Strategic Human Resource Management

Strategic Human Resource Management
Lecture 1
Strategic human resource management is a recent development in the business world. The
field is only a little over 30 years old. Only in recent years have Chief HR officers become
part of the executive board, because HR is being taken more and more seriously.
The HR performance cycle refers to the fact that investing in people is positively related to
organisational performance and success. Employees matter, and the
management of employees is a potential source for achieving
organisational goals.
We have more and more organisational changes and developments on
the labour market. Think of demographic changes such as a greying
population, but also things like internationalisation., etcetera. Paul
Schnabel created the Five I’s: the five most dominant societal changes.
1. Internationalisation 4. Intensification
2. Informalisation 5. Individualisation
3. Informatisation
Knowing how to cope with change, both organisational as external, are essential in the
concept of competitive advantage. Your organisation must have a competitive advantage in
order to survive. Your people, and thus HRM, is essential in maintaining that advantage.
Recent SHRM research has learnt that it’s not one aspect of HR that makes a difference in
organisational success. Particular combinations of certain practices have a lot of predictive
value of competitive advantage.
We have three different types of human resources:
1. Micro HRM covers the sub-functions of HR policy, such as recruitment & selection,
on- and offboarding, socialisation, L&D, etcetera. It is about the individual employee
and how these practices influence their experience, productivity, engagement, and
more.
2. International HRM is considered with HRM in multinational companies and focusses
on issues such as transferability of HR practices across business units in different
countries, the management of expatriates, and the impact of local culture on HRM.
3. Strategic HRM deals with the alignment with organisational strategic objectives and
goals of the employee. The concept of ‘fit’ plays a central role in SHRM.
You can study SHRM in three different ways:
a. A multi-actor perspective is also called the stakeholder or systemic
approach, meaning you keep an eye on the interest of all parties involved in
an issue, such as employees, managers, unions, executives, shareholders,
government, and more.
b. A broad societal view has an emphasis on different institutional context, such

as how things differ between branches and industries, regions and countries,
etc. Think of varying retirement ages or power distance index.
c. A multi-level perspective includes the individual employee perspective and
the strategic organisational perspective. You can also add the team level.
The book we use in this course takes a so-called stakeholder perspective, meaning it
balances the interests of all parties involved. You can think of stakeholders such as
employees, unions, customers, managers, shareholders, the institutional system etcetera.
Paauwe is a major name within the field of HRM. In his reflections on HRM, he believes that
human resources is more than just resources: people have emotions. We need more than
just a good salary; we’re not concerned solely with financial performance. We also need
support, a good work-life balance, genuine respect, a good relationship with peers, and
more.
HRM focuses on the exchange relationship between employee and organisation. We also
call this psychological contract. Think of when your manager lets you leave a bit earlier to
pick up your kids: you’ll most likely work a bit harder during the day to ‘repay’ your
manager. This mutual investment in each other is also called organisational citizenship
behaviour: when you go the extra mile because you’re invested in the company and you
feel they treat you well.
OCB consists of two types of behaviour:
1. In-role behaviour is the behaviour and tasks that are assigned to your job; it’s what’s
already expected of you.
2. Extra-role behaviour is what you do beyond that, such as helping colleagues,
showing up at voluntary job events, falling in when someone is ill and more.
If an employee engages in OCB, managers tend to think their affective commitment to the
organisation is higher which will make them more likely to invest in the employee,
heightening their overall employability.
Paauwe also states that the shaping of the employment relationship takes place in an era of
continuous tension between the added value and moral values. Added value refers to
productivity and what an employee adds to the organisation. Moral values refer to the
human side of things: can we really have them work this schedule? Can we really ask them
to get to work?
Boxal & Purcell theorised that HRM should cover all workforce groups, including core
employees, peripheral employees and contingent workers. Peripheral workers are jobs such
as the cleaning crew or the IT support, and contingent workers refers to temporary or flex
workers.
They also argue that HRM should involve both line and specialist managers; it’s not solely
aimed at employees. It’s all about managing work and people, both collectively and
individually.
The balanced approach is the thought that organisational success can only be achieved
when financial performance and societal performance are above the average of the
particular population in which they operate.
We should balance:
- The goals of the individual employees
- Organisational goals
- Societal goals (i.e. CSR).
Bolman & Deal argue there are four different frames you can take while studying an
organisation. Frames are the mental position and cognitive lenses that people consciously or
unconsciously apply.
1. Structural or rational frame seeks to understand the structure of an organisation. Is
very technical and functional.
2. HR or behavioural frame focuses upon the employment relationship, mainly in
terms of needs, skills, and psychological profile.
3. Political frame examines power, such as conflict, competition, and organisational
politics. There is heavy emphasis on the different parties and stakeholders.
4. Symbolic frame builds on meaning and identity. It looks at culture, meaning, ritual,
stories, and heroes, similar to the Hofstede model.
The balanced approach also implies the inclusion of multiple frame as to define the
multidimensional aspect of HRM.
Lecture 2 – chapter summary

Lecture by Eline Bok and Anne Kik but the first 15 minutes didn’t cover anything useful so I
didn’t watch the rest.
Strategic fit in HRM is the alignment between overall strategy and HRM. Fit and alignment
can be used interchangeably. A misfit means two things that oppose each other.
Organisational success flows from this fit; the higher, the better.
There are two different schools of thought on fit:
1. Best practice argues that there are several practices that will universally lead to
better strategic fit. This is a consensus approach. Pfeffer argues these are:
a. Selective recruitment and selection means a sophisticated way of trying to
recruit and select the best person for the job and organisation.
b. Extensive training means offering opportunity for professional and personal
development
c. Performance-related pay (PRP) links salaries to the performance of the
organisation, such as via bonuses.
d. Teamworking refers to autonomy and self-responsibility in work design,
breaking through the hierarchical model and decentralising responsibility.
e. Information sharing and communication means top management supports
and is involved in what is communicated throughout the organisation
f. Reduction of status differences through avoiding symbols linked to
hierarchical positions, such as executive parking, separate elevators for MT,
or placing higher-ranked employees in higher floors.
g. Employment security means providing insurance for employment, disability,
or death etcetera.
Participation is also defined as a best practice in a later chapter. Explained in lecture
11.
Pfeffer’s best-practice proposition is criticised for its lack of attention to contextual
factors, such as national differences in labour legislation, nature of business,
etcetera. It’s lauded for its simplicity and clarity.
2. Best-fit argues that there is no one approach that fits everything and that you should
custom-tailor your HR to fit your internal and external organisational context. It
posits that organisational success depends on the alignment of HRM with the
organisational context and stresses HRM should be embedded in the organisation.
Context is the set of facts or circumstances that surrounds the organisation. There
are two types:
o Internal context is the organisation’s unique history, administrative heritage, and
organisational culture.
o External context reflects the outside mechanisms that affect the organisation. This
can be determined two ways:
 Market mechanisms can be defined in terms of products, markets, and
technology (PMT dimensions).
 Institutional mechanism represent pressures that stem from legislation,
protocols, procedures, norms and values, and social-cultural issues. Paauwe
calls this the SCL dimensions comprised of social, cultural, and legal.
Deephouse also differentiates between:

 General environment means all the market and institutional mechanisms that
affect all organisations in a country.
 Population environment refers to the community of organisations that
interact with and influence one another. This is usually the sector but can also
include suppliers and related organisations.
The best-fit approach is growing in support and popularity. It’s considered quite difficult to
empirically prove, however. Our book also builds on this model.
The business model is the way an organisations manages its business to make money. Think
of EasyJet selling tickets online. Optimal fit between HRM and context can positively affect
the business model. This fit can be improved through strategic decision making.
Strategy is defined as the organisation’s intention to achieve certain goals through planned
alignment between the organisation and its environment. A strategic plan, usually a written
document, is an indicator for the strategy of an organisation. An optimal strategy includes a
fit between HRM and context.
The goal the organisation is trying to reach can be several types:
o Narrow goals such as exclusively satisfying shareholder interests.
o Broader goals has three types:
 Organisational goals, such as increasing efficiency, quality, and flexibility
 Societal goals, such as satisfying trade union interest and complying with
legislation
 Individual employee goals, such as creating opportunity for work-life balance
Anglo-American approach tends to be narrow, whereas continental European
approaches tend to be broader, including multiple stakeholders.
The model proposed by the German chemical organisation BASF emphasises the
importance of employee representatives inside work councils. This model has been
adopted worldwide.
In strategy, fit or alignment refers to the principle of matching elements, in this case the
organisation and its context. In this definition, the organisation is the social, legal, and
economic entity. The context refers to the internal and external constitution.
Strategic HRM is focused on the alignment between strategy and HR strategy. Boxall and
Purcell call the overall strategy of an organisation the business strategy or competitive
strategy. They argue the business strategy is composed of multiple strategies ‘covering the
various “functional silos” of the business, such as marketing, operations, finance’ etcetera.
The HR strategy is one of these functional silos.
They define business strategy as the system of the firm’s important choices, a system that
could be well integrated around common concerns or which might have various links and
foul-ups.
The strategic contingency approach emphasizes the impact of internal contingencies (e.g.,
firm size, firm history) and external contingencies (e.g., degree of unionization and
legislation) on the shaping and structuring of the organisation. Together with Porter’s
proposed competitive strategies (cost leadership / differentiation / focus), it led to several
‘best fit’ models.
The most common form of fit in this approach is:
1. Strategic or vertical fit referring to the part of the ‘best-fit’ school that argues
alignment between business strategy and HR strategy. There are four linkages in this
strategic fit:
a. Administrative linkage represents the lowest level of integration, only in
administration.
b. One-way linkage means HR strategy is derived from overall business
strategy, but HR does not affect the business strategy.
c. Two-way linkage represents a model in which HR can influence overall
business strategy, which in turn can push HR towards specific interventions.
d. Integrative linkage means full alignment between HRM and strategy. This
usually requires a HR director with a seat at the board of directors.
2. Internal fit or horizontal fit reflects a link between individual HR practices. One
theory in this fit is HR system approach. A HR system is defined as a coherent and
consistent set of HR practice that combined result in higher organisational
performance than if they’d been implemented separately. The underlying idea is
that linking HR practices strengthens the HR strategy.
Deadly combinations refers to a misfit of HR practices, ie. they affect each other
negatively. Think about advocating team work, but then implementing individual
PRP.
Two other types of fit relevant in HR are:
3. Organisational fit refers to the fit between HR strategy, policies, and practices and
other organisational systems, such as communication and information systems,
financial systems, and legal systems.
4. Environmental fit is the link between HR strategy and the institutional environment
of an organisation.
New institutionalism is a theoretical framework within environmental fit that

