Published Article / Employees working in municipalities and especially those who have to support other municipal employees (such as human resource management personnel), are constantly working in difficult working circumstances which may have a negative effect on their levels of job satisfaction. The effect of gender and ethnicity on the job satisfaction of human resource management employees working in a municipality has not yet been demonstrated. This information could help to improve the working circumstances of employees working in the municipality. Results indicated that employees are dissatisfied about the following job satisfaction components: company policies and practices, remuneration, promotion, security, acknowledgement for good performances, status, supervisor skills, working conditions, equipment and facilities. White employees in particular are found to be less satisfied in terms of the way their bosses handled personnel matters, on variety and on independent functioning in their job context. In the light of the above-mentioned, a few recommendations were made.

Human resource management advocates consider that obtaining employees' affective commitment to the organisation is an important objective. A key part of this concept is concerned with employees' identification with organisational goals and values. Recent research however, indicates that employers want employees to maintain their commitment levels even though organisations are undergoing periods ofextensive change that impact on many aspects of these goals and values. In the literature, employee commitment is regarded as a stable construct that nothing seems to alter. Despite this, there is increasing evidence to suggest that commitment may change if something in the organisation changes. To date, little research has sought to measure the impact of organisational changes on employee commitment. This study seeks to find out if commitment is altered by organisational changes or if commitment remains constant after the implementation of change. It also examines the impact of a range ofvariables on employees' commitment levels not previously addressed in the literature. The study adopted a cross sectional design. Data was collected by use of both quantitative techniques, (incorporating the British Organisational Commitment Scale or BOCS) and qualitative approaches, in three organisations located in the South East of England. An evaluation of the BOCS' reliability and dimensionality was carried out. In contrast to the literature, an eight item scale was shown to be superior, providing the best fit to the data. BOCS was found to comprise two distinct, but related components, hence the measure is considered bi-dimensional. The study makes several contributions to the literature. In particular, the: process of change (i.e. strategy used by each organisation to elicit organisational changes); antecedents to commitment (i.e. personal and work related variables); extent to which changes are experienced and content of change (i.e. the changes themselves) are all shown to affect the outcomes for individuals' commitment after periods of change in the organisation. Of the changes examined, almost all lead to increased levels ofemployees' self reported commitment. This challenges the claims that suggest commitment is stable and unchangeable. The study also revealed a number of factors lead to increased commitment amongst the workforce after change. These represent employee perceptions of change. Researchers and practitioners will need to focus on these issues in the future when considering commitment if they are to safeguard it after changes in the workplace.

<p>Human Resource Management (HRM) handlar om att leda mänskliga resurser. Det blir det allt vanligare att personalansvaret delegeras till linjecheferna i organisationen eftersom de arbetar närmast de anställda. Syftet med denna studie var att med kvalitativ metod undersöka på vilket sätt chefers arbetssituation skiljer sig åt mellan de som har, respektive inte har, en HR-avdelning att tillgå. Studien baserades på nio enskilda intervjuer vilka tolkades enligt induktiv tematisk analysmetod. Resultatet visade att personalarbetet var mer integrerat i det dagliga chefsarbetet på företag som hade HR-avdelning, och dessa chefer kände sig inte stressade av personalansvaret i sig. Cheferna på företag utan HR-funktion prioriterade verksamhetsfrågor i större utsträckning och upplevde viss mental stress när de kände sig osäkra i sina HR-kunskaper och därmed ibland inte kunde hantera personalfrågor som dök upp.</p>

