To be strategic in the new public sector, HR must remember its operational activities

Abstract

H Hu um ma an n R Re es so ou ur rc ce e M Ma an na ag ge em me en nt t, , Summer 2007, Vol. 46, No. 2, Pp. 265-284 © practices and policies between public-sector organizations and private companies in many countries across the world (Budhwar & Boyne, 2004, Rodwell & Teo, 2004. Therefore, the current study contributes to this body of literature by examining the involvement of HR departments in commercialized and noncommercialized public-sector entities and their perceived level of performance by senior line managers, a key stakeholder of the HRM function. More specifically, this article tests a model of the effect of the transfer of HR activities to line management on the strategic influence and performance of the HR department.The next sections of this article explore the public-sector HR function, the pressures to be strategic about HRM, and the forces toward the transfer of HR to line management. Moving toward strategic HRM usually implies the strategic integration of HR, with the end result that all of these factors drive perceptions of the HR function's performance. The remaining sections then review the methods and the results. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed by considering the status and influence of HR departments and their relationship with line management in the process of strategic decision making. Commercialization: A Context of Change for HRM DepartmentsFrom the mid-1980s, a reform movement to change public-sector management practices has grown in many Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries (Hood, 1995). This reform movement emphasizes issues of economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in public services and is often known as new public management (Lonti & Verma, 2003). The elements of NPM underpin much of the move toward commercialization of the public sector. Growing evidence of the impact of the push toward NPM includes many changes to organizational structures, systems, and processes, such as restructuring, performance auditing, and privatization of state-owned entities (Osborne & Gaebler, 1992). Examples of commercialized public-sector entities include organizations, such as utilities, that are owned by the government yet operate as strategically independent entities. In many cases, these commercialized public-sector entities operate as if they had been privatized even though they are government-owned.Historically, personnel systems in the public sector have been highly regulated due to a preoccupation with eliminating corruption and partisan abuses (Coggburn, 2001). Under NPM, the management of people, resources, and programs in order to achieve results and outcomes replaces the administration of activities, procedures, and regulations (Lonti & Verma, 2003). Subsequently, NPM has profound implications for HRM in the public sector, including demands to become more flexible and responsive to the needs of line managers (Hays & Kearney, 2001). These newly structured public-sector agencies often adopt new HR strategies (such as t...

HR development in local government: how and why does HR strategy matter in organizational change and development?

“…;Carmeli and Schaubroeck 2005). Current strands of research focused the changing nature of people management in the modern public sector (Truss 2009a;Harris 2002) and proposed 'HR-public service partnerships' as an antecedent factor of modernizing public service organizations (Teo and Rodwell 2007;Bach and Kessler 2007). Notwithstanding the interest in the transformation of HR systems, only a few studies have explored how and why such relationships between HRM and organizational change have emerged despite the risk that HR role ambiguity and vicious circles tend to limit the possibilities of HR strategy formation (Guest and King 2004;Legge 1978: 66 et seq.).…”

“…The conceptual implications are twofold. First, as Hays and Kearney (2001) stated, HR systems by themselves are subjected to a fundamental transition in their operating practices, which embodies a range of opportunities as well as daunting pressures on replacing the established ones (Truss 2009a;Teo and Rodwell 2007). Additionally, it should be considered that changing HR systems is proposed as an antecedent capacity to leverage institutional pressures to the distinctive value of people, in particular to enhance the knowledge stock to cope with the challenges of public service improvements (Carmeli and Schaubroeck 2005;Brown 2004).…”

“…Within a tenet of viewing people as assets for organizational change, recent studies on changing HRM in public sector organizations primarily focus on topics of evolutionary fitness (Helfat et al 2007: 7 et seq. ): the institutional pressure to adopt HR concepts similar to the business sector, partly enforced by legal regulations (Pichault 2007;Hays and Kearney 2001), the opportunity and threats to develop strategic HRM roles and effective HR policies and practices (Harris 2002(Harris , 2005Truss 2008), both coupled with a discussion whether a strategic HR approach contributes to managing modernization (Currie and Procter 2001;Alfes et al 2010) and improving the value of public service delivery (Teo and Rodwell 2007;Ridder et al 2012b). …”

“…For example, the role enacted by HR departments in local government is usually described as administrative or reactive, primarily constrained by lack of resources and minor involvement in organizational decision-making (Jaconelli and Sheffield 2000;Harris 2005;Auluck 2006). In the case of becoming more strategic, in particular by decentralizing and transferring HR responsibilities to line management, HR departments are partly valued given their professionalism and operational involvement (Teo and Rodwell 2007;Truss 2008). But, the recommended inclusion of senior HR managers into strategic decision-making does not seem to have further impacts on strategic integration and the outcome state of HRM activities (Teo and Rodwell 2007).…”

“…In the case of becoming more strategic, in particular by decentralizing and transferring HR responsibilities to line management, HR departments are partly valued given their professionalism and operational involvement (Teo and Rodwell 2007;Truss 2008). But, the recommended inclusion of senior HR managers into strategic decision-making does not seem to have further impacts on strategic integration and the outcome state of HRM activities (Teo and Rodwell 2007).…”