Performing authenticity: authenticity, visibility and the management of self in a public service organization

Purpose The purpose is to problematize authenticity in organizational settings and show how it operates as a modern expression of normative control rather than resistance to it. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts an ethnographic approach, drawing on eight months of participant observation and semi-structured interviews within a public service organization (Service NSW). Data were analysed through the lens of normative control theory to examine how authenticity is constructed, performed and institutionalized as a mechanism of organizational control. Findings The findings reveal that authenticity operates as a central mechanism of normative control within the organization. Three interconnected control mechanisms were identified. First, authenticity functions as a normative principle requiring members to display thoughtfulness, empathy and social deference in their self-presentations. Second, visibility operates as career currency, with members strategically making their work, alignment and achievements observable across organizational forums to enhance advancement opportunities. Third, recognition systems reward performances that appear authentic, reinforcing organizational ideology and deepening members' emotional investment. Together, these mechanisms demonstrate how contemporary organizations appropriate the discourse of authenticity – traditionally framed as resistance to conformity – and transform it into a sophisticated mode of control requiring continuous emotional regulation, identity work and strategic self-management. While members experience themselves as authentic, their performances simultaneously align with and reproduce organizational interests. Research limitations/implications This study is based on an in-depth ethnography within a single public service organization, which may limit the generalizability of the findings to other organizational contexts or sectors. While the prolonged immersion enhances contextual richness and depth, the focus on one site means the dynamics observed may reflect features specific to public sector governance, career structures and institutional norms. Additionally, as with all ethnographic research, findings are interpretive and shaped by the researcher's positionality and access within the field. Future research could examine similar dynamics across multiple organizations and industries to assess the transferability of the findings and further develop understanding of authenticity as a contemporary mechanism of normative control. Originality/value This study contributes to normative control theory by demonstrating how authenticity – commonly positioned as resistance to organizational conformity – has been appropriated as a contemporary mechanism of control. By empirically illustrating how demands for authentic self-presentation intertwine with visibility management and recognition systems, the research advances understanding of how identity regulation operates in modern organizational contexts. The study also contributes methodologically to organizational ethnography through rich accounts of front-stage and back-stage performances, ideological communication rituals and the micro-processes through which members internalize organizational interests while experiencing themselves as authentic. Theoretically, it problematizes the celebratory discourse of authenticity in organizational life, reframing it not as liberation from control but as its contemporary expression.