Managing people across hospital networks in the UK: multiple employers and the shaping of HRM

Abstract

Building on the insights from a growing number of studies on the HRM implications of inter‐organisational relations, this article investigates the HR issues in two case studies of ‘best practice’, long‐term collaborative working. It identifies three common challenges for HRM: (a) how to build employee commitment and identity to the partnership without putting at risk the employing organisation's goals; (b) how to establish attractive career pathways in a partnership context requiring some degree of sharing of skill standards and coordination of training provision; and (c) how to sustain partnerships in a changing policy and organisational context. The data point to inherent problems in managing employment when there is more than one employing organisation exercising influence. Differences in organisational goals and HRM approaches in hospital networks are an obstacle to long‐term integration – especially in public–private arrangements where integration of goals and HRM is more difficult.

Affective commitment and turnover intentions among healthcare professionals: the role of emotional exhaustion and disengagement

“…Significant changes in health-care provision have resulted over the last decade from policy reforms which have focused on the introduction of new technology, cost cutting and the introduction of market mechanisms into the health-care sector (Townsend and Wilkinson 2010). At the same time, organisations in the health-care sector have often been confronted with a host of environmental challenges which include increasing costs of labour, increased workloads, a reduction in governmental funding and a greater pressure to offer high-quality patient care with ever fewer resources (Grimshaw et al 2010;Leggat, Bartram and Stanton 2011;Skinner, van Dijk, Elton and Auer 2011). In an environment characterised by constant institutional change and uncertainty, policy makers and academics have begun to recognise that an engaged, healthy and motivated workforce is vital to the delivery of high-quality health care (Buchan 2004;Prins et al 2010;Veld, Paauwe and Boselie 2010).…”

“…The healthcare sector in many countries is the focus of continuing intense policy debate and scrutiny within the scholarly community (Grimshaw, Rubery and Marchington 2010;Townsend and Wilkinson 2010). Significant changes in health-care provision have resulted over the last decade from policy reforms which have focused on the introduction of new technology, cost cutting and the introduction of market mechanisms into the health-care sector (Townsend and Wilkinson 2010).…”

The challenges for fair voice in liberal market economies

“…Several Manchesterbased research projects (e.g. Grimshaw et al, 2010;Marchington et al, 2005;Rubery and Urwin, 2011) provide evidence that workers employed across organisational boundaries enjoy less voice than their in-house colleagues at the same workplace. In short, 'non-citizen' workers in these contexts experience a double whammy.…”

“…A slightly different scenario occurs at large, multi-employer sites -such as airports or hospitals -where people are employed by many different organisations on a range of employment contracts, even though they are all aiming to provide an integrated and holistic service for customers (Grimshaw et al, 2010;. At the same time, each organisation has competing priorities, a multiplicity of different management styles and occupational mixes which result in the emergence of representative, direct and informal voice practices that lack integration, consistency and alignment.…”

Making work more equal

“…Several Manchesterbased research projects (e.g. Grimshaw et al, 2010; provide evidence that workers employed across organisational boundaries enjoy less voice than their in-house colleagues at the same workplace. In short, 'non-citizen' workers in these contexts experience a double whammy.…”