HR MELLAN POLICY OCH PRAKTIK - Meningsskapande i arbetet med jämlikhet, inkludering och mångfald

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate how HR managers in medium-sized and large Swedish organizations create meaning in their work with designing and implementing policies for equity, inclusion, and diversity. The study is based on Karl Weick’s theory of sensemaking, where understanding is seen as a continuous process shaped by the individual’s identity, actions, and organizational context. The empirical data consists of seven semi-structured interviews with HR managers from various organizations. The interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis with a deductive approach based on Weick’s seven characteristics of sensemaking: identity, retrospection, action, social, ongoing, cues, and plausibility. The focus is on how the participants interpret policies, understand their professional role, and what challenges they experience in working with JIM policies. The results show that sensemaking occurs in a context-based interplay between identity, values, and organizational demands. The HR managers describe a strong personal commitment to working with JIM issues, where their understanding has developed through practical action, social interactions, and self awareness rather than predefined definitions on paper. Work with JIM is seen as an interpretive process where policy serves as a tool rather than a solution. Our study highlights that subtle signals in the work environment such as language, atmosphere, and norms play a critical role in how meaning is created and managed in practice. In summary, the study illustrates how HR managers act as translators between organizational structures and practical change efforts, and how sensemaking actually enables change in JIM work.