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Analysis of human resource management challenges in implementation of industry 4.0 in Indian automobile industry

Top management green commitment and green intellectual capital as enablers of hotel environmental performance: the mediating role of green human resource management, the study of knowledge employee voice among the knowledge-based companies: the case of an emerging economy.

PurposeA review of previous studies on the voices of employees and knowledge workers clarifies that paying attention to employees' voice is critical in human resource management. However, limited studies have been conducted on it, and much less emphasis has been placed compared to other human resource management activities such as human resource planning. Therefore, the voice of knowledge employees has been one of the critical issues that have attracted a great deal of attention recently. Nonetheless, there is no evidence of various comprehensive and integrated voice mechanisms. As a result, this study aims to design knowledge workers' voice patterns in knowledge-based companies specialising in information and communication technology (ICT) in Iran in May and June 2020.Design/methodology/approachThis study is a qualitative grounded theory research. We collected the data from a target sample of 15 experts in knowledge-based ICT companies using in-depth semi-structured interviews. Since all the participants had practised the employee voice process, they were regarded as useful data sources. Data analysis was also performed using three-step coding (open, axial and selective) by Atlas T8, which eventually led to identifying 14 components and 38 selected codes. We placed identified components in a paradigm model, including Personality Characteristics, Job Factors, Economic Factors, Cultural Factors, Organisational Policies, Organisational Structure, Climate Of Voice in the Organisation, Management Factors, Emotional Events, Communications and Networking, Contrast and Conflict and, etc. Then, the voice pattern of the knowledge staff was drawn.FindingsThe results showed that constructive knowledge voice influences the recognition of environmental opportunities and, additionally, it helps the competitive advantages among the employees. By forming the concept of knowledge staff voice, it can be concluded that paying attention to knowledge staff voice leads to presenting creative solutions to do affairs in critical situations. The presentation of these solutions by knowledge workers results in the acceptance of environmental changes, recognition and exploitation of new chances and ideas, and sharing experiences in Iranian knowledge-based companies.Practical implicationsStrengthening and expanding the voice of employees in knowledge-oriented companies can pave the way to growth and development towards a higher future that prevents the waste of tangible and intangible assets.Originality/valueCompanies' ability to engage in knowledge workers is a vital factor in human resource management and strategic management. However, the employee voice has not been involved integrally in the context of corporate.

Achieving Human Resource Management Sustainability in Universities

The sustainability of human resource management (HRM) is the basis for an organization’s future growth and success. This study aims to investigate achieving HRM sustainability in universities. We use a quantitative research method design to investigate the factors that affect HRM sustainability at universities. The study was conducted during the spring and summer of 2020 at Iranian state universities. As the study’s statistical population included 2543 employees, a sample size of 334 employees was calculated using the Cochran formula. A questionnaire with 32 statements based on a 5-point Likert scale was used to collect the data, which were analyzed using PLS3 software. The findings show that human resource practices, social factors, psychological factors, employer branding, and economic factors have positive and significant effects on HRM sustainability at universities. Findings indicate that it is essential to consider the implementation of adequate HRM practices and related socio-economic and psychological supports for HRM sustainability in universities that can lead to the competitiveness of the higher education institutions such as universities.

Relationship Model between Human Resource Management Activities and Performance Based on LMBP Algorithm

The research on the relationship between human resource management activities and performance is an important topic of enterprise human resource management research. There are some errors between the relationship between human resource management activities and performance and the real situation, so it is impossible to accurately predict the performance fluctuation. Therefore, the relationship model between human resource management activities and performance based on the LMBP algorithm is constructed. Using the Levenberg–Marquardt (LM) algorithm and BP (back-propagation) neural network algorithm to establish a new LMBP algorithm, control the convergence of the new algorithm, optimize the accuracy of the algorithm, and then apply the LMBP algorithm to predict the risk of performance fluctuation under human resource management activities of enterprises, the indicators of human resource management activities of enterprises are determined, to complete the mining of enterprise performance data, the grey correlation analysis is combined, and the relationship model between human resource management activities and performance is built. The experimental samples are selected from CSMAR database, and the simulation experiment is designed. Using different algorithms to forecast the fluctuation of enterprise performance, the experimental results show that the LMBP algorithm can more accurately reflect the relationship between enterprise HRM and performance.

Inclusive human resource management in freelancers' employment relationships: The role of organizational needs and freelancers' psychological contracts

Student leadership programme: igniting the young minds.

Learning outcomes This case will help students to understand the following: Develop a basic understanding of competency building processes. Learn about the mentoring process and its application in leadership development. Develop awareness about the methodology for assessment of the effectiveness of training. Case overview/synopsis Dr A. R. K. Pillai founded the Indian Leprosy Foundation in 1970 in response to the national call by late Mrs Indira Gandhi, prime minister of India, to the public-spirited people to take up leprosy eradication. It collaborated with international agencies to reduce leprosy drastically in India from four million, in 1982 to around a hundred thousand cases in 2006. In 2006, the Indian Leprosy Foundation was renamed as Indian Development Foundation (IDF) as the trustees decided to expand the work of IDF in the areas of health, children’s education and women’s empowerment. Dr Narayan Iyer, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of IDF initiated a leadership development intervention called the Students’ leadership programme (SLP) for children in the age group of 12 to 14, from the urban poor households in 2014. It was a structured mentoring programme spanning over three months in collaboration with the schools. It aimed at incubating skills in the areas of leadership, teamwork, personality, behavioural traits and provided career guidance. It had a humble beginning in 2014 with a coverage of 50 students. Initially, IDF welcomed executives from the corporate sector as mentors. As there was a need to rapidly expand the scope of SLP to the other cities of India, IDF tied up with the graduate colleges and invited the students to be the mentors. The other objective behind this move was to create social awareness among the students from more affluent strata of society. IDF was able to dramatically increase the participation of the students through SLP by approximately up to 100,000 by 2020. However, rapid progress threw up multiple challenges. The teachers complained about the non-availability of the students for regular classes to teach the syllabus as the students were busy with SLP. The schools forced IDF to shorten the duration of SLP to two months. Also, many undergraduate mentors were unable to coach the participants due to lack of maturity and found wanting to strike a rapport with them. There was a shortage of corporate executives who volunteered for the mentoring, due to work pressures. Dr Narayan, CEO & National Coordinator and Ms Mallika Ramchandran, the project head of SLP at IDF, were worried about the desired impact of SLP on the participants and its sustainability due to these challenges. So, with the support of Dr Narayan, she initiated a detailed survey to assess the ground-level impact of SLP. The objective was to get clarity about what was working for SLP and what aspects needed to improve, to make the programme more effective. Overall feedback from the survey was very positive. The mothers had seen very positive changes in the participants’ behaviour post-SLP. The teachers had specific concerns about the effectiveness of undergraduate mentors. The need for a refresher course to inculcate ethical behaviour and the inadequacy of the two-month duration of the SLP to reinforce values were highlighted. Respondents also voiced the requirement to build responsible citizenship behaviours among the participants. Mallika was all for preparing a model to further enhance the effectiveness of SLP. Dr Narayan and Mallika embraced the challenge and they were raring to go to develop SLP as a cutting-edge leadership programme and to take it to new heights. Complexity academic level This case can be used in courses on human resource management in postgraduate and graduate management programmes. It can also be used in the general and development management courses and during executive education programmes to teach methodologies for evaluating the effectiveness of the training interventions, with emphasis on the voluntary sector. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 6: Human Resource Management.

Sustainable human resource management: six defining characteristics

Socially responsible human resource management and employee ethical voice: roles of employee ethical self‐efficacy and organizational identification, feasibility of implementing the human resource payroll management system based on cloud computing.

PurposeThe present study is descriptive research in terms of purpose, descriptive analysis in terms of nature and cross-sectional research in terms of time. The study’s statistical population includes all employees and managers of the China City Organization selected as sample members using random sampling method and Krejcie table of 242 people. The questionnaire was modified and revised based on the goals, tasks and mission of the target organization to collect information. In data analysis, due to the normality of data distribution, the structural equation modeling method is used to evaluate the causal model, reliability and validity of the measurement model. Evaluation and validation of the model are done through the structural equation model. Questionnaire-based model and data are analyzed using Smart PLS 3.0. The main purpose of this study is to assess the feasibility of implementing the human resource payroll management system based on cloud computing technology.Design/methodology/approachNew technologies require innovative approaches for creating valuable opportunities in an organization to integrate the physical flows of goods and services and financial information. Today, cloud computing is an emerging mechanism for high-level computing as a storage system. It is used to connect to network hosts, infrastructure and applications and provide reliable services. Due to advances in this field, cloud computing is used to perform operations related to human resources. The role, importance and application of cloud computing in human resource management, such as reducing the cost of hardware and information software in hiring, job planning, employee selection, employee socialization, payroll, employee performance appraisal, rewards, etc., is raised. This way, human resource management teams can easily view resumes, sort candidates and observe and analyze their performance. Cloud computing is effective in implementing human resource payroll management systems. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study is to assess the feasibility of implementing the human resource payroll management system based on cloud computing technology.FindingsTesting the research hypotheses shows that the dimension desirability of ability and acceptance is provided in dimensions related to the minimum conditions required to implement cloud computing technology in the organization. For this reason, the feasibility of implementing the systems based on cloud computing in companies must be considered.Research limitations/implicationsThis study also has some limitations that need to be considered in evaluating the results. The study is limited to one region. It cannot be assured that the factors examined in other areas are effective. The research design for this study is a cross-sectional study. It represents the static relationship between the variables. Since cross-sectional data from variable relationships are taken at a single point in time, they are collected in other periods. As a proposal, future researchers intend to investigate the impact of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems based on cloud computing.Practical implicationsThe research also includes companies, departments and individuals associated with systems based on cloud computing.Originality/valueIn this paper, the feasibility of implementing the human resource payroll management system based on cloud computing is pointed out, and the approach to resolve the problem is applied to a practical example. The presented model in this article provides a complete framework to investigate the feasibility of implementing the human resource payroll management system based on cloud computing.

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Human Resource Management Research Paper Topics

Human resource management research paper topics are a critical area of study for students and professionals aiming to understand and advance the field of Human Resource Management (HRM). With the rise of complex organizational structures, diverse workplace environments, and evolving employment laws, HRM has become an essential part of any successful organization. This abstract provides an overview of the multifaceted world of HRM research and introduces a comprehensive list of research paper topics that cater to various aspects of HRM. From talent acquisition to employee retention, performance evaluation, training, and legal compliance, the following sections will offer detailed insights into these areas. Students interested in pursuing research in HRM will find these topics engaging and highly relevant to the current organizational landscape. Additionally, they will be introduced to iResearchNet’s writing services that provide expert assistance in producing custom HRM research papers, ensuring quality, depth, and adherence to academic standards.

100 Human Resource Management Research Paper Topics

Human Resource Management (HRM) is a field that delves into the multifaceted interactions between employees and organizations. The role of HRM has evolved over time to include not only the management of recruitment and employee relations but also strategic planning, legal compliance, and organizational development. Here, we present a comprehensive list of Human Resource Management research paper topics divided into 10 essential categories, each containing 10 specific topics.

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HRM is a dynamic and broad field that demands multidimensional approaches to study. As students explore various topics, they will find intricate connections between management strategies, organizational behavior, and employee satisfaction. The following list serves as an inclusive guide to inspire research and academic inquiry.

