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Promoting
Teachers’
Professional
Development
Piety
Runhaar
Because teacher quality has a great influence onpupil attainment, teachers’ professional development recieves a lot of attention in
educational policy. This dissertation contains five studies on how teachers’ professional
development, in terms of learning at the
workplace, can be explained and promoted. The central question in the first part is how Human Resources Management (HRM) can serve as a tool in professional development. We examine what factors hinder and promote the
implementation of HRM within schools and how the implementation can be fostered when different HRM roles (administrative expert, strategic
partner, change agent, employee champion) are fulfilled within schools. Furthermore, we examine the impact of consensus between management and HRM department about goals and features of HRM policy on the implementation process. In the second part of the dissertation, the central
question is what individual and organisational factors explain teachers’ professional
development. First, we try to explain professional development in terms of reflection and asking feedback, by perceived self-efficacy, learning goal orientation and transformational leadership. Second, we try to explain professional
development in terms of innovative behaviour and knowledge sharing, by perceived task and goal interdependence within teams.
Piety Runhaar has been working as a consultant for KPC Group since 2000. KPC Group is a consultancy firm that focusses on improving learning processes, both of students and staff, within schools. Since 2005 she combines consultancy with research and teaching at the Organisational Psychology & HRD Department at Twente University.
Voor het bijwonen van de openbare verdediging van mijn
proefschrift
Donderdag 20 november 2008, om 15.45 uur,
In het Amphitheater, Vrijhof, Universiteit Twente,
Drienerlolaan 5, Enschede. Voorafgaand aan de verdediging, om 15.30 uur, zal ik een korte toelichting geven
op mijn onderzoek. Na afloop is er een borrel op
dezelfde locatie. Om18.00 uur sluiten we de dag feestelijk af in de Faculty
Club (UT-terrein). U bent van harte uitgenodigd deel te nemen aan het buffet dat
hier aanwezig is!
Promoting teachers’
professional development
Piety Runhaar Paranimfen:
Hens Runhaar & Pieter Calis p.r.runhaar@utwente.nl p.runhaar@kpcgroep.nl
ISBN: 978-90-365-2751-4
Printed by PrintPartners Ipskamp, Enschede
Illustration cover: Marina Aarts. Paining ‘Sky is the limit’: life is a dynamic process, people put a meaning on in their own way.
Photograph author: Ronald Baden
© Piety Runhaar, 2008
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted, reproduced, stored or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, other than for purpose of fair use, without written permission from the author.
PROMOTING TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PROEFSCHRIFT
ter verkrijging van
de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit Twente, op gezag van de rector magnificus,
prof. dr. W.H.M. Zijm,
volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties in het openbaar te verdedigen
op donderdag 20 november 2008 om 15.45 uur.
door
Pietsje Roelofje Runhaar geboren op 2 juni 1972 te Alphen aan den Rijn
Promotor: Prof. Dr. K. Sanders Co-promotor: Dr. H. Yang
Promotie commissie: Prof. Dr. H.W.A.M. Coonen (voorzitter commissie) Prof. Dr. H.A. Hoekstra (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen) Prof. Dr. J.W.M. Kessels
Dr. A. Ros (KPC Groep / Fontys Hogescholen) Prof. Dr. P.J.C. Sleegers
CONTENTS
Chapter 1 General Introduction 1
Part One: Studies on HRM as a tool in teachers’ professional development 13
Chapter 2 The HRM department in schools:
an intermediary between management and teachers? 15
Chapter 3 Implementing HRM within schools: examining the
locus of control of individuals and consensus within a school. 27
Part two: Studies on individual and organisational factors explaining
teachers’ professional development 41
Chapter 4 Breaking down the barriers:
promoting teachers’ reflection and feedback asking 43
Chapter 5 Breaking through the isolation of teachers:
interdependence between teachers as a tool in innovation 61
Chapter 6 General discussion and conclusions 79
References 91
Summary in Dutch 107
Appendices 113
DETAILED CONTENTS
Chapter 1 General Introduction 1
Teachers’ continuous professional development within schools 1
Teachers’ professional development in research 2
Research goals and central question 5
Sector to be studied 7
Overview of the studies 7
Outline of the thesis 10
Part One: Studies on HRM as a tool in teachers’ professional development 13
Chapter 2 The HRM department in schools:
an intermediary between management and teachers? 15
Introduction 16
Study one: What factors impede and promote the implementation of HRM? 17 Study two: Which role can be played by the HRM department in fostering the
implementation of HRM? 22
Discussion 25
Chapter 3 Implementing HRM within schools: examining the
locus of control of individuals and consensus within a school. 27
Introduction 28
Method 31
Results 34
Discussion 38
Part two: Studies on individual and organisational factors explaining
teachers’ professional development 41
Chapter 4 Breaking down the barriers:
promoting teachers’ reflection and feedback asking 43
Introduction 44
Methods 50
Results 53
Chapter 5 Breaking through the isolation of teachers:
interdependence between teachers as a tool in innovation 61
Introduction 62
Methods 67
Results 70
Discussion 75
Chapter 6 General discussion and conclusions 79
Introduction 79
Summary of findings 80
Main conclusions 84
Limitations and strengths 86
Implications of the study 87
References 91
Summary in Dutch 107
Appendices 113
General introduction
CHAPTER 1
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
Teachers’ continuous professional development within schools
The continuous professional development of teachers has recently received a lot of attention in research and in practice for several reasons. First of all, the fact that pupil attainment seems to depend mainly on teacher quality (Cornet, Huizinga, Minne & Webbink, 2006; Rivkin, Hanushek & Kain, 2005; Scheerens & Bosker, 1997) makes it reasonable to assume that investing in teacher quality by stimulating continuous development of teachers will ultimately result in pupil attainment. While this assumption is taken for granted by most authors, certain confirmation of it is found in research, in that, for example, collaboration, sharing of ideas, and comparing views between teachers is positively related to pupils’ achievement (Gruenert, 2005; Rosenholtz, 1985; Yasumoto, Uewaka & Bidwell, 2001).
Furthermore, the initial teacher education can not contain all the knowledge and skills needed to cope with the unexpected, practical, day-to-day problems (Coonen, 2005; Knight, 2002). For example, teachers can prepare their lessons but will not always be sure of exactly how students will react to it and why a specific course went well in one group of students and not in a another group. Normal changes, for instance, when a student presents a problem the teacher has not met before, imply learning (Knight, 2002). In addition, the ongoing technological innovations and continuous changes in pupils’ backgrounds force teachers to continuously learn new things (European Commission, 2005). Continuous professional development in terms of learning at work is in this sense an inherent part of a teacher’s duty.
