Identification with the workplace is losing its significance in modern organisations. When employees identify strongly with their organisation, they tend to stay committed and go beyond their call of duty to contribute to it. In today’s organisations, virtual, flexible and asynchronous work arrangements are becoming common and Gen Z employees with a reduced need to anchor their identity in offices are entering the workforce. The concept of the ‘organisation’ is becoming distanced from the employees. In this changing context, it is imperative that organisations reinvent traditional identity conceptions to maintain stronger bonds with their employees, retain them and support mutual growth.
Identity and identification are central to our being. Identity is the answer to the question: “Who am I?” Identity is rooted in one’s perception about one’s personal characteristics, values and belief systems and one’s social affiliations. Identity is a layered concept. If someone is asked the question “Who are you or tell me about yourself?”, they typically talk about their name followed by their affiliations either to their education, community, region, profession or organisations they are or have been a part of.
These affiliations to specific groups, teams or organisations are known as the social identity of a person. Social identity is a strong component of an individual’s identity emerging from their membership of different personal and professional groups or organisations. A central pillar of people’s identity is their profession and their organisations. When individuals identify strongly with their organisation, it becomes an important component of who they are… they are emotionally connected to it and feel that they belong. They then tend to stick to the organisation through thick and thin, are committed to the organisation, and go beyond their call of duty to support organisational growth. Organisations put a lot of effort and money in creating identification and belongingness. Multiple interventions in employee engagement and culture building are directed towards creating a sense of membership and citizenship towards the organisation.
In the late 20th century, employees used to feel a sense of obligation and loyalty towards their organisation, and they used to stay in the same organisation for life. There was also a larger cultural underpinning of remaining loyal to the workplace. Identification with the organisation was a strong concept that earned employee loyalty and commitment. However, since the beginning of the 21st century, this concept is consistently losing ground. The average perceived time of a job shift to another organisation has changed from 10 years to five years to two years, with Gen Z considering even lesser durations.
This change is driven by two aspects: Shifting environmental and organisational configurations, and a generational shift. The global markets have become more volatile and uncertain. There is a profusion of new generation entrepreneurial organisations in addition to expansion of older establishments competing for talent.
Organisations now rationalise and downsize readily in response to external pressures. This has devalued the perception of the organisational promise as the protector of the employee to a more transactional approach focussed on exchange of services for rewards. Further, organisations now increasingly support flexible and asynchronous work-from-anywhere arrangements. Many organisations operate in a completely virtual mode. These shifts have reduced the visibility of the organisation as an entity and distanced the employee from the organisation cognitively and emotionally. This has resulted in reduced signals from the organisation to employees regarding their affiliation with it.
In addition, Gen Z, born between 1996 and 2010, has started entering the workforce and is soon going to be the highest proportion of the working population. The generation is starkly different from its previous generations. The generation, at least in the urban areas, has had its basic needs taken care of and has a financial safety net. They have grown up as first-generation digital natives where they are highly connected globally and are aware of the happenings around them. They have lived through the uncertainty of the pandemic in their formative years which has shaped their world views. The generation is more pragmatic, inclusive and more individualistic in nature. It is perceived that this generation also has a higher sense of entitlement. At work, this generation demands respect, is not afraid to question authority and processes, expects growth, flexibility and work-life balance. The generation is highly mobile and driven by opportunities rather than loyalty or identification with any organisation. Their organisational affiliations or need for affiliating to organisations seem to be much lower. They prefer flexible and online work which further lowers the importance of the organisation as an entity as their interaction with the concept of an organisation gets reduced. While work remains central to their life, they seek fulfilment outside of it. They perceive work as a means of earning a living to fulfil other dreams such as personal interests and hobbies. This creates a more transactional mindset in Gen Z which sees organisational rewards and outcomes as an exchange for their competence and services.
Also read: How to nurture Gen Zs for leadership roles
Thus, overall, there seems to be reduction in the significance for the organisation as an anchor for employee identity. So, what should organisations do if its identity is no longer as relevant? The answer lies in the micro-level interactions that employees have on a regular basis. First, roles need to be created and re-defined to support Gen Z’s needs for flexibility, respect, learning and growth. This will create a strong identification with the role which can enhance ties to the organisation as a provider of the right levers for growth in the role. Second, in the absence of a strong identity anchor with the organisation, managers and teams (face to face, hybrid or virtual) become the microcosm of the organisational experience as employees relate closest with their manager and their immediate team.
Organisations will need to strengthen bonds between employees and their immediate teams. The foundation of identification efforts now needs to move at the team level more than ever. The responsibility of these efforts lies squarely on the shoulders of managers. Managers need to be given the autonomy to strengthen team identity and belongingness. Creating strong respectful bonds within teams and developing trusting relationships with opportunities for growth are likely to be the most important factors which will ensure that talented employees, particularly Gen Z, stay with the organisation and contribute to it positively. Third, organisations need to tie all these efforts together with supportive processes that align teams to the organisational value systems and regularly reinforce the organisational image.
Finally, as virtual, flexible and asynchronous work arrangements become the norm and Gen Z employees with a reduced need to anchor their identity in organisations take over the working world, the time has come to relook at traditional organisational identity conceptions. Organisations need to reinvent themselves and develop micro-level, team-based approaches to maintain stronger bonds with their employees, retain them, and support mutual growth.
Ankita Tandon, associate professor, OB & HR Area, IMI Delhi
First Published: Oct 10, 2025, 11:29
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