The role of HRM in organizational strategy
Integrating HRM and business planning
Talent management strategies
Outsourcing HR functions: Pros and cons
Technology and HRM
Cross-cultural HRM
Mergers and acquisitions: HRM challenges
Strategic HR planning and organizational success
The future of strategic HRM
Best HR practices in top-performing companies
Innovative recruitment techniques
Bias and discrimination in the recruitment process
Role of artificial intelligence in recruitment
Recruitment marketing strategies
Social media as a recruitment tool
Ethics in employee selection
Assessing the effectiveness of recruitment strategies
Diversity and inclusion in recruitment
Remote hiring practices
Campus recruitment strategies
The effectiveness of training programs
Employee development and organizational growth
The role of mentors in employee growth
E-learning and virtual training methods
Personalized training approaches
Training evaluation methods
Cross-training and skill development
The future of corporate training
Impact of continuous learning culture
Leadership development programs
Modern performance appraisal techniques
360-degree feedback system
Employee engagement and performance
Performance management and job satisfaction
Aligning performance goals with organizational objectives
Challenges in performance evaluation
Performance-based rewards
Emotional intelligence and employee performance
Performance management in remote work environments
Real-time performance tracking systems
Building trust and collaboration among employees
Conflict resolution strategies
Impact of organizational culture on employee engagement
Managing generational differences in the workplace
Role of leadership in fostering engagement
Employee wellness programs
The psychology of employee engagement
Communication strategies for employee relations
Remote employee engagement tactics
Work-life balance initiatives
Salary negotiation techniques
The psychology of compensation
Pay equity and gender wage gap
The impact of benefits on employee retention
Flexible compensation models
Global compensation strategies
Linking compensation to performance
Employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs)
Non-monetary benefits and motivation
Compensation transparency
Labor law compliance in multinational corporations
Whistleblowing and ethical considerations
HRM in unionized workplaces
Workplace harassment laws
Employee rights and employer responsibilities
Managing employee terminations ethically
Diversity and anti-discrimination policies
Legal aspects of employee benefits
Remote work and legal challenges
Ethical dilemmas in HRM
Building a diverse workforce
Strategies for fostering inclusion
The impact of diversity on team performance
Gender diversity in leadership roles
Managing cultural diversity
Age diversity in the workplace
Disability inclusion strategies
LGBT+ inclusion in the workplace
Ethnic diversity and organizational success
Bias reduction training
The role of HRM in shaping organizational culture
Employee behavior and organizational success
Workplace norms and values
Emotional labor in organizations
Organizational change management
Strategies for building a positive work environment
Employee motivation and organizational culture
The psychology of workplace relationships
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and culture
The role of leadership in defining organizational culture
Emerging Trends in HRM
HRM in the gig economy
Artificial intelligence and HRM
Employee mental health and well-being
Sustainability and HRM
The future of remote work
Integrating HRM and corporate social responsibility (CSR)
Blockchain in HRM
Personal branding in HR
The role of big data analytics in HRM
HRM challenges in the post-pandemic world

The list of human resource management research paper topics presented above offers a rich and diverse avenue for exploration. Each category delves into core aspects of HRM, reflecting the ever-changing nature of this field. As students embark on their research journey, they will discover a world that intricately connects people, organizations, and societal values. Whether focusing on traditional practices or emerging trends, these topics provide the starting point for meaningful inquiry and the creation of knowledge that contributes to the continued growth and evolution of HRM.

Human Resource Management and the Range of Research Paper Topics

Human Resource Management (HRM) is an interdisciplinary field that integrates aspects of management, psychology, sociology, economics, and legal studies. It is the art and science of managing people within an organization to maximize their performance, well-being, and alignment with strategic goals. As a broad and multifaceted domain, HRM opens doors to a wide array of research opportunities. This article will explore the essence of HRM, its historical evolution, theoretical frameworks, practical applications, and the myriad of research paper topics it offers.

Historical Background

The history of HRM can be traced back to the early 20th century, during the rise of the industrial revolution. The scientific management theory introduced by Frederick Taylor sought to apply scientific principles to worker productivity. As the business environment grew more complex, the Hawthorne studies emerged, highlighting the importance of social factors and human relations in the workplace. The evolution from personnel management to modern HRM reflects a shift from viewing employees as mere resources to recognizing them as valuable assets.

Theoretical Frameworks

HRM is underpinned by several key theories that guide practice:

Resource-Based View (RBV): Emphasizes the role of human resources as a competitive advantage.
Equity Theory: Focuses on fairness and justice in employee relations.
Expectancy Theory: Explains how employees are motivated by the expected outcomes of their actions.
Human Capital Theory: Regards employees as assets whose value can be enhanced through training and development.

These theories offer diverse perspectives for research, ranging from organizational behavior to strategic HRM.

Key Functions and Practices

The scope of HRM encompasses various functions that address the needs of both the organization and its employees:

Recruitment and Selection: Designing and implementing processes to attract and hire suitable candidates.
Training and Development: Enhancing employee skills and knowledge through continuous learning.
Performance Management: Assessing and managing employee performance to align with organizational goals.
Compensation and Benefits: Structuring pay and rewards to motivate and retain talent.
Labor Relations: Navigating the legal landscape and fostering healthy employee-employer relationships.

Contemporary Challenges

Modern HRM faces several challenges that provide fertile grounds for research:

Diversity and Inclusion: Creating a workforce that represents various backgrounds, beliefs, and perspectives.
Technology and Automation: Leveraging technology to enhance HR processes while considering its impact on jobs.
Globalization: Managing HR practices across different cultures and jurisdictions.
Ethical Considerations: Balancing organizational needs with ethical treatment of employees.

Emerging Trends

The ever-changing business landscape leads to new trends in HRM:

Remote Work: The rise of virtual workplaces and the associated management challenges.
Well-Being and Mental Health: Prioritizing employee health and well-being as part of HR strategy.
Sustainability: Integrating social responsibility into HR practices.

Range of Research Paper Topics

The complexity and diversity of HRM lead to an abundance of research paper topics. Here are examples from different areas:

Strategic HRM: Examining the alignment of HR practices with business strategy.
Employee Engagement: Exploring factors that influence engagement and its impact on performance.
Legal Aspects of HRM: Investigating laws and regulations affecting HR practices.
Organizational Culture and Behavior: Analyzing the influence of culture on employee behavior and organizational success.

Human Resource Management is a vast and dynamic field that intertwines various disciplines, theories, practices, and challenges. From historical roots to contemporary issues, HRM offers a rich tapestry of research opportunities. Whether investigating traditional functions or delving into emerging trends, students and scholars can find a wealth of topics that resonate with their interests and contribute to our understanding of human interactions within organizational contexts. The spectrum of human resource management research paper topics reflects the depth and breadth of a field that continues to evolve, shaping the way we work, lead, and thrive in an ever-changing world.

How to Choose Human Resource Management Research Paper Topics

Selecting the right topic for a research paper in Human Resource Management (HRM) is a critical step that can shape the entire trajectory of your project. The topic you choose should align with your interests, academic level, the specific requirements of the assignment, and the current trends in the field. Here’s a guide to help you navigate the decision-making process and pinpoint a topic that resonates with you.

The realm of Human Resource Management is vast and diverse, encompassing various theories, functions, challenges, and emerging trends. Choosing a suitable research paper topic within this multifaceted field requires careful consideration and strategic thinking. This section will outline ten essential tips to guide you in selecting a meaningful, relevant, and engaging topic for your research.

Identify Your Interests: Begin by reflecting on what aspects of HRM intrigue you. Are you passionate about organizational behavior, talent acquisition, employee welfare, or strategic HRM? Your research will be more enjoyable if it aligns with your interests.
Understand the Assignment Requirements: Review the guidelines and grading criteria provided by your instructor. Consider the scope, length, and expected complexity of the paper.
Conduct a Preliminary Literature Review: Explore existing research in areas that interest you. Identify gaps, controversies, or emerging trends that could form the basis for your study.
Consider the Target Audience: Think about who will read your paper. Tailoring the topic to your audience’s interests, knowledge level, and expectations can enhance its impact.
Evaluate Available Resources: Assess the availability of data, tools, and resources needed for your research. The feasibility of a topic depends on your ability to access relevant information and support.
Align with Current Trends: Consider choosing a topic that relates to contemporary issues or recent developments in HRM. This alignment can make your research more relevant and appealing.
Seek Guidance from Instructors or Peers: Don’t hesitate to consult with your instructor, classmates, or academic advisors. They may offer valuable insights, feedback, or suggestions.
Ensure Ethical Consideration: Ensure that your chosen topic complies with ethical standards, particularly if it involves human subjects, sensitive data, or controversial subjects.
Consider the Broader Impact: Reflect on how your research could contribute to the field of HRM. A topic with potential practical implications or theoretical advancements can add value to your work.
Create a Shortlist and Evaluate: Draft a list of potential topics and weigh them against the criteria outlined above. This systematic approach can help you identify the most suitable option.

Selecting a research paper topic in Human Resource Management is a thoughtful and iterative process that requires introspection, exploration, and strategic thinking. By considering your interests, academic requirements, available resources, current trends, ethical considerations, and potential impact, you can identify a topic that not only resonates with you but also contributes to the vibrant discourse in HRM. Remember that your choice is not set in stone; it’s a starting point that you can refine and adapt as you delve into your research. Embrace the journey, for the right topic is a gateway to discovery, learning, and growth in the multifaceted world of human resource management.

How to Write a Human Resource Management Research Paper

Writing a research paper on Human Resource Management (HRM) is a complex task that requires a clear understanding of the subject matter, a methodical approach to research, and strong writing skills. The following section will guide you through the process of crafting a well-structured, insightful, and academically rigorous research paper in HRM.

Human Resource Management is at the core of organizational success, shaping the way businesses attract, retain, and develop talent. As a field that intertwines with psychology, sociology, business strategy, and law, writing a research paper on HRM is both challenging and rewarding. The following guide provides a step-by-step approach to help you navigate the research, writing, and revision stages, ensuring that your paper is thorough, coherent, and impactful.

Understand the Assignment: Before diving into research and writing, clarify the assignment’s objectives, scope, format, and grading criteria. Ensure you understand what is expected in terms of content, structure, style, and depth of analysis.
Choose a Relevant Topic: Select a topic that aligns with your interests, the course objectives, and current HRM trends. Refer to Section IV for guidance on choosing the right topic.
Conduct Comprehensive Research: Utilize reputable sources such as academic journals, books, and industry reports to gather data, theories, and insights related to your topic. Evaluate the credibility and relevance of each source.
Develop a Thesis Statement: Craft a clear and concise thesis statement that outlines the central argument or focus of your paper. The thesis should guide the reader on what to expect and provide a roadmap for your analysis.
Create an Outline: Develop a detailed outline that breaks down the main sections and sub-sections of your paper. An outline will help you organize your thoughts, maintain coherence, and ensure a logical flow of ideas.
Write the Introduction: Begin with an engaging introduction that introduces the topic, provides background information, highlights its significance, and presents the thesis statement.
Develop the Body Paragraphs: Divide the body of your paper into clear sections and subsections. Use headings and subheadings to guide the reader. Each paragraph should have a clear topic sentence, supporting evidence, and a concluding sentence that links back to the thesis.
Include Practical Insights and Case Studies: Where appropriate, include practical examples, case studies, or industry insights that illustrate your points. This application of theory to real-world scenarios can enhance the depth and relevance of your paper.
Write the Conclusion: Summarize the key findings, restate the thesis in light of the evidence, and discuss the implications, limitations, and recommendations for future research or practice.
Revise and Edit: Review your paper multiple times to check for clarity, coherence, grammar, and formatting errors. Consider seeking feedback from peers or instructors, and use plagiarism check tools to ensure originality.

