Flexibility through HRM in management consulting firms

Abstract

Purpose-This paper aims to examine how functional and numerical flexibility can be successfully combined without workforce segmentation or flexible employment contracts, by implementing a highly integrated human resource management (HRM) system. Design/methodology/approach-Six case studies were conducted between January 2002 and June 2003 in Portuguese affiliates of multinational management consulting firms using a grounded theory approach. Findings-Evidence from the case studies showed that some of these companies were able to explore both functional and numerical flexibility in a combined and interdependent way, by operating a tightly run and highly coordinated set of HRM practices geared towards the development of internal labour markets. Research limitations/implications-The study uses a sample of large multinational companies in a single sector, which limits the scope of these findings. Practical implications-It is suggested that a strategy combining numerical and functional flexibility through an integrated set of HRM policies and practices will be more effective than segmenting the workforce or choosing between those two sources of flexibility. Originality/value-The paper presents a new breadth for the role of HRM in achieving flexibility. Theoretically, it challenges the established notion that commitment-based HRM serves only functional flexibility and that numerical flexibility can only be achieved through precarious employment.

Designing Sustainable HRM: The Core Characteristics of Emerging Field

“…It is important not to forget the indirect value of employee development, seeing as it is the key element in attracting new employees and also offers more opportunities for the employees who wish to terminate the employment to search for jobs successfully [113]. Thus, the employability of the people is enhanced; however, it should be pointed out that trainings and development send to the employees a message that the organisation is interested in retaining them in the long term.…”

“…Functional and numerical flexibility tend to be viewed as alternative types of flexibility, both underlying distinct approaches to people management. Functional flexibility relies on long-term mutual investment in employment relationships and is usually seen as the ability to respond to changes in business "needs by having multi-skilled, adaptable and internally mobile employees" [113]. In other words, functional flexibility "concerns the ability to perform various and heterogeneous tasks as well as the practice of moving workers from one task to another to maintain their efficiency" [117].…”

“…In other words, functional flexibility "concerns the ability to perform various and heterogeneous tasks as well as the practice of moving workers from one task to another to maintain their efficiency" [117]. Numerical flexibility, on the other hand, refers to cost minimization and is, on the other hand, the ability of the organization to vary the quantity of workers employed to match the changes in the business needs [113].…”

Staffing policies of leading professional service firms

“…In addition, performance appraisal and feedback have proven effective for the development of human capital and organisational performance (Kim & Lee, 2012;Swart, Hansen & Kinnie 2015). The important role of selection and performance appraisal in the management consulting companies has been also highlighted in the literature (Carvalho & Cabral-Cardoso, 2008). Selection was very rigorous, and performance was assessed systematically and regularly.…”

A decision support system and a mathematical model for strategic workforce planning in consultancies

“…The role of human resources in their firm's performance has been widely recognized (Carvalho and Cabral-Cardoso 2008;Kim and Lee 2012). Consultancies are knowledge-intensive organizations, and their main asset is human capital, since the expertise and competence of their consultants play a key role in their competitive advantage (Anand et al 2007;Donnelly 2011).…”