DE GLAZEN BOX VAN HRM En de verschillende vormen van betrokkenheid bij medewerkers in de zorg

ABSTRACT: THE GLASS BOX OF HRM AND THE DIFFERENT FOCI OF COMMITMENT OF EMPLOYEES IN THE HEALTH CARE SECTOR Keywords: Strategic human resource management, commitment, communication, intended HRM, perceived HRM, HRM value chain. It is still unclear how the relationship works between strategic human resource management (SHRM) and the performance of organizations. That there is a relation has already been proven in previous studies. It is also clear that the employee plays an important role between the intended HRM policy and performance and that this is also true for the line manager. Because of this the black box has turned into a glass box over the recent years. This does not mean that it has become exactly clear how HRM contributes to organizational performance. There is now more knowledge available on the process, also called the HRM value chain. This research has the purpose to contribute to the clarification of the glass box. The research builds on previous knowledge and zooms further into the relationship between the line manager and the employees. The central research question of this study is: ‘In what way do the HRM perceptions of highly educated employees within the health care sector play a role in the relationship between the implemented HRM policy and commitment? And what role does communication play on the relation between the implemented HRM policy and the perceived HRM policy?’ A quantitative research was conducted on secondary data, data that was collected by questionnaires sent to managers and employees working in three health care organizations in The Netherlands. They gave their opinion on 32 HR items. The research under 906 employees shows that the way the managers rate the implemented HRM policy does relate weak but significant with the way the employees perceive the HRM policy. It also shows that communication does not moderate the relation between the manager rated HRM and the employees rated HRM, although the research shows that there is a strong significant direct relation between communications of the line managers and employee rated HRM. The employees also answered questions concerning their commitment to the organization and to the department. Their intention to leave the organization was measured as a control variable. The way the employees rate the HRM policy has a significant relation to their commitment to the organization and to the department. When more HRM is perceived by the employees than they are more committed and they show less intention to leave the organization. The last research question concerned the mediating role of the perceptions of the employees between the manager rated HRM and the foci of commitment. The study does not show a relation between managers rated HRM and commitment. And because of this there is no possibility of the employees rated HRM to mediate the relationship. On the other hand a significant relationship exists between managers rated HRM and the intention to leave the organization as a form of continuance commitment. The employees’ perceptions do mediate this relationship fully. Recommendations have been made that are aimed at continuing the research on the relationship between intended and perceived HRM policy between managers and employees. It is suggested to not only study communication as a moderator, but also to look at the implementation process of the HRM policy, leadership style and the perception of the people management skills of the managers. In this research no difference was found between low and highly educated employees in the health care industry. Future research is necessary to better understand the difference between these groups of employees. There is also room for more research in the area of the different foci of commitment, like the commitment to patients and the effect of HRM on affective and continuance commitment. From a more practical point of view it is recommended for organizations to pay attention to the communication skills and HR competencies of their manager