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Publication
Human resource management: a professional field of “good people
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
The increasing adherence of human resources professionals to the discourse and the
values of managerial ideology contribute to their recognition in the business world. Since
they assume themselves as partners in the fight for economic competitiveness and in the
defence of financial results of the business, human resources professionals replaced the
ideology of the welfare by the ideology of the management. Therefore, their role, particularly
in the context of the societies of advanced capitalism, has been marked by the increasing
sophistication of their means of symbolic action. Being so they are in charge of implementing
practices of self-discipline of the workers in a society where the cult of performance has
became the hegemonic social value.
Confronted with the existence of interests that are in conflict and crossed by the mark
of the heterogeneity, human resources professionals tend to use the implementation of
practices based on self-discipline of the workers. These practices make sense through the
mobilization of discursive resources that act as mechanisms of consented disciplining
(Fournier, 1999) supporting the interests of dominant economic and cultural forces. To ensure
the ideological conformity of the workers to the new forms of flexible work, human resources
professionals are required to mobilize a number of competencies of a political nature that the
good sense and emotional neutrality seem to be the most important ones.
Based on the issues outlined, this communication aims to report the preliminary
results of a PhD research project in progress using five semi-direct interviews to the human resources directors of large Portuguese companies. Using the content analysis we discuss the
role of political competencies in the course of their everyday professional practices.
The results confirm the centrality of social and political skills. Good sense is the
central discursive element, because of the nature of the relational and symbolic role that
human resources professionals are called to play. The emotional neutrality is another element
that legitimises the everyday action which is guided by an abstract interest of the common
good that the human resources professionals act as guardian.
Description
Comunicação apresentada na 9th ESA Conference, Lisbon, 2009