Seminars

Timetable

The series will consist of 6 one-day seminars. Below is a short summary of the details of each seminar:

Seminar 6

Trust and HRM bundles and interactions

13 May 2011 – The Open University, Milton Keynes

This seminar will draw together the ideas from the earlier seminars focussing upon the interactions between HRM processes and trust. Keynotes will offer insights into different HR assemblage. We will also explore the impact of trust on wider on organisational aspects, such as competitiveness. We would anticipate that discussions at this seminar will produce an agreed research agenda which aims at furthering our insights and developing understanding within the area.

Seminar 5

HRM, Labour Relations and Partnership

24 January 2011, 11:00-16:00 – University of Strathclyde

This seminar will focus on labour relations, with a particular emphasis on the nature and sustainability of workplace partnership arrangements between employers and employees. The discussion will  draw explicitly on industrial relations understanding of the issues, reflecting the long-term interest in debates on topics such as whether employment systems and the contexts within which they are embedded produce either high-trust or low-trust dynamics within organisations (following Fox, 1974). Partnership arrangements offer a useful way to assess the changing perceptions and practices of different parties in the employment relationship, and the extent to which trust and other factors influence their operation and sustainability, particularly during periods of restructuring and recession. Speakers will include Prof Nick Bacon of Nottingham University, and Dr Jean Jenkins of Cardiff University.

Seminar 4

Organisational Change and Development

10 November 2010 – Coventry University

This seminar will consider the importance of the development, maintenance and repair of trust in the context of organisational change and employee development. Change inevitably increases perceptions of risk and vulnerability and creates tensions within work relationships. Development is both a key requirement and outcome of organisational change and a necessity in flexible responsive organisations but may also have consequences for levels of trust. Within the seminar we will examine the role and contribution of trust in organisational change. Leading the discussions will be researchers working in this field including Prof Veronica Hope Hailey.

Seminar 3

Performance Management and Reward

7 June 2010 – Durham University

The 3rd seminar will consider trust in the context of HRM as it relates to performance management and reward with keynotes including Prof Antoinette Weibel and Prof Audrey Korsgaard. The management of performance within organisations is widely accepted as being crucial in gaining competitive advantage and consequently forms a key component of HRM strategy and practice. Performance management, and its subsequent reward, are one of the key HRM processes which have a powerful and regular effect on employees. Main activities grouped under this heading relate to defining performance, managing performance and the provision of feedback on performance, as well as underlying issues, such as motivation and interpersonal relationships with line managers. The issue of control, introduced at the first seminar, is a central concern that will be further developed here.

Seminar 2

Pre-entry and Organisational Entry

1 March 2010 – Coventry University

This seminar will focus on the start of the HRM cycle and examine applicant pre-entry and entry focusing on the development and maintenance of trust in the organisation. Leading researchers will lead a critical appraisal of trust at the inception of the HR cycle. Particular topics of interest will include developing a deeper understanding of organisational attraction and how conceptualisations of trust create new perspectives on the two-way exchange process of selection. In addition the speakers will look at the psychological contract and its relations with trust.

The programme is divided into two parts. In part one (13:30-16:30), the speakers will be Prof Neil Anderson and Dr Neil Conway. The second part (16:30-19:30) will have a more practitioner oriented focus and will be led by Prof Jon Billsberry.

Seminar 1

Conceptualising trust and HRM & Methodological approaches to researching trust and HRM

23 November 2009 – The Open University, Milton Keynes

The first seminar will launch the series by focusing on two key issues — conceptualising trust and HRM and the different methodological approaches to its study. Our three keynotes (Prof Deanne den Hartog, Dr Deborah Rupp, Prof Mark Saunders) will have distinct conceptual approaches to trust and HRM and offer diverse perspectives on its study, especially the relationship between trust and control inherent in many of the HRM practices and the impact that this has. Given the diverse background of those undertaking research in this area, the seminar will provide an opportunity to consider the contribution of different ontologies and epistemologies to the study of these topics and an opportunity to debate the effectiveness of various approaches. The choice of speakers is designed to ensure a thorough and lively debate. In particular we will examine qualitative (interviews, case studies), quantitative (surveys, scale development), and experimental methodologies, as well as research design.

This seminar is likely to be of particular value to junior researchers and doctoral students seeking to enter the field, and will also offer an engaging and reflexive opportunity for those with experience.

The seminars 2 to 5 will follow the HRM cycle from entry through to exit.