TY - JOUR
T1 - Managing street-level bureaucrats’ performance by promoting professional behavior through HRM
AU - van Berkel, Rik
AU - Penning de Vries, Julia
AU - Knies, Eva
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: For this study, a grant was received from ZonMW, The Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development, file number 535004001.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021.
PY - 2022/6
Y1 - 2022/6
N2 - This article connects human resource management (HRM) research to studies of street-level bureaucracies and public professionals. It investigates the intermediary role of professional behavior in the HRM–individual performance link in the context of public human service organizations. The article hypothesizes that human resources (HR) practices, aimed at enhancing street-level workers’ abilities, motivation, and opportunities, strengthen these workers’ professional behavior; that professional behavior and individual performance are positively related; and that professional behavior mediates the relationship between HR practices and individual performance. The analysis of findings from a survey study of street-level workers in local welfare agencies implementing welfare-to-work policies in the Netherlands shows support for the mediating role of professional behavior in the HRM–individual performance chain. Based on this evidence, the article concludes that the professional behavior of street-level workers in public human service organizations deserves scrutiny of both HRM scholars and HR practitioners who are interested in promoting the performance of public professionals.
AB - This article connects human resource management (HRM) research to studies of street-level bureaucracies and public professionals. It investigates the intermediary role of professional behavior in the HRM–individual performance link in the context of public human service organizations. The article hypothesizes that human resources (HR) practices, aimed at enhancing street-level workers’ abilities, motivation, and opportunities, strengthen these workers’ professional behavior; that professional behavior and individual performance are positively related; and that professional behavior mediates the relationship between HR practices and individual performance. The analysis of findings from a survey study of street-level workers in local welfare agencies implementing welfare-to-work policies in the Netherlands shows support for the mediating role of professional behavior in the HRM–individual performance chain. Based on this evidence, the article concludes that the professional behavior of street-level workers in public human service organizations deserves scrutiny of both HRM scholars and HR practitioners who are interested in promoting the performance of public professionals.
KW - HRM
KW - performance
KW - professional behavior
KW - public administration
KW - street-level bureaucracy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85115731938&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/00910260211046554
DO - 10.1177/00910260211046554
M3 - Article
SN - 0091-0260
VL - 51
SP - 189
EP - 212
JO - Public Personnel Management
JF - Public Personnel Management
IS - 2
ER -