reflects on the external context of an organisation. This theory claims that
homogeneity among organisations is created through more than just competition,
namely institutional mechanisms. There are three types:
a. Coercive mechanism stem from legislation and procedures, such as labour
legislations.
b. Normative mechanisms are things related to the profession of the employee,
such as the professional norms and routines related to their work. This can
stem from their education or their professional networks. Think of medical
specialists: their routines are not easily changed and if you do so, your HR will
be in trouble trying to bridge the resulting gap.
c. Mimetic mechanism is focused on the general tendency of organisations to
copy each other in times of uncertainty. Think of trends such as LEAN
working. “if others are doing it, we must as well or risk reputational damage”.
Strategic choice is the degree of leeway in strategic decision making given the
organisational context. There are two extremes in this:
1. Hyper-determinism occurs when there is absolutely no leeway.
2. Hyper-voluntarism means an organisation is free to whatever they want.
Paauwe argues that leeway is larger when:
- There is market growth
- There are a limited number of stakeholders
- There are limited laws, rules, procedures, and protocols
- The ratio of labour/total costs tends to be zero, meaning a capital-intensive
organisational context (i.e., many machines rather than many employees).
- The organisation has large financial buffers
- The organisation is a monopolist
The HR strategy scan is used to determine the degree
of fit between HRM and the context. It has six
components and uses the four types of fit:
1. External general market context:
macroeconomic situation in country or region,
labour market situation.
2. External population market context:
competition, maturity/growth/prospects of
market, technology, types of products or
services offered
3. External general institutional context: country
legislation, EU legislation, societal norms and
values
4. External population institutional context: sector legislations, trade-unions, influence
of social partners, influence of other relevant sector-specific stakeholders
5. Internal organisation context (configuration): history, organisational culture,

technology and system used, ownership structure, workforce. Configuration is
defined as the cultural administrative heritage of an organisation. It is deterministic
from an institutional POV, meaning the strategic HR choices are determined by it.
This attaches to RBV (h3) through creating unique people management strategies
that can’t easily be copied.
6. HR strategy: managing employees through 1) selection and recruitment, 2) appraisal
and performance, 3) compensation, 4) L&D, 5) employee participation.
A more detailed HR analysis includes other type of fit, such as:
1. Single employee consistency which is similar to internal fit
2. Among employee consistency referring to the extent to which HR policies are
equally distributed among employees with similar tasks, such as equal pay.
Inconsistency can lead to negative perception of distributive injustice.
3. Temporal consistency represents the degree to which HR policies remain stable over
time, such as management upholding promises to employees. If this is broken,
employee trust and commitment will dwindle.
Critical incidents such as scandals or M&O’s can also be included. Always try to include
different perspectives, so as to distinguish between the ist and soll: ist refers to the actual
situation, whereas soll is the desired situation.
Adaption fit focusses on the degree to which an organisational is capable of changing its HR
strategy and policies to changes in internal and external context.
Lecture 3 (Lucienne Stavenuiter)

Determining what the sustained competitive advantage of an organisation is can help you
in establishing which critical success factors lead to that success. Critical success factors are
influences by:
- Employee attitudes (e.g., employee
commitment and motivation)
- Employee behaviour (e.g., low or high
absence rates)
Both can be influenced by HRM. Therefore, HRM
can influence your competitive advantage.
However, HRM has no direct influence on
performance.
The HR value chain is a model that shows how the HR
activities contribute to company objectives. Boselie
takes a reversed approach, namely how competitive
advantage and specifically sustaining it leads to certain HR practices.
There is agreement that:
1. Human capital can be a source of competitive advantage, such as through core
competences, tacit knowledge, or dynamic capabilities.
2. HR practices have the most direct influence on human capital
3. Because HR is so complex, it helps in making the company and their
success/competitive advantage harder to imitate.
The resource-based view of the firm (RBV) argues that optimal use of your resources (such
as human capital) leads to optimal performance and sustainable competitive advantage.
Value in this theory is the economic conditions of a resource. In order to have value, a
resource must be:
1. Valuable 3. Inimitable
2. Rare 4. Non-substitutable
The VRIO framework stands for value, rareness, inimitability, and organisation. It’s a
hierarchical framework for deciding if a resource will lead to organisational success and
helps formulating strategies through showing which competencies should be kept,
protected, or enhanced.
It distinguishes four levels of performance:
1. Competitive disadvantage happens
when your resource doesn’t meet any of
the VRIO criteria, meaning it won’t help
in sustaining a competitive advantage.
2. Competitive parity means your resource is valuable, but not rare or difficult to
imitate. It won’t do anything special, but it’s not wrong to have. This is level 1.
3. Temporary competitive advantage occurs when your resource is valuable and rare,
but competitors will be able to easily imitate it. You’ll only have that advantage until
you’ve been copied. This is referred to as level 2.
4. Sustainable competitive advantage means a resource meets all criteria, meaning it
will allow you to create and sustain a competitive advantage. This is level 3.
None of these stages can be met if the organisation doesn’t adequately support your
resources. Sustained competitive advantage is therefore not just the result of VRI of a
resource, but also how these resources are acquired, managed, developed, and supported
by organisational systems.
Inimitability is a necessary feature of a valuable resource. This can be achieved through:
1. Path dependency, meaning a resource is acquired through unique historical
conditions, i.e. originate from a chain of past events and can’t be achieved at the
snap of a finger.
2. Social complexity means that the resources generating a competitive advantage are
complex and difficult to understand. Unique networks also count.
3. Causal ambiguity means it’s difficult for people who haven’t been involved in the
process to understand what affects what, i.e. relationships between resources or
aspects of resources are ambiguous
You also have to link your competitive advantage to firm performance in order to create
value. Boxall and Purcell posit that competitive advantage is linked to:
1. Ultimate business goals (UBGs) are the targets an organisation wants to reach in the
short or long term. They consider UBGs to be twofold:
a. Creating and maintaining viability through adequate returns to shareholders
or stakeholders. VRIO is used to assess a company’s ability to do this.
b. Striving for sustained competitive advantage.
2. Organisational performance which is represented by
a. Critical non-HR goals, such as market share, sales, etcetera.
b. Critical HR goals has three main types, though it can have more depending
on the organisation. For example, tech organisations can also require
innovation.
o Labour productivity, i.e. cost-effectiveness; the amount of output per
unit of input (labour, capital, equipment). Does not include quality!
o Organisational flexibility is the capacity to change and/or adapt. Has
three types:
 Numerical flexibility means flexibility in the use of
employees, such as changing the number of employees
depending on your current need.
 Functional flexibility is the degree to which are capable of

performing multiple tasks and functions, such as through
job rotation, enlargement or enrichment.
 Mental flexibility represents the ability and willingness of
employees to change. Is linked to agility: the ability to
adapt easily to changes in environment.
o Social legitimacy and employment citizenship. This has two levels. At
the macro level, it refers to striving for societal acceptance. Think
following rules and legislation and striving for a good reputation, such
as that of a great employer. At the micro level it refers to societal
acceptance within your company, such as through perceived
organisational justice.
There is a natural tension between these three critical goals, as too much focus on the one
can impede the other.
Critical HR goals are influenced by employee attitude
and behaviour. Highly committed employees are more
productive and more flexible. They are linked to HR
outcomes: the result of people management in terms of
employee attitudes, behaviour and cognitive aspects,
such as employee satisfaction, motivation, retention,
and absenteeism.
Distal outcomes are outcomes far removed from the
relevant practices, such as sales or market value. Proximal outcomes are directly affected
by their interventions.
HR activities or practices are the individual interventions, activities, and policies within HR.
We can distinguish three types:
1. Intended HR practices are the policies and intended new HR practices as designed by
HR management
2. Actual HR practices are the HR practices enacted by line managers.
3. Perceived HR practices are the employees’ experiences and perceptions of HR
practice.
The way direct supervisors, in dialogue with employees, translate the intended practices has
the largest influence on how HR practices are perceives. The intervention stands or falls with
the competence of line managers; how they translate or implement it.
Organisational continuity depends on it and its people being:
- Good, i.e., deliver what people want - connected, thus knowing what’s needed
- Agile, i.e. adapt to changes in the world - balance between short-term/long-term
- Flexible, moving with the flow - healthy in terms of ethics, finance, etc.
Employability is the ability of a person to add value to an organisation, while recognising the
value of the work for themselves. Sustainable employability means creating the right
conditions for employees to have a long, healthy, and happy career.
Lecture 4 (Yvonne van Rossenberg)

