Strong Human Resource Management Research Articles

A Review of the Implementation of Strategic Human Resource Management in Educational Institutions

This article aims to review three articles on the topic of implementing strategic human resource management in educational institutions and discuss their relationship with several theories and concepts. The research uses a qualitative descriptive method by reviewing literature from ScienceDirect indexed journals to ensure the availability of research related to strategic human resource management. The findings show that researchers linking SHRM with school growth, managing education requires a combination of consultative, collegial approaches and strong human resource management. The articles reviewed treat the topic of SHRM differently, but, overall, they identified existing gaps in SHRM research and pointed out the importance of aligning HR practices with organizational goals particularly in the management of teachers and core managers

The impact of different components of HRM strength on employee burnout: a two-wave study

PurposeMost prior studies treated human resource management (HRM) strength as a whole, while neglecting the dynamic interactions between distinct components (consensus, consistency and distinctiveness). The authors lack a deep understanding of how different components operate together to influence burnout. To address these gaps, this study aims to adopt signaling theory to investigate the interactions among different components and their impacts on employee burnout.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collected time-lagged data from 231 full-time employees in manufacturing firms in Suzhou, China. The authors used the PROCESS Model 6 and hierarchical multiple regression to analyze the data.FindingsThis study found that HRM system consensus and consistency mitigate employee burnout, whereas HRM distinctiveness is not significantly related to burnout. Furthermore, the authors revealed that HRM system consistency (rather than distinctiveness) mediated the relationship between consensus and burnout. Moreover, the authors found the sequential mediating effects of HRM system distinctiveness and consistency on the association between consensus and burnout.Practical implicationsConsidering that employees’ well-being problems may be debilitating and overwhelming during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is particularly ethical and timely for managers to direct attention to the role of HRM system strength in addressing employee burnout.Originality/valueThis study advances the HRM system literature by teasing out the interactions between the three pivotal components of HRM strength. Our study is among the first to empirically investigate the internal relationships between the meta-features of the HRM system and employee burnout. In doing so, the authors develop a more nuanced understanding of the collective nature of a strong HRM system that conveys a shared message about HRM to promote well-being.

Work arrangement “yo-yo”: forced flexibility from the office to home and back again

PurposeThis study explored one form of remote working – work from home – to understand the impact of work disruptions on workers and human resource management (HRM) practice and therefore how to adapt to future crises. Specifically, the purpose is to understand the impact of events on employees when they are forced to move back and forth (yo-yoing) between work from home and a central office, using the case of Perth, Western Australia (WA).Design/methodology/approachThirty-nine interviews with leaders, managers and co-workers working in private and public organisations suggest that forced changes to work arrangements affect job content and demands, well-being and potentially career trajectories.FindingsThe authors critically applied and developed the tenets of event system theory (EST) (novelty, disruption and criticality) by analysing an ongoing or “long” event rather than a discrete or time-limited one. The study found that the work-from-home experience influenced the individual perception of whether remote working would suit employees in the future, potentially influencing career paths. In addition, the selection of locations to live, preferred properties (e.g. home office space) and access to services (e.g. broadband infrastructure) has also become dominant features of work decisions.Research limitations/implicationsWhile the study generated rich data, it is not without limitations. The participants were from one Australian state which may not reflect the COVID-19 experiences of other jurisdictions. In addition, the participants were mostly female so this may offer a different perspective than a more gender-balanced sample. The study was limited to the perspectives of employees and middle managers.Practical implicationsThe authors note three areas of implications for practitioners. First, the findings suggest that strong organisational and HRM support assists employees to cope well with change. Second, the importance of technological and social preparedness in improving employee experiences highlights the role of HRM in job design. Third, it is key that salient events are recognised as potential determinants of career pathways.Originality/valueThe evidence from this research broadens the application of EST showing that forced flexibility has an influence on work arrangements by influencing a series of changes in features of work and experiences of employees. As such, this impacts employee's well-being and potentially future career decisions.