Finally, more fundamental societal changes affecting schools demand continuous professional development of teachers, as well. Active and self-regulated information gathering has become more important than memorising information (Kwakman, 2003; European Commission, 2005; Van Eekelen, 2005). Given the importance of lifelong learning skills in the relatively new knowledge economy, schools need to change their educational processes in such a way that pupils acquire the skills to regulate their own learning once they go to work (see for example Alejandro, 2001; Centre for American Progress, 2005; TDA, 2006; Dutch Education Council, 2006). Teachers are therefore expected to fulfil other roles than they are used to (e.g. coach and tutor) and to apply other pedagogical approaches and methods (Bransford, Berliner, Derry & Hammerness, 2005; Ros, 2007; Hargreaves & Fink, 2000; Putnam & Borko, 2000; Van Eekelen, 2005).
It seems that change is not incidental but more inherent in schools: schools need to change and innovate continuously (see for example Coonen, 2005; Gerrichhauzen, 2007; Van den Berg, Vandenberghe & Sleegers, 1999; Fullan, 2007). Obviously, the role of teachers in change and innovation processes is of crucial importance (see for example Hall & Hord, 1987; Fullan, 2007; Wikeley, Stoll, Murillo & De Jong, 2005). Their willingness and ability to bring the expected changes in education into practice and invent new didactic methods is a key factor (Desimone, 2002; Kwakman, 2003; Snoek, 2004; Van Eekelen, 2005).
Although the necessity for continuous professional development in schools is universally acknowledged, it seems hard to organize in many countries (Centre for American Progress, 2005; NWO, 2007; OECD, 2005; TDA, 2006). This is also true for The Netherlands (see Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, 2005). Since the end of the last century, different attempts have been made to implement Human Resources Management (HRM) as a means to professionalize schools (see Meesters, 2003 for an overview). To give a few examples: attention has been paid to the introduction of a personnel policy that encourages teachers to act and interact as professionals with each other and with the management (Van Es Committee, 1993); the Dutch Education Professions Act urges schools to attend to the continuous professional development of teachers to ensure that the teaching staff will always meet the competence requirements (SBL, 2001); in the last decades, the salary system has been changed several times to attract more and better teachers (Van Rijn Committee, 2002; Teacher Committee, 2007); and the government and school boards have been trying to implement so called Integrated Personnel Policy since the beginning of this century (Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, 2007). The primary goals of this personnel policy are the promotion of the professional development of teachers in line with school development and the integration of various instruments, such as payment, development, and assessment (Moerkamp, Vedder & Vos, 2005; SBO, 2005). Despite the many investments, acts, and promises, the implementation of this integrated personnel policy in schools still lags behind expectations (Teurlings & Vermeulen, 2004; Dutch Education Inspectorate, 2005; Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, 2005; Teachers Committe, 2007). Studies have suggested several reasons for this: insufficient alignment between different personnel instruments, lack of a link between personnel policy and other policy domains, ineffective use of some aspects of personnel policy, such as assessment and reward systems; and short term rather than long term focus in schools (see for more Van der Linden, Teurlings & Vermeulen, 2005).
Teachers’ professional development in research
Not only does teachers’ professional development receive a lot of attention in educational policy, but it is a recurring theme in academic research, as well (Clarke & Hollingsworth, 2002; Kwakman, 1999). Many studies on teachers’ professional development1 (or teachers’ learning, as it is often called) exist and a variety of different concepts have been used. More specifically, Cochran-Smith and Lytle (1999) distinguish between three conceptions of teacher learning, which are based on the way the relationship between knowledge and practice is understood: The first conception is the knowledge-for-practice approach, which leads to the definition of teacher learning as the gathering of all the knowledge that is needed to teach well from sources outside the school, such as from experts, courses or handbooks; The second conception is the knowledge-in-practice approach, which leads to the definition of teacher
1
In literature on professional development and adult learning, it is assumed that professionals are continuously striving for quality imporvement (Houle, 1980) and hence that professionals have to keep learning during their career (Eraut, 1994; Kwakman, 1999). Professional development in this sence implies learning. We consider the terms ‘teachers’ professional development’ and ‘teacher learning’ as interchangeable and in the dissertation, both
General introduction
learning as the finding out of ‘what works’ by reflection on day-to-day practice; and the third conception is the knowledge-of-practice approach, in which teacher learning is defined as the collaborative search for ‘what works’ by studying literature, experimenting and innovating in the classroom, and building the needed ‘body of knowledge’ together. Because this categorization is comprehensive and well-known, we use it here to describe how teachers’ professional development, in terms of teacher learning, has been studied.
Within the knowledge-for-practice perspective, teacher learning is aimed at obtaining what is already known and has been found by people outside the classroom. Courses, handbooks, and other formal learning tools primarily shape professional development. In this so called “deficit-mastery approach” (Guskey, 1986), professional development is an activity outside of the teachers’ workplace (Clarke & Hollingsworth, 2002; Sleegers, Bolhuis & Geijsel, 2005). The effects of this form of professional development – also known as ‘formal learning’ (Kwakman, 1999) - appear disappointing (Clarke & Hollingsworth, 2002; Richardson & Placier, 2001). In particular, the inadequate link between theory and practice and the insufficient link between supply (i.e. theory and training programs) and demand (i.e. learning needs of teachers) have been mentioned (see for example Joyce, Calhoun, Fullan, & Stiegelbauer,1991; Lovitt & Clarke, 1988). As a consequence, learning and change is no longer considered an activity in which teachers are relatively passive participants, but a complex process in which teachers actively learn and construct meaning.
Within the knowledge-in-practice conception, teacher learning is defined as making use of the more or less implicit knowledge about what works in teaching by reflecting on what is going on in the classroom. Following Schön (1983, 1987, see also Cochran-Smith, 1999), it is assumed that the knowledge that teachers need is embedded in the experiences, practices, and actions of the teachers themselves. This knowledge comes from reflection on practice, either individually or in dyadic situations (e.g. colleagues giving each other feedback). Professional development activities are aimed at questioning own assumptions and reconsidering the bases for actions or beliefs. This approach is in line with research on adult learning (e.g. Eraut, Alderton, Cole & Senker, 1998; Lave & Wenger, 1991; Marsick & Watkins, 2001) and views the workplace of teachers as an important potential learning situation.