Writing a research paper in Human Resource Management is a multifaceted process that requires careful planning, diligent research, critical analysis, and thoughtful writing. By following the tips outlined above, you can create a paper that not only meets academic standards but also contributes valuable insights to the dynamic field of HRM. Remember that writing is a process of continuous refinement; embrace revisions, seek feedback, and strive for clarity and depth. The journey of crafting an HRM research paper is an opportunity to deepen your understanding, hone your skills, and contribute to the ongoing discourse in a field that shapes the heart of organizations around the world.

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In-Depth Research: A cornerstone of our services is our commitment to comprehensive research. Our writers don’t just skim through the surface of your chosen topic. Instead, they delve deep, exploring various reputable sources and making sure that they provide a robust and critical analysis. This commitment to in-depth exploration ensures your work aligns with the academic rigor expected in HRM studies.
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Customized Solutions: iResearchNet operates on the principle that each student and each research paper is unique. We value your individual needs and academic goals and believe in a personalized approach to our writing services. Our writers work closely with you, tailoring their approach to resonate with your unique requirements.
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Our mission at iResearchNet is to be a reliable academic partner, providing the tools, resources, and support necessary for success in your HRM research papers. With an exceptional team of experts, a deep-seated commitment to quality, and an array of features designed to cater to various academic needs, we aim to make your academic journey smooth, enriching, and successful. Choose iResearchNet and experience the benefits of professional, dedicated, and reliable academic assistance that puts your needs first.

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The path to academic success in Human Resource Management requires dedication, effort, and the right support system. That’s where iResearchNet steps in, offering you not just a service, but a partnership that facilitates your growth, understanding, and accomplishment. If you are ready to elevate your academic experience and reach new heights, here’s why you should act now:

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Human Resources Research Paper Topics For 2024

Table of contents

1.1 Human Resources Management Research Topics
1.2 Equal Employment Opportunity HR Research Topics
1.3 Career Development HR Research Topics
1.4 Research Topics on Recruitment and Selection
1.5 HR Risk Management Topics
1.6 Workplace Safety HR Topics
1.7 Trending HR Topics

Human Resources is one of the most popular and essential topics for the business minded. If you remember your basic economics, you may remember that the basic components necessary for production in any kind of economy are Land, Capital, and Labor.

Human labor is an essential resource that keeps a business running. Like any other resource, it must be managed. This is where the term “Human Resources” and Human resources research topics come in.

Having relevant data for research paper is easy if you know where to look. There are lots of online sources and books in libraries to use in your task. Make sure you spend enough time on planning before writing your task.

How to choose a Human Resources topic for your project?

Selecting research topics in human resource management is not as simple as simply choosing the title and proceeding to write it. In order to get a good grade, the paper must be original and well researched. It needs to cover all relevant aspects of the chosen HR topics. Writing a hr related research topics is a very structured and analytical process. This is true for all fields, including human resources research topics.

The first step is topic selection . This is where we can help you. This page features a list of over 90 human resources topics. If you are having problems coming up with your own ideas, please choose hr related research topics from this list instead.

These titled papers all have a great deal of material about human resource management research topics out there. They are each trending topics in hrm topics for research and have plenty of resources available out there on the internet. Each of them is also relevant to the actual field of human resources management.

So, while writing a hr related research topics is not a typical or common activity for an HR employee, it will give you a lot of insights and information. These insights could give you a leg up in the future when you have graduated from School and College.

Human Resources Management Research Topics

At most large companies, ‘Human Resources’ is an entire department of its own. Most other departments at the company typically deal with producing a good or service. Others, like the public relations department, work with the media and other external affairs. Hence, there are many ways to approach HR research topics.

How HR helps companies remain competitive in a global market.
Managing part-time, full time, and freelancing employees.
How much paid leave is optimal?
What occasions deserve raises and bonuses?
The simplest way to resolve interpersonal conflicts.
The most effective team-building strategies.
Organizing teams according to personalities.
Can an introverted employee be a good team leader?
How to improve productivity through a goal-oriented approach.
The agile method and how it helps.
The best way to utilize productivity metrics.
Methods for disciplining employees.
How to manage international employees.
Preventing workplace violence.
Benefits of regular psychological counseling for all employees.

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Equal Employment Opportunity HR Research Topics

Are women more likely to get paid less for the same position as a man?
Do men and women deserve the same pay?
How to manage equal opportunity employment?
The best tactics for implementing equal opportunity.
Recruiting as an equal opportunity employer.
How to recognize and manage discrimination in the workplace.
The glass ceiling and how to break it.
Best practices for mediating disputes between employees.
Dealing with intimate relationships between employees.
How to create a diverse workplace?
Making the workplace an inclusive and accessible place for disabled employees.
Preventing unfair discrimination against LGBT+ employees.
The costs of an unequal workplace.
The benefits of a diverse and inclusive workplace.
Government requirements for equal opportunity.

Career Development HR Research Topics

Those who are interested in working in the field could take their first steps by writing a paper on human resource management topics. There is a huge variety of possible human resource topics for research papers, so it is likely that everyone will find some aspect of it they enjoy.

Creating leaders among employees.
Why does professional career development matter?
How career development helps both employees and organizations.
The best approaches to on-the-job training.
Should training be prioritized over completed current work?
Best practices for training interns.
Should interns be paid more?
Professional certification training for employees.
How does active professional development affect productivity?
Is it worth it to help an employee develop if they find a new, better-paid job afterward?
Skills that all employees should develop.
Must-have training and development for all employees.
Advantages and disadvantages of paying for an employee’s professional training.
Advantages and disadvantages of leading professional development sessions.
Should companies help employees pay for school?

Research Topics on Recruitment and Selection

Studying human resources is a crucial part of management studies. Whether you are a college or university student, you can buy paper online to save time and effort. There are lots of reputable services that can provide excellent assignments to boost your academic performance.

What does the ideal new employee look like?
When is the best time to recruit a new employee?
When is the worst time to recruit a new employee?
Should highly skilled but untested individuals be recruited for senior positions?
Best practices for improving employee retention.
How to attract good employees?
The best platforms to recruit on.
Is social media an effective way to recruit?
What kind of employees should small businesses look for?
What kind of employees are needed for a large company?
Criminal background checks – Do’s and Don’ts.
How to effectively assess skills during an interview.
How does HR evaluate a potential new recruit?
Is it better to recruit an employee with experience but no skill, or the other way around?
Recruiting university graduates directly – a good idea or a bad one?

HR Risk Management Topics

With so many moving parts working together in one company, it is natural for confusion or conflicts to arise. In order to make sure all these departments, employees, and managers work together, Human Resources is essential. In companies with hundreds of employees, their job simply cannot be understated.

What kind of risks does HR have to manage?
What role does HR take in risk management?
How does HR ensure worker protection?
Is HR there to protect employees or protect the company?
Legal measures HR can take.
Risk management during the covid-19 pandemic.
How HR managed risks revolving around covid-19.
Reasons to carry out regular internal audits.
Risk management among the ‘#metoo’ movement.
Training the workplace to minimize potential risks.
Risk management when working from home.
Ways to ensure all your employees follow masking and social distancing rules.
Ways to ensure all employees get vaccinated.
Responding to a legal action taken by an employee.
When should HR take legal action?

Workplace Safety HR Topics

How to ensure compliance with workplace safety rules.
The consequences of not following workplace safety.
Ways to prevent osha violations.
How to ensure all employees follow health and safety protocols?
How to ensure all employees get vaccines?
Fines and penalties for violating workplace safety rules.
Consequences of violating safety rules.
Steps to minimize or prevent burnout.
Bringing dangerous weapons into the workplace.
Steps to take when an employee is assaulted at work.
How to ensure psychological wellbeing during remote work.
Ensuring company leadership also follows safety roles.
Combating sexual harassment at the workplace.
Monitoring employees during remote work – is it ethical?
Developing specialized safety standards for the workplace.

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Research trends in human resource management. A text-mining-based literature review

International Journal of Manpower

ISSN : 0143-7720

Article publication date: 26 April 2022

Issue publication date: 14 March 2023

The purpose of the study was to detect trends in human resource management (HRM) research presented in journals during the 2000–2020 timeframe. The research question is: How are the interests of researchers changing in the field of HRM and which topics have gained popularity in recent years?

Design/methodology/approach

The approach adopted in this study was designed to overcome all the limitations specific to the systematic literature reviews and bibliometric studies presented in the Introduction. The full texts of papers were analyzed. The text-mining tools detected first clusters and then trends, moreover, which limited the impact of a researcher's bias. The approach applied is consistent with the general rules of systematic literature reviews.

The article makes a threefold contribution to academic knowledge. First, it uses modern methodology to gather and synthesize HRM research topics. The proposed approach was designed to allow early detection of nascent, non-obvious trends in research, which will help researchers address topics of high value for both theory and practice. Second, the results of our study highlight shifts in focus in HRM over the past 19 years. Third, the article suggests further directions of research.

Research limitations/implications

In this study, the approach designed to overcome the limitations of using systematic literature review was presented. The analysis was done on the basis of the full text of the articles and the categories were discovered directly from the articles rather than predetermined. The study's findings may, however, potentially be limited by the following issues. First, the eligibility criteria included only papers indexed in the Scopus and WoS database and excluded conference proceedings, book chapters, and non-English papers. Second, only full-text articles were included in the study, which could narrow down the research area. As a consequence, important information regarding the research presented in the excluded documents is potentially lost. Third, most of the papers in our database were published in the International Journal of Human Resource Management, and therefore such trends as “challenges for international HRM” can be considered significant (long-lasting). Another – the fourth – limitation of the study is the lack of estimation of the proportion between searches in HRM journals and articles published in other journals. Future research may overcome the above-presented limitations. Although the authors used valuable techniques such as TF-IDF and HDBSCAN, the fifth limitation is that, after trends were discovered, it was necessary to evaluate and interpret them. That could have induced researchers' bias even if – as in this study – researchers from different areas of experience were involved. Finally, this study covers the 2000–2020 timeframe. Since HRM is a rapidly developing field, in a few years from now academics will probably begin to move into exciting new research areas. As a consequence, it might be worthwhile conducting similar analyses to those presented in this study and compare their results.

Originality/value

The present study provides an analysis of HRM journals with the aim of establishing trends in HRM research. It makes contributions to the field by providing a more comprehensive and objective review than analyses resulting from systematic literature reviews. It fills the gap in literature studies on HRM with a novel research approach – a methodology based on full-text mining and a big data toolset. As a consequence, this study can be considered as providing an adequate reflection of all the articles published in journals strictly devoted to HRM issues and which may serve as an important source of reference for both researchers and practitioners. This study can help them identify the core journals focused on HRM research as well as topics which are of particular interest and importance.

Human resource management
Text-mining

Piwowar-Sulej, K. , Wawak, S. , Tyrańska, M. , Zakrzewska, M. , Jarosz, S. and Sołtysik, M. (2023), "Research trends in human resource management. A text-mining-based literature review", International Journal of Manpower , Vol. 44 No. 1, pp. 176-196. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-03-2021-0183

Emerald Publishing Limited

Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

1. Introduction

The human resource (HR) function has evolved over the years from serving a purely administrative role into one that is more strategic in character. Today it is believed that the mission of human resource management (HRM) is to support the organization in achieving its objectives by developing and implementing HR strategies that are integrated with a company's business strategy, promote staff development, foster a positive employment relationship, promote an ethical approach to people management, and care about the environment (social and natural) ( Ehnert, 2009 ; Braga et al. , 2021 ).

