Browsing by Author "McLachlan, Christopher J."

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    COVID-19 and the uncertain future of HRM: Furlough, job retention and reform
    (Wiley, 2021-07-04) Stuart, Mark; Spencer, David A.; McLachlan, Christopher J.; Forde, Chris
    The article argues that job retention should be a central aim and practice of human resource management (HRM). Set against the global COVID-19 crisis, theoretical insights are drawn from strategic HRM planning and the economics of ‘labour hoarding’ to consider the potential benefits of workforce furloughing. Furlough has been supported in the UK by the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which represents a novel, but temporary, state-led shift from the UK's market-orientated restructuring regime. We argue that the withdrawal of state-financed furlough may mean a quick return in UK firms to the management of redundancy. Yet, if the crisis is to generate any benefit it must create the conditions for a more collaborative HRM that delivers for workers as well as business, with job retention as a core priority. While change in this direction will mean confronting deep-rooted challenges—such as job security, good work and worker voice—such change remains vital in creating better and healthier workplaces.
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    Developing a framework for responsible downsizing through best fit: the importance of regulatory, procedural, communication and employment responsibilities
    (Taylor and Francis, 2021-08-17) McLachlan, Christopher J.
    The COVID-19 crisis has caused a wave of redundancies globally. This has brought the organisational practice of downsizing into sharp relief. Responsible downsizing is broadly understood as the actions, practices and strategies adopted by organisations to ameliorate the negative effects of redundancy. The paper draws on HR theories of best practice and best fit to explore the phenomenon of responsible downsizing, as a dominant focus in extant literature is the identification of ‘responsible’ best practices. In challenging these prevailing assumptions, this paper contends that responsible downsizing is more usefully understood as theoretically underpinned by a best fit approach. While there is value in adopting best practices the paper argues that greater attention should be paid to how organisational, societal and institutional contexts shape their implementation. Based on a review of 44 empirical articles, the paper advances a framework for responsible downsizing. The framework establishes four types of responsibility: regulatory, procedural, communication and employment responsibilities. Critical areas for future research are also mapped along with conceptual and practical implications.
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    Victims, survivors and the emergence of ‘endurers’ as a reflection of shifting goals in the management of redeployment
    (Wiley, 2020-08-10) McLachlan, Christopher J.; MacKenzie, Robert; Greenwood, Ian
    The victim and survivor debate conceptualises employees impacted by restructuring as one or the other. A key contribution of this study is the identification of a conceptually distinct category of employee impacted by restructuring, the endurer. Endurers are survivors who share many of the experiences of victims, occupying a space in‐between the two and not easily understood as either. Endurers experience redundancy of role yet retention of employment. This creates specific needs that pose new challenges for the human resource (HR) function. Through examining the HR function's implementation of an internal redeployment strategy at SteelCo, the study reveals the displacement of substantive goals by institutional goals, and the impact this has on endurers. The analysis of endurers' experiences also offers a conceptual lens for understanding changes to the psychological contract in the context of restructuring