Metrics contains both qualitative as quantitative. These are usually thought to be
contrastive, but they don’t have to be. The quantitative side is associated with numbers,
measurements, evidence, facts, and details. The qualitative side brings stories, empathy,
understanding, and experience. People tend to be convinced more by stories than numbers.
In HR, it’s essential to combine these two: HR Metrics. Speaking the two languages of
stories and numbers. You have to understand:
- Measurements. Not every detail, but certainly which numbers you are looking at
and vaguely what they entail.
- Valorisation is the increase in value of capital assets. You have to understand how
you finance things.
There are three types of outcomes that you must balance:
1. Financial outcomes, to benefit the (financial) stakeholders
2. Organisational outcomes, meant to benefit the organisation
3. HR outcomes, meant to benefit employees. These are long-term and uncertain
investment
Evidence based decision making is a difficult term for making well-informed decisions. This
is applicable when:
1. You’re trying to set up new interventions / shutting down interventions.
2. Assessing effectiveness of (HR) interventions
3. For tracking/monitoring/insight/predicting/modifying
There are two types of outcomes that result from interventions. Both are quantitative!
1. Hard outcomes are more solid, indicative, and tend to be more distal. Think of
labour productivity, labour costs, sales volumes, etcetera.
2. Soft outcomes require more interpretation, are more predictive and proximal. Think
of employee satisfaction or commitment, engagement, or turnover intention
The balance score card uses four perspectives to measure organisational health:
1. Financial perspective: are you doing well by your shareholders
2. Customer perspective: do they like your products and services
3. Internal perspective: can you efficiently deliver what your customers want
4. Learning & growth perspective: can you continue to improve and create value.
For all perspectives you need to list goals and metrics. The advantage of this was that it
connects to the future: goal setting. However, it offers little space for employee attitudes
and context.
The HR black box is a reference to the fact that we don’t know exactly how our actions on
the organisational level, such as HR practices, influence performance.
The bathtub model is a colloquial name for the relationship between

- Organisational level: HRM practices, organisational
aims, innovation capacity
- Employee level: perception of HRM practices, attitude
- Behaviour: productivity, turnover intention
- And performance: sales, profit, growth, innovation,
number of patents
In order to measure something, you first have to know what you’re studying. What is the
concept, the indicators, and the measurements? For example:
Concept: performance
Intervention: HR Practices: training of sales personnel
Indicators: customer satisfaction
Measurement: increase in sales (before/after)
There is a hierarchy of evidence-based research. From low to high:
- Anecdotal evidence: very important if you want to convince
someone, but you shouldn’t base decisions on this.
- Experimental design: with an experiment group and with a control group. Very
hard to do in practice. Is it still ethical? Still the best way, but sadly not always
possible.
- Survey instruments: so you can measure all relevant subjects
Always important to keep reliability and validity in mind. But it’s also important to mind the
rater: who is judging the situation? If I measure employability, there might be a gap
between how employable I think I am, and how employable my employer thinks I am. There
is always a perception bias in measurements.
Human Resource Accounting (HRA) was a popular technique for measuring the value of
employees in the ‘70s. However, ethical considerations, measurements problems, and the
fact that you can’t “own” employees, meaning that if they leave there’s nothing you can do,
led to HRA becoming less significant.
HR measurement can be focused on:
- Input, such as through HR or organisational and social capital. We measure this
through:
 Presence: did your employees know it was happening? Is it there?
 Satisfaction: were people satisfied?
 Intensity: how did you find out about it?
 Coverage: how many people or which percentage of your workforce actually
attended or made use of the resource
 Importance: was it important to the employees?
- Output i.e.. HR, organisational and financial outcomes
Lecture 5
The 5 I’s from Schnabel imply that organisations need employees that can deal with this.
This requires
1. Employees that are flexible, agile and have expertise or flexpertise: flexible
expertise; expertise in multiple relevant topics.
2. Employees that are willing and capable of change (i.e., intelligent). Change can be
proactive, meaning you look to the future and predict what you will need, and
reactive, means it’s a response to changes in the labour market.
3. Employees that are fast, tolerant to frustration, and persistent.
This is also phrased in that employers look for people who are 1) a chameleon (adaptable),
2) Einstein (intelligent and experts), and 3) a top athlete (speed and endurance).
We also need to look at what the average employees want, which is characterised as:
1. Fun at work 4. Personal development opportunities
2. Social support from superiors 5. A nice group atmosphere
3. An acceptable work-life balance 6. Employment security
The management or employability paradox is the fact that many employers are afraid to
invest in their employees, such as through training and development, thinking that this will
make them more attractive to competitors and therefore likely to leave/be poached.
However, research has shown that people are more likely to stay with your organisation if
you invest in them. Especially higher educated people find an employer who offers these
opportunities more attractive, as they perceive it helpful to the sustainability of their career.
The central question is: do employers want the same as what employees want? Is what’s
good for the employer also good for the employees?
We refer to this as mutual gains proposition. It takes a pluralistic perspective on HRM,
meaning it suggests that there is more than one source of influence on the relationship
between employee and employer and takes into account different stakeholders such as
trade unions and work councils that may have conflicting interests with the employer.
There are two approaches on the nature of mainstream HRM, which focusses on the added
value of HRM, the search for sustained competitive advantage, and strategic fit.
1. Consensus approach builds on the core assumption that ‘what is good for the
employer is also good for the employee, and vice versa’. It offers a set of
characteristic features of HRM:
 There is trust between employer and employee
 There are shared interest between employer and employee
 It’s a harmonious relationship
 The present is little or not affected by the past
 The employee acknowledges organisational hierarchy and the power position

of the employer
 Science is neutral
 Researcher is neutral, anonymous, and out of time and space.
This approach has been criticised due to its lack of attention towards peripheral or
grey-collar workers.
2. Dissensus approach argues that all of the above statements are false. It takes a
critical perspective and often highlights the tensions between employer and
employee interest, i.e. the downside of people management practices in
organisations.
This approach builds on the four frames: the consensus approach is dominated by
the first two frames. The dissensus approach applies the political and symbolical
frame as well.
It furthermore highlights the downside of organisational and HR innovations, such as

job stress, discrimination, the lack of ethical debate in HRM, or the exploitation of
workers.
Reversed mentoring is when younger employees mentor older employees.
Reciprocal mentoring is when mentoring goes both ways. It combats stereotyping, as you
learn more about and interact with the ‘other group’.
As we’ve learnt, there are multiple types of HRM. In terms of research, micro HRM tends to
focus on Organisational Behaviour (OB): how people act in organisations, i.e. attitudes of
people, behaviours at work, at home, or in teams. They focus on the individual employee
level and single HR practices. Occupational psychology also focuses on micro HRM.
Strategic HRM tends to orient itself on the organisational level and multiple HR practices.
Research in OB look at questions like “is a happy worker also a productive worker” or “can
an unhappy worker be productive”. However, it also incorporates organisational health
psychology which looks at employee well-being or what an employee can handle or cope
with (for example in regard to stress). It tends to look more at negative effects.
The job strain model or job demand-job control model by Karasek is central to a lot of
stress research. It makes a distinction between
- job demand is the internal state of stress or how
demanding a job is perceived by the employee. It
refers to stress sources or stressors that require
sustained physical and/or psychological effort or skills.
- job decision latitude refers to the degree of control or
discretion you have in your job; the leeway or room to
manoeuvre in your job, such as working a day from home.
These two dimensions create four job types:

1. Passive jobs have both low job demands and low decision latitude, such as assembly
line workers or bus drivers.
2. Low strain jobs are jobs with low demands and high decision latitude. Think of taxi
drivers or sales representatives.
3. High strain jobs have high job demands and low decision latitude, such as air traffic
controllers or nurses.
4. Active jobs have both high job demand and high decision latitude, such as
researcher, managers, or professors.
The model predicts that strain increases as job demands
increases and that active jobs lead to the development
of new behaviour patterns. You can compensate for high
job demand with lots of support and resources.
Agility is necessary for an organisation. This is perhaps the concept that best explains “what
employers want”. They want to survive the Five I’s and have the organisational capability to
adapt easily to changes in their external environment. Employees want vitality: emotional,
mental, and physical wellbeing. This captures elements of employee satisfaction, job
demand, trust in the organisation.
The HR manager needs to balance these two to create long-term organisational success,
hence the balanced approach.
The strategic balance model states that organisational success can only be achieved when
financial performance and societal performance are above average. A lack of attention to
either is bad for the long-term survival of a company.
Instrumental leadership means that supervisors and employers are overly focused on
productivity and thus inclined to only look at the current situation. They don’t invest in
future, long-term employability as they feel the pay-off period or the return on investment
isn’t interesting. This tends to start at the age of 40.
Lecture 6 (Roel Schouteten)