In practice, HRM means providing continuous solutions to a wide array of problems occurring in employee-employer, line worker-manager, and employee-employee relations and also in contacts with, e.g. trade unions. Human behaviors, feelings and attitudes are determined both by the personal characteristics of individuals and by the impact of the environment. The shape of HRM is significantly influenced by such factors as, e.g. the demographic and technological transformations ( Greiling, 2011 ; Silva and Lima, 2018 ), and globalization ( Gerhart and Fang, 2005 ).

HRM has evolved as a professional and academic discipline in parallel with both planned shifts in global considerations and unplanned phenomena such as, e.g. epidemics. For researchers it is crucial to identify, define, explain, and help practitioners understand the key factors which have an impact on HRM. Another of the researchers' roles is to formulate practical guidelines on how to manage people in different circumstances and outline areas of future research. HRM thrives on the contributions made in other fields that it assimilates and applies in practice. It unscrupulously builds on theoretical developments made earlier in related disciplines ( Boxall et al. , 2009 ). Finally, the researcher endeavors to provide an overview, comparisons, analyses and syntheses of previously published findings ( Paul and Criado, 2020 ).

The theme of trends in HRM has been addressed in numerous publications (e.g. Cooper et al. , 2020 ; Madera et al. , 2017 ). Their authors have employed various approaches to identify such phenomena, including systematic literature reviews. Articles offering a traditional overview provide a quantity-oriented (i.e. meta-analytical, systematic) approach together with descriptive or qualitative elements. Jointly, they develop a theoretical background, highlight irregularities in existing findings, integrate the findings of a wide variety of publications and in general provide other researchers with an up-to-date understanding of the discipline, frequently prepared by leading specialists ( Palmatier et al. , 2018 ). In most cases, the documents selected for analysis were based on titles, keywords and abstracts only. Unfortunately, they contain only around 8% of all research findings ( Blake, 2010 ). In order to gain a deeper insight into such a body of knowledge authors have often turned to the by-hand review method (e.g. Cooper et al. , 2020 ).

Conventional systematic by-hand literature reviews are sometimes characterized by errors in article selection, possible simplifications and potentially incomplete and not universal results (subjective, impressionistic descriptions), In response to these shortcomings, in recent years a number of new alternatives have emerged. One new approach that has attracted increasing attention is bibliometric studies. This method applies dedicated IT tools to gauge trends in articles. They examine academic material from both an objective and qualitative perspective for the purposes of identifying, organizing, and analyzing information in a specific research field ( Capobianco-Uriarte et al. , 2019 ). As far as trends in HRM are concerned, Markoulli et al. (2017) presented a summary of previously published traditional and narrative reviews and on its basis created a science map and defined clusters based on keyword co-occurrence analysis and the VOSviewer software tool.

Bibliometric analyses can be treated as a platform for writing an entire article or can be used only as preparation for the groundwork for further in-depth content analysis and qualitative descriptions. In turn, a text mining toolset can help identify research trends and select papers which are in line with a particular trend. Moreover, a full-text analysis of publications using a text mining toolset enables researchers to obtain higher-quality results than when using only keywords, such as in the case of VOSviewer analyses ( Kobayashi et al. , 2018 ). As a consequence we decided that it was worth adopting a methodology based on full-text mining and a big data toolset in order to identify trends in HRM research. We believe that big data and analytics help not only companies function but also researchers in a highly data-driven world ( Kobayashi et al. , 2018 ).

The purpose of the study was to detect trends in HRM research presented in journals during the 2000–2020 timeframe. The following research question was asked: how are the interests of researchers changing in the field of HRM and which topics have gained in popularity in recent years?

The paper is organized as follows. In the second section we describe the HRM research trends identified in previous studies. Here the focus is on the context in which authors were operating when analyzing HRM issues. The third section is devoted to the research method employed for the purpose of this study. Then we present the results and discussion. The article ends with conclusions, including limitations and areas of future research.

The article makes a threefold contribution to academic knowledge. First, it uses modern methodology to gather and synthesize HRM research topics. The proposed approach was designed to allow early detection of nascent, non-obvious trends in research, which will help researchers address topics of high value for both theory and practice. Second, the results of our study highlight shifts in focus in HRM over the past 20 years. Third, the article suggests further directions of research.

2. Trends in the HRM research identified in previous studies

In their search for HRM research trends authors of this study firstly used the Scopus database and a search strategy based on such terms as: trends in human resource management/HRM, trends in research on human resource management/HRM, human resource management/HRM trends, intellectual structure of human resource management/HRM. The searching process covered titles, abstracts and keywords and was limited to articles written in English. The search produced 37 documents. Then the authors also searched for additional articles in Google Scholar.

Most of the articles were devoted to the trends identified in HR practices in companies (e.g. Dubravska and Solankova, 2015 ). One of such trends is HRM digitalization ( Ashbaugh and Miranda, 2002 ). Table 1 presents a list of HRM trends identified in the research (related to academic work) conducted by different authors.

It can be concluded from the above that researchers employed different approaches to defining and identifying these trends. Research trends may be associated with research topics (e.g. Özlen, 2014 ), research methods (e.g. Pietersen, 2018 ) and the general characteristics of the academic domain (e.g. Sanders and De Cieri, 2020 ). Although a number of authors have provided traditional literature reviews of trends in HRM, Chae et al. (2020) , for example, focused only on the local (Korean) research trends and used only keyword analyses. Others focused on a specific sector ( Cooper et al. , 2020 ), industry ( Madera et al. , 2017 ) or region ( Wood and Bischoff, 2020 ). There are also articles that outline the evolution of research in particular journals (e.g. Pietersen, 2018 ). Others address specific problems, such as international HRM (e.g. Sanders and De Cieri, 2020 ) or green HRM ( Yong et al. , 2020 ). The most visible trends identified in previous studies and associated with research topics were strategic HRM, HR performance and employment/industrial relations. The first topic was addressed in eight works while the remaining was the subject of five publications.

3. Material and methods

The approach adopted in this study was designed to overcome all the limitations specific to the systematic literature reviews and bibliometric studies as presented in the Introduction. The full texts of papers were analyzed. The approach applied is consistent with the general rules of systematic literature reviews ( Tranfield et al. , 2003 ) and consists of several steps, which are presented in Figure 1 .

3.1 Selection of journals

Thousands of articles covering HRM can be found on both Scopus and the Web of Science. For the sake of the present analysis, it was necessary to define inclusion criteria in the meta-analysis.

The main topic of the journal was related to HRM,

The journals were indexed in Scopus and WoS,

The journals have a high SNIP index value (the limit value is set at 1 - status for 2020; full values are presented in Table 2 ),

Full versions of the article were available,

The articles were published in the years 2000–2020.

A total of 8 journals met the above criteria ( Table 2 ). The full texts of the papers were downloaded from academic databases. No duplicates were found. Only research papers were included, while editorials, calls for papers, errata and book reviews were excluded.

All the metadata were removed from the papers. The titles and abstracts often contain catchwords designed to increase readership. As a consequence, only the texts of papers minus their titles, keywords, abstracts and references were analyzed in this study. Additional bibliographic information that could be useful in the analytical process was downloaded from the Crossref database. Each paper was converted into a text file and then into a bag-of-words model for the needs of automatic analysis using computer algorithms. The algorithms were created using Python libraries, such as grobid, nltk, scikit-learn, hdbscan, and scipy ( Pedregosa et al. , 2011 ).

3.2 Search for the most important terms

w i j – result for term i in document j ,

t f i j – number of occurrences of i in j ,

d f i – number of documents containing i ,

N – number of documents in the corpus (set of documents).

The TF-IDF method is not a mathematical model. It requires extensive computation, cannot be used to discover synonyms and ignores multiple meanings of words ( Zhang et al. , 2011 ). However, in the case of research papers, these problems have a minimal impact due to the more precise language used by researchers.

3.3 Identification of thematic groups (clusters)

The TF-IDF model presents each paper as a multidimensional vector. The number of dimensions is equal to the number of keywords used in the analysis. In the next step, all the vectors were compared to each other, which led to the discovery of clusters.

As mentioned in section 3.2 , the TF-IDF model does not analyse synonyms and ignores multiple meanings of words and phrases. In scholarly texts, it is rarely a problem. Even in HRM, where the number of synonyms can be perceived as higher than in other areas of management, the impact on the results should be negligible.

There are two main approaches to clustering: partitioning and hierarchical clustering. The former can be applied when all the corpus elements must be included in one of the groups. This induces data noise, as not even similar elements have to be included. The latter allows some elements to remain outside the clusters. The clusters become much more homogenous. This constitutes a better approach when it comes to identifying trends. Multiple hierarchical clustering methods are available, e.g. meanshift, DBSCAN, Optics and HDBSCAN (Hierarchical Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise) ( McInnes et al. , 2017 ). HDBSCAN is characterized by the least number of limitations. It takes each paper (vector) and checks at what distance it can find similar publications. Then it compares the results, and the densest areas are detected as clusters. Unlike some other methods, the clusters lack permanent density or a fixed number of elements. The only parameter that the researcher needs to establish is the minimum cluster size. The best value can be determined through a series of experiments.

In the present study, the authors carried out a set of experiments using different minimum cluster sizes. The highest value detected was 20. Lower values lead to a much higher number of clusters. Moreover, general phrases not directly related to HRM played a significant role in the discovery of these clusters. With the minimum cluster size set to values greater than 20, the number of clusters was significantly lower. That led to general results based on the most popular phrases only.

The entire sample was divided into groups of papers published in 5-year overlapping periods starting with 2000–2004 and ending with 2016–2020. Each paper was assigned to all the groups into which it fitted. Cluster analysis was performed for every group separately, and the results were used to identify trends.

Cluster analysis was performed on each group separately, and the results were used to discover trends. Approximately 30 clusters on average were identified for each five-year period. However, for a trend to be identified at least two similar clusters had to be discovered in successive periods Therefore, many unrelated clusters were excluded by the algorithm. Such behaviour is expected, as it removes noise from data. Usually, only one-third of clusters meet the conditions to form trends.

The number of papers published in each year is presented in Figure 2 . A slight decrease in the number of articles can be observed compared to 2018–19, which may have been a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

3.4 Identification of trends

Long-lasting trends that existed and evolved during the studied period,

Declining trends which came to an end during the studied period,

Emerging trends which began during the studied period,

Ephemeris trends that began and ended during the studied period.

3.5 Interpretation of trends

The results delivered by the algorithm must be checked through further studies. The algorithm can detect mergers or splits in trends. We decided, however, that the final decision should be left to researchers. At this stage, trends should also be named, interpreted and described. The interpretation phase should help highlight changes within trends and try to predict their future evolution.

4. Results and discussion

The analyses, performed by researchers using automatic algorithms and further verification, led to the discovery of 42 trends presented in Table 3 . These trends are ordered according to the year of their first occurrence and their duration. It is worth emphasizing that the year in which a trend was observed does not indicate that the idea behind it emerged at the same time. Rather, it shows when a subject began to increase in popularity among researchers. Furthermore, the number of identified trends is much higher than the results from previous studies presented in Section 2.1 Table 4 .

