The Process of Implementing HRM Practices: A Case Study in the Dutch Federal Government

Yearly, organisations create and implemented new HRM practices. To make those HRM practices work in an effective way, their implementation is of great importance. The goal of this paper is to uncover the mechanisms in which new HRM practices develop in federal governmental organisations. We do so by studying the way in which the HRM practice itself develops over time. Results were obtained during a longitudinal ethnographic case study at a Dutch ministry which lasted more than one year, during which we investigated the implementation of HRM practices for increasing the influx of impaired workers. We have observed seven phases of HRM practice development throughout the implementation process. Our findings show that at the moment of the ‘go live’ of the HRM practice to employees, the HRM practice has not finished developing yet. Instead, a process of adaptation and negotiation starts, during which a dynamic back-and-forth goes on between policy makers, HRM professionals, and managers. Their interpretations, opinions and forms of power evolve, thereby influencing the HRM practice. As a result, in its process towards maturity, organisational actors continuously shape and reshape the HRM practice.