Organizational Identification - Why Is Organizational Identification Important?

Why Is Organizational Identification Important?

Organizational identification is an important field of research because there is a relationship between identification and commitment to the organization (Tompkins, 2005). This creates positive outcomes for work attitudes and behaviors including motivation, job performance and satisfaction, individual decision making, and employee interaction and retention (Cheney, 1983; Scott, Corman and Cheney, 1998). Employee satisfaction and retention have implications for productivity, efficiency, effectiveness and, then, profit.

Ashforth, Harrison and Corley (2008) offer four reasons why organizational identification is important. First, it is important to concepts of self-identity: it is one way in which people come to define themselves, make sense of their place in the world and appropriately navigate their worlds (334-5). Second, there is an essential human need to identify with and feel part of a larger group, and identifying with an organization fulfills this need, as well as the need to enhance self (334-6). Third, OI is associated with a number of important organizational outcomes, including employee satisfaction, performance and retention. Although recent research has begun to explore the potentially negative outcomes of OI, including reduced creativity and resistance to change (336-7). Finally, links have been made between OI and other organizational behaviors, including leadership, perceptions of justice and the meaning of work (338-9).

Also important is the link between company policies and rules and communicated mission, values and strategy to organization members' attitudes and the strength of an employee's identification with the company (Cheney, 1983). This notion opened the field of organizational identification to studies and questions about organizational control of employees through efforts to increase or improve organizational identification.

Many scholars believe that the strength of an employee's identification with an organization guides and constrains that employee's decision making. Cheney (1983) states that organizational policies actually affect the development of identification "in terms of what is communicated to the employee" (361). Employees can only identify with those things that they are aware of, and many of the things they are aware of and how they understand those things are communicated to them by the organization in a particular way. "Organizational identification guides behavior by influencing which problems and alternatives are seen and by biasing choices that appear most salient to organizational success" (Kassing, 1997). Organizations can choose to emphasize particular problems and alternatives through communicated goals and values, causing employees to identify mainly with those communicated goals and values. This then limits their choices and constrains their decision-making in a way that is positively aligned with the organization's goals and values.

So, leaders at many organizations believe they can control, increase or improve employee organizational identification. This happens when organizations choose to communicate particular values and beliefs in particular ways, as well as when and how the organization frames issues and activities. This, in turn, can increase or improve commitment and appropriate decision-making and reduce turnover and boost profits.