High performance work systems (HPWS) is one of the most important topics in SHRM;
often related as ‘the holy grail’ of HR studies. It’s about how the use of HR practices or
systems are linked to organisational outcome. It’s defined as:
‘A bundle of specific HR practices that create employee abilities in terms of knowledge and
skills, employee motivation through a sophisticated incentive structure, and employee
opportunity to participate in decision making’.
In order to decide if something is a HPWS, it’s important to define “performance”.
It’s characteristics are:
- A bundle of HR practices, requiring an internal fit between the individual HR
practices so they form a coherent and consistent system that leads to a higher
performance than if they’d been implemented separately: synergistic effects.
- It’s aimed at creating employee abilities to perform
- Creating employee motivation through incentive systems, such as bonusses
- Allowing opportunity for employees to participate in decision making.
This is based on the ability, motivation, and opportunity (AMO) framework which states
that performance depends on:
1. The ability to perform: do they have the skills, knowledge, and capabilities. This can
be enhanced through selective recruitment & selection and training & development.
2. The motivation to perform: do they want to do the job and are they adequality
incentivised/rewarded. This can be improved through performance appraisal
(evaluation and feedback, PRP, coaching, and fair pay.
3. The opportunity to perform or participate: does the organisational structure and
resources enable them to do a proper job. An important part of this is that the
employees have a say in what they do, how they do it, when they do it, etcetera. Is
enhanced through autonomy, rotation/enlargement/enrichment, SMTs, and
decentralisation of decision-making.
According to AMO-theory, a HPWS is ‘a coherent and consistent system of HR practices that
enhances the high performance culture of an organisation to achieve the organisational
goals’. AMO theory is the foundation of HPWS theories.
There are four different schools of thought with varying definitions of HPO. These influences
the concept of HPWS as well.
- Scientific management: division of labour, direct
supervision, motivation only through money, etcetera.
Within this, a high performing organisation is a
combination of division of labour, direct supervision,
improved working conditions, and financial incentives
linked to individual performance.
- Human relations movement: Hawthorne experiments, people are social beings,

etcetera. A HPO consists of special personal attention, motivation through
financial and non-financial incentives, emphasis on cooperation and social aspects,
and good communication and information sharing.
- Revisionism: McGregor theory Y and X, aligning employee motivation with
organisational goals. A HPO became an organisation that applied decentral
decision making, job enlargement/enrichment, increased employee autonomy and
involvement, and performance appraisal (360-feedback).
- Socio-technical systems (STS) theory: technical and social
systems interact; job enlargement/enrichment and
teamwork became more important. If people feel well in
their jobs, they’re more productive. You should integrate
production structure and work systems. A HPO applied
good employment conditions, teamwork, job
enlargement/enrichment, autonomy, and integrated
systems.
The Eastern approach on workplace motivation originating in Japanese car manufacturing
states that involving employees in, for example, improving production systems will lead to
higher productivity. This also brought the understanding that
employees are a source of competitive advantage, which led to HR
becoming more important.
One more element was added to our modern understanding of
HPWS: control. An important theory within the concept of control is
that of Walton. He states there are two types of work systems:
1. Traditional work systems use the so-called control strategy, which is characterized
by a division of labour into small, fixed jobs for which individuals are held
accountable. Think of specialisation, narrowly defined jobs, closely supervised work,
and little input.
2. HPWS apply commitment strategies, which create leeway for employees and
provide challenge and development, such as through
job rotation. It involves extensive teamwork.
Arthur (1994) then generalised this to HR systems, stating that
the control strategy builds on McGregor’s Theory X and the
relevant work systems, and the commitment strategy relates
to Theory Y.
High-Performance Work Systems (HPWS) are a collective name for a consistent and
coherent system of HR practices with internal fit. They consists of bundles of High-
Performance Work Practices (HPWP). Theory on HPWPs is closely related to Pfeffer’s best-
practises. It states that five key practices are necessary for ‘good HRM’:
1. Selective recruitment and selection, meaning you find people who fit the job
(person-job fit) but also the culture, team, and organisation (person-organisation
fit). This second fit is becoming more and more important.
2. Appraisal and performance management (PM). PM is about goal setting and
improving overall performance. More on this in later lectures.
3. Compensation and PRP, as well as employee benefits.
4. Training and development, combined in talent management (TM). TM focusses on
strategic decision making with regard to employee development. ‘Talents’ are
employee groups most valuable to the organisation. More in later lectures.
5. Employee involvement is split up in participation ‘on the shopfloor’ and at higher
levels.
Lean management or Six Sigma systems are basically HPWS that emphasise teamwork,
continuous improvement, responsibility, standardization, development, and consensus-
driven decision making with a focus on long-term goals, which might even be at the expense
of short-term financial goals. It states that you
should outsource everything that’s not
essential or a core part of your business.
Boxall & Macky created an overview of HPWS
literature called the High Involvement Work
System model. They make a clear distinction
between:
- Work practices or work design are things related to the work system, such as job
design, autonomy, or how teams are divided.
- HR practices or employee practices are related to how the employer and
employee interact, such as through contracts, selection, performance appraisals.
These HR practices need to be aligned with the strategic goals.
Both practices influence how employees experience the use of HR practices and therefore
how employees behave. That behaviour, in turn, influences operational outcomes in one of
two ‘paths’:
1. Cognitive path refers to direct influence on operational outcomes, such as through
enhancing skills or knowledge.
2. Motivational path refers to indirect influence on operational outcomes. Think of
increasing trust levels, job satisfaction, or organisational commitment, which can
positively influence retention or decrease absenteeism.
This model also stressed that HRM must be embedded in the organisational context, and
that you must avoid deadly combinations.
If HPWS are cut up into a limited number of HR practices, we call that mini-bundles. There
are several mini-bundles that are known to be beneficial, such as:
- 75% of the workforce uses teamwork + 75% follows training and development =
highest scoring employee performance
- 100% receives performance appraisal + 75% employee involvement practices =

highest scoring innovation
- 100% performance appraisal + 100% perfect information system + 75% job design
= highest scoring employee relations
- 100% job design + 100% employee involvement = lowest turnover
These bundles suggest that intensity and employee coverage (% of workforce subject to the
intervention) are essential to the success of a mini-bundle.
Lecture 7
Recruitment means the different activities of attracting applicants to an organisation. This is
important so you have the correct and necessary human capital to sustain your
organisational goals.
Selection consists of sifting through the pool of applicants and making decisions about their
appropriateness.
They are a part of every-day life. You don’t wait on vacancies opening up, you have to be
proactive. R&S happens quite often due to turnover ( moving up within or outside the
organisation) or when the company expands.
Selective recruitment is a result from the balanced approach, meaning you balance all
stakeholders. It means you select the right people, which is important for organisational
success.
Your recruitment strategy can depend on the position. The damage of a misfit can also
depend per position.
We have several employee groups as proposed by Baron & Kreps.
1. Stars are core employees that add (strategic) value to your organisation. Think of
CEOs, board members, and knowledge workers: those with unique and specific
knowledge.
2. Guardians are core employees that minimise risks and avoid losses. Think of
‘supporting’ functions, such as general line managers, operators, or safety workers.
3. Foot soldiers are the peripheral employees, such as administrative staff or cleaners.
Lepak & Snell built on this concept. They created an HR architectural perspective or HR
architecture model which differentiates between types of employees based on four
dimensions:
- Low or high strategical value
- Low or high uniqueness of competences or skills
- Internalised versus externalised, meaning are they residing inside your
organisation or ‘affiliated’ with it.
- Relational versus transactional. This refers to the nature of your relationship,
whether you shape it through commitment, such as L&D, promotion, and more, or
through transactions such as salary.
This creates four types of workers:
1. Contract workers are workers with low strategic
value and low uniqueness. Think of
2. Alliance partners are those with unique skills, but low
strategic value and are external to your organisation.
Think of lawyers or consultants.
3. Job-based employees are those of low uniqueness but high strategic value. Think of
sales representatives. They’re easily replaced but absolutely essential to the
functioning of the company.
4. Knowledge employees are those with high strategic value, high uniqueness, and are
internal to your organisation. Think of doctors or highly-educated nurses.
They also linked a number of recruitment practices best suited to each work group:
1. Contract workers can be found through e.g. temp agencies
2. Alliance partners are found through networks, online search, or job pitching
(recruiters).
3. Job-based employees can be found through job advertisements, as their tasks are
well-defined.
4. Knowledge employees is usually through headhunting. The tasks are less defined,
meaning it’s harder to give a list of necessary features and requires more talking to
references and interviewing the candidates to see if they’re a fit.
Job content changes at an increasing rate. Next to the utility value, the added value of a job
to the firm or department is the learning value of the job: what it can teach the employee.
All types of workers require attention, but the degree to which does differ.
HR differentiation looks at if we treat different ‘categories’ the same. CEOs, HR employees,
and line managers take different things into consideration, think of economic
considerations, strategic considerations such as organisational fit, legal issues such as NDAs
or discrimination laws, and ethical considerations.
When recruiting, it’s important to consider the employee group you are hiring for: are you
fishing in the right pond? You should aim to represent society in your workforce.
Unconscious bias is the unintentional preference for people ‘like us’. We tend to rate
people higher when we’re more alike, especially in age if we have to rate career
potential/employability. We call this the similarity attraction paradigm.
It’s very important to have well-defined hiring criteria and protocols. This is because hiring
processes can be easily manipulated. Sometimes you are obligated to open the hiring
process to externals, even though you already know who you want to put in the position.
This brings the ethical problem of nepotism and wasting the time of outside applicants.
A realistic job profile (RJP) provides applicants with honest and accurate information about
a vacancy. This falls under expectation management, meaning you communicate clearly
about what to expect. It guarantees the psychological contract is protected.
Signalling is a recruitment tactic to attract the ‘right’ applicants by stressing certain parts of
the job ad. However, you have to make sure that what you promise to candidates align with
what you have promised current employees.
Employment branding or employer branding is the activities you undertake to ‘market’
yourself to current and potential employees as a good employer.
eRecruitment is an encompassing term for recruitment using the internet. Has several
benefits, such as lower costs and lower opportunity for bias, but it’s also harder to make
reliable observations about a candidate.
Edwards (2008) created the concept of person-environment fit (P-E fit), or the match
between employee and their professional environment. In practice, this consist of two
parts:
1. Person-Job fit (P-J Fit) is the general idea that the most qualified candidate is
recruited, as they are most likely to show the best performance. However, it’s very
hard to truly predict future job performance. There are currently three things that
are thought to result in high job knowledge, which is positively related to job
performance:
 General Mental Ability tests (GMAs)
 Conscientiousness
 Job experience
In recent years, we’ve been looking more at competencies and attitudes than
knowledge. It’s a broader reflection of the added value of people, as it encompasses
knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA).
This fit asks two questions:

