"Explaining Employee Perceptions of HRM: Sensemaking, Framing and Co-Creation by Providers and Users"

Abstract

Following the idea that employees perceive and react to HRM stimuli in different ways, strategic human resource management (HRM) research is increasingly examining employee perceptions of HRM and explaining why employees differ in how they perceive the presence, value or rationale of HRM practices. This symposium intends to explain why employees differ in their perceptions of HRM, however, in a different way than done by existing studies. Although the majority of extant studies do focus on the characteristics of line managers and HR service providers such as HR business partners, HR service centers or HR advisors (e.g. their knowledge, skills, abilities, enactment of HRM practices, etc.), they overlook the role played by employees and co-workers in shaping their own perceptions of HRM. Therefore, the papers in this symposium examine how sources beyond the management level, including those at the employee, co-worker and work unit level, explain why employees differ in their HRM perceptions. By relying on various theoretical perspectives such as sensemaking theory, framing theory, marketing theories and social information processing theory, the authors contribute to this symposium call to provide a better understanding of how employees themselves and the actors that surround them influence employee perceptions of HRM. Not Merely Conduit: Theorizing on HRM-Performance Relations Using a Sensemaking/Sensegiving Lens. Presenter: Anne Keegan; U. of Amsterdam Perception of an HRM System: Social Influences and Sensemaking. Presenter: Sargam Garg; Rutgers U. Employee Perceptions of Global Talent Mobility Practices: A Framing Analysis. Presenter: Carole Tansley; Nottingham Trent U. Presenter: Susan Jane Kirk; Nottingham Trent U. The Influence of Provider and Employee Capability Configurations on Employee Perceptions of HR Value Presenter: Jeroen Meijerink; U. of Twente Presenter: Marco Maatman; U. of Twente