Methodology For Managing The "Digital"Generation Of Employees: HR-Logo-Management

Relevance of HR logo-management

Rethinking working conditions, finding effective HR concepts and management methods is a necessary tool to adapt the organization to the challenges of the environment. HRM balancing in a volatile environment will provide existential support for rational organizational behavior. In order to acquire it the organization must "hook" Gen Z on the rational-logical and emotional level of sense, i.e. sense of the situation taking into account context. And it is appropriate to do so in the short term, because the future for Z is abstraction. This is what logo-management aims at - managing a person in an organization on the basis of sense (senses, HMbS). The focus of sense is necessary so as to identify and clarify the initial position of staff, develop concepts and alternatives, analyse and assess the risks of possible changes.

Organizational Sensemaking

Addressing sense in the context of organizational "making" is a trend of modern research. Despite the lack of the coordinated expert definition of Sensemaking, authors agree that the process of organizational Sensemaking is the instrument of plausible understanding of intricate, ambiguous or knotty problems or situations (Brown et al., 2015; Gudova, 2020; Maitlis & Christianson, 2017; Sandberg & Tsoukas, 2015; Smith, 2016; Weick et al., 2005; Weick, 2015). The nature of organized Sensemaking and the stages of sense production are identified; the usefulness of Sensemaking for organizational research from the perspective of organizational theory and management practice is determined (Weick et al., 2005); the main components of Sensemaking are systematized (Sandberg & Tsoukas, 2015). Sensemaking appears to be an integrative process of "unpacking," understanding, and creating sense (Brown et al., 2015; Maitlis & Christianson, 2017), important for management decision-making and organizational change management (Brown et al., 2015; Gudova, 2019; Konlechner et al., 2018; Maitlis & Christianson, 2017; ; Peng, 2018 Will & Pies, 2018). The conditions of efficient organizational Sensemaking are studied (Kudesia, 2017), Sensemaking is proposed to solve poorly structured problems (Smy et al., 2016), to overcome negative influence of emotions (Diochon & Nizet, 2019; Helpap & Bekmeier-Feuerhahn, 2016; Will & Pies, 2018). However, the instrumentality of Sensemaking in a person’s management in the organization has not been developed, which would be based not on organizational processes, but on HR-operand and would take into account the specific characteristics of the new generation of employees, for whom it is important to understand the sense of the situation and the final work result, creative realization of self-interest in work that gives pleasure, relations of cooperation with colleagues and management. This article is an attempt to develop a methodological concept of HR-logo-management.

The main methods of research used in the work are: dialectical method, critical analysis method, logical-heuristic method, systemic approach, communicative-pragmatic approach, and conceptualization.

The results of research into the values of Russian representatives of generation Z served as empirical basis of research (30 Facts about Modern Youth, 2017; Generation Selfie…, 2016; Generation Z and Labor Market in Russia, 2019; Trends in personnel management in Russia, 2019; Ivanova & Ryabinina, 2019).

Gen Z Mindsetst Concepts

The main criterion in choosing an employer and the main material motivator for the vast majority of Russian Gen Z representatives is the level of wages and material remuneration. In this, the new generation of employees is no different from its predecessors.

Gen Z’s worldview and methodological settings are characterized by the following concepts relevant to HR management.

• The concept of the self, "DIY" (do-it-yourself)

Gen Z are individualists, the possibility of self-identification, self-realization, and self-development is important for them. However, centennials do not have ambitions to become leaders: only 40% expressed such desire (Generation Z and Labor Market in Russia, 2019).

• The concept of working hedonism

People must enjoy their work, it should be creative, bring pleasure from tasks performance; lack of interesting projects/routine work tasks, as well as public criticism, demotivate Z. Moreover, 72% of Russian Z are ready to fundamentally change their profession if they do not like what they do (Generation Z and Labor Market in Russia, 2019).

• The concept of understanding

It is important for the "digital" generation to understand the sense of the work tasks performed and the ultimate goals of the activity. Explicit and clear setting of tasks, separating areas of responsibility and assessing work results facilitates understanding own success and benefits to business. 56% of respondents believe that the situation "when there is no understanding of what the sense is, and what its implementation will eventually give," demotivates their working process (Generation Z and Labor Market in Russia, 2019).

The authors of the article consider the concept of understanding to be the methodological core of the Russian representatives of generation Z. mindset.