a. Does the candidate possess the right qualities for the desirable job
performance?
b. Is the job in line with the interests of the candidate.
2. Person-Organisation fit (P-O fit) has to do with the culture of an organization. It’s
the compatibility between people and organization. It occurs when 1) at least one
entity provides what the other needs, and/or 2) they share similar fundamental
characteristics.
The social relationship with your direct manager is one of the most important things
in motivation. Great colleagues cannot substitute the support of your manager.
P-J fit affects job satisfaction and retention. P-O fit affects organisational commitment and
organisational citizenship behaviour (extra-role behaviour). P-J and P-O fit positively affect
each other.
There are several possible causes if there does turn out to be a mismatch, such as:
- Inadequate selection techniques - Change in candidate’s private situation
- Dishonesty during the selection - Unrealistic job preview
Lecture 8 (Yvonne van Rossenberg)

There are two types of interviews used in performance management (PM):
1. Performance evaluation interview is a two-way interaction between line
manager and the employee. There are no consequences other than looking at
future directions.
2. Performance appraisal interview does have consequences; it looks back at the
past and is a one-way interaction. Think of end-of-contract conversations
where you learn whether or not you’re let go. There may be legal specialists
involved in these conversations.
PM is considered a HPWP that informs, guides, monitors, and evaluates employees. It is
thought to provide direction and stimulates employee motivation. It includes the
organisational perspective, and that of employees and society. There are two types:
1. Hard model focusses on direct supervision and monitoring. Think of call centres.
2. Soft model looks at employee wellbeing,
development, and norms & values.
The goal of PM is to improve organisational performance
by connecting employee performance with organisational
performance (motivation). It wants to do this through
developing capabilities of teams and individuals.
When we talk about management, we have to look at other relevant theories, such as Peter
Drucker’s proposed tasks of managers. We already knew that motivation is essential.
 Setting the objectives of the group & how to meet them

 Organise and appoint tasks
 Motivate, encourage, engage, and communicate
 Assess performance
 Developing of knowledge workers
There are trends in performance management theories, such as moving from top-down
appraisals to joint evaluation and 360-feedback, focused on development rather than
content.
360-feedback is more reliable feedback, as you have multiple rators. Important elements
are anonymity, training, time-constraints, data collection and analysis. Downside is that it
costs a lot of time.
Most important is that it aligns with overall business strategy. PM should be discussed in a
macro theoretical framework, explaining how employee behaviour is related to the business
strategy. An ideal PM system contains mini-bundles.
Goal setting theory by Locke & Latham states that individuals are more likely to be
motivated to achieve goals if said goals are set in the ‘right way’, such as SMART. Goals are
the object or aim of an action. They affect motivation and behaviour because they
1. Direct attention 3. Increase persistence (motivate)
2. Regulate efforts 4. Encourage setting action plans (planning)
The role of PM is to translate the organisational goals into employee goals. This is usually
done by the manager or direct supervisor going down the
hierarchal structure. However, things do get lost in translation.
Building on goal setting, expectancy theory helps in this to
influencing employee motivation. It consists of four elements.
Your aim as a manager is to connect these four elements as well
as possible:
1. Effort 3. Outcome
2. Performance 4. Value attached to the outcome or valence
It is possible to outsource parts of your HR process. Possible parts are:
- Compliance - Recruitment & selection (can be dangerous to outsource)
- Payroll - Administration
Fairness and justice are essential in motivating employees. An organisation and PM must be
perceived fair, otherwise you actually lose motivation. If employees perceive they are not
treated fairly, it will cause an emotional, attitudinal, and behaviour reaction. There are two
types of justice
1. Procedural justice is related to the perceived fairness and transparency of processes
by which decisions are made
2. Distributive justice refers to the perceived fairness of outcomes or resource
allocation.
Lecture 9 (Sjoerd Klabbers)

Every company compensates its employees. It aims to:
- Influence employee attitudes and behaviours. Would you come to work if you
weren’t paid for it?
- Controlling labour costs, meaning that higher pay is linked to higher performance.
- Employer branding. You go to the company that pays the most.
But compensation is more than. Money. There are two types:
1. Financial, such as salary, bonusses, 13th months, stocks, etcetera.
2. Non-financial, such as recognition and developmental opportunities
These need to balance, but the non-financial part is often underestimated.
Compensation is decided by:
1. Your role, such as your job description or your job evaluation. Some companies use
the Hay system, which gives a certain number of points to certain aspects of your
job or tasks. This total number then falls in a certain range of salary.
2. Skills and knowledge, such as your education or certificates and experience.
3. Seniority is an automatic increase based on the years in the company. This can be
dangerous as this can impact perceived fairness: if an employee earns more money
just because of seniority but hasn’t actually improved over the years.
4. Status or reputation as is done for football players, for example. But also if you’ve
been CEO for a big company, because your name also carries a brand. I.e.: the more
famous you are, the better you’re paid.
There are also several types of contracts:
1. Permanent is the most beneficial for the worker, as it’s for indefinite time and brings
several insurances.
2. Temporary which is for a fixed time. This can also be done through an outsourcing
company.
3. Absence of a contract, which is illegal but still frequently done such as on farms.
You can also work parttime and fulltime.
It’s common for a certain percentage of your workforce to be flex workers. This is because
you need flexibility, so you can adapt the size of your workforce on your need. The ethical
considerations in this is that it’s horrible for the workers. It offers no security.
There are several types of pay:
1. Fixed pay is a standard amount per month
2. Variable pay such as PFP or a certain amount of money per sale
3. Employee benefits are becoming more important, such as vacation days, flexible
work hours, laptop from work, etcetera.
4. Cafeteria plans mean you can show your own compensation within certain
standards. For example trading an x amount of money per month for extra vacation
days or a lease car.
It’s very important that your compensation is perceived as fair. There are several theories
that elaborate on compensation fairness:
1. Equity theory compares about perceived balance between input
and outcome. Input is things like effort, energy, commitment,
reliability, etcetera. Outcome is all types of rewards or
compensation, such as pay, security, personal growth, etcetera.
However, it’s perceived balance. People tend to overestimate
themselves. We call this the leniency effect: people have unrealistic
views on their own task package and performance. Equitable payment is the
situation where the employee thinks their outcome/input ratio matches that of
others.
2. Idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) mean individual deals (shocker). Depending on the
value or situation of the employee you are more or less flexible. Think of flexible
working times or extra payments. However, all i-deals must be justifiable to other
employees; if you can’t explain it to a satisfactory degree, you should rethink the
deal. You must maintain rules and procedures, but also be flexible: balance.
Too little i-deals means a reputation of rigidity, whereas too many i-deals lead to a
lack of control.
3. Tournament theory is a metaphor for salary spread: what does the top person earn
and what does the ‘lowest’ person earn. This theory offers some key features about
corporate hierarchal compensation:
a. Salaries are fixed and are independent of absolute performance. This means
that the winner gets more than the loser, or the ‘higher’ your job, the more
you earn.
b. You earn more if you perform better compared to other people. In
organisations, promotion is achieved based on relative performance.
c. The level of effort put into being better is reflected in potential increases in
their wage. Compensation and effort increase at a commensurate rate.
d. There is a limit to the spread, meaning the chance you end up with nothing is
small.
4. Expectancy theory is the relationship between effort, performance, and outcome

(reward). Does my effort lead to better performance, and does my performance
result in my desired reward?
In practice, we see that the relationship between effort and reward is quite unclear.
It’s hard to objectively measure performance. Furthermore, the goal of employees
and the organisation can differ. It’s important that a manager knows what the
desired reward is for each employee.
5. Agency theory talks about the conflicting interest of the principle (the owner of
organisation, i.e. shareholders) and the agent (management of organisations). The
principle appoints the agent and compensation is used to control the agent and align
the interests of both parties.
Decoupling is the agent’s inclination to link their reward to factors they can influence
directly and cut out systems that are harder to influence. This can lead to an overt
focus on the short-term, such as market growth, and foregoing long-term goals.
This theory also extends to society, governments, employees, and other

stakeholders. Think of the pressure from society after the Booking scandal.
The Tinbergen norm is a relative norm that states that a top manager cannot earn more
than 5 times the salary of the lowest paid employee. In practice, 1:350 is not an exception.
The Balkenende norm is derived from a statement from an old prime minister who believed
that employees who get paid by tax money shouldn’t make more than €200,000.
Lecture 10 (Lonneke Frie)

