Edel Conway

The devolution of HRM to middle managers in the Irish health service

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of organisational restructuring on the devolution of HRM to middle managers in the Irish health service.Design/methodology/approach – The study involved interviews with a cross‐section of 48 HR and line managers in one area of the Irish health service.Findings – Decision making by both HR and middle managers was adversely affected by the increased layers of bureaucracy that had resulted from the restructuring process. HR managers were devolving HR activities but were still retaining control of information systems and this was both slowing down middle management decision making and leading to the creation of new databases by the managers themselves. HR managers were emerging as regulators of HR activities.Research limitations/implications – The study was conducted in only one area of the Irish health service and with a limited number of respondents.Originality/value – The study examines the way in which organisational context impacts on the devolutio...

Knowledge work: gender-blind or gender-biased?

Knowledge-intensive firms (KIFs) have been the subject of growing interest from researchers. However, investigations into the comparative experiences of men and women in KIFs remain sparse, and little is known about women’s participation in the processes of innovation and knowledge exchange and combination that are core features of KIFs. The article reports on the findings of a study in the UK and Ireland involving 498 male and female knowledge workers in KIFs. Despite equal levels of qualification and experience, women are more likely to be in lower status and less secure jobs. They also predominantly occupy roles featuring less variety and autonomy than men and, despite comparable levels of knowledge exchange and combination, are less likely to be in a position to translate this into the innovative work behaviours necessary for career advancement. The findings suggest that women’s experiences of and participation in knowledge processes within KIFs differ fundamentally from men’s.

Integrating Personal Development and Career Planning: The Outcomes for First Year Undergraduate Learning.

This article describes the way in which colleagues from the Business faculty, the Careers Service and the Library at Dublin City University collaborated to design and deliver an integrated approach to personal development planning (PDP) with the aim of motivating first year undergraduate students to take greater responsibility for their own learning, development and career planning. The article describes the approach adopted in the introduction of the PDP module and the measures used to evaluate its outcomes. There are indications from the research that undertaking PDP benefits students in several ways. In particular, it appears to impact on student retention by clarifying career goals and increasing motivation towards the chosen degree programme.

The state and industrial policy in Ireland: a case study of the Irish pharmaceutical sector

There is renewed interest in the states role in the economic sphere but a lack of research on the viability and employment effects of alternative economic models, in particular from a ‘liberal market economy’ perspective. This article addresses this gap in the human resource management literature by undertaking a detailed case study of industrial policy in the Irish pharmaceutical sector. The proactive and resource-intensive industrial policy adopted by the Irish government and development agencies is found to have underpinned a significant strategic upgrading in this sector of the Irish economy. In turn this has facilitated the growth of high-wage, high-skill jobs. The findings highlight the potential for an active industrial policy to promote employment upgrading in liberal market economies.

Combining diverse knowledge: knowledge workers' experience of specialist and generalist roles

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to contribute to understanding the nature of specialist and generalist human capital by exploring the ways in which knowledge workers view their experience of working in specialist and generalist roles in pharmaceutical firms in Ireland and the UK. Design/methodology/approach – The findings are based on interviews with 55 knowledge workers employed in a range of scientific, technical and managerial positions in four Irish and two UK firms located in the pharmaceutical sector. Interviews were also conducted with nine human resource/training and development managers within these six firms. Findings – The findings suggest that the categorisation of human capital as either specialist or generalist is too rigid and does not take account of the fact that individuals may themselves choose to shape their careers by investing in a range of education, training and development opportunities that will enable them to move between specialist and generalist roles. Originality/value – The paper unpacks the concepts of specialist and generalist human capital from an employee perspective and challenges the sharp distinction that is made between specialist and generalist human capital.

