Attraction and retention of employees in an Australian regional SME: the importance of place and scale in human resource management

Abstract

PurposeThis study examines employee attraction and retention issues and uses a case study of an Australian regional medium-sized enterprise to highlight the importance of organisational context factors such as place and scale in designing human resource (HR) solutions.Design/methodology/approachThe research presents a qualitative case study, with data drawn from strategic documents, interviews and focus groups, analysed thematically.FindingsA carefully constructed set of HR strategies – including purposeful use of employer branding, synchronising of human resource management (HRM) formality and informality and capitalising on the regional context – are key to employee attraction and retention and in turn the growth and competitiveness of the case study organisation.Originality/valueThe HRM literature acknowledges the tendency to study larger corporations in metropolitan areas, at the expense of more nuanced research related to context. This research contributes to knowledge of attraction and retention through employer branding, with particular attention to scale and place, through study of a medium sized firm in a regional location. It highlights the importance of informality-formality dynamism.

Transforming self-perceived self-employability and entrepreneurship among mothers through mobile digital sharing economy platforms: an exploratory case study

“…As the Jugglr app was novel and its target user base was not an established one, the uniqueness of the motherhood and app usage experiences was essentially a socially constructed one, which lends itself to case study research, in particular a single-case study design (particularly useful in developing a deep understanding of phenomenon that are complex, ambiguous, and about which little is known) (Dodgson et al , 2021; Amarakoon and Colley, 2022; Badoiu et al , 2020), and the application of the Gioia methodology (Gioia et al , 2013). The case study method is better able to analyse “fragments of entrepreneurial activity that are understood in their processual complexity without claiming any direct transfer to other contexts” (Steyaert et al , 1996, p. 67).…”

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“…It was generally understood that a firm's HRs are a potential source to offer the potential to develop sustained competitive advantage leading to the long-term sustainability of MSMEs (Darcy et al, 2014), and the appropriate HRM strategies could increase employees' well-being, satisfaction, productivity, motivation, health and safety, which would allow them to retain Paternalism as a positive way of HRM in MSMEs adequate and qualified staff (Azizi et al, 2021). This is particularly applicable to MSMEs in times of crisis where HR-enhancing practices are crucial, and these practices need to be adapted for the MSME context (Rauch and Hatak, 2016), where successful HRM can help the survival and development of MSMEs (Amarakoon and Colley, 2022) and support employee well-being, especially in times of crisis (G€ unther et al, 2022, p. 3). Having an HRM system in place will enable firms to perform better than those that do not have an HRM system in their organization, so the owner-managers need to develop their own HRM best practices for their organizations.…”

“…HRM is one of the strategies that can be employed to help MSMEs benefit from the competitive advantage leading to increased turnover and customer satisfaction (U-on et al. , 2021), the survival and growth (Amarakoon and Colley, 2022), firm performance (Arthur et al ., 2016; Kitchot et al. , 2020; Sardi et al.…”

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