Resilient HRM Responses to the Stability-Change Paradox in Growth Enterprises

Abstract

Paradoxes – inherent elements of organizational life – can either disrupt or develop organizations. Some companies manage to thrive in paradoxical situations and even grow in these tensions. By adopting a paradox lens, this study explores how HR practices are applied when attending to the simultaneous demands of stability and change in organizations. Specifically, we show how managers in charge of HRM in ‘work with’ and respond to this paradox. Our study is based on 14 semi-structured research interviews of managers in charge of HRM in Finnish growth enterprises representing various industries from health care to ICT. Our results show three responses that simultaneously place weight on both poles of the stability–change paradox, namely, 1) cultural cohesiveness and individualized work, 2) personal closeness and experimental organization, and 3) rigorous recruitment and employee-driven competence development. These identified HR practices are interdependent and mutually enabling. Moreover, we introduce the concept of resilience to the study of stability, change and HRM, and suggest that resilience makes the interdependence between practices supporting both stability and change possible.