Indicators of strategic HRM effectiveness: A case study of an Australian public sector agency during commercialization

Abstract

This study examines the effectiveness of the human resource management (HRM)function of a public sector entity as it became corporatized. There has been littleempirical research regarding the effectiveness of the people managementfunctions within the Australian public sector as these entities went through aperiod of transition to commercialization. A questionnaire obtaining perceptions ondifferent aspects of HR effectiveness, both before and after corporatization, wasadministered to a sample (N = 122) representing a number of different stakeholdergroups of the corporate HRM unit. The results showed a moderate, but statisticallysignificant, improvement in the effectiveness of HRM, and of the corporate HRMunit, as the host organization went through corporatization. Perceptions on HReffectiveness were not found to vary significantly between the different stakeholdergroups. Regression analysis showed that the major predictors of the improvementin the overall effectiveness of the corporate HR unit were, firstly, changes in thelevel of satisfaction with the quality of the HR outcomes as a result ofcommercialization and, secondly, the change in extent to which the senior HRpractitioner had effective influence over strategic decision-making processes.