EMPLOYEE PERSPECTIVES ON HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT REFORM UNDER THE INTEGRATED RESULTS BASED MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK IN ZIMBABWE STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18623/rvd.v23.6119Palavras-chave:
Employee, Human Resource Management, Integrated Results Based Management, Reform, State-Owned Enterprises JEL Codes: J8; J22, L320Resumo
The study explored the human resource management (HRM) reform implementation under the Integrated Results-Based Management (IRBM) framework in Zimbabwe State Owned Enterprises (SOEs). Employee perspectives were used to theorise organisational dynamics of reform enactment, advancing understanding of how public sector reforms are negotiated in developing economies. A phenomenological approach was used in this interpretivist study. Data were collected through 30 in-depth interviews, three focus group sessions and longitudinal secondary data analysis in SOEs in the areas of transportation, energy, and utilities. Hermeneutic thematic analysis was used with the institutional Ability/Motivation/Opportunity (AMO) and psychological contract theory lens. IRBM was viewed by the employees as more of a performance-control hybrid rather than a developmental tool. Implementation was limited by external pressures low morale and limited opportunities for growth that undermined reform leadership. Meanwhile the HRM function was found to be administrative rather than strategic. A breach of psychological contract impacted employee behaviour leading to a symbolic compliance culture, constraining innovation and disengagement. The consequences of these findings were that IRBM failed to stimulate meaningful performance or behavioural change. This study shifts from treating reform in SOEs as a technical system to reframing it as a human and organisational change process through a triumvirate analytical lens, positioning HRM as the central driver of IRBM. This view extends HRM and Change Management theory into the under-researched public sector context in the global south.
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