Employee versus contractor

While in 2024 220,000 New Zealanders were working multiple jobs, today - driven by the rising gig economy and cost-of-living pressures - nearly half of all Kiwis are considering taking on a second job (Tilo, 2025). When we end up taking on more work, we may encounter non-standard work types - such as Uber driving, Deliveroo, and so on (Macfie, 2022). These roles bring a difference between employee benefits and support, and we need to know what our rights are as a contractor.

Contracting is a tricky, murky area of employment legislation in Aotearoa, which can shift power away from individuals to organisations. When compared to standard employment, non-standard work may leave employees without clearly defined legal rights and obligations. For example, contractors are not covered by the Employment Relations Act; cannot bring personal grievances; are often paid based on work results; and may also not be covered by minimum wage agreements (MBIE, 2026). What type of worker we are makes a difference to the protections are available to us. See the table illustrating this post (Berntsen, 2019, p. 3).

Non-standard work has both pros and cons. If we have highly sought-after skills and are at the top end of the market, we can indeed negotiate our own salary, conditions, insurance and leave. However, at the bottom end of the market where we are 'just' labour, the negative aspects put the power in the hands of the employer with short notice work requirements without the ability to turn work down; working alongside well-paid permanent employees at minimum wage without permanent employee protections; no breaks and having to pay for our own replacement as a NZ Post driver if we can't work (Macfie, 2022) in addition to few employment law protections and opaque hiring processes (Berntsen, 2019; NZCTU, 2013).

When organisations decide that all employees will become independent contractors with the 'freedom' to decide their own working hours, such as happened at NZ Post (Macfie, 2022), who holds the power in that relationship? Governments may argue that non-standard employment allows contractors to negotiate their own remuneration packages, it may also allow employers to bypass employment law and set punitive rates of pay (Berntsen, 2019; Macfie, 2022; NZCTU, 2013).

There needs to be a balance here, and I don't think we have it right yet.

Sam

References:

Berntsen, L. (2019). The changing nature of work: Strengths and shortcomings of New Zealand's benefits and protections for Workers in non-Standard Employment. Fulbright New Zealand. https://www.fulbright.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/L-Berntsen-AxfordFellow2019-Report-JULY2019.pdf

Macfie, R. (2022, January). Bad jobs. North & South Magazine. https://northandsouth.co.nz/2022/01/15/employment-new-zealand/

NZCTU. (2013). Under Pressure: A Detailed Report into Insecure Work in New Zealand. New Zealand Council of Trade Unions. https://www.union.org.nz/underpressure

MBIE. (2026). Employee or Contractor?. Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment. https://www.employment.govt.nz/starting-employment/types-of-worker/employee-or-contractor

Tilo, D. (2025). Poly-employment': Transparency in workplaces encouraged amid rise of secondary jobs. HRD New Zealand. https://www.hcamag.com/nz/news/general/poly-employment-transparency-in-workplaces-encouraged-amid-rise-of-secondary-jobs/535335?utm_source=chatgpt.com

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An HRM HRD metaphor

While I often consider the human resource management field as a pie (see the diagram below from Workhuman, 2022), I also consider it as a continuum. 

Down at one end are all the task-oriented functions, like data collection, payroll, tax, insurance, parking, PPE, and leave. I tend to think of this being the 'cool' end. Pretty much everyone in an organisation deals with output from the cool end all the time. The output is consistent across the group, there are rules, leaving little room for manoeuvring, or individualisation. 

At the other end of the continuum we find the relational human resource development (HRD) functions: such as culture, training and development, and organisational development. I think of this as the 'warm' end; the people end, the human end - the heart end. At the warmest part of the warm end we find career development (CD). It is here that the organisation has a dyad relationship with each individual within the organisation (Ulh-Bein, 2006). We get personal development plans, career mapping within the organisation, and see the humanistic Rogerian (1942) theories of client-centred practice embodied. 