The knowledge-of-practice conception assumes that the knowledge teachers need emanates from systematic inquiries made by the teachers themselves concerning teaching, learning, students, subject matters, etc. (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999). Professional development from this perspective envisions teachers collaboratively researching for ‘what works’ by studying literature, experimenting and innovating in the classroom, and building the needed ‘body of knowledge’. For example, much attention is paid to ‘communities of practice’ as a tool for school reform, where teachers learn in interaction with each other, face-to- face or virtually, by studying practical problems and experimenting with new practices (e.g. Bruining, 2007; Gerrichhauzen, 2007; Stoll, Bolam, McMahon, Wallace & Thomas, 2006; Verbiest, 2004). Attention is also paid to professional development schools, where teacher education takes place within schools. Institutes for teacher education and schools work together as partners, which leads to better learning results for individual teachers and their colleagues, and ultimately leads to renewal
within the schools and within the teacher-education programs (see for example, Roelofs, 2005; 2007; Shroyer, Yahnke, Bennett & Dunn, 2007). In contrast to the first conception, knowledge is not gathered from outside the classroom or school, but constructed by teachers themselves in local or broader communities. And in contrast to the second conception, reflection on practice is not only used to improve one’s own teaching, but also to construct meaningful local knowledge as a part of larger efforts to transform teaching.
Reflection, feedback, innovative behaviour, and knowledge sharing
Given the proven inadequacy of formal education methods for the purpose of continuous teacher learning (Clarke & Hollingsworth, 2002; Richardson & Placier, 2001), and the fact that the learning of professionals (Watkins & Callahan, 1998), teachers, in particular (Van Eekelen, 2005), takes place mostly unintentionally and during work, we align ourselves with the knowledge-in-practice and knowledge-of practice conceptions (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999) and focus on professional development as learning at the workplace.
More specifically, we have operationalized the learning in the knowledge-in-practice conception as reflection and asking for feedback, as these activities are assumed to play an important role in learning from practice (see for example Hopkins, 2001; Imants, 2001; Korthagen, 2001; Vandenberghe & Kelchtermans, 2002; Zwart, 2007). More specifically, studies on peer coaching stress the importance of the exploration of thinking underlying practice via reflection (Garmston, Linder & Whitaker 1993) and the exchange of feedback (Kohler & Ezell, 1999). Reflection is aimed at the assessment of assumptions implicit in beliefs about how to solve problems (Schön, 1983; Van Woerkom, 2004). Feedback asking can be seen as a way to reflect, as it stimulates employees to look critically at their own behaviour and at the underlying assumptions they hold (Reynolds, 1998; Vince, 2002; Van Woerkom, 2004).
Furthermore, we have operationalized the learning in the knowledge-of-practice conception as innovative behaviour and knowledge sharing, as these behaviours are considered important employee behaviours in organisations that are continuously confronted with changes in their environment (see for example Amabile, 1997; De Jong & Den Hartog, 2005; Janssen, 2000; Van der Vegt and Janssen, 2003; Van Woerkom, 2004; West, 2000). Referring to the work of West and Farr (1989), Janssen (2000), Scott and Bruce (1994) and Van der Vegt and Janssen (2003), we have defined innovative behaviour as a combination of three types of behaviour: it involves the generalisation of new ideas and concepts, the signalling of chances and needs of clients in the environment; the promotion of new ideas in the team of organisation and the obtaining of support for these ideas; and the application of new ideas in practice by experimenting and prototyping. Apart from this more individual behaviour, organisations’ capacity for change also relies on employees’ ability to process, understand, and apply knowledge in interaction with each other. By sharing knowledge and ideas with colleagues, new knowledge can be produced (see for example Van Woerkom, 2004; Verloop & Kessels, 2006). Sharing knowledge also stimulates discussion on the theories-in-use (Schön, 1983) because assumptions and opinions that underlie practices and methods are made overt and can be reflected upon (Annett, 1969; Ashford, Blatt, and VandeWalle, 2003).
General introduction
Research goals and central question
In line with our focus on the knowledge-in-practice and knowledge-of-practice conceptions of learning, two approaches can be distinguished in research (cf Beijaard, 2002; Kwakman, 2003; Van Eekelen, 2005). First, there is the individual teacher approach, which results in research with a focus on describing the learning processes of individual teachers in terms of reflection and learning by collaboration (e.g. McLaughlin, 1997; Hopkins, 2001; Meijerink, 2007). Cognitive and social psychological theories dominate within this line of study. Examples of this direction of research are: describing changes in cognitions in teachers during learning (Zwart, 2007) or exploring the emotions teachers experience during change processes (Van Veen, 2006). Second, there is the organisational approach, which focuses on how learning processes of individual teachers and groups of teachers should look and how they ought to be organized and stimulated. Attention is paid to the organisational environment as a ‘learning environment’ in which teachers are stimulated to learn from each other (see for example Rosenholtz, 1985; Fullan, 2007). Within this line of research, theories on adult learning are applied to prescribe how learning should take place. Furthermore, organisational theories are used to explain teacher learning, for example, by examining how task characteristics influence teachers’ learning (Kwakman, 1999) and the effects of transformational leadership on teachers’ organizational citizenship behaviour (Nguni, Sleegers & Denissen, 2006).
Systematic research examining both psychological and organizational antecedents of teachers’ professional development in combination is, however, missing (Kwakman, 2003; Smylie, 1988; Smylie, Lazarus, & Brownlee-Conyers, 1996). To increase our understanding of teachers’ professional development as a professional learning activity embedded in schools, more research focussing on the interplay between psychological factors and organizational conditions is needed (Richardson & Placier, 2001; Smylie, 1988). The studies described in this thesis aim to make a contribution to this line of research by examining the relative importance of teachers’ psychological states and organizational conditions in explaining variation between and within teachers’ professional development.
Studies focussing on the organisational conditions that foster professional development of teachers appear to neglect to a great extent the insights gained from the human resources management science (HRM) (see also Gerrichhauzen, 2007). As has already been mentioned, HRM2 is allotted considerable attention in educational policy, as it is seen as a means to stimulate the professional development of teachers. This fact makes the apparent HRM gap in research remarkable. The HRM implementation process has been intensively monitored (see for example Berger & Klein, 2002; Van Wonderen, 2005) and some research has been done on the way in which the implementation stagnates. However, research on why the implementation of HRM policy lags behind expectations and how it can be fostered are scarce. Our study aims at contributing to further understanding how HRM can serve as a means to promote teachers’ professional development.
2
As mentioned, the HRM in schools is called Integrated Personnel Policy. We choose to use the more known term human resources management because the features of both kinds of personnel policy are more or less the same.
The two central questions in the thesis are the following: ‘How can HRM serve as a tool in professional development?’ and ‘Can professional development of teachers be explained by the interplay between individual and organisational factors?’