The use of tracking revealed the evolution of clusters, and made it possible to identify trends. The analysis led to the discovery of the types of trends presented in Section 3.4. Of the 42 trends, 4 were long-lasting, 5 declining, 17 emerging and 16 ephemeris in character. One possible fact to note is that “strategic HRM”, which was a prevailing trend in previous studies, is not directly presented in the results obtained using text-mining analyses. However, it is included in the “architecture and changing role of HRM” trend.

At this point it is worth emphasizing that sociologists of science have examined the principles governing the selection of topics analysed by researchers, and noticed that it may result from a trade-off between conservative production and risky innovation ( Bourdieu, 1975 ). The main problem when choosing research topics is deciding whether to continue topics fixed in the literature or take the risk of exploring new, hitherto unknown themes. Trend a analysis offers an indirect solution based on strategic ambidexterity. This is not only because it allows us to observe disappearing themes that continue to be exploited, but also to identify those topics, in which there is a growing interest (exploration).

Long-lasting trends are not homogenous and change over time. The evolution of trends can be tracked using keywords of considerable importance in subsequent years. The importance of keywords was evaluated using the TF-IDF algorithm and averaged for each cluster. The TF-IDF formula was presented in the Methodology section. It should be noted that the TF-IDF score has to be calculated for each phrase in each paper. In this study, over 150,000 phrases were identified in over 6 thousand papers. That resulted in a significant number of calculations made by the algorithm, which cannot be presented in the paper. A comparison of cluster keywords reveals new topics within trends. The evolution of trends may lead to the disappearance of earlier topics or to their parallel development. Declining and ephemeris trends are associated with issues that are of less interest to researchers, have been resolved or were eclipsed by changes in a researcher's approach to the object of their study. The disappearance of certain trends is a normal phenomenon in science. Such a disappearance can be predicted to a certain degree when the average number of papers decreases.

Since we identified many trends, only a few examples will be described below. One example of a long-lasting trend is “Diversity Management”, which covered the entire 2000–2020 timeframe. The articles that discussed this trend focused on effective diversity management, its impact on organizational performance (e.g. Choi et al. , 2017 ), team performance ( Roberge and van Dick, 2010 ), knowledge sharing ( Shen et al. , 2014 ), innovation ( Peretz et al. , 2015 ), and the various factors which impact upon its effectiveness. Some papers discussed only one form of diversity in the workplace, e.g. age diversity ( Li et al. , 2011 ), gender diversity (e.g. Gould et al. , 2018 ) or ethnic diversity (e.g. Singh, 2007 ).

One sub-trend that can be observed within the above-discussed trend is age management', which falls within the 2005–2018 time range. The papers assigned to this sub-trend focus on HR practices towards older employees (e.g. Kooij et al. , 2014 ).

One example of a declining trend is “new and traditional career models”. This trend, which was observed in the years 2000–2019, highlights the fact that the weakening of organizational boundaries has increased career freedom and independence from previously constraining factors. The papers which examined this issue provide conceptual knowledge of different career dimensions. For example, a shift has taken place from objective to subjective careers. Individuals have to make sense of their careers, because they can no longer depend on their employers ( Walton and Mallon, 2004 ). Individual cultural, social and economic capital builds a field of opportunities for pursuing a career ( Iellatchitch et al. , 2003 ). Simultaneously, two major kinds of boundaries to the “boundaryless career” have been identified: the competence-based boundary (industry boundary) and the relation-based boundary (social capital boundary) ( Baghdadli et al. , 2003 ).

In the last two decades, increasing environmental awareness has pushed researchers towards addressing the issue of HRM as a strategic tool for making companies sustainability-driven organizations (e.g. Podgorodnichenko et al. , 2020 ). One of the emerging trends identified in our study is “Green and sustainable HRM”. This trend focuses on the environmental responsibility of companies (e.g. DuBois and Dubois, 2012 ) or/and achieving simultaneously social and economic goals (if the triple bottom line concept is discussed) (e.g. Ren and Jackson, 2020 ). The results, in the form of behavioral changes, have also been examined (e.g. Dumont et al. , 2017 ) and the contribution of HRM to company sustainability has been discussed in the context of different countries (e.g. Alcaraz et al. , 2019 ).

Finally, one example of an ephemeris trend is “HR certification”. The discussion on this trend was initiated by Lengnick-Hall and Aguinis (2012) . They applied a multi-level theory-based approach to investigating HR certification. They tried to assess the value of HR certification for individual HR specialists, their organizations as well as for the HR profession as a whole. The main topic addressed in later articles devoted to this trend was the value of HR certification (e.g. Aguinis and Lengnick-Hall, 2012 ). The value of HR certification has been linked with shareholder value ( Paxton, 2012 ). The link between organizational values and HR certification is another issue that has been addressed. Organizational values are treated as a key antecedent to the use and pursuit of HR certification ( Garza and Morgeson, 2012 ).

Table 3 presents only those periods during which specific trends were active, but provides no information on their dynamics. This can be observed by looking at the average number of papers per year (ANPY) in consecutive periods. Table 4 presents all the trends active during the last year of the study. They were divided into three groups according to whether the ANPY was decreasing, increasing or stable in recent years. To depict the relative strength of these trends, table shows the average number of papers published in the final 5-year period.

It can be concluded that trends with an increasing dynamic coincide with the trends defined in the literature. For example, “flexible employment from the perspective of HRM” corresponds with “employment relations” distinguished by Markoulli et al. (2017) and “the HRM process, the changing nature of HRM, and precarious employment relations” in the typology developed by Cooper et al. (2020) . “Diversity Management” is related to “organizational culture” ( Özlen, 2014 ). “Employee participation” may be associated with “employment relations” ( Cooke et al. , 2019 ) and “organizational commitment” ( García-Lillo et al. , 2017 ). The latter occurs both in the presented typology and in previous ones. “leader–member exchange” should be included in “behavioral issues” ( Özlen, 2014 ). Finally, a trend characterized by an increasing dynamic is “green and sustainable HRM”. Green HRM was an independent subject of analysis in a study by Yong et al. (2020) .

5. Conclusions

5.1 contributions and implications.

The present study provides an analysis of HRM journals with the aim of identifying trends in HRM research. It makes contributions to the field by providing a more comprehensive and objective review than analyses resulting from conventional systematic literature reviews as well as by identifying 42 different trends. It fills an existing gap in literature studies on HRM with a novel research approach – a methodology based on full-text mining and a big data toolset. As a consequence, this study can be considered as providing an adequate reflection of all the articles published in journals strictly devoted to HRM issues and which may serve as an important source of reference for both researchers and practitioners. It can also help them identify the core journals focused on HRM research as well as those topics which are of particular interest and importance.

As the study covers a period of over 20 years it should come as no surprise that some trends emerged and declined over this time. However, our study creates an opportunity for reviving research topics which combine old trends with new ones, and at the same time take into account the interdisciplinary nature of HRM as a field of research. Some researchers have observed that success can often be achieved by adopting a tool from another research area or through a new way of analyzing old problems that brings new insights and solutions ( Adali et al. , 2018 ).

Finally, we observed the emergence of a number of trends during the studied period that are still active. In particular, green and sustainable HRM is not only an emerging trend but also developing rapidly. It is worth mentioning here that while many articles have focused on green HRM issues, they have not been published in journals that specialize in HRM but in journals devoted to environmental issues. One possible future challenge for researchers may be to estimate the proportions between HRM articles published in HRM journals and those featured in other journals.

Practitioners interested in the evolution of the field can find in this paper areas of HRM that require improving in their own businesses or which can be treated as a platform for introducing innovations in HRM (emerging trends). The information contained in this paper can also be utilized as a source for evaluating the performance of sub-fields in a HRM research domain and for adjusting research policies with regard to funding allocations and comparing research input and output ( Gu, 2004 ). The editors of journals may take into account the results presented in this paper when making decisions regarding the direction, scope, and themes of their journals.

5.2 Limitations

First, our eligibility criteria included only papers indexed in the Scopus and WoS database and excluded conference proceedings, book chapters, and non-English papers. Second, only full-text articles were included in the study, which could narrow down the research area. As a consequence, important information regarding the research presented in the excluded documents is potentially lost. Third, most of the papers in our database were published in the International Journal of Human Resource Management, and therefore such trends as “challenges for international HRM” can be considered significant (long-lasting). Another – the fourth – limitation of the study is the lack of estimation of the proportion between searches in HRM journals and articles published in other journals. Future research may overcome the above-presented limitations. Although we used valuable techniques such as TF-IDF and HDBSCAN, the fifth limitation is that, after trends were discovered, it was necessary to evaluate and interpret them. That could have induced researchers' bias even if – as in this study – researchers from different areas of experience were involved. Finally, this study covers the 2000–2020 timeframe. Since HRM is a rapidly developing field, in a few years from now academics will probably begin to move into exciting new research areas. As a consequence, it might be worthwhile conducting similar analyses to those presented in this study and compare their results.

Workflow of the methodology used in this study

Number of papers in the years 2000–2020

Trends in HRM research identified in previous studies

Authors	Research aim, approach and scope	Trends
	Identification of HRM trends based on 551 HRM articles which were published in Human	Trend 1: HR and performance
		Trend 2: Culture and motivation (psychological orientation)
		Trend 3: International management of HR
	Resource Management between 1985 and 2005, using factor analysis	Trend 4: Strategy, structure, and environment
		Trend 5: Strategic management of HR
	Identification of trends in the Journal of Human Resource based on keyword analysis	Trend 1: Employee Rights and Career
		Trend 2: HR
		Trend 3: Management
		Trend 4: Context (Specific Industries. etc.)
		Trend 5: Organizational Strategies
		Trend 6: Performance Measurement and Training
		Trend 7: Behavioral Issues and Motivation
		Trend 8: Organizational Culture
		Trend 9: Technical Issues (Information Systems, etc.)
		Trend 10: Theories
		Trend 11: Organizational Performance
(2017)	Bibliometric analysis of articles published in The International Journal of Human Resource	Trend 1: Reciprocity and perceived organizational support
		Trend 2: Organizational commitment
		Trend 3: The git process and the adaptation of expatriate staff
		Trend 4: International and strategic HRM
		Trend 5: The integration of HR strategies with business strategies
		Trend 6: HRM and company performance
	Management between 2000 and 2012	Trend 6: HRM and company performance
		Trend 7: The configurational approach to HRM
		Trend 8: High performance and innovative practices
		Trend 9: The application of a resource-based view
		Trend 10: The integration of HRM practices and systems with business strategies
(2017)	Identification of industry specific trends (research on HRM in hospitality and tourism) based on a systematic literature review	Trend 1: Human capital and company performance
		Trend 2: High-performance HRM practices and performance
		Trend 3: International/global issues and strategic HRM
		Trend 4: Individual HRM practices and performance
(2017)	Identification of trends related to HR systems research based on a systematic literature review	Trend 1: Strategic HRM
		Trend 2: Experiencing HRM
		Trend 3: Employment Relations
		Trend 4: International HRM, and Assessing People
	Identification of trends associated with the bibliometric characteristics of articles published in the South African Journal of Human	Examples:
		Trend 1: The predominance of white people, male HRM researchers
		Trend 2: The predominance of empirical research
	Resource Management	Trend 3: The substantial presence of qualitative research
(2019)	Determining trends in research on international HRM based on a systematic literature review	Trend 1: HRM practices
		Trend 2: MNC headquarters – subsidiary relations
		Trend 3: Strategic HRM and business studies
		Trend 4: Employment relations
		Trend 5: Organizational behavior
		Trend 6: Cultural studies
		Trend 7: Comparative HRM
		Trend 8: Language and communication in international business
		Trend 9: Others
(2020)	Determining trends in green HRM research based on a systematic literature review	Trend 1: Concepts/models/reviews
		Trend 2: Implementation
		Trend 3: Determinants
		Trend 4: Outcomes
(2019)	Identification of trends related to HR systems research based on a systematic literature review	Trend 1: Focus on broad, undifferentiated HR systems
		Trend 2: Consensus among researchers on how to measure HR systems
		Trend 3: The increasing use of additive approaches to combining HR practices within a single system
(2020)	Analysis of trends in research on HRM in the nonprofit sector based on a systematic literature review	Trend 1: Training
		Trend 2: Job design, job characteristics, and the work environment
		Trend 3: Human capital, HR capacity, and HR slack
		Trend 4: HR systems, HPWPs, HPWSs, bundles of HR practices, and strategic HRM
		Trend 5: Labor mobility, employability, job choice and career decision-making
		Trend 6: The HRM process, the changing nature of HRM, and precarious employment relations
		Trend 7: Career development, leader development, coaching, and mentoring
		Trend 8: Compensation, benefits, incentives and rewards, and pay-for-performance
		Trend 9: Performance management/measurement/evaluation/appraisal/monitoring
		Trend 10: Recruitment and selection
		Trend 11: Succession planning
		Trend 12: Communication and knowledge/information-sharing
		Trend 13: Unionization and labor relations
	Identification of region specific HRM research trends (South Africa) based on a systematic literature review	Trend 1: HRM and MNEs in Africa
		Trend 2: The shifting domain and scope of HR practice
		Trend 3: Industrial and employment relations
		Trend 4: Changes in labor regulations
		Trend 5: HR development
		Trend 6: Indigenous management theory
	Identification of trends associated with the bibliometric characteristics of conceptual articles on international and comparative HRM	Examples:
		Trend 1: An increasing number of empirical articles
		Trend 2: A decreasing number of publications authored by US researchers
(2020)	Identification of trends in Korean HRM research based on an analysis of keywords	Trend 1: Organizational behavior and organization theory
		Trend 2: Organization theory and strategic management
		Trend 3: Industrial Relations
		Trend 4: The entire field of HRM