The HRM pie is as follows:

But we can see that by unrolling the sphere, we could easily run from HRIS at the cold end, through HRM in the middle, to HRD at the warm end. Just like the diagram accompanying this post :-D

That enables us to think differently about the HRM functions covered inside organisations, and who is at the centre of each service. As career development people, our training encourages us to put the individual at the centre of our practice. It is not about the organisational need, but about determining the individual's need. And in general, if we take a client-centred approach (Rogers, 1942), the organisational need gets met on the way.

Sam

References:

Rogers, C. R. (1942). Counseling and psychotherapy: newer concepts in practice. Houghton Mifflin.

WorkHuman. (2022, December 12). What is Human Resource Development (HRD)? 2023 Complete Guide. https://www.workhuman.com/blog/human-resource-development-hrd/#what8 as modified by myself

Uhl-Bien, M. (2006). Relational Leadership Theory: Exploring the social processes of leadership and organizing. The Leadership Quarterly, 17, 654-676. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2006.10.007

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Virtual onboarding

Covid-19 changed our corporate practices, almost without notice. I was thinking recently about how many things suddenly had to change during the pandemic, and how nimble our organisations had to become in developing new ways to get things done, including what happens when we need new staff. Everything from recruitment, to interviewing, to how we onboard our staff had to change. Working from home, WFH, changed our working lives.

There has been some interesting research into virtual onboarding, ranging from library work to the public service to corporates (Alexander, 2021; Martyniuk et al., 2021; Petrilli et al., 2022; Yarbrough & Ramos Salazar, 2023). Sound onboarding practices generally mean that employees will stay longer with the organisation (Yarbrough & Ramos Salazar, 2023), but that the real non-negotiable is communication (Alexander, 2021). 

We can define onboarding as a "process that allows both the candidate and the company to get to know each other, understanding fit and expectations" (Petrilli et al., 2022, p. 1), filling a socialisation need for both parties. Socialisation is more fragile when we try to do it virtually (Petrilli et al., 2022). Making one on one connections, and having a go-to person for IT help makes a difference - coming into "a new work team is a nerve-wracking process under almost any circumstances but doing it virtually while trying to master new software on the fly can be absolutely terrifying" (Alexander, 2021, p. 209).

New employees not only need a digital and hardware pack to facilitated their work, they need a guide to help their organisational "introduction to technology" which "can help a new employee feel less self-conscious about asking questions" (Alexander, 2021, p. 209). We need an IT buddy, a work process buddy, a resources buddy, and a company culture buddy: "one on one meetings are an enormous help in facilitating a [new employee's] comfort level" (Alexander, 2021, p. 209) to "establish belonging" (Martyniuk et al., 2021, p. 6), and having a team who can "engag[e via] mini-tutorials and conduct[...] regular one-on-one check-ins" (Yarbrough & Ramos Salazar, 2023, p. 709).

New staff may feel "apprehensive about the precarious work environment", feeling that the pandemic and the strangeness of the new adds to reduced cohesion and lack of certainty. Staff may well feel "nervous, apprehensive, and [potentially be] experiencing imposter syndrome" (Martyniuk et al., 2021, p. 4), so delivering clear feedback (Petrilli et al., 2022), showing how new employees add value, and meeting the social aspects of work (Petrilli et al., 2022) become even more important in virtual environments. 

Research seemed to show that companies were either good at all their staff welfare processes including virtual onboarding, or they were poor across the board. More planning needed to go into delivering good processes, due to the complexity and "unanticipated levels of coordination" (Martyniuk et al., 2021, p. 6). Accidental networking and collaboration reduced due to a "lack of social interaction and water-cooler conversation"; an unexpected by-product of WFH (Martyniuk et al., 2021, p. 6).

Overall, developing a communicative, supporting and non-judgemental community of practice (Martyniuk et al., 2021) is a key element in bringing new members into the team (Alexander, 2021; Martyniuk et al., 2021; Petrilli et al., 2022; Yarbrough & Ramos Salazar, 2023), regardless of virtual or face to face environments. However, it becomes more essential in virtual onboarding; as does allowing mistakes to be made, and providing clear, regular and timely feedback.