Sector to be studied
To answer this question and the research questions deriving from it, five different studies were conducted. They were all executed within schools for secondary vocational education and training (VET College). This sector has not yet received a lot of attention from researchers who focus on the professional development of teachers, although there are fundamental educational changes going on precisely here (NWO, 2007). The changes concern the implementation of competence-based education, which implies an integration of different subjects within courses and an integration of theory and practice (Debats, 2004; Ritzen, 2004). Moreover, school boards within this sector have been busy with the introduction of more or less autonomous teacher teams. One of the motives for this is that working in teams makes professional development and innovation easier (Pelkmans & Smit, 1999; Venne, Felix & Vermeulen, 2001). The devolvement of responsibilities from the level of central government to the level of schools as autonomous and professional organisations started earlier in this sector than in other sectors (Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, 2005), making the outcomes of these studies valuable for other schools, as well.
Overview of the studies
As the central question already revealed, we studied teachers’ professional development from two perspectives: first, from the HRM perspective and second, from the perspective of teacher learning. To assure a clear organization of studies, the thesis is divided in two parts: Part One contains three studies on HRM as a tool in teachers’ professional development and Part Two contains two studies on individual and organisational factors explaining teachers’ professional development.
Part One: Studies on HRM as a tool in teachers’ professional development
The first three studies examine Human Resources Management (HRM) and contribute to the understanding of the complexity of implementing HRM in schools.
Despite the investments of the Dutch government over the past years and the efforts of school boards, school leaders, and HRM departments, the implementation of Integral Personnel Policy (IPP) in schools is still lagging (Teurlings & Vermeulen, 2004; Dutch Education Inspectorate, 2005; Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, 2005). The implementation of HRM in schools can be seen as a relatively high impact organisational change. Until recently, school leaders did not have to occupy themselves with personnel policy and hence, did not make much use of professional HRM instruments. The same is true for the teachers (Van der Linden, Teurlings & Vermeulen, 2005; Van der Bolt, Studulski, Van der Vegt & Bontje, 2006). As a result, the use of HRM instruments - such as feedback instruments and personal development plans - can be seen as something new for school leaders and
General introduction
teachers alike. As organisational changes largely depend on the way people adapt to the changes and their willingness to go along with such changes (see for instance Lawrence, 1958; Tichy, 1982; Miller, Johnson & Grau, 1994; Millward, 2005), we propose in our first study that implementation problems are more related to social and psychological processes in school organisations (‘soft’ factors) than to aspects such as time, money, or means (‘hard’ factors).
In order to confirm this proposition, we interviewed policymakers and executives of HRM in five out of the 42 Dutch VET Colleges. We interviewed six persons from each of the five VET Colleges (N=30): one board member and the HRM manager (policymakers), two unit managers and their HRM officers (policy executives). The results are described in chapter two.
In the second study, we attend to the different roles that the HRM department can play in schools. In HRM literature, much focus is placed on the development of HRM as a pure administrative department, serving the department that operates at a strategic level (see for example Baron & Kreps, 1999; Biemans, 2001). A well-known model of different HRM roles and outcomes is that of Ulrich (1998). Ulrich’s model contains the following four HRM roles: The administrative expert is, in fact, the most ‘traditional’ role of HRM. This role involves creating effective and efficient administrative processes related to HRM activities, such as employment, pay, training, performance evaluation; When HRM takes on the role of strategic partner, it takes part in articulating the organisational strategy. HRM translates the organisational strategy into HRM activities. As a change agent, HRM can help implement changes needed to realise the organisation’s strategy. Finally, by fulfilling the role of employee champion, HRM connects the desires and needs of employees to the organisation goals. HRM aims at increasing the commitment and productivity of employees by meeting their needs. Ulrich (1998) stated that HRM is most effective when it fulfils all of these roles within an organisation. In the second study described in chapter two, we want to acquire an impression of the way HRM staff perceives their actual and desired roles by using a questionnaire based on the four roles described by Ulrich (1998). The questionnaire was filled in by 46 representatives from the HRM departments of all Dutch VET Colleges.
In the third study of this first part of the dissertation, the implementation process of HRM is examined from the perspective of the ‘signalling function’ of HRM (Sonnenberg, 2006), which means that HRM practices are viewed as communications from the employer to the employees about what attitudes and behaviours are expected and rewarded (cf. Guzzo & Noonan, 1994). Consensus between message senders – that is policymakers and executives – about the purpose and features of HRM leads to a situation in which these messages are interpreted similarly among employees (Bowen & Ostroff, 2004; Fiske & Taylor, 1991). Given its relative novelty in schools, HRM implies a change in the way in which management and HRM staff think about personnel policy and their own role in it. For people to alter their way of thinking, they need to see the added value of the planned change. The tendency to see the added value of changes can, in turn, be assumed to be dependent on people’s personality, more specifically, their locus of control (Rotter, 1966). Taking the importance of consensus as a starting point in the third study described in chapter three, we examine how consensus influences the relationship between individual locus of control and perceived added value of HRM. A mix of qualitative and quantitative
methods, namely, questionnaires, interviews and document analyses (HRM policy plans), was used to answer the research question in this study.
Part two: Studies on individual and organisational factors explaining teachers’ professional development
The studies in the second part of this thesis concentrate on the aim of HRM: promoting the continuous professional development of teachers (Moerkamp, Vedder & Vos, 2005). As already mentioned, we align ourselves with the knowledge-in-practice and knowledge-of-practice conceptions of teacher learning (Cochran-Smith and Lytle, 1999). Within these conceptions, we focus on four types of activities: reflection and asking for feedback, on the one hand, and innovative behaviour and knowledge sharing, on the other hand. Individual and organisational factors are taken into account in explaining these professional development activities.
Reflection and asking for feedback are primarily aimed at improving one’s own teaching, whereas innovative behaviour and knowledge sharing are also aimed at improving the teaching of others. More than that, the latter two are aimed at changing one’s own teaching and that of the broader community – i.e. department or school. And whereas reflection and asking for feedback are primarily initiated by the teachers themselves, innovative behaviour and knowledge sharing are regulated by the surroundings of teachers. Therefore, the importance of either individual or situational factors in explaining these behaviours is assumed to be different, too. In explaining reflection and asking for feedback, we focus on individual variables, while controlling for situational factors. In explaining innovative behaviour and knowledge sharing, we focus on situational factors, while controlling for individual factors.
