Abstract
Orientation: This article discusses the extent to which human under-development in South Africa and the consequent societal problems of poverty and inequality are addressed by the work of HR practitioners. Research purpose: The purpose of the study was to provide empirical evidence of the appropriateness of current HR practice in South African socio-economic conditions and to make suggestions for improvement. Motivation for the study: Societal problems caused by human under-development are impacting more and more on organisations in South Africa. It is currently not known to what extent and in what way HR work contributes to the improvement of this situation. Research design and method: An interpretive approach was adopted. Qualitative methods within a basic qualitative study strategy were used, including interviewing and a focus group. A sample of 50 individual HR practitioners at various organisational levels was interviewed. Data were analysed by means of thematic analysis. Main findings: Societal problems caused by human under-development impact tremendously on the daily work of HR practitioners. Many HR practitioners do play an Employee Advocate role within the workplace but do not see this role as extending further to any degree. Some role models of more strategic responses were found. Practical/managerial implications: HR practitioners would better fulfil their mandate to work for the success of their organisation if they took pro-active steps to accelerate human development outside their organisations. Contribution/value-add: Empirical evidence is presented to support efforts to broaden the focus of HR work to human development. This linkage has not previously been researched.
Highlights
Almost by definition, the role of Human Resource (HR) practitioners is concerned with people development
In order to understand the extent of the impact of the external environment on the work of HR practitioners, the researcher asked Phase 2 participants in the study to estimate how much of their work was impacted by each of the following: ‘ South African issues’; ‘generic HR work demands’; and ‘industry-specific or competitiveness or world class issues’
The most prevalent view (18 responses) was that generic HR work demands had the biggest impact on their work, but 13 of the participants felt that ‘South African issues’ constituted a major impact on their work and 15 felt that ‘South African issues’ constituted perhaps around one third of the impact on their work
Summary
The role of HR practitioners is concerned with people development. It may, be asked whether they can achieve success in this area if their organisations are situated in a society with generally low levels of human development. This article will explore whether the time has come in South Africa to reaffirm the importance of that role and redefine it to that of People Advocate, so that it refers to people both inside and outside the organisation: If successful, the HR professional has the opportunity to become central to the effectiveness of their organisation but to have an impact on the social and economic environment in which they operate. The economic status of the country is, in international comparative terms, described as ‘upper middle income’, large numbers of extremely poor people have little opportunity to participate in and benefit from the economy (NPC, 2011). South Africa is a divided and unequal society (NPC, 2011), but, as Ramphele (2009) pointed out, we have only one economy and it is the distribution of the benefits that divides society
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