Learning to manage: Development experiences of hospital frontline managers
journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-18, 20:18authored byKellner, A, Townsend, K, Wilkinson, A, Lawrence, S, Greenfield, D
In high performing human resource management (HRM) systems, much responsibility for managing employees and associated processes is typically devolved to frontline managers (FLMs). Research indicates that undeveloped FLM HRM ability can impact performance, particularly in health-care organisations. We present the incidence and characteristics of HRM-oriented learning and development programs for FLMs in hospitals with high performing systems of HRM, and experiences of FLMs directly participating in them. We combine data from 50 Australian hospital accreditation reports with interviews from eight ‘high performance HRM’ cases. We find: almost all high performers develop FLM HRM ability; development programs are extremely diverse between hospitals and succession planning is deficient. While primarily focused on understanding ability, the study contributes to the ability, motivation, opportunity framework, proposing a model and new interrelationships between these variables in the FLM context.
History
Publication title
Human Resource Management Journal
Volume
26
Issue
4
Pagination
505-522
ISSN
0954-5395
Department/School
College Office - College of Business and Economics
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Rights statement
Copyright 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Repository Status
Restricted
Socio-economic Objectives
Evaluation of health and support services not elsewhere classified