Doing the right thing? An institutional perspective on responsible restructuring in UK local government

Mathew Johnson,Laura Watt

doi:10.1111/1748-8583.12351

Abstract

AbstractDrawing on institutional theory, this paper advances understanding of how restructuring practices are shaped by the organisational and institutional context and the concerns for legitimacy. Longitudinal case study findings from UK local government suggest a pattern of incremental deviance where repeated cutbacks are legitimised through a narrative of continuous improvement. This results in increased labour flexibility, work intensity and managerialism within services. We argue that the lack of resistance to change can be explained by the steady desensitisation of workers to repeated cutbacks as opposed to the inherent fairness of management actions. Through context‐specific research the theoretical and empirical distinctions between responsible and pure restructuring, and soft and hard Human Resource Management policies, are challenged.

Highlights

JOHNSON AND WATTTwo global recessions in just over a decade have placed downsizing and restructuring at the centre of debates about the future of Human Resource Management (HRM) (e.g., Cook et al, 2016; Goyer et al, 2016; Harney et al, 2018; ILO, 2020)
We focus on the under‐researched context of UK local government which has a historical model employer tradition characterised by soft HRM, collective bargaining and partnership working with trade unions (Beszter et al, 2015)
While local authorities (LAs) exceeded their legal responsibilities in respect of some technical practices, such as offering enhanced severance packages and pay protection for redeployed workers, these were the most expedient ways of making cutbacks as it avoided the need to draw up detailed selection criteria for layoffs

Summary

Introduction

JOHNSON AND WATTTwo global recessions in just over a decade have placed downsizing and restructuring at the centre of debates about the future of Human Resource Management (HRM) (e.g., Cook et al, 2016; Goyer et al, 2016; Harney et al, 2018; ILO, 2020). Through a detailed and context sensitive analysis of the restructuring process over a period of 5 years, we reveal that individual local authorities have avoided significant conflict with workers and trade unions by making apparently ‘soft’ labour cost savings such as voluntary severance, internal redeployment and changes to the skill mix.

Results

Conclusion