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PurposeThe purpose of the article is to contribute to HRM‐performance research by focusing on how HR managers discursively construct performance in local government HRM.Design/methodology/approachThe study is carried out in Finnish local government organizations, where HR managers of ten large and medium‐sized cities were interviewed. The study adopted a constructionist approach: performance is constructed through the talk of different stakeholders, in this case, HR managers. The analysis draws upon discourse analysis.FindingsPerformance in local government HRM is constructed through three predominant discourses: the service discourse, the process discourse, and the customer change discourse. The central finding of the study is the strong role of local residents, portrayed as external customers to HRM.Research limitations/implicationsTypical to discourse analysis, the number of interviews is limited and the results cannot be generalized. Thirdly, according to the constructivist approach, researchers also discursively construct the phenomenon under study. Additionally, this article focuses on performance talk of HRM managers; other actors of HRM, e.g. top management teams, line managers, and HR experts, also discursively construct HRM‐performance through their talk.Practical implicationsIn public organizations and also private sector service companies, the strong role of external customers in HRM and HRM‐performance should be considered, especially in HRM metrics.Originality/valueResearch revealed the central role of external customers in the discourse of local government HRM‐performance, and extends thus the scope of the performance concept in HRM studies.

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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the routes of team goal attainment through individual and social mechanisms. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on a qualitative thematic analysis of interviews, annual reports and observations of team meetings conducted within a Finnish department store. Findings – The key findings of our analysis are three fold. First, we identified four routes to team goal attainment: team leadership, one’s own work, customer service and team work. We propose that for team members, these routes to goal attainment are more important than the organizational goals of sales and reputation themselves, since sales and reputation may be too far removed from the team’s everyday work. Second, both individual and social mechanisms are needed for team goal accomplishment. This finding highlights the importance of the social identity perspective in binding individual and collective motivations together. Third, teamwork in our case department store is somewhat affected by non-participative conventions, but many employee-involving practices can also be identified. These employee-involving HRM practices offer the employees a voice, and give the teams and team supervisors sufficient power in work organization. Research limitations/implications – The limitations of this study are mostly due to the qualitative case study design which hinders the generalization of the results. The wide perspective of the study can also be seen as a limitation. Practical implications – The results suggest that HR professionals and line managers should be more aware of and support the processes through which teams and team members attain organizational goals. This requires detailed knowledge of the processes – routes to team goal attainment – at the shop floor level. Originality/value – This study highlights the interconnectedness of individual and team level attributes in retail team work, and proposes the perspective of social identity theory as a lens for analysis.

PurposeBy adopting a paradox lens, the purpose of this study is to explore paradoxes in relation to work organization, recruitment and competence development in growth-oriented companies.Design/methodology/approachThe study is a qualitative content analysis based on research interviews of managers responsible for human resource management (HRM) in Finnish small and medium-sized growth enterprises (SMEs).FindingsThe results show four themes, namely, (1) individualized work, (2) cultural cohesiveness, (3) experimental organization and (4) personal closeness. These identified themes are interpreted as mutually enabling, active responses to the underlying paradoxes of individualism – community and stability – change.Originality/valueThe results contribute to research on tension and paradox in HRM by taking the still unexplored opportunity to apply paradox theory to HRM in SMEs.

tervetulleita mukaan. Tässä on paikka toiminnan kehittämiselle. Lisäksi tarvitaan uusia, määräaikaista hanketoimintaa pysyvämpiä toimintamuotoja.

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PurposeThis study identifies how self-employed older women experience and represent self-integrity – an element and source of meaningfulness – in their work, and how these experiences are intertwined with gendered ageing.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used thematic analysis, influenced by an intersectional lens, to scrutinise qualitative data generated during a development project, with ten over 55-year-old self-employed women in Finland.FindingsThe study reveals three dominant practices of self-integrity at work: “Respecting one's self-knowledge”, “Using one's professional abilities”, and “Developing as a professional”. Older age was mostly experienced and represented as a characteristic that deepened or strengthened the practices and experiences of self-integrity at work. However, being an older woman partly convoluted that. Self-integrity as a self-employed woman was repeatedly experienced and represented in contrast to the male norm of entrepreneurship.Originality/valueThe authors contribute to the literature on gender and entrepreneurship by highlighting the processual dimensions – how integrity with self is experienced, created and sustained, and how being an older woman relates to self-integrity in self-employment. The results show a nuanced interplay between gender and age: Age and gender both constrain and become assets for older women in self-employment through older women's experiences of self-integrity.