In the first study of the second part of the thesis – described in chapter four – we examine how teachers’ professional development in terms of reflection and asking for feedback can be explained. Both behaviours involve people taking a certain amount of risk. In fact, a person can be confronted with information that can affect his or her self-image (Van Woerkom, 2004). As a consequence, people often feel hesitant to engage in these learning activities (Schön, 1983; Argyris, 1991). People with high self-confidence are more easily able to take that ‘risk’ than people who lack self-self-confidence (Van Woerkom, 2004). A well-known psychological construct that is strongly related to self-confidence is self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977), which refers to the belief in one’s capability to mobilize the resources needed to meet situational demands. Self-efficacy has often been studied in the context of educational improvements and teacher learning (e.g. Ross, 1995; Soodak & Podell, 1996; Tschannen-Moran, & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001) and is assumed to play a role in predicting reflection and feedback asking. Another personality trait that is assumed to encourage teachers to take the risk of receiving disconfirming information is learning goal orientation (Dweck & Legett, 1988), which refers to peoples’ motivation to improve their competencies through learning and training new skills, as well as through learning to complete new and more complex tasks. People with a strong learning goal orientation tend to view feedback – positive and negative – as diagnostically relevant information that helps them to increase their skills and capabilities (VandeWalle, 2001; Tuckey, Brewer & Williamson, 2002). Apart from these direct relationships, we expect that
General introduction
learning goal orientation mediates the relationship between self-efficacy, on the one hand, and reflection and feedback asking, on the other hand. Furthermore, a considerable amount of literature on teacher learning is dedicated to transformational leadership as an inducement to professional development activities (Lam, 2002; Nguni, Sleegers & Denissen, 2006; Ross & Grey, 2006). The term transformational leadership refers to a leadership style that is characterized by: initiating and identifying a vision for the school’s future; providing individual support; and providing intellectual stimulation (Geijsel, Sleegers, Leithwood, Jantzi, 2003; Leithwood, Jantzi, & Steinbach, 1999; Leithwood & Sleegers, 2006). Transformational leadership is also seen to predict reflection and feedback asking, as well. Finally, we expect the relationship between transformational leadership and reflection and feedback asking will be strongest for teachers with relatively low learning goal orientations.
We used a quantitative method, namely, a survey, to examine whether the reflection and feedback asking of teachers can be explained by their self-efficacy, their learning goal orientation, and their perception of transformational leadership. The teaching staff of a Dutch VET College participated in this study. 456 respondents filled out the total questionnaire (a response rate of 38%).
The second study in this part of the thesis – described in chapter five – focuses on innovative behaviour and knowledge sharing. Attention is paid to the organisational environment as a ‘learning environment’ wherein teachers are stimulated to learn from each other (see for example Rosenholtz, 1985; Fullan, 2007) and to learn and innovate collaboratively (Meijrink, 2007; Zwart, 2007). Increasing the interdependence between teachers is viewed as a way to increase the interaction between teachers, and hence to increase the opportunities to learn in interaction (Gerrichhauzen, 2007). Therefore, teachers’ perceptions of task- and goal interdependence within their team is assumed to predict innovative behaviour and knowledge sharing. Task interdependence is defined as the work flowing from one team member to another in such a way that the task performance of one team member depends on the task performance of the other (Brass, 1981; Kiggundu, 1981; Van de Vegt, Emans & van der Vliert, 1998). Goal interdependence refers to the extent to which team members believe that their personal benefits and costs depend on successful goal attainment by other members (Kelley & Thibaut, 1978; Deutsch, 1980; Van der Vegt et al, 1998). We hypothesize that both forms of interdependence predict innovative behaviour and knowledge sharing, as does the interaction between these two. To test our hypotheses, we used a quantitative method, namely, a questionnaire consisting of existing scales that have been proven reliable in prior studies.
Table 1. Summary of hypothesised relationships between independent and dependent variables (studies one and two, Part Two).
Dependent variables Independent variables Reflection Asking Feedback Innovative behaviour Knowledge sharing Self-efficacy (SE) + + Learning goal orientation (LGO)
Mediating function of LGO
+ + + + S tu d y 1 , fo cu s o n i n d iv id u al fa ct o rs Transformational leadership (TL) Interaction TL * LGO + - + -
Task interdependence (TI) + + Goal interdependence (GI) + +
S tu d y 2 , fo cu s o n o rg an is at io n al f ac to rs Interaction TI * GI + +
In order to answer our central questions - ‘How can HRM serve as a tool in professional development?’ and ‘Can professional development of teachers be explained by the interplay between individual and organisational factors?’ - the following research questions have to be answered:
1. What factors impede and promote the implementation of HRM in schools? (Chapter two)
2. What role can the HRM department play in fostering the implementation of HRM? (Chapter two) 3. Can the degree to which HR policymakers and executives perceive added value in the implementation of HRM be explained by their locus of control, as well as by the consensus between them about the goals of HRM? (Chapter three)
4. Can the professional development of teachers, in terms of reflection and feedback asking, be explained by self-efficacy, learning goal orientation, and perceptions of transformational leadership? (Chapter four)
5. Can the professional development of teachers, in terms of innovative behaviour and knowledge sharing, be explained by perceived task and goal interdependence? (Chapter five)
Outline of the thesis
The empirical studies are presented in Chapters two to five. The general conclusions, limitations of the different studies, and the practical and scientific implications of the different studies are discussed in Chapter six. The chapters do not contain a reference list. Instead, the total reference list can be found after
General introduction
Chapter six. The appendixes contain summaries in Dutch and English and the scales and items used. As has already been mentioned, the studies are linked to each other. We wanted to be sure that every chapter can nevertheless be read and understood independent of the other chapters. This independence has resulted in some overlap in certain aspects, such as in the introduction and method sections.
Part One
Studies on HRM as a tool in teachers’
professional development
HRM department as intermediary
CHAPTER 2
THE HRM DEPARTMENT IN SCHOOLS:
AN INTERMEDIARY BETWEEN MANAGEMENT AND TEACHERS? 3
3
This chapter was presented as a paper: Runhaar, P.R. & K. Sanders. The HRM department in schools: an
intermediary between management and teachers? at the fifth Dutch HRM Conference, 9 and 10 November 2007,
Tilburg University; has been published as Runhaar, P.R. & K. Sanders (2007). The HRM department as
intermediary between management and teachers? (P&O als intermediair tussen management en leraren?) Tijdschrift
voor HRM, 10, 54-77; and is currently under review as Runhaar, P.R. & K. Sanders, The HRM department in
schools: an intermediary between management and teachers?