Talent Management (TM) is a key HR theme in organisations. It’s a speficic domain focused
on the recruitment, selection, socialisation, development, appraising and rewarding of
talents. It’s a microcosm of HRM. As Davies & Davies (2010) say: “Talent management is the
systematic attraction, identification, development, engagement/retention, and deployment
of those individuals with high potential who are of particular value to an organisation”.
Collings & Mellahi define it as the activities and processes that involve systematic
identification of key positions which contribute to sustainable competitive advantage.
Key elements are:
- ‘Key positions’: jobs of high strategic value
- Sustainable competitive advantage as the ultimate goal
- Talent pool as an exclusive group
- Human resource architecture model
It’s popular due to:
- Ageing population causing pressures on the labour market
- Globalisation has increased global mobility and labour market competition (war
for talent)
- International mobility has created increased challenges in managing diversity
- The transition to complex and dynamic business environments and models
requiring highly qualified and engaged workers (knowledge-based activities
becoming more important)
- It’s a way for SHRM to get a seat ‘at the high table’
- Management has accepted TM as a powerful market domain
Modern TM is the management of talent specifically suited to today’s dynamic competitive
advantage. There’s been a shift towards employee differentiation (talent vs. non-talent)
which is considered a result of increased individualisation and differentiation. TM literature
is built on IHRM, SHRM, and OB, leading to several takes on the topic.
Talents (A.K.A. a-players, high performers or high potentials) can be approached as:
- Talent as people or subject approach, which is focussed on valuable, scarce,
inimitable, and difficult to replace individual employees. Think of succession
planning: the search and development of future leaders. “they are the only one
who can do this”.
- Talent as characteristics of people or object approach is more focused on specific
capabilities of a person that are valuable to the organisation.
We can also distinguish:
 Inclusive approach builds on the assumption that all employees possess some
kind of talent
 Exclusive approach explicitly distinguishes talents and non-talents.
The hard approach in TM is characterised by a subject combined with an exclusive approach

aimed at a very specific employee group.
The soft approach in TM uses the object approach focused on knowledge, skills, and
abilities in combination with an inclusive approach aimed at the total workforce.
The human capital POV on TM argues that talents represent present and future value for
the organisation given their exceptional knowledge, skills, and abilities. They represent a
broad range of high potentials such as generalist and specialist who become the future
drivers of the organisation.
Talents and non-talents can be distinguished on the basis of three things (KSA):
1. Skills include things as administration using specific programs, advising people,
analysing data, teaching, chairing meetings, etcetera.
2. Knowledge is the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject, both firm-
specific understanding of systems, procedures, and operations as a general
understanding of business and society.
3. Ability or capabilities or capacity represent the capacity to perform certain tasks in
the future; their potential contribution.
Adding subject vs. object and inclusive vs. exclusive gives us four
typical TM models, though in practice a large variety may be
observed:
1. High potential competition is a hard approach in which an
elite group of talents is put apart for special treatment. This
pool has strong competition and only the best are awarded.
Think of management trainee programmes, special
leadership opportunities, or PRP.
2. Human resource management is a soft approach that is labelled TM but in reality
covers the traditional functional areas of HRM. Focusses on KSA and doesn’t
distinguish talents/non-talents. Think of PhD training and development programmes
available to all graduate students.
3. Talent differentiation considers everyone a talent, but not in every domain. All
employees are challenged to define and develop specific talents. Think of teachers
who only teach academic writing or executive training.
4. Talent specialisation clearly distinguishes talents/non-talents. Talents are defined in
specific KSA where the focus lies on function rather than the individual. The
distinction between talent generalists (e.g., future leaders) and talent specialists
(e.g., R&D talents) also falls under this. Basically if you’re very hard to replace you’re
a talent.
Human capital theory of human capital point of view is the idea that productivity and
efficiency increases if there is a greater focus on education and training. TM combines this
with RBV and creates the definition “TM is the process through which employers anticipate
and meet their needs for human capital”.
The hard approaches in TM are aimed at knowledge workers (core employees). The soft
approaches are aimed at the rest.
Thunissen argues that TM practices consists of:
1. Recruitment, staffing, and succession planning
2. Training and development
3. Retention management.
Furthermore, line management is also essential for TM. We can therefore assume that the
intended practices/actual practices/perceived practices model is also relevant in this.
Talent retention is the strategic relevance of maintaining optimal human capital within the
organisation, without falling into the trap of the golden cage syndrome: an overinvestment
in employment relationship, usually in terms of high job security, high income, but lack of
promotion opportunities (golden chains). This can lead to lower motivation and increased
job strain.
The 10.000 hour rule suggests that individuals can succeed in a task through fundamental
practice; it makes you an expert in a well-defined domain. 8 to 12 years of 3 hours daily
practice will lead to elite levels. From a ‘soft’ TM approach this can be seen as proof that
everybody can succeed. Related: deliberate study or deliberate practice.
Every company perceives talent differently. It can be seen as the top 10% as well. There is
no one fit approach in TM; every company has their own needs.
Up or out refers to a contract where you have to improve within certain time periods or ‘go
up a scale’ or the employer has a right to fire you.
Occupational expertise has 5 dimensions:
1. Domain-specific knowledge: you know a lot (or everything) about a specific well-
defined topic
2. Domain-specific skills: you know everything you need to be able to do; you’ve
master all the necessary skills
3. Meta-cognitive skills: you are aware of what you know and what you don’t know.
This implies that you also know where to find the knowledge you lack.
4. Social recognition: people recognise that you are good at something. This is a self-
fulfilling prophecy. If you are thought to be an expert, you will be asked to consult on
challenging issues etcetera which in turn leads to you being active, creative, and
aware of current issues, allowing you to keep being an expert. This is absolutely
essential.
5. Growth & flexibility: you are able to deal with changes in your work environment;
keep your knowledge up-to-date.
Flexpertise refers to shifting expertise needs, such as
being skilled in multiple domains or development in ill-
defined or emerging expertise domains. You are aware of multiple contexts to materialise
your expertise and manage different stakeholders with varying expectations of what counts
as expertise.
This leads to a definition of: “the ability of professionals to maintain a certain amount of
expertise under changing circumstances and in different situations, and also the mastery of
certain learning strategies and learning skills to reach a certain level of expertise in any
domain”.
One of the things that flexperts surround themselves with many experts in different fields.
Lecture 11
Lecture was given by Erik Poutsma but by god you need superhuman skills to be able to
listen to his droning for more than a few seconds so this is just the chapter.
Employee participation is a HPWP because of the underlying assumptions that employees
behave optimally when involved in decision making and given responsibility and autonomy.
It’s easily integrated with teamwork.
It has roots in:
- Human relations focus on employee attention/communication/information
sharing.
- STS approach interest in blending technical and work design, including increased
employee responsibility and delegation of tasks (mine example)
- McGregor’s theories
It’s a very broad concept including information sharing, decentralisation of responsibilities
and work design, such as job enrichment and enlargement. It manifests itself on several
levels (employee/organisation/sector/national). Participation in the organisation through
work councils and on sector/national level through trade unions is called institutionalised
employee participation.
Financial participation is a specific form of employee involvement. It focusses on the
employer sharing the profits or ownership with employees (payment in shares also called
employee ownership). It assumes that sharing ownerships/profits will increase employee
commitment, motivation, OCB, and performance. Results are weak and mixed, though.
The AMO model (ability – motivation – opportunity) also explicitly states that employee
participation is essential, such as through employee decision making, autonomy, teamwork,
surveys, and regular meetings.
The unitarist HRM approach is a consensus approach to HRM popular in Anglo-American
context. It focuses on shareholders’ interests and builds on the notion that employers and
employees share common interests.
The pluralist HRM approach argues that employee participation is extremely important in
European organisations. It acknowledges different stakeholders including social partners
who often have different interests to the managers/shareholders. This can lead to conflicts.
Industrial relations (IR) or industrial democracy perspective pays a lot of attention to
institutionalised parts of the employment relationship, such as trade unions, CAOs, and
labour legislation. The IR approach focusses on differences between employees and
employers reflected in power relationships and conflict such as strikes. It argues that
employee participation is not a HPWP
but a right. Seems a dissensus approach.
There are 5 stages of employee participation. This is also called the escalator of
participation:
1. Information sharing is the lowest, representing one-way top-down information.
2. Communication is things like briefings where employees can pose questions; there is
room for interaction between management and employee.
3. Consultation incorporates elements of two-way interaction. Employees are asked
their opinion and management may decide to use suggestions.
4. Codetermination refers to employees and managers jointly making decisions.
5. Control or self-control means the individual employee or autonomous team is in
control of decision making.
Work councils are employee representation at organisational level. They address all issues
that affect the employment relationship within that specific organisation, such as working
conditions, major organisational changes, layoffs, and HR policies. In the Netherlands, all
organisations with 50+ employees need to have a work council. The council is elected and
are partly or fully exempt from their regular job.
The individual employee benefits from this because there is infrastructure for complaint and
issues. A disadvantage is that it’s hard finding employees willing to do this, as the job is very
time-consuming. Poor representation can negatively affect the relationship between
employer and employee. Work councils can also be easily manipulated as they’re an internal
stakeholder with less resources.
The employer benefits from work councils as its much easier to communicate with a
representation than the entire workforce. Disadvantages are that they can limit the room to
manoeuvre.
A European Work Council (EWC) is a form of employee representation in large MNC (1000+
employees with min. 150 employees in 2 EU countries).
Trade unions represent employees at the organisational, branch, and/or national level. The
power of a trade union is partly determined by the degree of unionisation: the percentage
of all relevant workers who are a member of that union.
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) represents trade unions at European
level.
Collective bargaining agreements (CBA) coverage refers to the percentage of workers who
are covered by a CPA.
Employee participation occurs at
1. Multiple levels (individual, organisational, sector, and national.
2. In different forms, such as Institutionalised HR practices and best practices.
Lecture 12 (Omar Habets)