<p>Sweden is entering a time characterized by a shortfall of qualified labour. Thus companies will have to hold on to, and develop their most valued employees since it is getting harder to find competent replacements. By finding and developing Talents, companies will improve their position in the market and perhaps even create a competitive advantage. The academic discipline concerning locating, assessing, developing and retaining Talents is called Talent Management.</p><p>Purpose</p><p>To identify how the most desirable employers in Sweden work with Talent Management, and implications following its practises.</p><p>Method</p><p>The selection was made based on the response of a pre-study of 30 large Swedish companies recognised for their employment practises. Nine oral interviews, with a number of HR professionals at the corporations, were performed to investigate how they utilise Talent Management to create more value from human resources. The thesis takes a multiple case study approach investigating the utilization of Talent Management practises in Sweden.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>The Swedish dialect of Talent Management correlates with the frame presented by theory. Swedish firms are mostly locating Talents internally but are willing to use outsourcing for some recruitments. Talents’ competencies are more important than their credentials. Within the frame of their job description, Talents are encouraged to find creative solutions to solve their tasks. Swedish firms are increasingly using assessment and clear feedback as foundation for the individual development plans. Within the individual development plans there is on-the-job training, job rotation and mentors. This is also a part of the retention process which focuses on recognition, relocation and career management. Implications of the work with Talent Management in Sweden are; since the companies investigated employed, or were about to employ, Talent Management processes, it seems that they are well prepared for the future war for Talents and will better cope with the gap occurring when baby boomers retire. Thus, firms adapting to Talent Management, and sees the strategic importance of it, can gain a competitive advantage against others not concerned with these practises.</p>

<p>The trend that more and more recently graduated (business) students are having trouble entering the Swedish labor market, and the fact that many of Sweden’s small firms are perfect absorbers of labor − putting aside the larger firms − how well do these two supply and demand sides match. The recurring theme of this thesis was to analyze the perceptions that small firm managers in Jönköping area, in the business-related sectors, had of business graduates and business graduate skills and competences. It was the skills approach that was the main focus of this thesis. Here we restrict ourselves to the small firms that employ less than fifty people and more than ten.</p><p>To supplement the reflections of small firm managers on graduates, soon-to-become business graduates in Jönköping area (undergraduates or postgraduates) were asked for their own opinion on small firm recruitment possibilities, and which ‘basket of skills’ they acquired and thus found to be important for small business firms. It is because of these two complementing perceptions that the authors had a chance to underline interesting graduate recruitment results, and perception on skills gaps.</p><p>The research design was of mostly qualitative nature coupled with additional integrated quantitative data serving as a supplement to the former. The empirical work was conducted through four interviews with small businesses and three focus groups with graduates.</p><p>Two of the companies had a basic aversion towards employing graduates, while one was indifferent and another welcomed graduates into the company. Graduates were seen as a ‘fresh applicant’, with new ideas and good social competence. However, lack of work experience and practicality, risks of hiring and over qualification brings the employability down.</p><p>The authors cannot identify a clear indication of a skills gap or skills match, but when taking into account the categorization of skills between practical and non-practical ones, there is a very positive skills match between graduates and small firms. In this way recommendation for designing educational business programs on the basis of practical skills seems to be appropriate for having business students well equipped for the small business labor market. In addition to that, other interesting results point out to that the skills preferences/demand by small firms varies when taking into account whether they recruit graduates to specific job posts or just for general work.</p>

Title:                 Talent Management   Author:             Simon Kjellman Level:               Master Thesis 30, hp Keywords: Talent management, Organizational Performance, Employee engagement, Human resource management Background: Today business is pressured to provide result and profit, but at the same time provide health and stimulate work environment for the employees. Human resource is rising to be the organizations new winner to get a competitive advantage. In order to be successful and continue to grow, companies need to attract and maintain their talent. Research question: Which tensions between organizational performance and employee engagement can arise when using talent management?  Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to develop an understanding of which tensions    between organizational performance and employee engagement that can arise when using talent management. By focusing on employee engagement and organizational performance, I put the emphasis on the approaches used when using talent management and therefore I also developing what characterizes the used approach. Method: A qualitative research approach was applied, which included a case study design consisting of multiple cases. Unstructured interviews and observations were the methods used for collecting the empirical data. The seven respondents were selected from two Swedish companies, based on a theoretical sampling method. The data analysis method included a cross-case analysis. Theoretical framework: Based on the purpose, the concepts that I find most relevant and coherent with Talent Management, Employee engagement and Organizational performance will be introduced and explained in the following sections. At first, Talent Management is defined and explained and then the employee engagement and organizational performance come as following. The theories will provide the basis for a detailed investigation and analysis over Talent Management. Findings: Swedish companies uses a collective approach to talent management. What characterizes the work with talent management in a collective culture are inclusion, democracy, soft culture and communication. They are using democratic and human ways of treating their employees. This causes the tension to be low in overall because usually the desires are met on both sides. Signs of separation in developments plans between different professionals can start a tension. The communication is important when using talent management to get a stable work environment.