The influence of human resource management practices on occupational health and safety in the manufacturing industry

This study provides an overview of the influence of applying two human resource management (HRM) practices on workers’ occupational health and safety (OHS). These practices are selection and recruitment, and development and training. Furthermore, this study highlights the observed activities to define hazards, processes and OHS measures in the manufacturing industries. It also assesses the importance of workers’ knowledge and awareness of OHS programs. A structured questionnaire was administered to those working in the manufacturing sector in several countries. The responses were analyzed statistically. The results showed that the demographic variables had a significant impact on workers’ knowledge and awareness of OHS programs. In addition, HRM practices played a major role in OHS. Therefore, it is recommended to top management to highly consider OHS practices by integrating them into the workplace, starting from worker selection, all the way to production, operations and management, by establishing a strong HRM system.

“It's the work climate that keeps me here”: the interplay between the HRM process and emergent factors in the construction of employee experiences

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the interplay between human resource management (HRM) and emergent factors in constructing a strong HRM climate. Specifically, the paper aims to shed light on how employee perceptions of the HRM process and emergent factors together construct a strong HRM climate, i.e. employees' shared perceptions of HRM.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses qualitative interview data (managers and employees) from two organisations operating in Finland. The data are analysed based on a systematic data analysis and gives an illustration of the interplay between high-performance work system and the emergent factors.FindingsThe findings illustrate the three types of interplay between HPWS and emergent factors – supplementation, substitution and suffocation – that construct employee experience.Originality/valueThe paper extends earlier discussions on the relationship between HRM and employee experience by empirically examining how the HRM process – together with emergent factors – constructs a strong HRM climate. The present study contributes to further theorising and increasing our understanding of the creation of employee experience.

Disentangling the strength of the HRM system: effects on employees reactions

PurposeA strong HRM system (encompassing the dimensions of distinctiveness, consistency and consensus) facilitates a collective interpretation of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices in a common direction, and consequently, a conjoint response by employees. The purpose of this paper is two fold: first to argue that those dimensions have a direct impact on the reaction of employees (organisational citizenship behaviour, OCB and intention to remain, IR); and second, the authors propose that these dimensions are not independent, but rather can interact in such a way that consensus impacts on the consistency of an HRM system, and consistency mediates the relationship between consensus and OCB and IR.Design/methodology/approachThe authors surveyed HR managers and employees from a sample of 102 Spanish hotels. Specifically, HR managers were asked to complete a questionnaire assessing the dimensions of HRM strength, and employees completed a different questionnaire reporting their levels of OCB and IR. The authors examined the reliability and validity of measures by means of Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Finally, structural equations models were applied to test direct effects and mediating hypotheses.FindingsAs an initial finding, the authors obtained two dimensions of HRM strength: consistency and a new factor, which is a combination of distinctiveness and consensus, labelled the “Reputation” of the HRM system. A second result is that such the reputation of the HRM system positively affects OCB and IR. Third, consistency mediates in the relationships between the reputation of the HRM system and OCB and IR.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the authors are aware of the limitations of our paper, regarding the cross-sectional data design and the assessment of HR strength by managers, the authors believe that the results highlight the importance of HRM system strength, since it affects individual outcomes.Originality/valueOne of the valuable contributions made by this paper is that the authors obtained two dimensions for HRM strength instead of the three proposed by Bowen and Ostroff (2004): consistency and reputation (as a combination of distinctiveness and consensus). The authors explain that the new dimension is related to the concept of employer branding, emphasising HRM system’s internal image, facilitating common expectations that guide employees towards the desired responses. Second, Reputation impacts Consistency, improving employees’ OCB and IR; hence, the dimensions of HRM system strength are not independent, but they are better able to interact in order to affect employee outcomes.

Study of Chinese firms shows how perceptions of training influence performance

Purpose The authors wanted to find out if perceptions of training were positively related to work engagement and also assess the mediating influence on human resource management. Design/methodology/approach The authors sent out 415 questionnaires to employees in two Chinese garment factories supplying an Australian retailer. Overall, 360 questionnaires were returned and 348 were valid. The survey covered perceptions of the organization’s training practices. A month later, a second survey included employee evaluations of the HRM strength and their work engagement. Meanwhile, supervisors filled out a survey rating employee work performance. Findings The study found that their perceptions of training were positively related to work engagement. The study also revealed that when there was a strong human resource management (HRM) climate, employees had more training opportunities and were more strongly motivated to perform well. Originality/value The authors claimed their study of 348 supervisor-subordinate dyads offered important lessons for managers. It provided guidance on how to increase work engagement and job performance. The research took place in China because it was especially relevant to the cultural and economic context there. China has rapidly grown, but shortages of labour and rising protests about working conditions have made change inevitable.