HRM-related journals included in this study

Journal	snip	cite	sjr	Number of papers included
Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources	1.17	1.58	0.60	429
Human Resource Development International	1.06	1.72	0.45	796
Human Resource Management Journal	1.54	3.75	1.39	510
Human Resource Management Review	1.98	4.97	1.66	713
Human Resource Management	1.95	4.28	1.89	859
International Journal of Human Resource Management	1.28	2.71	0.96	2,703
Journal of Human Capital	1.79	2.10	2.52	185
Journal of Human Resources	6.65	8.27	12.36	663

Trends in HRM research in the years 2000–2020

Activity of long-lasting and emerging trends in recent years

Avg. papers per year in 2016–2020	Activity in recent years
Avg. papers per year in 2016–2020	Decrease	Stable	Increase
More than 50
26–50
1–25

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Published: 17 June 2014

HRM and its effect on employee, organizational and financial outcomes in health care organizations

Brenda Vermeeren 1 ,
Bram Steijn 1 ,
Lars Tummers 1 ,
Marcel Lankhaar 2 ,
Robbert-Jan Poerstamper 2 &
Sandra van Beek 3

Human Resources for Health volume 12 , Article number: 35 ( 2014 ) Cite this article

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One of the main goals of Human Resource Management (HRM) is to increase the performance of organizations. However, few studies have explicitly addressed the multidimensional character of performance and linked HR practices to various outcome dimensions. This study therefore adds to the literature by relating HR practices to three outcome dimensions: financial, organizational and employee (HR) outcomes. Furthermore, we will analyze how HR practices influence these outcome dimensions, focusing on the mediating role of job satisfaction.

This study uses a unique dataset, based on the ‘ActiZ Benchmark in Healthcare’, a benchmark study conducted in Dutch home care, nursing care and care homes. Data from autumn 2010 to autumn 2011 were analyzed. In total, 162 organizations participated during this period (approximately 35% of all Dutch care organizations). Employee data were collected using a questionnaire (61,061 individuals, response rate 42%). Clients were surveyed using the Client Quality Index for long-term care, via stratified sampling. Financial outcomes were collected using annual reports. SEM analyses were conducted to test the hypotheses.

It was found that HR practices are - directly or indirectly - linked to all three outcomes. The use of HR practices is related to improved financial outcomes (measure: net margin), organizational outcomes (measure: client satisfaction) and HR outcomes (measure: sickness absence). The impact of HR practices on HR outcomes and organizational outcomes proved substantially larger than their impact on financial outcomes. Furthermore, with respect to HR and organizational outcomes, the hypotheses concerning the full mediating effect of job satisfaction are confirmed. This is in line with the view that employee attitudes are an important element in the ‘black box’ between HRM and performance.

The results underscore the importance of HRM in the health care sector, especially for HR and organizational outcomes. Further analyses of HRM in the health care sector will prove to be a productive endeavor for both scholars and HR managers.

Peer Review reports

One of the main goals of Human Resource Management (HRM) is to increase the performance of organizations [ 1 ]. Pfeffer [ 2 ] emphasized the importance of gaining competitive advantage through employees and noted the importance of several Human Resource (HR) practices necessary to obtain this advantage. Huselid [ 3 ] stressed the use of an integrated and coherent ‘bundle’ of mutually reinforcing HR practices over separate ones. Notwithstanding the substantial volume of research on the link between HRM and performance, the exact nature of this relationship within the health care sector remains unclear [ 4 ]. This can be considered problematic, as studying HRM in the health care sector and its effect on performance has both practical and academic relevance [ 5 ].

However, performance is not a concept that can be easily defined and conceptualized. According to Guest [ 6 ] it is better to use the concept of ‘outcomes’ instead of performance. One can then distinguish three different outcomes: 1) financial outcomes (profits, net margin, market share), 2) organizational outcomes (productivity, quality, efficiency, client satisfaction) and 3) HR outcomes (employees’ attitudes and behaviour) [ 7 ]. Dyer and Reeves [ 7 ] noted that HR and organizational outcomes are more proximal outcomes, for example, closely linked to the HR practices adopted by an organization, whereas financial outcomes are more distant, as they are less likely to be directly affected by HR practices. Moreover, specific HR outcomes are often used as intermediate outcomes that bridge the ‘black box’ between HR practices and financial or organizational outcomes [ 8 ].

This multidimensional perspective of outcomes seems especially relevant for health care organizations, as financial outcomes are certainly not the only - or even primary - objective [ 9 ]. Notwithstanding the large amount of research on HRM in health care, few studies have explicitly addressed the multidimensional character of performance and linked HR practices to various outcome dimensions [ 4 ]. In this article, we therefore add to the literature by examining several outcome dimensions of health care organizations. The research question we will address is as follows: ‘ To what extent are HR practices in health care organizations related to multiple outcome dimensions?’

First, we will provide a brief background on the link between HRM and outcomes with a specific focus on the health care sector. Next, we will develop several hypotheses. Thereafter, the methods and results of the data analysis are provided. The article ends with a conclusion regarding the effects of HRM on various outcomes in the health care sector.

HRM and outcomes

Studying the relationship between HRM and performance outcomes is an important research theme [ 1 , 10 , 11 ]. In an overview article, Boselie et al . [ 12 ] identified the main research issues within the field. These primarily concern the conceptualization and measurement of the central concepts and several theoretical issues about their relationship. These issues remain important in the contemporary debate [ 1 ]. The concept of performance has been discussed above. HRM is commonly defined as a set of employee management activities, but there is no consensus regarding which HR practices should be included in a ‘comprehensive HRM checklist’ [ 12 ]. Even more important is the question as to whether one should examine discrete HR practices or employ a systematic HRM approach. According to the systems approach, one should regard interrelated HR practices that affect performance as a ‘synergistic whole’. In this study we follow the systems approach, as this was proven valuable in earlier studies [ 13 ].

In addition to conceptualization, there are also important measurement issues concerning HRM. Does one measure HR policies at the company level (for instance by asking HR managers) or at the individual level (practices as experienced by employees)? Nishii and Wright [ 14 ] refined this issue by distinguishing among intended, actual and perceived HRM. The notion behind this is that there may be differences within organizations among the HR policy designed by the HR department (intended HRM), the HR practices implemented by line managers (actual HRM) and the perceptions of employees (perceived HRM). This study focuses on perceived HRM, following the Thomas Theorem: if men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences [ 15 ]. Thus, if employees believe that specific HR practices are employed in the organization, they will act according to that belief.

An important theoretical issue that has dominated the field in the last decade concerns the precise nature of the mechanism linking HRM and performance outcomes. This issue is called the ‘black box’, i.e., the mediating link between HRM and performance. In recent years, many suggestions have been made regarding the nature of this ‘black box’ [ 14 , 16 ], but most scholars emphasize the perceptions and experiences of employees as the main linking mechanism [ 12 ]. HR practices forge a psychological contract between employer and employee that in turn affects these perceptions and experiences. In this article, job satisfaction is used as a mediating variable linking HRM to various outcomes [ 17 , 18 ].

HRM and outcomes in the health care sector

In the last two decades, several studies on HRM and performance have been conducted in the health care sector [ 19 , 20 ]. In their review of health care studies, Harris et al . [ 4 ] concluded that HR practices are often related to patient oriented performance outcomes. They also noted the importance of conducting additional research on the ‘black box’ issue. Furthermore, many health care studies relate HRM to organizational and HR related outcomes [ 21 – 25 ]. However, studies focusing on financial outcomes - which have been extensively addressed in the private sector HRM literature - seem rather scarce.

This study focuses on the Dutch care sector (home care, nursing care and care homes). Its contribution concerns two elements discussed in the literature. First, we apply a multidimensional performance perspective, and we will therefore consider three outcome dimensions: financial, organizational and HR. This is innovative because although many health care studies have analyzed care - an organizational outcome - and HR outcomes, financial indicators have received much less attention. Moreover, we are unaware of health care sector studies that have examined the relationship between HRM and these three outcome dimensions simultaneously. The second contribution concerns the ‘black box’ issue. Many studies use employee attitudes as an outcome variable. However, an important interpretation of the ‘black box’ implies that employee attitudes will mediate the link between HRM and performance [ 13 ]. Using job satisfaction as indicator of employee attitudes, we will test whether this holds for all three outcome measures considered in this article. This leads to the following three hypotheses:

H1: job satisfaction mediates the relationship between HR practices and financial outcomes in health care organizations.

H2: job satisfaction mediates the relationship between HR practices and organizational outcomes health care organizations.

H3: job satisfaction mediates the relationship between HR practices and HR outcomes in health care organizations.

Before discussing our data, it is important to shortly describe the structure of the Dutch health care sector. In general, the Dutch health care system can be described as a mix of public and private provider agents, mainly based on public funding [ 26 ]. More specifically, Dutch health care is divided into short-term care (‘cure’-sector, for instance provided in hospitals) and long-term care (‘care’-sector, for instance provided in nursing homes). This research focuses on organizations that provide long-term care. This includes organizations providing home care, somatic care and psychogeriatric a care and is mainly financed using public funds. Next to this, citizens also pay a relatively small private fee.