It’s hard to define who is responsible for HRM in an organisation.
There are several HR roles which are part of the HRM of an organisation. The personnel
function represents the HR responsibilities and tasks that are bundles in an HR department
and performed by HR professionals. A personnel function is the HR responsibilities and tasks
that are bundles in an HR department and performed by HR professionals.
Legge found three challenges or HR ambiguities that a HR professionals may encounter in
practice. He argues these are the cause of the lack of power of personnel managers:
1. There is a substantial overlap between personnel management as a set of activities
for all managers and personnel management as a specialist function. Many HR
practices such as appraisals or promotions are already done by the direct manager.
This causes ambiguity between who is in charge of these practices.
2. It’s difficult to define success in personnel management, as well as determine who or
what was responsible for success or failure. HR managers are often unable to
celebrate successes because multiple actors, particular direct managers, are involved
and successes are easily claimed by others. HR failures are blamed on the personnel
manager and department, however.
3. The personnel manager is part of management but has a ‘special’ relationship with
and responsibility for workers. This can create tension between interests or difficulty
mediating in conflicts.
To overcome these ambiguities, personnel managers need power and authority. However,
the capitalist nature of society creates three vicious circles that block the opportunity to
overcome these ambiguities:
1. Lack of power and centrality of decision making results in non-involvement of the
personnel department in the business strategy, meaning HRM can’t influence
change.
2. Personnel managers are uncertain about their success criteria and therefore
uncertain of their priorities. This leads to an absence of strategic focus, which can
lead to dissatisfaction within the organisation.
3. The personnel department is unable to authorise CBAs, i.e. any working condition.
However, Legge posits there are three roles you can choose to overcome both ambiguity as
vicious circle:
1. Conformist innovator acts in line with the business and emphases economic value of
human capital: they speak the ‘business language’ of MT. Includes things like cost-
benefit analysis, HR analytics, statistics, finance, etcetera.
2. Deviant innovator highlights long-term issues and the need to balance economic
interests with human aspects, such as employee well-being and corporate
reputation.
3. Problem-solver is less ambitious but more realistic. They are capable of delivering
HR practices to management and have the basic skills and knowledge of HRM
practices. The idea behind it is that solving HR problems for managers will gain
credibility and strengthen HR reputation. You become this through being grounded
in social science, knowledge, and skills.
Tyson proposed three Weberian ideal types of HR roles. He states that the personnel
function is increasingly fragmentised, which he calls Balkanization.
1. The clerk of works model: HR is administrative support and all authority lies with the
direct managers. HR primarily does recruitment, admin, and support.
2. The contract manager model: concerned with confronting unions; HR acts on behalf
of managers, fix day-to-day issues with the unions and are experts on CBAs.
3. The architect model: HR seeks to create and build the organisation as a whole. It’s a
creative vision in which HR contributes to organisational success through explicit
policies.
Schuler states that HR functions have increasingly changed from just personnel functions to
business managers who are a part of MT, drivers and shapers of change, consultant to
executive, strategy formulator and implementer, talent manager, and cost controller.
Caroll predicted several roles that would become important as a HR professional in addition
to policy formulation and providing personnel services:
1. Delegator: enable direct managers to serve as primary implementers of HRM
2. Technical expert: master highly specific HR-related skills such as remuneration and
management development
3. Innovator: recommend new approaches in solving HRM problems such as
productivity and absenteeism.
Storey developed four roles based on whether they are
1) action oriented or not called interventionary versus
non-interventionary, and focus on 2) strategic versus
tactical choices:
1. Advisors are internal consultants in tune with
recent development but leave the actual running
to direct managers. They have a distant attitude
and advisory role to management.
2. Handmaidens are customer-oriented in the services that they offer based on a
rather subservient relationship with direct management.
3. Regulators formulate, promote, and monitor how the organisation adheres to
(legal/societal) expectations, such as in personnel procedure manuals and unions.
Similar to Tyson’s contract managers: devising, negotiating, and defending rules.
4. Changemakers seek to put relationships with employees in line with what the
business needs. Aim for a pro-active and strategic contribution rather than humble
advice.
Based on this Ulrich developed four roles for HR managers to add value. He uses the
dimensions 1) people vs. process, and 2) strategic vs. operational.
1. Administrative expert role means HR managers design and deliver efficient HR
processes and manage the flow of employees through the
organisation. The deliverable is administrative efficiency.
2. Employee champion role or employee contribution role
encompasses the HR manager’s involvement in day-to-day
problems, concerns, and needs of employees. Deliverables
are aimed at increasing commitment and competence.
3. Change agent role focusses on managing transformation
and change. The deliverable is developing capacity for
change.
4. Strategic partner role is focussed on aligning HR strategies and practices with
business strategy. The deliverable is strategy execution: hr practices help accomplish
business objectives.
The Human Resource Competence Survey (HRCS) is an ongoing project aimed at
discovering which competences are required in HR. In 2002, five domain factors were
identified:
1. Strategic contribution means HR professionals are involved on
a strategic level. They manage culture, facilitate change, are
involved in strategic decision making, and create market-
driven connectivity.
2. Personal credibility means HR professionals are credible both
to their HR counterparts and the business manager whom
they serve. They promise and deliver results and establish reliable track records.
They have effective written and verbal communication skills.
3. HR delivery requires HR managers deliver both traditional and operational HR
activities to their business in 4 major categories:
a. Design development programmes and challenging work experiences, offer
career planning, development on organisational and individual level.
b. Structure, manage the impact of, and measure HR practices
c. Attract, promote, retain, and outplace appropriate people
d. PM such as design performance-based measurement and reward systems
4. Business knowledge means becoming key players
in the organisation; HR professionals must
understand the business and industry, such as the
value chain and value proposition and relevant
labour laws.
5. HR technology means HR professionals are able to
use technology for HR.
Boselie and Paauwe suggest there is a hierarchy: in order
to add value, you must be credible and deliver.
In 2006, the new HR competence model was created. It stipulates 6

domains in 3 levels (individual level/team, group, or business
level/strategy level):
1. Credible activist is a credible and active HR professional.
Credibility is respected, admired, and listened to. Active
means taking a position and challenging assumptions (Legge’s
innovator roles)
2. Operational architect directs the operation aspects of people
management. Key aspects are drafting, adapting, and implementing policies.
Knowledge of skills of HRM and IT is crucial.
3. Talent manager/ organisational designers is an expert in attracting and retaining
talent and are masters of organisation design, focussed on how companies embed
capabilities in organisational structure, processes, and policies.
4. Culture and change steward is the helper of culture management; they nurture
organisational culture such as through socialisation and training, help to shape a new
culture, and make culture real and visible to employees.
5. Strategic architect has a vision of how sustained competitive advantage can be
created through HR. They recognise trends such as in society or technology and
translate this into HR policies.
6. Business ally knows the social context in which the business operates, understand
the value chain of the business, and has a good understanding of the individual
parts, such as finance and marketing. A HR manager is a business ally when:
a. They know who their customers are and which HR relevant actions they are
undertaking.
b. They know the social partners (e.g., unions and councils), society norms and
values, and legislation
c. They have business knowledge of other disciplines
Central to the worth of HRM is the question of economic value vs. moral value.
Jack Welch was an American CEO of General Electric. He argues that HRM is one of the most
important parts of a business. He gives the baseball team analogy: if you want to build a
great team, you don’t want to talk with the team accountant, you want to know the team
manager who knowns every player. They can help you be successful. He says: HRM is now
on the table.
Administrative tasks should take 70-80% of working time.
In 2021, a new HRCS model was presented: successful HR professionals in a changing world.
It’s more holistic. It’s five dimensions are:
1. Mobilize information: big data. Have the proper systems to use the data you have.
Hr analytics and measurements. Ethics is a big part here: should we collect all this
data?
2. Advance human capability: elevate talent (war on talent).