Abstract
Since the beginning of this century, Dutch schools have been implementing Human Resources Management (HRM) policies as a means to stimulate continuous professional development of teachers in line with the organisation goals (e.g. educational innovations). For many schools, the implementation of this new policy is a complex and slow process. The focus of this chapter is on how the HRM department can foster the implementation of HRM. In the
first study, we examined what factors hinder and promote the implementation process. Because this new policy
brings with it new expectations for managers (e.g. asking and giving feedback, coaching) and for teachers (e.g. cooperating, asking and giving feedback), its implementation will demand significant changes of people in schools. It was expected that ‘soft factors’, referring to social processes such as the difficulty that people have in adapting to the changes that are implied by the HRM policy, play a more important role than aspects such as time and money (‘hard factors’). Pre-structured interviews with policymakers (board member and HRM manager) and policy executives (unit managers and their HRM officers) from five VET Colleges (N=30) indeed showed that ‘making policy and instruments is easy, but getting people to use them is very difficult’ and that interaction with teachers is necessary to make the connection between the policy and the various expectations, worries, and desires of teachers clear. Given this gap between policy and practice, HRM departments could play a crucial role in bridging the gap, in particular, by executing the roles of ‘Employee Champion’ and ‘Change Agent’. In the second study, a
representative group of HRM managers from the VET Colleges participated (N=46). A survey was used to uncover current and desired roles of HRM departments. Results revealed the existence of high aspirations to fulfil the roles Strategic Partner and Change Agent, and low aspirations to fulfil the role of Employee Champion. We argue that the HRM department can become a Strategic Partner by fulfilling the roles of Employee Champion and Change Agent, which involves becoming an intermediary between management and teachers.
Introduction
Teachers’ professional development is presently receiving a lot of attention in The Netherlands. As in many countries all over the world, education is seen as one of the most crucial factors in international competitiveness (see for example Center for American Progess, 2005; TDA, 2006; Dutch Education Council, 2006). As pupil attainment seems to depend on teacher quality to a great extent (Rivkin, Hanushek & Kain, 2005; Scheerens & Bosker, 1997), it is logical that different governments invest in teacher training and learning. In addition, teachers are increasingly called upon to help young people become fully autonomous learners by acquiring key skills, rather than memorising information (European Commission, 2005). This leads to new teacher roles, which in turn means that teachers have to learn the skills required to fulfil these new roles (Bransford, Berliner, Derry & Hammerness, 2005). The fact that classrooms now contain a more heterogeneous mix of young people from different backgrounds and with different levels of ability than ever before results once again in the need for continuous training for teachers. (European Commission, 2005). In addition to this, Dutch schools are confronted with enormous teacher shortages. The hope is that, by investing in professional development, the teacher’s job will become more attractive (Meesters, 2003).
Although the necessity for continuous professional development in schools is universally acknowledged, it seems hard to organize in many countries (OECD, 2005; NWO, 2007). This is also true for The Netherlands. Dutch government and school boards have been trying to implement Human Resources Management (HRM)4 since the beginning of this century (Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, 2007). The primary goals of this new policy are the stimulation of individual professional development of teachers in line with organisational development and the integration of various HRM instruments (Moerkamp, Vedder & Vos, 2005; SBO, 2005). Three forms of integration can characterize the new policy, which can be compared with terms described in HRM literature (see for instance Delery & Doty, 1996; Baron & Kreps, 1999; Delery, 1998; Bowen & Ostroff, 2004). First, the vertical integration stresses the importance of the alignment between the goals of a school and the goals and development of the teachers. Second, the horizontal integration stresses the linkage between the different HRM practices, such as recruitment and selection, performance appraisal, training in terms of feedback instruments and personal development plans, and reward systems. And third, the functional integration emphasizes the importance of the consensus of the different actors - namely, the (line) management, HR managers, and teachers themselves - about the importance of teachers’ professional development.
The Dutch government has obligated school boards to implement HRM in their schools by adding it as a regulation in the collective labour agreement. In addition, school boards have received money to implement the new policy and a special office was founded for the development of different
4
Officially, this HRM is called Integrated Personnel Policy. In the rest of the chapter we will use the more known term Human Resources Management (HRM) because the features of both kinds of personnel policy are more or less
HRM department as intermediary
instruments that could be applied by schools, such as personal development plans and competence profiles (Lubberman & Klein, 2003).
Despite the investments of the Dutch government over the past years and the efforts of school boards, school leaders, and HRM departments, the implementation of IPP in schools is still lagging behind expectations (Teurlings & Vermeulen, 2004; Dutch Education Inspectorate, 2005; Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, 2005). The implementation process has been intensively monitored (see for example Van Wonderen, 2005). Research has also been done to explore the ways in which the implementation process stagnates. Such research has revealed the following: There is not enough alignment between different personnel instruments (Sonntag, Vermeulen, Wiersma & Van Wolput, 2001); Personnel policy is not sufficiently linked to other policy domains (Teurlings & Vermeulen, 2004); Some aspects of personnel policy – such as assessment and reward systems – are not structurally applied yet (Vermeulen, Wiersma, Van Hienen & Den Hartog, 2003); The focus in schools is on the short term and not enough on the long term (Dutch Education Inspectorate, 2005). Less research has been done on exploring the underlying causes for this stagnation. Consequently, the focus of this chapter is on the reasons why the implementation process goes slowly and what can be done to foster it. The first research question is: ‘What factors impede and promote the implementation of HRM according to policymakers and executives of HRM policy?’ This question will be answered using qualitative research methods. The second research question is: ‘Which role can be played by the HRM department in fostering the implementation of HRM?’. This question will be answered using quantitative research methods.
STUDY ONE: What factors impede and promote the implementation of HRM?
The implementation of HRM in schools can be seen as a relatively high impact organisational change. Until recently, school leaders didn’t have to think about it much, and didn’t make much use for professional HRM instruments. Neither did the teachers (Van der Linden, Teurlings & Vermeulen, 2005; Van der Bolt, Studulski, Van der Vegt & Bontje, 2006). As a result, the use of HRM instruments - such as feedback instruments and personal development plans - can be seen as something new for school leaders and teachers alike.
More specifically, there appear to be two aspects of the new policy that make the change substantial. First, the new policy brings with it an understanding of the teacher profession that is not necessarily shared by all teachers. Research has shown that teachers differ from each other in terms of whether or not they adhere to a more restricted understanding of their profession (i.e. focus on their own lessons and classes) or a more extended understanding (i.e. focus on both their own tasks and school wide tasks) (see for example Hoyle, 1989; Witziers, 1992; Kwakman, 1999; Van Veen, 2003). HRM is geared towards the extended understanding of the teacher profession – the alignment between teacher’s professional development and school development - so it is to be expected that part of the teaching staff may resist the new policy. Second, HRM has consequences for the organisational culture. The implementation of HRM is intended to stimulate reflection and feedback-seeking behaviour in teachers (SBO, 2005). In other words, teachers are being asked to behave more like so-called ‘reflective practitioners’ (Schön, 1983).
