Contemporary perspectives of strategic change highlight the importance of developing organisational change capabilities. While the role of Human Resource Management (HRM) in supporting change capabilities is not new (Ulrich, Younger et al. 2012), the pathway to developing them is still unclear. In the past, HRM have relied on strategic change models such as those developed by Lewin (1947) and Kotter (1996). While such models are repeatedly challenged, they still provide solid foundations for key stakeholders to manage strategic change (Appelbaum, Habashy et al. 2012, Wetzel and Van Gorp 2014, Cummings, Bridgman et al. 2016). However, contemporary perspectives centre on the cognition underpinning strategic change (Maitlis and Christianson 2014, Sandberg and Tsoukas 2015, Brown, Colville et al. 2016). Through a dynamic and iterative process known as collective sensemaking, key stakeholders discuss, interpret and, once a shared understanding of the vision and plan has been reached, enact strategic change (Gioia and Chittipeddi 1991, Weick 1995). However, unlike the change models of old, the micro-processes of collective sensemaking are not yet fully understood (Brown, Colville et al. 2014, Balogun and Rouleau 2017). For HRM to develop and support sensemaking as an organisational capability, we need to identify and understand the individual practices in which key stakeholders engage during the process.
This chapter brings together findings from a study of middle managers as they attempted to make sense of strategic change. An innovative diary methodology captured the practices in which they engaged as they encountered a broad range of strategic change related events. By comparing and contrasting different practices, those that enabled or disabled collective sensemaking were identified. These findings provide a rich insight into how, when certain collective sensemaking practices are enabled and sustained over time, they can be perceived as strategic change capabilities. Furthermore, by understanding the specific activities and behaviours involved in these practices, HRM’s role in developing them becomes clearer.