Reflexive Sensemaking and Sensegiving: An Exploratory Study of Human Resources Analytics Practitioners

While the literature identifies the integral role of human resources analytics practitioners and their capabilities as the defining criteria in extracting the true value of human resources analytics, limited attention has been paid to exploring how the role is executed in practice, nor is much understood from a required capabilities perspective. Accordingly, this research seeks to explore the emerging role of human resource analytics practitioners through the theoretical lens of sensemaking and sensegiving. The study adopts a qualitative research design to collect data from 30 human resources analytics practitioners in the United Arab Emirates through the extended semi-structured narrative of practice interviews and document analysis. The study develops a repertoire of sensemaking and sensegiving practices and their underlying activities to explain how practitioners, while drawing on contextual knowledge, reflexively enact cognitive-discursive and material practices of 'pursuing coherence', 'setting up and delivering conversations', ‘sensible enactment through material support’ and ‘navigating paradoxes’. It shows how practitioners knowledgeably enact these four sets of practices and their underlying activities through 'performing reflexive conversations, underpinning their sensemaking and sensegiving as they perform their analytical work. The research offers insight into how ‘reflexive sensemaking and sensegiving are enacted to support each other through the interplay between cognitive-discursive and material practices. From a practical perspective, the study provides practical insights into how practitioners' capabilities can be built to operate skillfully in their boundary-spanning role through five interlinked situated cognitive-discursive practices with material support.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Bradford

Author dc:creator

• Khan, Manzoor A.

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Johnson, Craig L.
• Hussain, Zahid I.

• Sensemaking
• Sensegiving
• Reflexivity
• Cognitive
• Discursive
• Human resources analytics
• Material resources analytics
• Practitioners
• United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Statement dc:rights

• <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/3.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />The University of Bradford theses are licenced under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Licence</a>.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Repository record dc:identifier.uri

https://bradscholars.brad.ac.uk/handle/10454/20674

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/20674