High performance HRM: NHS employee perspectives.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Human Resource Management
• Organizational Psychology

Background:

• High-performance human resource (HR) practices are crucial for organizational success.
• Understanding employee perspectives on HR practices is vital for effective implementation within the National Health Service (NHS).
• Previous research has not fully explored the nuanced mental models of NHS employees regarding HR's impact on performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine National Health Service (NHS) employee perspectives on how high-performance human resource (HR) practices influence their performance.
• To identify specific high-performance HR practices relevant to the NHS context.
• To understand the mental models employees use to connect HR practices with their work and service delivery.

Main Methods:

• A qualitative study utilizing a novel two-part method within the NHS.
• Focus groups with managers to identify context-specific high-performance HR practices.
• Card-sort exercises with employees to explore relationships between HR practices and their impact on work.

Main Results:

• Eleven high-performance HR practices relevant to the NHS were identified.
• Four types of employee reactions to HR practices were categorized based on beneficiaries (personal gain, organizational gain, both, or neither).
• Employees formed 91 distinct mental models (groupings) of performance contribution, revealing three key bundles: professional development, employee contribution, and the 'NHS deal'.

Conclusions:

• Employee mental models offer insights into how healthcare services are organized and delivered within the NHS.
• These perceptions are critical and will influence employee responses to ongoing service reorganizations and financial pressures.
• The novel methodology successfully identified employee mental models and delineated the complex relationship between HR practices and individual performance in the NHS.