Not rocket science. 

Sam

References:

Alexander, A. (2021). Virtual onboarding: Lessons from the pandemic. Public Services Quarterly, 17(3), 208-211. https://doi.org/10.1080/15228959.2021.1915913

Free Icons Library. (2023). Helping Hand Icon #309445 [image]. https://icon-library.com/icon/helping-hand-icon-8.html

Martyniuk, J., Moffatt, C., & Oswald, K. (2021). Into the unknown: Onboarding early career professionals in a remote work environment. Partnership, 16(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.21083/partnership.v16i1.6451

Petrilli, S., Galuppo, L., & Ripamonti, S. C. (2022). Digital onboarding: facilitators and barriers to improve worker experience. Sustainability, 14(9), 5684, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14095684

Yarbrough, J. W., & Ramos Salazar, L. (2023). Virtual onboarding and socialization, an exploration of employee discussions and experiences. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 28(5), 707-723. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCIJ-12-2022-0158

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Quick HRM map

The field of human resource is complex, today forming a broad system which supports line managers with the tools they need to first develop and support their employees, and through those employees, to secondly drive - or facilitate - organisational performance (Grimard & Cossette, 2017). The difficulty is that often when we teach HRM, we tend to teach it as fragmented elements: legal aspects; taxation; conflict management; training... instead of providing an HRM overview showing how the elements fit together. We also tend also in courses to not relate HR functions to small businesses. We seem to 'assume' a corporate cloak when we talk about HR.

That can be more like an 'invisibility' cloak at times. Small businesses need HR too, but so often in Aotearoa do not have it.

The old adage is that HR is "having the right people in the right place at the right time", but HR today is far more complex than that. Two Canadian professors / researchers thought about this, and created the Quick HRM 'map' to show how HR is in fact "a coherent system of functions all integrally linked to each other" (Grimard & Cossette, 2017, p. 52). Each of the varied HR functions "consists of multiple steps, and each of these steps involves several tools" (p. 53), including: job analysis; planning; staffing; development; and maintenance (see below, p. 56). 

I particularly like this map as it shows the development elements - those which grow staff - separately to those of maintenance. Development aligns well with motivators or areas of satisfaction from Herzberg's Two Factor Theory (1959); while maintenance aligns well with dissatisfaction or demotivators. It is a nice division which helps clarify that HRD should have a developmental approach, which I feel may get lost in larger organisations, or be sacrificed during times of hardship in small organisations.

The authors have managed to locate the five HR areas on the map - job analysis, planning, staffing, development, maintenance - by repeating planning between the HRD and maintenance tasks; implying that it lies between all these tasks (Grimard & Cossette, 2017, p. 56). I was thinking that they could also have simply included a box behind all these elements to show that they all sit in 'a sea' of planning. 

For my part, in the Quick HRM map, I colour-coded the blocks to show which function they belonged to, but did not include an yellow planning box behind all. Perhaps I should have done. And perhaps I should have coloured the task of job analysis yellow as well. And interestingly I did not colour the staffing elements as a different colour because I see these two elements as much more part of planning, and less of the separate function of 'staffing'. Interesting how biases come out when we work with a model! Further, I felt that the job analysis box did not quite fit the model. This is such a 'task' - or output - of the planning process, that it just didn't seem to fit. I totally get why the authors include it in the model, but there is something odd about it needing to be included that just doesn't quite gel. 

How does this model - and my interpretation - fit with your existing knowledge and understanding of HR practices?

Sam

References:

Grimard, C. M., & Cossette, M. (2017). Quick HRM: Using a brief case study to introduce students to HRM. In Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Proceedings of the Annual ABSEL conference, 44(1), 52-58. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5813/322a84a0da865a64aa1d8cf0677e0bf8a205.pdf

Herzberg, F. (1959). The Motivation to Work. John Wiley & Sons.