Performance management in context: formative cross-functional performance monitoring for improvement and the mediating role of relational coordination in hospitals

Abstract Recent research suggests that to fully realise its potential, performance management should be bespoke to the social context in which it operates. Here, we analyse factors supporting the use of performance data for improvement. The study purposively examines a developmentally oriented performance management system with cross-functional goals. We suggest that these system characteristics are significant in interdependent work contexts, such as health care. We propose and test that (a) relational coordination helps employees work effectively to resolve issues identified through formative and cross-functional performance monitoring and (b) that this contributes to better outcomes for both employees and patients. Based on survey data from management and employee representatives across Irish acute hospitals, the study found that perceptions of relational coordination mediated the link between formative cross-functional performance monitoring and employee outcomes and partially mediated the link between formative cross-functional performance monitoring and patient care. Our findings signal potential for a more contextually driven and interdependent approach to the alignment of management and human resource management practices. While relational coordination is important in health care, we also note potential to identify other social drivers supporting productive responses to performance monitoring in different contexts.

Reimagining alienation within a relational framework: evidence from the public sector in Ireland and the UK

Abstract This paper provides a counterbalance to the emphasis on positive psychology within recent HRM scholarship by utilizing a relational framework to explore the antecedents and outcomes of alienation. We focus on the associations between relational features of work – prosocial impact, employee voice and role overload – and job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion and explore whether alienation mediates these relationships. Drawing on data from two public sector organizations in Ireland and the UK (n = 1455), our findings show that the relationships between these three work features and job satisfaction are fully mediated by alienation. In the case of emotional exhaustion, our findings indicate that perceptions of the relational elements of prosocial impact and employee voice may give rise to higher levels of exhaustion where employees are alienated. The study’s contribution lies in its identification of alienation as an important mechanism through which relational work features influence well-being. In addition, by drawing on a relational framework utilised within the engagement literature, the study makes a first attempt in drawing alienation into the wider nomological net proffered by the engagement literature. Thus, it provides new insights into the nature and importance of understanding alienation in contemporary workplaces.

Designing a HR System for Managing an Age-Diverse Workforce: Challenges and Opportunities

It is suggested that the ageing workforce represents one of the most defining social issues of the twenty-first century (Pitt-Catsouphes 2007). In this chapter, we consider the ramifications for organisations of this ageing workforce, in terms of the design and delivery of age-diverse human resource (HR) systems, by drawing on a wide range of international research literature and reports.

Abusive Supervision, Employee Well-Being and Ill-Being: The Moderating Role of Core Self-Evaluations

Abstract Purpose This chapter investigates the relationship between abusive supervision and employee well-being (i.e., job satisfaction, engagement) and ill-being (i.e., burnout, workaholism) and examines whether follower core self-evaluations (CSE) moderate this relationship. Methodology/approach The study uses cross-sectional survey data collected from 111 professional employees across a range of industry sectors. Findings Results show that abusive supervision is negatively related to employee well-being (i.e., engagement and job satisfaction) and positively related to employee ill-being, namely burnout. In addition, employees low in CSE are less engaged and less satisfied than employees high in CSE. Research limitations/implications The study’s cross-sectional design limits the strength of its conclusions. Practical implications This chapter notes the ethical and legal obligations of organizations to provide a safe working environment and identifies the policies and procedures that will signal a commitment to employee well-being. Originality/value The study contributes to the leadership and well-being literatures by exploring the influence of abusive leaders on follower well-being and engagement. It also goes beyond merely identifying correlations between leadership style and follower well-being outcomes to investigate how leader and follower attributes can combine to influence these outcomes.

Enhancing knowledge exchange and combination through HR practices: reflexivity as a translation process

Knowledge-intensive firms (KIFs) need to encourage their employees to engage in knowledge exchange and combination (KEC) so as to create the new knowledge that is core to their success. Human resource management (HRM) has the potential to play a key role in encouraging KEC but relatively little is known about the microprocesses through which HRM and KEC are linked. Based on a sample of 498 knowledge workers in 14 KIFs in the pharmaceutical and ICT sectors in Ireland and the UK, this study focuses on the knowledge workers themselves and their perceptions of how HR practices influence KEC. In so doing, we drill down into the micro-foundations of the proposed linkages between HRM and knowledge creation, proffering reflexivity as a translation process in understanding these linkages.