Från personalman till strategisk affärspartner : En kvalitativ studie av hur HR-transformationen kommer till uttryck i en privat organisation inom svensk tillverkningsindustri

Sammanfattning

The purpose of the study is to create a deeper understanding of how HR employees and managers in Swedish industry perceive and interpret an HR transformation and how it is expressed in their work at a private company in the Swedish manufacturing industry. Previous research shows that HR is moving from working administratively to strategically as a result of the progress of the HR transformation in HR organizations. At the same time, research shows that transformation is characterized by tensions and challenges that motivated the present study. The study has been conducted with a qualitative approach where the selection was carried out with a purposeful selection of managers and HR employees at different organizational levels. Semi-structured interviews have been conducted and the collected empirical data has been analyzed with a thematic analysis. The results show that the organization's managers and HR employees believe that the HR department is moving towards more business-oriented and strategic work today than it did before the reorganization they carried out in line with the HR transformation. At the same time, respondents highlight challenges regarding the shift from operational to strategic HR work, that adaptation to the organization's context contrasts with the ideal model, and an ambiguity in HR's role considering they have both a supporting and controlling function in relation to the organization's managers. Overall, the study shows that the HR transformation can lead to opportunities for HR to work more business-oriented and strategic, but built-in challenges make the task more difficult. The present study is expected to contribute to an increased understanding of how the HR transformation is experienced by HR employees and managers in their daily work.