Managing the HR function: the role of social capital

摘要

Purpose - Under public sector reforms, HR departments are under increasing pressure torndemonstrate how they add value to the organization. This paper seeks to contribute to our knowledgernof HR functional roles in public sector organizations by considering how social capital may influencernperceived HR department performance. Most prior research qn HR functional performance has focusedrnon what HR professionals do, rather than on how they do it, yet such process factors have been shownrnin the literature on organizational strategy to be crucial determinants of long-term effectiveness. Thisrnpaper aims to use the framework of social capital as a means of conceptualizing HR processes, andrninvestigates how these are played out in an exploratory study.rnDesign/methodology/approach - The paper is based on four matched-pair case studies in publicrnsector organizations in the UK. A total of 77 interviews are conducted.rnFindings - The research found that there appeared to be a link between HR social capital andrnperceptions of HR functional performance on the part of both HR staff and line managers.rnResearch limitations/implications - This is a piece of case study based research in the UK publicrnsector, and therefore the findings may not be generalizable. It would have been preferable to have hadrnsome hard metrics for HR department performance, but perceptual data was relied on instead. Furtherrnresearch is therefore recommended.rnPractical implications - The implication for HR practitioners is that attention needs to be paid tornthe structural and relational dimensions of how the HR department operates, as well as to what it does,rnif it is to be regarded as effective.rnOriginality/value - This is a piece of original research on a topic that has received almost no priorrnattention. Previous research on the link between HRM and performance has focused almost exclusivelyrnon HR strategies and policies and has neglected process and implementation. This paper presents somernevidence to show that HR processes in terms of social capital may be an important element.