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Doing Things Together

Wilander, Maja LU and Wilhelmsson, Lisa LU (2026) MGTN59 20261
Department of Business Administration
Abstract
Workplace social activities are commonly used by organisations to strengthen connection and belonging among employees, yet how employees actually interpret and make sense of these activities remains underexplored. This study explores how employees make sense of workplace social activities and how these interpretations shape their sense of belonging and organisational identification. A qualitative research approach was used, with data collected
through semi-structured interviews with office-based employees in Sweden and Denmark and analysed using thematic analysis. The findings show that employees do not make sense of workplace social activities as neutral or uniform events. Meaning was created retrospectively as employees looked back on... (More)
Workplace social activities are commonly used by organisations to strengthen connection and belonging among employees, yet how employees actually interpret and make sense of these activities remains underexplored. This study explores how employees make sense of workplace social activities and how these interpretations shape their sense of belonging and organisational identification. A qualitative research approach was used, with data collected
through semi-structured interviews with office-based employees in Sweden and Denmark and analysed using thematic analysis. The findings show that employees do not make sense of workplace social activities as neutral or uniform events. Meaning was created retrospectively as employees looked back on shared experiences and evaluated what these showed about their relationships and their organisation. Social activities functioned primarily as informal arenas for relationship-building, where what employees valued was not the activity itself but the shared experiences it created. They also carried symbolic meaning, as employees interpreted how the organisation chose to prioritise them as signals of how much it valued its employees. For the majority of the participants, these interpretive processes shaped their sense of belonging and contributed to a stronger identification with the organisation, though this was not a universal outcome. The study contributes by shifting attention from the outcomes of social activities to the sensemaking processes through which employees assign meaning to them, and by showing how these processes may shape organisational identification over time. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Wilander, Maja LU and Wilhelmsson, Lisa LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
Employee Sensemaking and Organisational Identification Through Workplace Social Activities
course
MGTN59 20261
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Workplace Social Activities, Sensemaking, Organisational Identification, Organisational Socialisation, Belonging
language
English
id
9231366
date added to LUP
2026-06-29 14:54:41
date last changed
2026-06-29 14:54:41
@misc{9231366,
  abstract     = {{Workplace social activities are commonly used by organisations to strengthen connection and belonging among employees, yet how employees actually interpret and make sense of these activities remains underexplored. This study explores how employees make sense of workplace social activities and how these interpretations shape their sense of belonging and organisational identification. A qualitative research approach was used, with data collected
through semi-structured interviews with office-based employees in Sweden and Denmark and analysed using thematic analysis. The findings show that employees do not make sense of workplace social activities as neutral or uniform events. Meaning was created retrospectively as employees looked back on shared experiences and evaluated what these showed about their relationships and their organisation. Social activities functioned primarily as informal arenas for relationship-building, where what employees valued was not the activity itself but the shared experiences it created. They also carried symbolic meaning, as employees interpreted how the organisation chose to prioritise them as signals of how much it valued its employees. For the majority of the participants, these interpretive processes shaped their sense of belonging and contributed to a stronger identification with the organisation, though this was not a universal outcome. The study contributes by shifting attention from the outcomes of social activities to the sensemaking processes through which employees assign meaning to them, and by showing how these processes may shape organisational identification over time.}},
  author       = {{Wilander, Maja and Wilhelmsson, Lisa}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Doing Things Together}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}