A central explanation for the limited number of studies focusing on objective and multidimensional outcome data is that such data are difficult to collect. This study has the advantage of being able to use data from the ‘ActiZ Benchmark in health care’. This benchmark was developed by ActiZ - an important Dutch employer association - in cooperation with PwC - for the period 2010 to 2015. The benchmark measures and compares the performance of three different health care sectors (home care, nursing care and care homes) and contains employee data, client data and financial performance data. We analyzed the data gathered from autumn 2010 to autumn 2011. In total, 162 organizations participated during this period. This is approximately 35% of all organizations providing home care, nursing care and care homes in the Netherlands ( http://www.zorggegevens.nl ).

The data will be analyzed at the organizational level. Thus, data collected at the employee or client level will be aggregated. Other variables, such as financial performance indicators, do not need to be aggregated, as they are (only) available at the organizational level. With respect to financial outcomes, we will consider the net margin. With respect to organizational outcomes, we will focus on client satisfaction, and absence due to sickness will be considered to capture HR outcomes. Job satisfaction - which also can be regarded as an (proximal) HR outcome - will be used as a ‘black box’ variable mediating the relationship between HR practices and outcomes. The measurement of HR practices is discussed below.

First, most financial performance data on health care organizations are publicly available and based on annual reports. This information is stored in databases (available at http://www.zorggegevens.nl and http://www.jaarverslagenzorg.nl ) (in English: healthcare information and annual reports). We discussed this information with an accountant from PwC. To gather employee data, a questionnaire was distributed to all employees, and a total 1 of 61,061 individuals completed the survey, resulting in a response rate of 42%. Only the responses of employees with direct interactions with clients were used in our analysis (job functions such as nursing, care, client-related domestic support and occupational therapy), due to their relationship with the organizational outcome (client satisfaction). This resulted in a database of 48,145 employees. Within this employee database, each question was answered by at least 90.7% of the respondents. Of the valid respondents, 92% were women. This is consistent with Dutch averages for employees in home care, nursing care and care homes, which is predominantly a female profession [ 27 ]. As age is subdivided into categories in our study, we could only say something about the predominant age category. The predominant age category is 46 to 55 years (36.9%) which suggests that the average age is slightly above the average age of 41 years [ 27 ]. Clients were surveyed using the Client Quality Index (CQi) for long-term care [ 28 , 29 ]. The CQi employs a stratified sampling method, through which an independent agency surveys a representative client sample for each organization. Three groups are constructed: home care clients, somatic care clients (in nursing homes or care homes) and psychogeriatric care clients (in nursing homes or care homes). Home care clients are asked to complete a survey; somatic clients are interviewed using a survey as a guide. For psychogeriatric clients (suffering from cognitive issues such as dementia), an authorized representative completes a survey.

To ensure the comparability of the employee data with the client and financial performance data, we only included organizations with information in all three databases. This resulted in a database with 85 organizations.

Measurement

The dataset constructed as described above has the potential to increase our understanding of the relationship among HR practices, job satisfaction and outcomes. However, it also has limitations. The data are not gathered with academic objectives in mind; instead, its primary goal is to be practically useful for the organizations involved. This implies that items used in this study are only partly based on validated scales and existing theory. To determine the reliability of the scales, we have computed reliability statistics where possible. Cronbach’s Alpha is used as a measure of reliability. It indicates how consistently the observed variable measures the latent dimension (prescribed norm is > .70).

HR practices

The employee questionnaire contains five indicators that are often used in HRM and performance research: training and development, performance related pay, teamwork, job design, and autonomy. In the overview article by Harris et al . [ 4 ] the measurement of HRM in health care is discussed. They stated that HR practices that should be adopted in HRM systems incorporate high performance work practices found to have had a positive effect on performance in other sectors (the so-called best practices) without derogating the specific health care context. The first two indicators included by us are the most frequently used in research [ 12 ]. The other three also score relatively high on the list of the most common practices (ranked 5, 10 and 11) [ 12 ]. However, HRM and performance research exhibits little consistency in the selection of HR practices to measure HRM. Boselie et al . [ 12 ] analyzed 104 important HRM and performance studies and identified as many as 26 different HR practices used in different studies. No single agreed, or fixed, list of HR practices or systems of practices exists to measure HRM [ 30 , 31 ]. Nevertheless, a certain consensus regarding the measurement of HRM has emerged in the academic literature on HRM and performance during the last decade. More than half of the articles published after 2000 made use of AMO (Ability, Motivation and Opportunity) theory [ 30 ]. AMO theory proposes that an HRM system should be designed to meet employees’ needs for skills and motivation and, after meeting those needs, provide them with opportunities to use their abilities in various roles [ 32 ]. The underlying idea is that employees will perform well if they have the requisite abilities, when they are motivated and when they obtain the opportunity to profile themselves [ 32 ]. By using the five HR practices indicated above, all three dimensions of AMO theory are covered. Lepak et al . [ 33 ] have listed concrete HR practices that influence employees’ AMO. In this respect, training and development are expected to improve employees’ abilities (A), performance related pay is an HR practices to motivate employees to perform (M), and teamwork, job design and autonomy are HR practices that are considered as opportunities to perform [ 30 ]. These five HR practices are also regularly part of the measurement of HRM in health care studies [ 21 , 24 , 34 ].

Training and development was measured using three items. A sample item is: ‘My organization pays enough attention to my career’. Responses were given using a five-point Likert scale (‘totally disagree’ to ‘totally agree’). All standardized loadings were greater than .5. Cronbach’s alpha was .77.

Performance related pay was measured using one item: ‘My organization provides additional financial rewards to employees with exceptional performance’. Responses were provided on a four-point Likert scale ranging from ‘never’ to ‘always’.

Teamwork was measured using two items. A sample item is: ‘Our organization encourages me to work together with other work units/teams or individuals within the organization’; (four-point Likert scale, ‘never’ to ‘always’). All standardized loadings were greater than 0.5, and they were all statistically significant. Correlation between the two items is .547 ( P < .001).

Job design was measured using three items. A sample item is: ‘My tasks are clear’ (four-point Likert, ‘never’ to ‘always’). All standardized loadings were greater than 0.5, and they were all statistically significant. Cronbach’s alpha was .85.

Four items were used to measure autonomy . A sample item is: ‘I can make decisions independently’ (four-point Likert, never to always). All standardized loadings were greater than .5, and they were all statistically significant. Cronbach’s alpha was .76.

As stated above, we followed the systems approach and therefore combined the five indicators into one HR system variable. As our analysis is at the organizational level, we aggregated the employee data. In this type of analysis, only variables with sufficient variance across organizations are included. To determine whether the data could be aggregated, the intraclass correlation (ICC) was computed. Aggregation is permissible when the variance between groups is larger than the variance within groups. For all HR practices, aggregation was permissible: training and development (F = 11.400, P < 0.01), performance related pay (F = 20.455, P < 0.01), job design (F = 7.728, P < 0.01), teamwork (F = 14.240, P < 0.01), autonomy (F = 8.391, P < 0.01), as was the overall HRM variable (F = 9.667, P < 0.01).

Job satisfaction

Job satisfaction was measured by one item: ‘I enjoy going to work’ (F = 6.586, P < 0.01) (five-point Likert, ‘never’ to ‘always’). Nagy [ 35 ] noted that measuring job satisfaction with a single item ‘is more efficient, is more cost-effective, contains more face validity, and is better able to measure changes in job satisfaction’.

Financial outcome

The net margin is defined as the ratio of a firm’s net profits to its total revenues. It indicates what share of each euro/dollar earned is translated into profit. It is stated as a percentage:

Organizational outcome

The organizational outcome is measured by focusing on client satisfaction. Clients were asked about their satisfaction with the treatment they received. This indicator consists of five items. A sample item is: ‘Do the caregivers have enough time for you?’ (four-point Likert, ‘never’ to ‘always’). We must note that the Association of Client Quality only provides aggregated scales, partly because of privacy issues. Thus, the reliability statistics and ICC cannot be computed. However, the robustness of the CQi - which is most often analyzed at the organizational level - shows that aggregation seems appropriate [ 25 , 26 ].

The HR outcome measure considered is absence due to sickness. Absence due to sickness can be considered a key HR outcome as the decision of employees to be absent affects the available human resources and is a critical success factor for the continuation of work processes within the organization (for example, see [ 36 ]). Absenteeism due to sickness is calculated in percentages, using a standard formula developed by Vernet [ 37 ]. In brief: for every employee, each day he/she calls in sick is multiplied by the part-time factor and disability factor pertaining to that day. These days are then summed and divided by the total number of working days. Maternity leave is excluded. This is calculated for the organization as a whole.

Control variables

We also included control variables, such as gender (1 = female) and age (1 = up to 25 years; 2 = 26 to 35 years; 3 = 36 to 45 years; 4 = 46 to 55 years; 5 = 56 years and older). Furthermore, we included diversity of care to determine whether the relationship among the variables differs for organizations employing a diverse set of care activities as supposed to more specialized organizations. It ranges from a minimum of one to a maximum of six as there are six different forms of care in our sample: hospital care, extramural residential care, extramural personal care, day activities, maternity care and youth care b .

Method of analysis

The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) with Robust Maximum Likelihood estimation. SEM allows us to test the full conceptual model simultaneously. Furthermore, SEM allows us to simultaneously analyze the direct and indirect relationships among the independent and the dependent variables. Finally, SEM also enables us to compare different models [ 38 ]. We used AMOS version 21 IBM SPSS (see http://www-03.ibm.com/software/products/nl/spss-amos ) to develop the SEM model.

As our hypotheses include mediation effects, we employed bootstrapping [ 39 ]. This method estimates the parameters of a model and their standard errors strictly from the sample without reference to any theoretical sampling distribution. In our study, we created 200 samples (with replacement) from the available observed sample.

Results and discussion

Table 1 presents the means, standard deviations and correlations of the variables. As perception variables are measured on various scales (1 to 5 or 1 to 4), we recoded them into a 1 to 10 scale to ease interpretation. The results show that employees perceive a relatively large number of HR practices (M = 6.08 on a 1 to 10 scale). Employees are on average satisfied with their jobs (M = 8.15). Client satisfaction is also quite high: 8.63. With respect to absence due to sickness, the average score is .06 (6%). Finally, the average value for the net margin was .03, showing that for each 100 euros of revenue, 3 euros accrue as profits. Furthermore, the correlations show that HR practices are related to the outcomes as expected. For instance, HR practices are positively and significantly related to client satisfaction. As some of the bivariate correlations are in the medium to high range, we conducted multicollinearity tests. The variance inflation factor (VIF) values were all well within the acceptable range, with the highest being 2.05 [ 40 ]. Thus, our results are not adversely affected by multicollinearity.

To test the proposed relationships, a structural equation model was developed, as shown in Figure 1 . Only the statistically significant relationships are described ( P < .05). The numerical scores on all lines indicate standardized regression coefficients (beta), and the scores in brackets are the explained variance. The overall model fit was tested using several indices. The model fit values were CMIN 24.146 (df 19, p .191) and .962 (comparison fit index (CFI)), implying that the model had a very good fit. Additionally, the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), with a value of .057, also indicated that the model had a good fit.

Result of Structural Equation Modeling.

We can now discuss the hypotheses in detail. First, we tested the hypothesis that job satisfaction mediates the relationship between HR practices and financial outcomes in the Dutch care sector. The results show that this indirect effect is not statistically significant (see Table 2 ). We therefore reject the first hypothesis concerning a mediating effect. This could imply that the effect of HR practices on financial performance is direct and not mediated by job satisfaction. The results indeed show a positive and significant relationship between these variables (β = .267, P < .05), implying that a greater use of HR practices is directly related to improved financial outcomes.

