Identity Work

Identity is often defined as a self-referential description that answers the question ‘who am I? and who are we?’ (Ashforth, Harrison & Corley, 2008; Ashforth, Schinoff & Rogers, 2016) and for the purposes of this research identity work is considered to be the work an individual does to establish their self-identity following separation from an organisation where there was a level of crossover between the organisation’s identity and the individual’s identity. The fact that individuals in the police, military and emergency services create an identity connection with their service workplace is an important component of their transition process post-service. It can be attributed to their organisational engagement, which occurs inside a masculine framework, and allows them to define themselves in accordance with their job role. As noted above, much of the literature directly related to the identity work addressed in this research is specifically around the UK and US military. In order to measure the ability to apply identity work practices and issues across police, military and emergency services in Australia, literature on identity work beyond the military was sought to create a more rounded approach to the existing theory. 

Identity work for the purposes of organisational engagement has been well researched (Alvesson & Willmott, 2002; Ashforth et al., 2008; Ashforth et al., 2016; Brown & Coupland, 2015; Brown & Lewis, 2011; Lok, 2010; Watson, 2008). With some relevance to police, military, and emergency services, Alvesson and Robertson (2006) explain that organisational identity casts individuals with a certain self-esteem. Their reference is in the context of elitism and is specifically focused on consultants who are seeking to ensure that one organisation is better than the next within the same field. As such, the relevance of organisational identity to this research is not direct, but Alvesson and Robertson (2006) do have some interesting findings in terms of the way organisational identity can be grounded in elitism and that categorisation in that group heightens the self-esteem and distinctiveness of the individual. For individuals in the police, military and emergency services, the nature of their work is elite in many areas and this has an impact on their perceptions of organisational identity (Brown & Coupland, 2015). Similarly, the nature of their work is such that they are often unable to disengage at the end of the workday. For example, police or paramedics will respond to a community need even if they are not on shift. Over time, and in line with the work of Woodward and Jenkings (2011), the individuals are less able to distinguish what they do from who they are. In their research on the separation between work and home life amongst ministers in the Episcopal Church, Kreiner, Hollensbe and Sheep (2006) highlight some significant organisational identity issues that can be transposed to individuals in this research group. Kreiner et al. (2006) state that, in employment such as the priesthood or ministry, it is virtually impossible to distinguish between their role in the organisation and their self outside of the organisation. This is contributed to by factors such as being on call, holding skills critical to keeping society safe, and having powers to act in society even when not at work.  

A level of engagement with an organisation is reflective of the nature of the role but also indicative of the need for levels of performance that exceed normal workplace requirements (Ashforth & Humphrey, 1995; Ashforth et al., 2016). In their research with 245 firefighters, Rich et al. (2010) examined the application of Kahn’s law of engagement and hypothesised that engagement with a job role provides greater indicators of performance potential, than usual performance management benchmarks. The research provided insight into the engagement of firefighters with their roles and confirmed that engagement with a role improves performance (Rich et al., 2010). Ashforth et al. (2008) offer insight into the capacity for the individual to not just be committed to the organisation but also to the collectives within the organisation and the roles played by individuals. Their literature review examines the four fundamental questions associated with identity work, namely those that revolve around the what, why and how of identification, and its application to the collective (Ashforth et al., 2008; Ashforth et al., 2016). Its significance lies in their capacity as authors to offer explanation as to why individuals struggle to separate from employment because they never question whether they ‘had become what they were doing’ (Ashforth et al., 2008, p. 325).  

Organisational identity work is conducted primarily to align employees with the needs of the organisation and ensure longevity in their work life by engaging the individuals with the organisational needs on several levels (Brown, Dacin, Pratt & Whetten, 2006; Hernandez & Guarana, 2018). When this is combined with elite organisations that have unique high-level work task skills not mirrored by other organisations, and brought together with the power of the law, and high-level skills to operate unique and potentially dangerous equipment, the divide between organisational identity and self-identity becomes harder to distinguish (Brown & Coupland, 2015). This is imperative for organisations such as the police, military and emergency services and is a positive attribute in the individuals whilst they are active workers in the organisation (Brown et al., 2006) but can have negative effects once they are no longer workers. With little to no relevant research in the area, the need for police, military, and emergency service workers to transition away from the organisation using identity development work to separate their self-identity from that of their former organisation is crucial (Hakak, 2015). Ibarra and Barbulescu (2010) touch upon identity work in transition and provide a comprehensive discussion of identity narratives. They encourage further research into identity narratives and boundaryless careers, stating that the ‘greater the magnitude or discontinuity of the role change the greater the need to justify it with a socially acceptable script’ (Ibarra & Barbulescu, 2010, p. 150). They suggest future research to explore individual career reinvention stories and narrative work at an occupational level to support transition (Ibarra & Barbulescu, 2010).