Using Leadership and HR Practices to Manage More Effectively

What is it about?

Both HR systems and leaders are vital to managing units in organizations. However, despite their shared goals and interdependence, much of the research in each area ignores the other. In this paper, we integrate insights from both fields to suggest how unit leaders can leverage their organizations' HR practices in concert with their own behaviors to manage their unit more comprehensively and coherently.

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Photo by Riccardo Annandale on Unsplash

Photo by Riccardo Annandale on Unsplash

Why is it important?

People are often referred to as the most critical resource in organizations, yet, studies of different approaches to leading people in organizations are often siloed and disjointed. We identify HR systems and unit leaders as the most critical influences on leading unit members and integrate findings from these literatures to offer a framework to understand how leaders can leverage their HR system more effectively into their broader leadership efforts. By highlighting these leverage points, it offers a road map for when leaders can use HR practices to fulfill some vital leadership functions (e.g., building competencies in the unit) and reallocate time to functions that require their direct attention (e.g., building relationships within the unit).