From 50 Shades of Blue to…What?

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study is to gain further insight into the ways by which performance management systems affect the identities of employees by empirically studying a consulting firm that uses a combination of quantitative assessment and qualitative assessment in its making decision-making. We seek to understand the identity effects that result in so-called “avoidable” attrition/turnover amidst knowledge workers. This qualitative study, in the interpretivist tradition, is based on semi-structured interviews with employees, most of them consultants, at a global management consulting firm referred to as “Solutions”. Theoretically, we are interested in the relationships between identity regulation, identity work and self-identity, which are concepts suggested by Alvesson & Willmott (2002). Based on these concepts, we analyze the identity effects of a performance management system which is made manifest, in practical terms, via various performance measurement tools. Our aim is to contribute to the literature on performance management by focusing on its interplay with identity. The mentioned theoretical perspective is applied primarily and viewed from the middle management’s point of view. This study focuses on a firm where a performance management system is actively used to homogenize its employees in desired identities. Consequently, employees find themselves at a crossroad where they either start to identify with the values of the firm or leave the company. We highlight the complex role middle managers play in the process i.e. they find themselves in a challenging position, where their qualitative assessments are assessed in terms of their own career opportunities. Based on our findings, we argue that the literature on performance management overestimates the strengths of quantitative-based performance measurement. Instead, our study shows the importance of the human factor. Specifically, we argue for more attention to the roles that middle managers play in interpreting, communicating, and valuing the performance of employees. Their engagement with identity regulation and identity work is of specific interest here.