Developing a Strong HRM System: The Role of Line Managers

The aim of this paper is to examine the line manager’s role in developing a strong human resource management (HRM) system which is distinctive, consistent and consensual. This paper explores the process and outcomes of the line managers implementation of a high performance HRM system in an Irish knowledge intensive firm.

‘The mission or the margin?’ A high-performance work system in a non-profit organisation

Competitive and economic pressures have encouraged many non-profit organisations (NPOs) to implement high-performance work systems (HPWS); however, the objectives of such systems can contradict a ‘values-based approach’ to managing people. In this article, we ask how these two approaches to human resource management (HRM) can coexist and still result in a ‘strong HRM system’ and climate. Our unique case is an Australian Catholic NPO that combines a private and public hospital under the banner of Mercy Healthcare; the former must generate a surplus to fund the budget shortfall of the latter. Eighty-three interviews are combined with a range of secondary data, outlining the crises that motivated the implementation of a HPWS in a NPO. We identify a modified HPWS tempered by a values-orientation, softening potentially conflicting elements of strategic HRM and complementing the organisation’s deeply rooted Catholic values. Despite some conflict between what interviewees term ‘the balance between the mission and the margin’, careful alignment of organisational values with the HPWS resulted in a stronger climate, positive employee outcomes, and a high-performing HRM system. This article informs our understanding of how HPWS can contribute to NPO performance, and addresses the call for research on HRM in NPOs, and in particular, values-based systems of HRM.

Strong HRM processes and line managers' effective HRM implementation: a balanced view

Exploring a unitarist and pluralist Human Resource Management (HRM) perspective, we propose a more nuanced view on Bowen and Ostroff's (2004) concept of strong HRM processes. More specifically, we investigate whether strong HRM processes contribute positively or negatively to line managers' effective HRM implementation. The results of a multi‐level model with data from 125 line managers and 899 employees of five organisations show a complex picture. In line with unitarist thinking, we find a positive indirect effect of strong HRM processes on HRM implementation effectiveness via line managers' ability. In accordance with pluralist thinking, we find a negative direct relationship between strong HRM processes and HRM implementation effectiveness. We discuss the tensions in HRM that might explain these ambiguous findings.

The impact of narcoterrorism on HRM systems

This paper presents a study on the emergence of human resource management (HRM) systems in a narcoterrorism context based on a mixed-method approach. We conducted 40 interviews at 24 firms in Mexico to explore emerging HRM systems in narcoterrorism environments. The interviews were complemented with a quantitative content analysis of 204 news stories to explore the direct and indirect impacts of narcoterrorism on firms. Our analysis of firms’ responses with respect to HRM systems, which is supported by our quantitative analysis on the impacts of narcoterrorism, indicates that trust appears to shape HRM systems. We identified an adaptation strategy to design HRM systems based on a combination of strict employee’s screening and control an emphasis on humanistic practices such as soft-skills training and development, and a flexible work schedule, which appears to facilitate the development of trust in narcoterrorism environments. Identifying the similarities of objects and issues in the narcoterrorism context can help develop an understanding of this local phenomenon, with implications for the HRM and terrorism literatures on a global scale. Our findings highlight the importance of reinforcing values such as trust, openness, involvement and participation to develop a strong HRM system to adapt to narcoterrorism environments.

Are Strong Unions Compatible with the New Model of Human Resource Management ?

It is widely argued that recent Human Resource Management (HRM) innovations are compatible with, indeed require, strong unions. This paper examines several cases which, it has been argued, illustrate the compatibility of strong unions and HRM reforms. The author concludes that, on the contrary, each case illustrates the incompatibility of HRM and strong unions and explains why this is so.