NWoW were based on cultural and individual characteristics and the absense of sense giving of managerial level employees. Employees perceive NWoW as a management fashion, as a temporary phenonemon in time.
Practical implications
Since non-managerial employees are assumed to be key to success, it is important for managers to know what is going on with their employees. Not only related to the content, but also on a personal level, such as preferred ways of working.