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The nature of the employment relationship

When considering how employee voice operates in organisations, we must first be clear about what the 'employment relationship' is. An employment relationship is established when one person gives their mental or physical labour in exchange for some type of reward. This was seminally defined as: “An economic, social and political relationship which provides manual and mental labour in exchange for rewards allocated by employers” (Gospel & Palmer, 1993, p. 3).

In New Zealand, employment relationships are formally structured to establish a fair and balanced agreement between parties - employees and organisation - as well as personal and psychological commitments, as follows:

Employment Contract	Psychological Contract
Employment Legislation (e.g. Employment Relations Act 2000). See latest legislation here (Employment New Zealand, 2023). Individual or collective Employment agreement: Statutory and express terms written into employment contract.	Unwritten & largely implicit expectations and perceptions of conditions of employment relationship between parties. Reciprocal agreement: but controlled by the employee. Emotional bond which sustains the employment relationship over time. (Millar, 2006; Rudman, 1994)

 

Power imbalances between parties when creating the employment relationship - or if there are breaches of the employment contract or the psychological contract - can undermine the effectiveness and value of both contracts. Employment relationship objectives need to combine "efficiency, equity and voice" (Budd, 2004, p. 8):

• Efficiency: "the effective use of scarce resources" – e.g. market-based transactions & contracts (p. 13)
• Equity: "a set of fair employment standards covering both material outcomes and personal treatment that respects human dignity and liberty" – e.g. minimum labour standards, equality of opportunity (p. 13)
• Voice: "the ability to have meaningful input into decisions" – e.g. industrial democracy; employee decision-making & autonomy. Importance of communication & consultation that has meaning - in other words, that the employee can effect a change in organisational decision-making (p. 13).

Employee involvement, participation, and voice clearly relate to equity and voice above, but may also assist efficiency due to the increased information quality from front-line workers regarding potential work process and resource efficiencies. 

Sam

References:

Budd, J. W. (2004). Employment with a Human Face: Balancing Efficiency, Equity, and Voice. Cornell University Press.

Employment New Zealand. (2023). Legislation: A range of legislation is relevant to employment relationships. https://www.employment.govt.nz/about/employment-law/legislation 

Gospel, H. F., & Palmer, G. (1993). British Industrial Relations. Routledge.

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Employee voice and participation

The employee voice provides the "opportunity to have a say" within workplaces (Mowbury et al., 2015, p. 385), but is formally defined as "how employees raise concerns, express and advance their interests, solve problems, and contribute to and participate in workplace decision making" (Pyman et al., 2006, p. 543). The employee voice is often in one of two frames: the 'direct' voice; or the 'indirect or representative' voice. 

Since the 1990s, thousands of organisations across the world have developed 'high commitment', 'high performance' and 'high involvement' work systems where employees are encouraged to contribute to decision-making and continual improvement. Employee participation efforts are associated with the following benefits (Mowbury et al., 2015):

• Higher employee engagement
• Increase productivity, worker and customer satisfaction
• Strengthening of organisational culture
• Greater flexibility - No legislative/ legal requirements

From an organisational perspective, employee participation strategies are underpinned by two key motives: 1) "to eliminate employee dissatisfaction"; and 2) to "capture suggestions in order to improve business performance" (Mowbury et al., 2015, p. 387). However, these participation strategies don't usually involve a collective union voice. What they do involve are work teams, for the most part. For example: self-managed teams; quality circles; team-based problem solving; health and safety committees.

Unions are often an effective way to hear collective, representative ‘employee voice’, BUT employers and employees can - and should - provide alternative/ additional mechanisms to facilitate 'direct' voice. For example, company, works, or consultative councils, health and safety committees, joint consultative committees (union and non-union).

Unions can be very useful at helping to share power, and giving employees a voice. But more channels are better, as organisations are often not that great at listening. 