Behaving in this way assumes an organisational culture characterized by open communication, cooperation and an environment where one feels safe to make mistakes (Van Woerkom, 2004). Such a culture does not necessarily exist in schools. Different authors have noticed that the relatively autonomous position of teachers in schools makes cooperation and learning from each other more difficult (Hanson, 1996; DeCaluwé & Vermaak, 2005).
Organisational changes largely depend on the way people adapt to the changes and their willingness to go along with such changes (see for instance Lawrence, 1958; Tichy, 1982; Miller, Johnson & Grau, 1994; Millward, 2005). We therefore expect that implementation problems are more related to social and psychological processes in school organisations than to aspects such as time, money, or means. Moreover, we believe that, given the fact that the introduction of HRM policy and HRM instruments in schools has been sponsored intensively by government in the past years (Teacher Committee, 2007), such aspects will play a less critical role than social factors in understanding the implementation problems.
Method
In this study, we are interested in how policymakers and executives perceive the implementation process and what factors they perceive as impeding and fostering this process. Qualitative research is a suitable way to inquire about experiences and the way people make sense of them (Merriam, 1998). We used pre-structured interviews as the research tool (Swanborn, 1987).
Respondents
Five schools for secondary vocational education and training (VET) participated in this study. Schools from this sector were chosen because this sector has not yet received a lot of attention from researchers focussing on professional development of teachers, even though there are fundamental educational changes going on here (NWO, 2007). Furthermore, the devolvement of responsibilities from the level of central government to the level of schools as autonomous and professional organisations started earlier here than in other sectors (Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, 2005). The outcomes of this study are likely valuable for other schools, as well. In The Netherlands, there are 42 VET Colleges, divided into the units Technique, Economics, Service and Welfare, with the number of employees varying between 850 and 2,500. Each college has various locations, with a maximum of 60 (VET Council, 2006).
We chose five colleges of different size and from different locations and interviewed six policymakers and executives of HRM policy from each of the five colleges: one board member, the HRM manager, two unit managers and their HRM officers (N=30). Because VET Colleges are often large organisations with many units, it is likely that subcultures exist (Van der Krogt & Vroom, 1988). This can result in people who are thinking quite differently about HRM policy. To control for the effects of subcultures, we chose managers and HRM officers from technical and welfare units. We interviewed 18 women and 12 men. The mean age of the respondents is 48.2 (SD=8.1). All had received higher education. 57 % has a length of service of at least 10 years; 20% between four and ten years; 13 % between one and four years and 10% less than one year.
HRM department as intermediary
Researchers
Two researchers conducted the research. To improve reliability, two test interviews were carried out. The first six interviews were carried out together.
Questions and clustering of answers
The interviews were based on three questions: ‘How did the implementation process go?’; ‘Which factors impeded the process according to you?’ and ‘Which factors do you think promoted the process?’ All interviews were taped and transcribed, except for one conducted with an HRM policy officer who did not want to be recorded. After reading all transcriptions, the answers to the first question were clustered into two groups of allied answers. To cluster the answers to the second and third question, the classification of Abdall-Haqq (1992) was adopted, namely ‘soft’ factors (referring to social processes in organisations) and ‘hard’ factors (referring to concrete factors such as time and money). Within the two clusters, similar answers were grouped together. The clustering of the answers was done by two researchers separately, which resulted in 90% agreement. For the remaining 10%, agreement was reached after deliberation. The grouping of answers within the clusters was done by one researcher.
Results
How did the implementation process go?
The 25 persons who could answer this question responded in two ways.
Which factors impeded the process according to you?
1. Writing the policies and instruments is easy, but getting people to act in line with them is difficult.
Respondents report that there is still a big difference between what is written in policy plans and what is done in practice. Influencing the behaviour of teachers and managers – such as encouraging feedback-seeking behaviour - appears to be hard.
2. The change appeared more complex than expected.
Seven respondents report that the implementation of integrated personnel policy is complex because it affects other aspects of organisational policy, such as recent fusion processes and educational innovations.
Soft factors
1. Teachers experience little practical utility.
Eleven respondents report that the added value of the policy and the instruments is unsatisfactory to most teachers. ‘…everything teachers do must contribute directly to the learning process. All the rest is seen as ‘extra’ . .. ’, according to a HRM officer.
2. Resistance to the many changes that are taking place in schools
The fact that teachers get tired of the many changes in national policy and in schools is reported by six respondents. A HRM officer: ‘..teachers don’t have confidence in the sustainability of the change…’.
3. Organisational culture
Five respondents report that people are not used to giving and asking feedback in the current culture. As one board member points out: ’. . .. . people don’t find it easy to criticise each other without putting each others back to the
22 of the 28 respondents who could answer this question (two HRM officers were not involved in the implementation process) named one or more soft factors.
Eleven respondents named ‘hard’ factors (six of them also name a ‘soft’ factor).
Which factors do you think promoted the process?
Of the 25 respondents able to answer the question, 23 named soft factors.
Seven respondents named hard factors. Five of those seven also noticed soft factors.
Control variables
No significant relationships were found between the personal characteristics of respondents and their answers. There were, however, some significant relationships between answers and function. The impeding factor ‘incompetent managers’ was only mentioned by HRM directors (three out of five) and welfare unit managers (two out of five). The fostering factor ‘communication’ was mentioned predominantly by welfare unit managers and by none of the technical unit managers.
Hard factors
1. Incompetent managers
Five respondents don’t think their managers are capable of encouraging teachers to reflect and give feedback to each other. One HRM director states: ‘. . .we used to think that good teachers would be good leaders. That proved to be
wrong. .. . ‘
2. Insufficient means
Six respondents refer to different types of means they lack: time, money, the way the participation council is structured, the solid legal status of teachers.
Soft factors
1. Communication
Eleven respondents report that it proved helpful to talk frequently with teachers and managers about the goals and methods of the policy. As one unit manager points out: ‘…I started with a little group of enthusiastic teachers. Then
you can show results to others. .. ‘ 2. Create a sense of urgency
Ten respondents report that people only start showing interest for personnel policy and instruments after realizing that it is necessary. For example, one of the unit managers states: ‘. . . .after a negative appraisal of an external
quality control, the whole team accepted the fact that we would start holding performance interviews periodically with every team member. . . ‘
3. Making the connection to the educational process explicit
One of the four people who offer this kind of answer is a unit manager, who states: “. .. teachers have become
teachers because they chose to work with young people. . .. . . when one connects interventions to what motives them, you can realise every big change you can imagine.. . ‘
Hard factors
Seven respondents name the fostering effect of different types of supports, such as the availability of personnel instruments, a professional personnel department, and moving to a new bigger building.
