German Human Resource Management professionals under tensions: A Bourdieusian approach

In line with the current discussion on Human Resource Management (HRM) professionals, we claim that HRM professionals are confronted with a critical challenge: they have to master the tensions between HRM as a profession on the one hand and the needs of maintaining power within their organization on the other. In this paper we explore whether HRM professionals perceive tensions stemming from changes in their professional role, their organizational roles and their position, where these tensions come from, and which strategies are used to cope with them in their daily practice. We build our theoretical frame on Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice and conceptualize HRM professionals as actively contesting both their own as well as their groups’ interests without losing sight of structural influences. Moreover, this theoretical framing allows us to assume that professional positions in organizations are inherently based on contradictions and tensions and so highlights these facets of HRM professional practice as well as focusing attention on coping strategies. Our empirical study is based on 21 interviews with German HRM professionals from large enterprises. The results show three main sources of tensions HRM professionals perceive within their organizations. These tensions stem from what we refer to as their various “sandwich” positions, from scarce resources, and from conflicts with line management. Our results show that these tensions are handled by HRM professionals as they dispose of suitable habitus aspects and professional capital. We identify four strategies that HRM professionals deploy when dealing with the tensions: the strategic consultant strategy, the active HRM service provider strategy, the HRM controller strategy and the qualification strategy. All of these strategies enable HRM professionals to maintain or even broaden the power position of HRM within their organization.