Sam

References:

Mowbray, P. K., Wilkinson, A., & Tse, H. H. (2015). An integrative review of employee voice: Identifying a common conceptualization and research agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews, 17(3), 382-400. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12045

Pyman, A., Cooper, B., Teicher, J., & Holland, P. (2006). A comparison of the effectiveness of employee voice arrangements in Australia. Industrial Relations Journal, 37(5), 543-559. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2338.2006.00419.x

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Workplace Flexibility

Workplace flexibility has been defined as "the opportunity to adjust the where, when and how of work", which "encompasses the degree to which time, location and task features of work are adjustable to meet life, family and personal needs" (Putnam et al., 2014, p. 414). 

Organisations have always used flexible arrangements - such as overtime, shift-working, fixed term contracts, short time working etc - to ensure staffing meets system needs, and interestingly, while flexible work arrangements are often structured by HR, they are usually implemented by line managers. Arguments for flexible working can be made for the organisation, and for the worker, but it is more common for organisational outcomes to be prioritised. Even so, some organisations have made flexible working arrangements an HR key performance indicator (KPI). 

Like flexible work, the image illustrating this post may be 'seen' in different ways. Some may see the freedom to self-determine where work happens; others may see this as 'having' to work even in private time. The tension between organisational and employee needs is an HR constant: "Workplace flexibility initiatives as a potential remedy for work−life conflicts are the focus of [a great deal of] research [yet] findings reveal tensions and contradictions in the ways that employees, managers and organizations develop, enact and respond to these flexibility initiatives" (Putnam, Myers & Gailiard, 2014, p. 413). 

So workplace flexibility is a 'contested' field. In the blue corner: workplace flexibility gives employees greater control and scope to manage life and work. In the red corner: workplace flexibility is an organisational tool which increases organisational competitiveness to the detriment of employees due to less job security, more variable work and intensification of work. How do we fight this out? The truth is situational - varying from context to context - and lies between the blue and the red. 

Recently many organisations have extended flexible arrangements beyond those used traditionally. The environment (e.g. GFC, Covid-19), legislation (e.g. the Employment Relations (Probationary Employment) Amendment Bill 2006), and organisational practice (e.g. zero hour contracts) have pushed the boundaries of how flexible workers should be expected to be. 

Yet the shifting demography of the workforce has forced organisations to consider how to best support diverse workers with their diversity of responsibilities and commitments outside their employment. In this context, advocates, legislation (e.g. the Employment Relations (Flexible Working Arrangements) Amendment Act 2007; 2014) and organisational practices (such as flexi-time, working from home, leave arrangements) have begun to push the boundaries of how flexible organisations should be expected to be.

It is important that organisations take a nuanced approach to workplace flexibility, flexible working arrangements and other 'family friendly' practices and hear the employee voice in the process. 

Sam

References:

Putnam, L. L., Myers, K. K., & Gailliard, B. M. (2014). Examining the tensions in workplace flexibility and exploring options for new directions. Human Relations, 67(4), 413-440. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726713495704

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What is HRD?

HRM sometimes seems designed and implemented purely for improving organisational performance with little regard for the outcomes for individual employees in and of themselves. Further, HRM may have positive or negative outcomes depending on how services are delivered, and for whom. This is where we transition into the development space. 

The organisational activities considered as part of HRD are numerous and varied. HRD is a sub-field of HRM designed to develop the skills, knowledge and capabilities of individual workers, and includes 'training and development' (or learning and development), organisational development, and organisational career development.

Typically led by the HR function, HRD can have a significant influence on individual careers within organisations. Talent management and onboarding also tends to fall under the HRD banner: though are sometimes considered to be separate functional domains (Bryson, 2007).

All the following could be considered part of an HRD plan:

• Onboarding
• Familiarisation tours with different departments
• Literacy training
• Language training
• Skill development: technical skills, customer service skills etc
• Up-dating or refreshing current technical or technology skills (forklift licences etc)
• Team-building or culture-building activities
• Supporting workers to attend conferences, networking activities
• Supporting further study or research projects
• Mentoring
• Management training
• Career conversations/development...the list goes on!

Considering the type, outcomes and availability of HRD interventions when analysing organisational needs and making an HRD plan is essential, particularly as not all HRD activities are equally valuable to the individual - or to the organisation - and not all workers of an organisation can necessarily access HRD interventions. 