HRM department as intermediary
Conclusions
This study primarily explored the factors that impede or promote the implementation of HRM in schools. The study was based on the assumption that it would be soft factors, referring to the difficulty that people have in adapting to changes, that would be the main obstacle, and that hard factors such as time and money, would play a minor role.
The results show that most policymakers and executives of HRM policy in VET Colleges do indeed report that there is a gap between policy in theory and in practice. Some of them refer to hard factors, but most of them refer to social processes in the organisations (soft factors) that impede the implementation process. The intentions, written down in policy plans, are not sufficiently put into effect mainly because the ‘users’ of the policy (teachers) do not recognize the added value of the policy or are tired of the continual changes in national or school policy. Furthermore, the new policy doesn’t seem to fit well enough to the current organizational culture, in which people aren’t used to working and learning together. Communicating about the goals of the new policy, making the necessity of this policy explicit, and linking the policy to what motivates teachers most (which is student learning) seems to promote the implementation process.
An explanation for the gap between policy and practice could lie in the nature of school organisations. Schools have often been described as what Minzberg (1983) calls professional bureaucracies (see for example Hooge, 1998; Boerman, 1998). In professional bureaucracies, managers and employees operate in separate ‘zones’. Teachers occupy the professional zone, their classroom, carrying the responsibility for pupils’ learning processes and performances. Managers operate in their own zone in which they are responsible for personnel policy, as well as for public relations, finances etc. Because the members in both zones need autonomy and space to function well, the link between the zones is often weak. And while managers are focussed on controlling processes, teachers are dealing with uncertainty and need the opportunity to improvise (Hanson, 1996). Here then lies a challenge: finding ways to increase the overlap between these two zones.
It is interesting to note that resistance at the individual and organisational level is seen as an impeding factor and less as a goal as such. By labelling resistance as an impeding factor, respondents are saying that something about the attitude and behaviour of teachers has to change, both individually and collectively, before HRM can be a success. Another strategy would be to find out exactly why teachers are resisting, and then work towards revising the policy and practices. Yet another strategy could be to make change one of the policy goals. By exploring what motivates teachers to develop themselves and connecting this development to organisational goals instead of trying to ‘sell’ instruments, the gap between policy and teacher concerns and needs could be effectively bridged. In the second study, we will focus more on this ‘intermediary’ role of the HRM department.
STUDY TWO: Which role can be played by the HRM department in fostering the implementation of HRM?
The central question in this study is what role the HRM department can play in fostering the implementation of integrated personnel policy in schools. The fact that there is such a discrepancy between policy and practice makes the investigation of how the HRM department can reduce this gap and what role(s) the HRM staff of VET Colleges would like to play of particular interest.
The development of HRM as a pure administrative department to a department that plays a role at a strategic level has received considerable attention in HRM literature (see for example Baron & Kreps, 1999; Biemans, 2001). Different HR-roles have already been described. Ulrich’s classification of HRM roles (Ulrich, 1998) is a well known model to describe the different ways in which HRM can contribute to the goals of an organisation. Four quadrants (roles) arise by distinguishing two dimensions, namely the strategic-operational-dimension and the processes-people-dimension. See the following illustration:
Figure 1. Four HRM roles, Ulrich (1998)
The administrative expert is, in fact, the most ‘traditional’ role of HRM. It involves creating effective and efficient administrative processes related to HRM activities, such as employment, pay, training, performance evaluation, etc. As a strategic partner, HRM takes part in articulating the organisational strategy. HRM translates the strategy into HRM activities. By playing the role of change agent, HRM can help implement changes needed to realise the organisation’s strategy. By fulfilling the role of employee champion, HRM connects the desires and needs of employees to the organisation goals. HRM aims at increasing the commitment of employees and their productivity by meeting their wishes where possible.
Ulrich (1998) states that HRM is most effective when all roles are fulfilled in coherence with each other. Since our first study pointed out that the implementation of integrated personnel policy in VET Colleges is difficult mainly because the policy and instruments do not seem to fit to the personnel’s interests and concerns, the role of employee champion seems an appropriate one. Furthermore, given the fact that the implementation of HRM involves a rather fundamental organisational change, the implementation of it could also be fostered by playing the role of change agent. The question is whether HR staff has the same opinion. Research shows that people in organisations have different perceptions
Future / strategic focus
Day-to-day / operational focus
Processes People Administrative Expert Strategic Partner Change Agent Employee Champion
HRM department as intermediary
concerning the preferred and practiced HRM roles (Biemans, 2001; Sanders & Van de Ven, 2004). HR staff tends to prefer the strategic roles, whereas management and employees prefer the operational roles. This leads us to the expectation that the HRM Staff of VET Colleges prefer the strategic roles more than the operational ones.
Method
To get an impression of the way HRM staff perceives their actual and desired role fulfilment, we used a questionnaire which was used in earlier research and proved to be reliable (Sanders & Van de Ven, 2004). The questionnaire consists of 19 items, each corresponding to one of the four roles. Examples of items are: ‘HRM helps in increasing the output of our College’(Administrative Expert); ‘HRM helps in increasing the commitment of employees’ (Employee Champion); ‘HRM contributes to long term planning issues’(Strategic Partner); ‘HRM helps in realising changes in the organisational culture’ (Change Agent). A five point Likert scale was used (1 = totally disagree, 5 = totally agree) and the items were answered for both the actual and desired situation.
Respondents
The questionnaire was filled in by 46 representatives from the HRM departments of all Dutch VET Colleges, including HRM managers (28), HRM policy advisors (12) and HRM officers (6). The 46 representatives were approached during regional periodical meetings of HRM managers, organised by the national VET Council.
Results
Table 1 shows the mean scores and standard deviations for the different roles. The administrative expert was executed most often (3,73), followed by the strategic partner (3,25), the change agent (3,05) and the employee champion (2,98). The most desired role was the strategic partner (4,38), followed by the change agent (4,27), the administrative expert (4,02) and the employee champion (3,48).
Table 1. Mean scores and standard deviations for each role, in actual and desired situations, total response group
Roles Actual Desired
Mean Sd Mean Sd
Administrative Expert 3,73 0,59 4,02 0,50 Emloyee Champion 2,98 0,67 3,48 0,71 Strategic Partner 3,25 0,86 4,38 0,55 Change Agent 3,05 0,71 4,27 0,65