Research has often called for studies that attempt to explain the complex causal chain known as the “black box” between human resource management (HRM) activities and individual-level outcomes. To explore the dynamics within the “black box,” this study investigates the influence of HRM activities (e.g., practices and processes) on individual-level outcomes, taking into consideration psychological empowerment as a mediating mechanism. Furthermore, to investigate how HRM activities affect individual-level outcomes, one must consider how HRM activities interrelate to create synergistic effects. Subsequently, this research contributes to the literature of strategic HRM research by investigating how and why systems of HRM activities influence individual-level outcomes.

The main topic of this master thesis is a company impacted by the current economic crisis and the role of the human resource management within the crisis. The thesis firstly provides theoretical basis, defines terms and explains associations. It focuses on the company and its goals, then on the economic cycle, recession and crisis and afterwards dedicates to the human resource management and human resource activities including the approach and procedures that are typical for the time of crisis. Then the focus is on the current economic crisis and its origin in the USA, impacts on the Slovak Republic where the analyzed company is located. Afterwards the thesis provides an introduction of the analyzed company and describes and analyzes the human resource management and hr activities in this company. The final part is dedicated to the complex evaluation of the hr area in this firm and of the approach and changes that were implemented as a reaction to the situation caused by the crisis. The thesis also suggests and recommends some steps and changes, that could help the company improve its situation.

It is widely acknowledged that discipline at work is a neglected area of study in the context of contemporary employee relations. Within the workplace the handling of discipline is largely prescribed by formal rules that are captured in policies, applied through procedures and then interpreted by the actors who facilitate this process. This thesis argues that an empirical understanding of the disciplinary process can only be achieved if it includes an appreciation of the nature of the relationship that is established during the disciplinary process and that this is crucial for us to develop a full understanding of the dynamics that take place within this activity and between these functions. It contends that throughout the process of disciplinary handling there exists a highly contested terrain (Edwards, 1979) that is constantly contended by the various actors that play out this vital role in relation to aspects of power, control and consent.

I en värld som ständigt förändras och utvecklas kan det finnas ett pågående tryck hos organisationer att behålla värdefull kunskap men även att identifiera var kunskap saknas och åtgärda detta. Arbetet med detta hos organisationer kallas ofta för ”kompetensförsörjning”. Syftet med denna studie är att identifiera hur arbetet med kompetensförsörjning i vissa fall kan se ut för HR-medarbetare och chefer i en offentlig verksamhet. Studien är kvalitativ och innehåller tidigare forskning gällande Human Resources och kompetensförsörjning . I studien har fyra halvstrukturerade intervjuer genomförts med fyra respondenter som alla arbetar med HR inom offentlig sektor. Därefter har data blivit tematisk analyserat för att ge form till de olika teman som återfinns i resultatet. Resultatet påvisar att både HR-medarbetare och chefer är delaktiga i arbetet med kompetensförsörjning, men att cheferna ofta tilldelas utvalda ansvarsområden och att HR-medarbetare har det övergripande ansvaret och fungerar som en specialistfunktion. Slutsatsen påvisar att både HRmedarbetare och chefers olika kunskaper är viktiga beståndsdelar i kompetensförsörjningen men även att det finns alternativa arbetssätt som skulle vara önskvärda om tid och möjlighet funnits.