Equity and parity of access needs to be a key philosophy.

Sam

References:

Bryson, J. (2007). Chapter 10: Human Resource development or developing human capability? In S. Bolton, M. Houlihan (Eds.), Searching for the Human in Human Resource Management: Theory, Practices and workplace contexts (pp. 171-192). Palgrave Macmillan.

WorkHuman. (12 December 2022b). What are the 7 elements of human resource development?. https://www.workhuman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/HRD-wheel_PNG.png

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Some HRM history

HRM brings together a range of managerial approaches to the employment relationship. Beginning with ‘psychological assessment’ and the human relations movement 120 years ago, organisations began to considering workers as thinking and feeling beings who will perform better at work if their internal life - motivations, needs, hopes and expectations - is taken seriously by organisational leaders and managers.

Prior to the human relations school of thought, the school of 'scientific management' thought saw workers as typically motivated by financial rewards. Treated like cogs in a machine, staff could be shifted, monitored and replaced according to organisational needs. The human relations school proposes that a better way to manage workers is through encouraging motivation and commitment: rather than top-down surveillance and control.

Consider one of the leading models of HRM - which remains influential today - the Harvard model (Beer et al., 1984; see image). This remains one of the most popular HRM models, despite it's 40 year plus vintage. If you are interested in exploring the Beer et al (1984) text, create yourself an Open Library account (here) then get the book out at the Internet library (here).

It is important to understand the shared roles and responsibilities of organisations, managers, HR specialists and workers within the organisational system (Rudman, 2017). It is essential that HRM takes a systemic approach - or is allowed to take a systematic approach - so that organisational HRM activities are integrated, and that shared responsibility between members is embedded (Rudman, 2017). Alignment between worker objectives and organisation goals is a key element of sound HRM practice (aka the unitary frame of reference).

Unsurprisingly, treating staff as fellow human beings - with feelings, value, ethics and potential - yields rewards, and improves competitive advantage. Treating staff as replaceable cogs in a machine devalues the organisation, increases turnover and erodes commitment. 

Nothing about HR is really a surprise!

Sam

References:

Beer, M., Spector, B., Lawrence, P., Mills, D. Q. & Walton, R. (1984). Human Resource Management: A general manager’s perspective - texts and cases. Free Press. https://archive.org/details/humanresourceman00beer

Rudman, R. S. (2017). Chapter 2: Human Resources Management today. In HR Manager: A New Zealand handbook (2nd ed. pp. 37-56). Wolters Kluwer/CHH New Zealand.

read more "Some HRM history"

The changing role of HRM

The focus of Human Resource departments is often thought of as "to pick and maintain the right person for the job" in a "one-size-fits-all" way (Workhuman, 2022a). However, in a VUCA - volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous - world (Bennett & Lemoine, 2014), this approach is no longer providing the pay-offs to organisations or individuals that it once did. 

In the diagram accompanying this post, the developmental aspect of HR is clearly illustrated in the Human Resource Development (or HRD) quadrant's four sections including: T&D (sometimes known as L&D); organisational development; career development (aka OCM); and orientation and culture (Workhuman, 2022b, amendments by Young, 2023).

Considering these elements reminds us that that the functions of HR are quite varied and complex. This model presents HRD as one of three key areas, which I like to think of as growth, processes, and information. The other two areas are HRIS (including HRISS, Labour Relations, EAPs, and rewards), and the HRM functions (organisation and job design, selection and staffing, HR planning, and performance management). 

Today the role of HR appears to focus more on matching the needs of staff to organisational needs, while providing internal organisational support so that both staff and the organisation are able to accomplish their specific goals. This requires the creation of a "growth culture with program[me]s and policies that promote up-skilling and development" (Workhuman, 2022a). 

There is a greater focus on training and development within the HR function enabling all organisational players to become "more agile and resilient" (Workhuman, 2022a) ...and more adaptable. This means that - finally - organisations take a truly developmental approach to staff and to the organisation (Inkson et al., 2015). 