Look closely at things like inclusion, equity and diversity.
3. Foster collaboration: think of the credible activist; have the
relationships with all levels with the organisation.
4. Accelerate business: you need to be able to generate
competitiveness within the organisation; where do you need
to play into (trends)
5. And simplify complexity: organisation have a lot of
interdisciplinary problems; you must be able to simplify this to make rational
decision.
Huselid is an evidence based HRM study that shows that professional HRM capabilities have
a positive effect on the overall effectiveness of HR.
Biemans posits that there are significant perception differences between employees, line
managers, and HR professionals. HR professionals are much more positive about themselves
than line manager and employees are about them. This ties into the intended, actual, and
perceived HR practices.
Lecture 13
Globalisation is the transition from local or regional activities to global ones. These activities
can include markets, products, services, information sharing, communication, and many
others.
It impacts organisation in many instances, such as digital data transmission, global

communication and social media, the internet as a market place, and cheap labour
transfers.
Internationalisation occurs when, mainly large, organisations expand their international

activities.
IHRM is defined as HRM in multi-national corporations and HRM across borders. It’s focused
on, for example, the transferability of HR practices across borders and expatriate
management.
Brewster makes a distinction between 2 paradigms:
1. Universalist assumes the existence of best practices in IHRM, such as careful and
extensive systems for recruitment. This proposes further convergence in HRM,
meaning that HR practices are transferred and adopted.
2. Contextual is more popular in Europe, building on the notion that there might be
some best principles but that the organisational context ultimately determines the
nature of specific HR practices that fit best. An illustration of this is for example
network recruiting in South Europe. It also includes a broader stakeholder
perspective, including social partners (trade unions and work councils).
IHRM is manifested at different levels:
1. Individual employee level such as for example expatriate management

2. Site level issues which include single business units
3. Organisational level issues when there are multiple sites in a country and across
countries
4. National level is related to labour legislation and CBAs
5. Regional or continental level is pretty self-explanatory
6. International level such as the UN operating on global scales or ING having a
universal HR strategy world-wide
The differences between countries, regions, and continents is based on:
1. Cultural variations. For this, we tend to use Hofstede, who studied cross-cultural
differences and offered several dimensions:
a. Collectivist vs individualistic
b. Masculine vs feminine
c. Power distance
d. Uncertainty avoidance
e. Long term vs. short term orientation
f. Indulgence vs. restraint

2. Institutional variations are things like the general environment and the population
environment.
Global differentiation within an MNC can lead to corporations deciding to apply one global
HR strategy or use a differentiated model with maximum leeway for local HR strategies.
This option can be based on cultural and/or institutional notions mentioned before. IBM has
a global strategy, IKEA a local one, and Unilever a hybrid HR strategy.
Expatriates are employees who temporarily or permanently work in a different country than
their home country. Culture shock is inevitable. In expatriate management, you should pay
specific attention to
- Expat compensation - Insurance and emergency plans
- Allowance: cost of living and housing - Taxation management
- Health and benefit plans - Family and cross-cultural support
You should also have a program for returning expatriates: repatriation. Reverse culture
shock is a thing 
Knowledge transfer on a global scale is a powerful instrument for increasing global

performance. There are conditions:
- Existence of an information and communication network

- Access to the network for employees
- Employee knowledge and skills to operate said system
- Willingness to share knowledge and experiences with others as part of a corporate
culture in which knowledge sharing is essential and common
- Cross cultural awareness and good communication
Outsourcing is subcontracting business activities to external companies. A key driver is cost

reduction and renewed strategic focus on core business activities.
Offshoring is the relocation of business activities to other, usually cheaper, countries such as
labour or factories.
Offshore outsourcing implies an outsourcing of business activities to an external company in

another country. Cutting costs is a main driver here. Skilled jobs are also not safe from
offshoring.
IHRM is strategically relevant because of the crisis that all organisations world-wide face,
such as global financial crisis, demands for natural resources, global warming, and aging
population. Another question to ask is ‘if you produce a product in a low-cost country and
sell it for a high price in a high-cost country, what is the fair wage for the low-cost country
workers in comparison to the profits made?’
Guanxi is a Chinese term for a concept of relationship and connection but has overtones of
influence and (mutual) obligation. Similar to Wasta in middle-Eastern countries.
Briscoe and Schuler argue that IHRM implies:
- Responsibility for a greater number of and more complex activities, including

expatriation
- A broadening of expertise to include knowledge of foreign countries, employment
laws, etcetera.
- Involvement with a greater mix of employees
- Coping with external influences and multiple cultures
- Greater involvement of employees’ lives, particularly in the case of expatriation
- Ability to manage difficulties and risks, particularly if a subsidiary is being
established in a developing country
The difference between HRM and IHRM:
Culture is a complex, variable phenomenon. We should find a good mix between a global HR
strategy and local HR policies.
The institutional perspective on HRM looks at the influence that environmental factors
have on the adoption of HR practices. It tends to use case and historical analysis and
measures at four levels:
1. Society, meaning the institutional foundations such as retirement age, values,

norms, etcetera.
2. Industry. Academics behave vastly different to miners, for example. You also have to
take into account safety regulations or different unions.
3. Organisation such as the hierarchical relations and HRM activities
4. Department ???
Lecture 14 (Houtzager)
HR practices are activities such as recruitment, selection, training, development, and
compensation.
Work practices are things like employee involvement, employee autonomy, teamwork, job
rotation/enlargement/enrichment. Work practices cover the area of work and job design
that are essential in times of organisational change and restructuring.
Work practices require actual organisational design and implementation but also offers the
chance to link HRM to other organisational factors.
HRM is all about implementation. It focusses on the transformation from policies to actual
practices, both HR practices (instruments) and work practices (design parameters).
Becker and Huselid posit that implementation
should rely on an appropriate match between
HR architecture and strategic choice. They think
that implementation falls under the actual HR
practices. They plea for more attention to
implementation.
Innovation used to come top-down through management consultants
and other. The decrease in hierarchy has led to innovation now also
coming from outside sources or the networks of employees. There are
many more ‘levels’ from which innovation can come.
However, this means that most of these innovations are not generally
known and not connected to each other. This is where implementation strategy or
strategy-as-practice approach come in.
Strategy-as-practice links the overall business strategy to the
functional silos and the implementation strategy for the functional
strategy.
Functional silos represent the intended practices and the
implementation strategy the actual practices.
Inside-out thinking refers to building your business activities or
model on your internal strengths and cultural administrative heritage (configuration, h2).
This is an integral part of a well thought-out implementation strategy.
The implementation strategy covers all the functional silos of the overall business strategy
and is aimed at the transformation of strategies and policies in interventions.
The implementation strategy builds on capital. There are three types of capital in an
organisation:
1. Human capital represents the knowledge, skills, and abilities of its members.
2. Social capital is the valuable social networks and

relationships between employees within an organisation as
well as the employees’ external networks.
3. Organisational capital is the hardware and software of an
organisation, such as practices and systems as well as
structure and culture.
The configuration of the three forms of capital enables the
existence of an implementation strategy.
Building an implementation strategy based on the inside-out approach requires three
things:
- Mapping of best principles within the organisation is used to discover ‘untapped’
resources.
- Showing leadership, such as through leadership programmes
- Creating connections amongst employees; build internal networks
Trust is essential in implementation strategy, as trust enables the ability and willingness to
change. Important factors to create this are:
- Transparency and openness - Autonomy
- Participation at all levels - Formal procedures/organisational justice
- Fairness/organisational justice - Communication
However, fun is also important in organisational change and implementation. Think of social
events. They allow for communication, create social ties and connections, and celebrate
successes.
Line managers are also referred to as HR enactors. HR professionals can become HR
connectors in the implementation strategy by supporting the three key principles. The three
key principles of implementation presented in this chapter are:
1. Best principles, i.e. the things your organisation is strongest at
2. Leadership
3. Connectivity
VUCA means the way the world has changed in recent decades. It has become more:
- Volatile
- Uncertain
- Complex
- Ambiguous
The more dynamic the circumstances are, the more the business results depend on the
adaptability of leadership, management, and the employees. A learning culture and
connectivity (networking and cooperation) is a necessity for this.
Ignited purpose refers to the ‘why’ of strategy: why do we do what we do?
Culture eats strategy for breakfast refers to the fact that you have to fit your company
goals to its culture, because culture will prevail. If your business goals do not align with what
your culture (i.e. employees) find important, the results will be disastrous until you’ll either
change your goal, kill your company, or completely change the culture with all due
consequences (such as people leaving).
I didn’t watch the rest of the lecture he’s chaotic af and makes my head hurt.

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Strategic Human Resource Management

b. A broad societal view has an emphasis on different institutional context, such

Lecture 2 – chapter summary

Deephouse also differentiates between:

New institutionalism is a theoretical framework within environmental fit that

5. Internal organisation context (configuration): history, organisational culture,

Lecture 3 (Lucienne Stavenuiter)

 Functional flexibility is the degree to which are capable of

Lecture 4 (Yvonne van Rossenberg)

The bathtub model is a colloquial name for the relationship between

 The employee acknowledges organisational hierarchy and the power position

It furthermore highlights the downside of organisational and HR innovations, such as

These two dimensions create four job types:

Lecture 6 (Roel Schouteten)

- Human relations movement: Hawthorne experiments, people are social beings,

- 100% receives performance appraisal + 75% employee involvement practices =

This fit asks two questions:

Lecture 8 (Yvonne van Rossenberg)

 Setting the objectives of the group & how to meet them

Lecture 9 (Sjoerd Klabbers)

4. Expectancy theory is the relationship between effort, performance, and outcome

This theory also extends to society, governments, employees, and other

Lecture 10 (Lonneke Frie)

The hard approach in TM is characterised by a subject combined with an exclusive approach

Lecture 12 (Omar Habets)

In 2006, the new HR competence model was created. It stipulates 6

2. Advance human capability: elevate talent (war on talent).

It impacts organisation in many instances, such as digital data transmission, global

Internationalisation occurs when, mainly large, organisations expand their international

Brewster makes a distinction between 2 paradigms:

IHRM is manifested at different levels:

1. Individual employee level such as for example expatriate management

The differences between countries, regions, and continents is based on:

f. Indulgence vs. restraint

Knowledge transfer on a global scale is a powerful instrument for increasing global

- Existence of an information and communication network

Outsourcing is subcontracting business activities to external companies. A key driver is cost

Offshore outsourcing implies an outsourcing of business activities to an external company in

Briscoe and Schuler argue that IHRM implies:

- Responsibility for a greater number of and more complex activities, including

The difference between HRM and IHRM:

1. Society, meaning the institutional foundations such as retirement age, values,

2. Social capital is the valuable social networks and

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