The Dark Side of Human Resources Management: The Perceptions of Different Organizational Actors

Fundamental as it is that HR managers work as team leaders and potenciate the creation of friendly and stimulating environments, increasing attention has been given lately to malpractices of Human Resources Management (HRM) by researchers, organizations and public opinion. As part of a broader project that aims to understand the perceptions and the attributions of different types and situations of malpractices in HRM, this aims to understand how the way in which the position of HR Director is exercised, and its influences on the performance of other management positions, can give rise to poor HRM strategies, behaviors, and situations. In this study, 60 interviews were conducted with organizational actors, and Grounded Theory was applied to analyze the data. The interviewees were employed at 3 Portuguese companies and held different hierarchical positions: peers of HR managers and employees from different organizational functions. This study contributes to unveiling the dark side of HRM. The findings highlight that the little respect for the values and the demagogy of the discourse about the importance of people as the most valuable capital of an organization leads, in face of what is practiced on a daily basis, to a diminishing of HRM, the HR department, managers and the organization. The study calls for a deep understanding of those malpractices in order to allow the flourishing of best practices in HRM, in particular for stimulating creative and innovative teams, such as the creation of a team coaching staff in organizations.