Organisations are very complex systems, requiring a lot of varied expertise to run well. Just a simple tour through a model brings that complexity home to us. 

Sam

References:

Bennett, N. & Lemoine, G. J. (2014). What VUCA Really Means for You. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2014/01/what-vuca-really-means-for-you

Inkson, K., Dries, N., & Arnold, J. (2015). Chapter 14: Organizational Career Management. In Understanding Careers (2nd ed., pp. 309-324). SAGE Publications Ltd.

WorkHuman. (12 December 2022a). What is Human Resource Development (HRD)? 2023 Complete Guide. https://www.workhuman.com/blog/human-resource-development-hrd/#what8

WorkHuman. (12 December 2022b). What are the 7 elements of human resource development? [image]. https://www.workhuman.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/HRD-wheel_PNG.png

read more "The changing role of HRM"

Reframing VUCA

Human Resource Management (HRM) may be defined as "the strategies, policies, plans, processes and practices which an organisation uses to attract and engage, manage, develop, and reward its workers, and to encourage, maintain, and improve their performance and contributions" (Rudman, 2017, p. 13). HRM may also be termed the management of people and work in organisations (Bryson & Ryan, 2012). 

HRM comprises a set of organisational activities, designed to improve organisational performance within a highly dynamic organisational, social, economic and environmental context... or within a 'VUCA' world of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (Bennett & Lemoine, 2014b). Dealing with our VUCA world's impact on today's workplaces requires the use of strategic HRM and HRD.

Reframing - or cognitive reframing as it is now more commonly known - was the work of Aaron Beck in the 1960s. Working with clients with clinical depression, Beck found that if clients could recognise negative thoughts, they could then shift or challenge themselves into a more positive mindset which lessened or halted their depression (Beck, 1997).

How does this relate to VUCA? If we reframe VUCA from the negative into a more positive HRD perspective, we can consider the counters to volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity: vision, understanding, clarity and caring, and agility. We can use these concepts as proactive strategies as we plan our counter-approaches, instead of passively having the world avalanche on us (CANNEXUS, 2023).

• Vision: seeing further. What is coming towards us in this wild world. Regularly using tools such as SWOT, Porters and audience analyses, as well as wide reading, will help us to stay alert
• Understanding: gathering knowledge so we understand the impact. Collecting both internal and external LMI
• Clarity and caring. Being clear about responsibility and tasks. First getting our organisational 'house' in order through good quality processes, instructions, onboarding, job analysis and performance. Then being compassionate about caring for all the people in the organisation so that they care for the organisation in return
• Agility. Being as flexible as we can so that when everything goes pear-shaped, everyone can move quickly. Planning for crises. Practicing the plan. Sharing technology and ideas. Assuming - particularly in a post-Covid world, that a crisis like Covid will happen again and being prepared for it

Let's stay awake out there.

Sam

References:

Beck, A. T. (1997). The past and the future of cognitive therapy. Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research, 6(4), 276-284. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3330473/pdf/jp64276.pdf

Bennett, N. & Lemoine, G. J. (2014b). What VUCA Really Means for You. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2014/01/what-vuca-really-means-for-you

Bryson, J., & Ryan, R. (2012). Human resource management in the workplace. Pearson Education.

CANNEXUS. (2023). Old VUCA to New VUCA [image]. https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNQk16EAHKZYvsaGX35kBYX05ZzCrM6s_yyczL8fiPxKGg7Uax-5Pe6wqYUjWcfyA/photo/AF1QipM3ggRHEXg8-3H4TCKKwiln7MdguW2unb2tlPWd?key=NElTVWhRQy1BZXdkS3VZX1BHVlFGQlotR0FJeWZR

Rudman, R. S. (2017). Chapter 2: Human Resources Management today. In HR Manager: A New Zealand handbook (2nd ed. pp. 37-56). Wolters Kluwer/CHH New Zealand.

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