Beyond the individualised organisation: The role of HRM in the (non)emergence of organisational and leadership practices for impact

Abstract

In this article, I elaborate that human resource management (HRM) prevents the emergence of processual leadership practices in organisations that aim to have a wider positive impact on the common good. The main reason for this is the ideological individualism that permeates HR practices such as leadership development, performance evaluation and talent management. The increasingly complex forms of organising defined by technology, networks, unpredictability, and uncertainty that characterise the contemporary organisational environment require new approaches to leadership that can foster the contribution and collaboration of multiple interdependent agents. At the same time, the need to respond to the grand challenges of our time requires organisational practices to be reoriented towards their positive impact on the common good. This requires a change in the orientation towards self-interest that prevents the expression of ‘relationality’ inside organisations. I argue that HRM should approach leadership in a new way, challenging the traditional leader-centric view and moving towards a more ‘decentred’ understanding of leadership while addressing it more as a processual and communicative endeavour. Implications for the reorientation of HRM and leadership practices are considered, specifically for their impact on the common good, in terms of rebuilding the quality relationships that collectivity, commonality and relationality pronounce.