• The concept of cooperation/anti-hierarchy

The digital generation values the importance of partnership with adults, the comfort of the working environment and a friendly team. Their idea of an ideal leader is a mentor, the one who "slightly directs" and helps professional and personal development; who is able to set accurate and clear tasks; who is capable to give feed-back and to estimate work results. Only 17% of respondents are ready to recognize the leader only because of his position on the career ladder (Generation Z and Labor Market in Russia, 2019).

• The concept of flexibility and short-termed

Gen Z prefers flexible working conditions (flexible hours, remote work): only 13% of respondents are ready for full-time work in the office (Generation Z and Labor Market in Russia, 2019). The new generation of employees prefers short-term projects "here and now" to abstract future; they can appear as "labor ghosts" for the organization (Ivanova & Ryabinina, 2020), or "organizational travelers": 61% of Russian Z-s plan to leave the company within 2 years (Trends in personnel management in Russia, 2019).

Human Management by Sense as a Philosophy and Practice of HR Management

Sense is the concept of human management in the organization. Sense (from ancient Greek λόγος - a word, thought, reason, and common sense) indicates the presence of thought in the speech or in the action of the subject, the basic essence of the mind. Ontologically, human management in the organization is not reduced to the automatic action of the subject on the personnel, like the mechanisms management. This is a conscious and deliberate influence on people by actors and governing bodies in order to obtain the desired results.

HMbS is based on the trinity of hermeneutic, existential-phenomenological and pragmatic-constructive approaches and is relevant to the Soft methodology of "pragmatic constructivism" (Ivanova & Ryabinina, 2019; Nørreklit, 2014).

Hermeneutic approach demands identification and understanding of sense as mutual understanding "about the subject matter" (Gadamer, 2006, p. 385). The process of reflection requires responsible participation, informed actions at different levels of management: the level of the individual, the team and the organization as a whole. It should be borne in mind that such "mindful action requires not only commitment to our values and beliefs, but also courage to doubt" (Kudesia, 2017, p. 31). In other words, the hermeneutic approach implements a method of critical thinking that requires the employee to implement skills of interpretation, analysis, evaluation, understanding, explanation, and self-regulation (Facione, 1990) and is not reduced to an infinite regression of doubt. “Critical thinking doesn’t mean we disparage everything, it means that we try to distinguish between claims with evidence” (Levitin, 2018, р. 20); this is ‘using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems” (The Future of Jobs Employment…, 2016, р. 52).

The existential-phenomenological approach highlights the personality of sense: sense is interpreted as being and a subject inseparable from the world, sense "is conditioned by the individual’s conscious intentions, implemented by himself" (Jaspers, 1997, p. 337). The act of self-awareness is fully correlated with the intentional method of understanding sense in communication with other people. The understanding of sense is achieved at the junction of hermeneutic and existential-phenomenological approaches and the application of appropriate methods.

According to the pragmatic-constructive approach, employees in the community generate sense. They design ideas that are practically useful for them and the organization and that are to be implemented, preferably in the short term. The sense is assessed by viability: taking into account strengths and weaknesses, risks of implementation, opportunity of the employee to enjoy performance of tasks and work results, including in the monetary form. This approach corresponds to the project method aimed at solving the problem, creating a clear basic idea, which will make it possible to overcome the mismatch between the actual situation and the expected situation and form a unique vector of professional development of the employee and organizational advancement. Schematically the construct of HMbS is presented in figure 1 where: H is hermeneutical approach, ST is a method of critical thinking, ER is existential and phenomenological approach, I is an intentional method, RS is the pragmatic- constructive approach, P is a design method, SU is understanding of sense, - -----is the line of understanding sense, ⊠S is uncertainty of sense, Si is sense of a source, Sn is sense of the recipient, EM is effect of management.

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The main indicators and main functions of logic control are defined taking into account the factors of influence on HRM, concepts of Gen Z mindsets, concept and design of HMbS. The methodological conceptual scheme of HR logo-management, which implements the design and constructive orientation of methodology is developed. This diagram is showing Figure 2 .

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The personal sense - "it matters to me" - is the employee’s own existential-rational reference point, guiding him to reasonably achieve vital goals. The function of the work sense is implemented in improving the level of an employee’s well-being on the basis of his/her involvement in work: the employee understands the sense of the work performed, understands the contribution to the achievement of common goals, sees the work result and shares this value with the company. Understanding the sense of labour relations manifests itself in rational anti-hierarchical cooperation to achieve common goals. The purpose of the sense of working conditions is to implement flexible conditions by the organization, enabling it to adapt quickly to the changing situation. It is equally important that the need to work in changing conditions is understood by the employee, including learning new skills/professions demanded in the labour market.