The second hypothesis proposed that job satisfaction mediates the relationship between HR practices and organizational outcomes. The results show that this is indeed the case. Therefore, our second hypothesis is supported by the data.

Finally, we tested the hypothesis that job satisfaction mediates the relationship between HR practices and HR outcomes in the Dutch care sector. The results indeed show that the indirect relationship between HRM on the HRM outcome sick absenteeism is significant. Therefore, our third hypothesis is also supported by the data.

The final step in the analysis was the examination of the control variables. In organizations with more female employees, clients are more satisfied with the delivery of services. Moreover, the percentage absence due to sickness is lower in these organizations. With respect to age, the results show that absence due to sickness is higher in organizations in which the average age is relatively high. Finally, the diversity of care is positively associated with absence due to sickness. In other words, organizations engaging in a diverse set of care activities have more absence due to sickness than more specialized organizations.

Finally, model validity was achieved through cross-model validation. Camilleri [ 41 ] suggests pursuing cross-validation in three phases. In the first phase, the data are divided into two data sets. One dataset consists of a random selection of 20% of the data collected from respondents; the second dataset consists of a random selection of 80% of the data collected. In the second phase, SEM via path analysis that calculates the structural fit index (measured by R 2 ) is conducted for both datasets. The third phase consists of examining the differences between the calculated structural fit indices obtained for each dataset. The extent of model validity is determined by the similarity in the variance accounted for by each dataset. The results of the cross-model validation are presented in Table 3 . As the differences in the explained variance are small, the cross-model validation provided satisfactory results.

The main contributions of this study to the literature on HRM and performance in the health care sector concerns the use of a multidimensional performance perspective. In this respect, we examined three different outcomes: financial (net margin), organizational (client satisfaction), and HR (sickness absence). The analysis includes job satisfaction, which can be regarded as a ‘black box’ variable: a mediating variable connecting HR practices and performance.

The results confirm the basic notion that HRM and performance within the health care sector are linked. Our final SEM model shows that HRM is - directly or indirectly - linked to all three outcomes. When organizations apply - according to their employees - more HR practices, this is associated with greater client satisfaction, less sickness absence, and a better net margin. With respect to organizational and HR outcomes, the hypotheses regarding the mediating effect of job satisfaction are confirmed. This is in accordance with the perspective that employee attitudes are an important component of the ‘black box’ between HRM and performance. In this respect, our study showed that higher job satisfaction is associated with higher organizational performance. More specifically, in line with the assumption, our research showed a positive association between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction because if employees are satisfied with their jobs, they are likely to behave toward customers in ways that yield positive service experiences. A more extensive use of HR practices leads to more satisfied employees. This greater satisfaction ‘reflects’ on the clients, as satisfied employees will do more for them [ 42 ]. Moreover, satisfied workers are less likely to call in sick than less satisfied workers.

HR practices are directly related to financial outcomes, although the explained variance is small. Furthermore, we found that job satisfaction does not mediate the relationship between HRM and net margin. As we mentioned in the introduction, financial outcomes are a distant outcome of HRM. In fact, the literature about strategic management informs us that organizations can use different strategies to achieve their objectives [ 43 ]. In addition to a high performance strategy, organizations can also employ a low cost strategy [ 44 ]. Boxall and Purcell [ 45 ] describe the ‘mass service market’ - which includes care - as a ‘service market with some quality differentiation’. Organizations can follow various strategies to become (financially) successful. One possible strategy implies investing in employees, which will likely result in more satisfied employees. Another strategy implies cutting costs, which will result in reduced investments in employees and (most likely) less satisfied employees. The finding that HRM has a direct effect on financial outcomes may be because a low cost strategy also implies the use of certain HR practices, for instance performance management. It can thus lead to financial success without positively affecting the satisfaction of employees.

We conclude this article by presenting some limitations. An important limitation of this research - but also of many other studies in this area - is the hidden assumption that the same mix of HR practices will work for all organizations. Therefore, the inclusion of HR strategy in research designs will be an important addendum.

The possibility of considering various data sources (employee, client and ‘objective’ performance data) is an important - and unique - advantage of this study. However, it also has some drawbacks. The scales used are not based on previous academic literature. In further research, validated scales should therefore be employed. Moreover, a disadvantage of using secondary data is that not all the desired research concepts were covered in the data.

A further limitation is the sample size. Although the underlying dataset is large, the data were aggregated at the level of 85 health care organizations. This could be considered quite low. However, Bentler and Chou [ 46 ] recommended a ratio of sample size to free parameters of at least 5:1. In our analysis, the model tested was simple, and the ratio of the number of free parameters to the number of cases did not fall below under 5:1. Related to this, several studies using SEM with a small sample size are available [ 47 – 49 ]. Nevertheless, future studies might attempt to replicate the findings using larger sample sizes.

Furthermore, the results of this study should be interpreted in light of the study’s context and sample. The study was conducted in the Netherlands, which features a social health insurance scheme in health care financing and a mix of public and private provider organizations in health care provision [ 26 ]. This is in line with other ‘Bismarck’ countries, such as Belgium, Germany and France [ 26 ]. It would be interesting to replicate our study to test the proposed model in other countries using different kinds of health care systems.

In conclusion, our empirical results underscore the importance of HRM in the health care sector. We can state that HRM makes a difference, especially for HR and organizational outcomes. Its impact on financial performance is less strong. Job satisfaction links HR practices and organizational and employee outcomes. In conclusion, further analyzing HRM in the health care sector will be a productive endeavour for both researchers and practitioners.

a In some countries this terminology is no longer used. However, according to the organization of the care in the Netherlands, ‘psychogeriatric care’ is supposed to be the correct terminology.

b In this variable, more distinct forms of care are included than are analyzed in our study. We use this variable, however, as a proxy for the complexity of the organization.

Abbreviations

Ability, Motivation and Opportunity

comparison fit index

Client Quality Index

Human Resources

Human Resource Management

intraclass correlation

root mean square error of approximation

structural equation modeling

variance inflation factor.

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The authors would like to thank the reviewers, Gulin Gedik, Sandra Leggat, How Lee, Mario Monteiro and Amani Siyam for their useful suggestions by earlier versions of this manuscript. The authors would also like to thank American Journal Experts for editing this manuscript.

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BS, BV and LT have contributed to the manuscript by drafting the manuscript (all sections). BV has furthermore contributed by conducting the statistical analyses. RJP and ML have contributed by designing the datasets which form the foundation of the manuscript and by acquisition of data. SvB has contributed by drafting the manuscript and revising it critically. All authors approved the final manuscript.

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Vermeeren, B., Steijn, B., Tummers, L. et al. HRM and its effect on employee, organizational and financial outcomes in health care organizations. Hum Resour Health 12 , 35 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1186/1478-4491-12-35

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HRM and its effect on employee, organizational and financial outcomes in health care organizations

Brenda vermeeren.

1 Erasmus University Rotterdam, PO Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, Netherlands

Bram Steijn

Lars tummers, marcel lankhaar.

2 PwC, PO Box 8800, 3009 AV Rotterdam, Netherlands

Robbert-Jan Poerstamper

Sandra van beek.

3 Actiz, PO Box 8258, 3505 RG Utrecht, Netherlands

HRM and outcomes

HRM and outcomes in the health care sector

In the last two decades, several studies on HRM and performance have been conducted in the health care sector [ 19 , 20 ]. In their review of health care studies, Harris et al . [ 4 ] concluded that HR practices are often related to patient oriented performance outcomes. They also noted the importance of conducting additional research on the ‘black box’ issue. Furthermore, many health care studies relate HRM to organizational and HR related outcomes [ 21 - 25 ]. However, studies focusing on financial outcomes - which have been extensively addressed in the private sector HRM literature - seem rather scarce.

H1: job satisfaction mediates the relationship between HR practices and financial outcomes in health care organizations.

H2: job satisfaction mediates the relationship between HR practices and organizational outcomes health care organizations.

H3: job satisfaction mediates the relationship between HR practices and HR outcomes in health care organizations.

Measurement

HR practices

Job satisfaction

Financial outcome

The net margin is defined as the ratio of a firm’s net profits to its total revenues. It indicates what share of each euro/dollar earned is translated into profit. It is stated as a percentage:

Organizational outcome

Control variables

Method of analysis

Results and discussion

Means, standard deviations, and correlations (N = 85)


1. HRM	6.08	.433
2. Job satisfaction	8.15	.422	.725
3. Sick absenteeism	.06	.017	-.494	-.424
4. Client satisfaction	8.63	.346	.273	.286	-.381
5. Net margin	.03	.035	.267	.188	-.177	.187
6. Diversity of care	4.34	.699	-.333	-.278	.345	-.246	-.153
7. Age	3.31	.293	-.508	-.427	.457	-.133	-.057	.229
8. Gender	.92	NA	.155	.137	-.276	.379	.110	-.071	-.065

a P < .05; b P < .01.

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is 1478-4491-12-35-1.jpg

Result of Structural Equation Modeling.

Indirect effects of Human Resource Management (HRM) on outcomes mediated by job satisfaction


H1: Financial outcome (net margin)	-.008
H2: Organizational outcome (client satisfaction)	.186
H3: HR outcome (sick absenteeism)	-.157

Results of cross-model validation showing R 2 for the three samples


Job satisfaction	.526	.460	.556	-.096
Financial outcome	.071	.020	.044	-.024
Organizational outcome	.189	.145	.212	-.067
HR outcome	.297	.294	.267.	.027

A further limitation is the sample size. Although the underlying dataset is large, the data were aggregated at the level of 85 health care organizations. This could be considered quite low. However, Bentler and Chou [ 46 ] recommended a ratio of sample size to free parameters of at least 5:1. In our analysis, the model tested was simple, and the ratio of the number of free parameters to the number of cases did not fall below under 5:1. Related to this, several studies using SEM with a small sample size are available [ 47 - 49 ]. Nevertheless, future studies might attempt to replicate the findings using larger sample sizes.

a In some countries this terminology is no longer used. However, according to the organization of the care in the Netherlands, ‘psychogeriatric care’ is supposed to be the correct terminology.

b In this variable, more distinct forms of care are included than are analyzed in our study. We use this variable, however, as a proxy for the complexity of the organization.

Abbreviations

AMO: Ability, Motivation and Opportunity; CFI: comparison fit index; CQi: Client Quality Index; HR: Human Resources; HRM: Human Resource Management; ICC: intraclass correlation; RMSEA: root mean square error of approximation; SEM: structural equation modeling; VIF: variance inflation factor.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Authors’ contributions

Acknowledgements

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Research trends in human resource management. A text-mining-based literature review

Design/methodology/approach

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1. Introduction

2. Trends in the HRM research identified in previous studies

3. Material and methods

3.1 Selection of journals

3.2 Search for the most important terms

3.3 Identification of thematic groups (clusters)

3.4 Identification of trends

3.5 Interpretation of trends

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5. Conclusions

5.2 Limitations

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HRM and its effect on employee, organizational and financial outcomes in health care organizations

HRM and outcomes

HRM and outcomes in the health care sector

Measurement

HR practices

Control variables

Method of analysis

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Human Resources for Health

HRM and its effect on employee, organizational and financial outcomes in health care organizations

Bram Steijn

Robbert-Jan Poerstamper

HRM and outcomes

HRM and outcomes in the health care sector

Measurement

HR practices

Job satisfaction

Financial outcome

Organizational outcome

Control variables