HR managers. Guardians of employee wellbeing?
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/00483480310467651 |
| Date | 01 June 2003 |
| Pages | 341-359 |
| Published date | 01 June 2003 |
| Author | Douglas Renwick |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
HR managers
Guardians of employee wellbeing?
Douglas Renwick
Management School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
Keywords Human resource management, Employees, Welfare
Abstract This paper assesses the role of human resource (HR) managers adopting a strategic
role and devolution of HR work to the line in work organisations, and details interviews with 46
line managers drawn from an exploratory study in three work organisations in the UK over a two-
year period. The study finds that HR managers can be seen to be both engaging in the process of
enhancing employee wellbeing at work, and also acting against it. The conclusions drawn are that,
while the advantages to employee wellbeing through adopting a strategic HR approach led by HR
managers and devolution of HR work to the line are numerous, the potential costs to employee
wellbeing are also significant. The latter must be addressed by organisations if future employee
commitment to these organisations is to be secured.
Introduction
In response to calls for more accounts that elicit employee perspectives on
human rsource (HR) practices in work organisations (Blyton and Turnbull,
1998; Turnbull and Wass, 1998), research has been undertaken from a range of
angles (Cappelli, 1999; Cully et al., 1999; Guest and Conway, 1999a, b; Mabey
et al., 1998). Current self-perceptions of the strategic HR manager’s role derive
in part from an employee’s view of them as the guardian of employees’ interest
going back to the welfare role of the Welfare Workers Association (Woodall
and Winstanley, 2001), and, from an organisational viewpoint, that these HR
managers can take a more holistic approach to managing people than has
hitherto been adoped as part of a strategic HR approach.
Defining “strategic HRM” is not a necessarily straightforward task because
of “its somewhat fragmented nature and there is, as yet, little consensus in the
empirical findings” (Redman and Wilkinson, 2001, p. 10). The definition of
strategic HRM and a strategic HR approach adopted by HR managers used in
this article is based, first, on the idea that “HRM strategies are all about making
business strategies work” (Sparrow and Hiltrop, 1994, p. 628) and second, on
the definition used by Redman and Wilkinson in their classification of HR
“approaches” that are “consistent with SHRM”, i.e. that:
The human resource strategy should be consistent with business strategy and
implementation should take account of human resource factors ... and ... that human
resource factors be considered not just in the implementation of policy but actually influence
which business strategy is adopted (Redman and Wilkinson, 2001, p. 13).
The HR managers who are the focus of attention in this article have a key role
in making business strategies work, and are actively working to ensure that
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister http://www.emeraldinsight.com/0048-3486.htm
HR managers
341
Received July 2002
Revised October 2002
Accepted November
2002
Personnel Review
Vol. 32 No. 3, 2003
pp. 341-359
qMCB UP Limited
0048-3486
DOI 10.1108/00483480310467651
HR factors are taken into account when business strategies are being drawn up
as well as implemented, that is, they are adopting a strategic HR approach.
Within a strategic HR approach, commentators have noted a trend in the
profession of HR roles being divided into operations and strategy (Tyson and
Fell, 1995), and by HR managers depicting themselves as “strategic” HR
managers who have “devolved” personnel/HR administration tasks to line
managers (Budhwar, 2000; Gennard and Kelly, 1995; Schuler et al., 2001; Ulrich,
1997, 1998).
Although it is recognised that more work needs to be done to gain employee
views of HRM from different research traditions (as the social context in the
workplace becomes more politicised under HRM (Kamoche, 2001, p. 82)),
questions have been raised about the bias of such accounts being either very
enthusiastic or dismissive of HR tools and techniques like team-working and
empowerment, for example (Legge, 1998, p. 14). This article seeks to add to the
HR literature on employee experiences of HRM by examining the role of HR
managers in enhancing employee wellbeing, and draws on the views of line
managers in three UK-based work organisations. The objective of this paper is
to offer a different (line manager) perspective from debates on employees’
experiences at work.
Literature review
The move towards a specifically strategic HR approach for HR managers can
be seen to “free up the department to concentrate on the change agent and
strategic partner roles” (Brewster and Larsen, 2000, p. 214), which has been
reflected in practice with the increasing representation of HR at the top
management team/board level (Budhwar, 2000), HR managers’ career paths up
to this level being increasingly recognised (Kelly and Gennard, 2000), and the
rewards for HR directors overtaking the average for other comparable
functions (Hammond, 2001, p. 7; Kelly and Gennard, 2001, p. 53). The HR
literature suggests that strategic HR integration and devolution of HR work to
the line have a positive impact on a firm’s performance (Huselid, 1995; Pfeffer,
1995), as the logic behind such developments “[is] difficult to quarrel with”
(Sisson and Storey, 2000).
However, the historical accounts of the personnel/HR role have also
indicated their tendency to act as “political animals” (Tyson and Fell, 1992),
and “chameleons” (Hope-Hailey et al., 1997). The developments may also have a
negative impact as Redman and Wilkinson (2001) argue; “there is a real concern
that HR managers could be neglecting ‘the basics’ in their search for legitimacy
and status with senior managers. In short, HR could be accused of ignoring
employees” (Redman and Wilkinson, 2001, p. 19).
The use of HR initiatives like strategic integration and devolution by HR
managers looks designed to counter-balance such concerns, as they
(respectively) offer the prospect of HR managers being able to devise holistic
PR
32,3
342
To continue reading
Request your trial