Personnel in transition: the case of Polish women personnel managers

Abstract

Explores the impact of marketisation and enterprise restructuring processes on a Polish case study organisation. “Polskie” illustrates that certain western HRM practices are informing the process of restructuring organisations. These new approaches signal managers’ intentions to change attitudes to work and reassert control over the production process. The assessment, development and utilisation of human resources is an integral part of the overall management of the post‐communist enterprise. The field of personnel management is set to assume a key position. A key research question is whether women, as existing practitioners, have been able to augment their position in this growing area of expertise. Discusses whether the process of political and economic reform in Poland has provided an opportunity to improve the employment status of women and identifies reasons for being optimistic, but also highlights several areas for concern.