Indicators of Strategic HRM Effectiveness: A Case Study of an Australian Public Sector Agency during Commercialization

Abstract

This study examines the effectiveness of the human resource management (HRM) function of a public sector entity as it became corporatized. There has been little empirical research regarding the effectiveness of the people management functions within the Australian public sector as these entities went through a period of transition to commercialization. A questionnaire obtaining perceptions on different aspects of HR effectiveness, both before and after corporatization, was administered to a sample (N = 122) representing a number of different stakeholder groups of the corporate HRM unit. The results showed a moderate, but statistically significant, improvement in the effectiveness of HRM, and of the corporate HRM unit, as the host organization went through corporatization. Perceptions on HR effectiveness were not found to vary significantly between the different stakeholder groups. Regression analysis showed that the major predictors of the improvement in the overall effectiveness of the corporate HR unit were, firstly, changes in the level of satisfaction with the quality of the HR outcomes as a result of commercialization and, secondly, the change in extent to which the senior HR practitioner had effective influence over strategic decision-making processes.

HR Roles Effectiveness and HR Contributions Effectiveness: Comparing Evidence from HR and Line Managers

“…Furthermore, it was supported by Guest (2001), employer reports on the HRM effectiveness from their perspective as a manager, not from their experience of the actual practices-they are not the consumers of HRM, the employee are. Unlike many studies of HRM which are based on data supplied solely by HR managers, studies adopting the multiple constituency perspective necessarily include assessments of HRM effectiveness by non-HRM staff (Geare Edgar, & Deng, 2006;Han, Chou, Chao, & Wright, 2006;Kane, Crawford, & Grant, 1999;Mitsuhashi, Park, Wight, & Chua, 2000;Teo & Crawford, 2005;Wright, McMahan, Snell, & Gerhart, 2001). Therefore, collecting data from HR manager as well as line manager is likely to enhance the reliability of findings reported in studies on HRM.…”

Strategic human resource management and its linkage with HRM effectiveness and organizational performance: evidence from India

“…Most scales used by scholars (Budhwar and Sparrow 1997;Huselid, Jackson and Schuler 1997;Teo 2000;Green, Cindy, Whitten and Medlin 2006) focus on SHRM narrowly, taking a rather limited view of SHRM. Scales used in SHRM studies (Chang and Huang 2005;Sheehan 2005;Teo and Crawford 2005;Ozcelik and Aydýnlý 2006) have primarily emphasized fit between HRM function and corporate strategy while ignoring other dimensions of SHRM (e.g. fit between HRM and other functional areas or fit among HR subfunctions).…”

Strategic management and organization development: Planned change in a public sector organization

“…Organization development (OD) is used increasingly in strategic change initiatives in public sector organizations (Ferlie et al, 1996;Robertson and Seneviratne, 1995;Patchett, 2005;Teo and Crawford, 2005). The reasons for strategic change in the public sector are mostly found in abrupt and predominantly exogenous jolts such as changing policies or legislation, technological change, top management replacements or reorganizations such as the joining together or the breaking up of public agencies.…”

“…However, comparisons between decision-making in public and in private organizations have revealed that successful implementation in the public sector also requires a bottom-up approach with some degree of employee participation (Rodrigues and Hickson, 1995;Hickson et al, 2003). This explains the growing interest in OD concepts and methods in the public sector (Robertson and Seneviratne, 1995;Ferlie et al, 1996;Patchett, 2005;Teo and Crawford, 2005). Nevertheless, the introduction of OD in organizations that are accustomed to centralized control and bureaucratic and political working conditions may clash with the prevailing organization culture or can even be perceived as undermining the public administration work ethos (Barnhart, 1997;O'Brien, 2002).…”