Getting to what works: How frontline HRM relationality facilitates high‐performance work practice implementation

• Published date: 01 November 2023
• Author: Nick Krachler
• Date: 01 November 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12502

Hum Resour Manag J. 2023;33:1053–1073. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/hrmj 1053

Human Resource Management & Employment

Relations Group, King's Business School,

King's College London, London, UK

Correspondence

Nick Krachler.

Email: nick.krachler@kcl.ac.uk

Abstract

The lack of an efficient support system for people with

multiple, long-term health conditions has increased costs,

worsened health outcomes, and prompted policymakers

to implement a boundary-spanning role within healthcare

settings. While scholars have demonstrated the benefits of

coordination roles and other such high-performance work

practices (HPWPs) in this sector, the actual implementation

of these practices is less clear. Based on a comparative case

study approach, 153 interviews, and other qualitative data,

this article explores frontline managers' HR philosophies

and practices (‘frontline HRM relationality’) to explain possi-

ble variation in efforts to implement the boundary-spanning

role of care coordinators (CCs). Despite strong policy

support for the role, coordination has improved unevenly

because of varying degrees of HRM relationality: findings

show that higher frontline HRM relationality was associated

with lower inter-occupational professionalization differ-

ences and higher boundary-spanning coordination. The

article contributes to a nascent literature on HPWP imple-

mentation by theorizing frontline HRM relationality as a

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Getting to what works: How frontline HRM

relationality facilitates high-performance work

practice implementation

Nick Krachler

DOI: 10.1111/1748-8583.12502

Received: 12 July 2022 Revised: 5 January 2023 Accepted: 13 March 2023

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and

reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2023 The Authors. Human Resource Management Journal published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Abbreviations: Acronyms of terms: CCs, care coordinators; HPWPs, high-performance work practices; HR, Human Resources; HRM, Human

Resource Management; RC, relational coordination. Acronyms of cases: HRC_1, HighlyRelationalCare_1; HRC_2, HighlyRelationalCare_2; HTC_1,

HighlyTransactionalCare_1; MC_1, MixedCare_1; MC_2, MixedCare_2; MC_3, MixedCare_3; RC_1, RelationalCare_1; TC_1, TransactionalCare_1.

KRACHLER

1054

1 | INTRODUCTION

In the health and social care sectors, policymakers have aimed to improve performance by increasing coordination

between sectors. One mechanism for this has been a boundary-spanning role called ‘care coordinators’, tasked with

enhancing ‘care coordination’, that is, the exchange of information between patients and different care providers. In

a context of increasing health and social care costs, driven especially by people with multiple long-term health condi-

tions (Jackson et al., 2013; NHS England, 2014), much hope for productivity gains and care improvements rests on

the ability of CCs to manage long-term conditions.

Accordingly, this article's main research questions are as follows: Which HR philosophies and practices can facili-

tate the implementation of an HPWP like the boundary-spanning CC role? And what is the role of frontline managers

in this regard? As yet, however, there have been few studies on the necessary HRM conditions that facilitate HPWP

implementation (Kirkpatrick & Hoque, 2022; Monks et al., 2013; Wu et al., 2015). It is important to understand the

HRM conditions of HPWP implementation because any link between HPWPs and performance is predicated on

effective implementation. Based on 153 interviews, this article investigates how the relationality of HR philosophy

continuum that moderates professionalization-related coor-

dination problems and highlights the importance of frontline

HRM relationality for implementing HPWPs in professional-

ized settings.

KEYWORDS

healthcare, HPWP implementation, relational HRM, workforce

innovation

Practitioner notes

What is currently known?

• HPWPs are positively associated with organizational performance.

• In inter-dependent work contexts, relational coordination mediates this HR-performance link.

What this paper adds?

• Explains variation in HPWP implementation in the case of a boundary-spanning role's task performance

in health and social care.

• Shows how the relationality of frontline managers' HR philosophies and practices conditions

boundary-spanners’ task performance by moderating coordination problems related to professionalization.

• Theorizes frontline HRM relationality as a continuum, associating higher relationality with lower

inter-occupational professionalization differences and higher boundary-spanning coordination.

Implications for practitioners

• Policymakers aiming to improve boundary-spanning must ensure high levels of frontline HRM relationality.

• Employees in boundary-spanning roles, as well as those working with them, should highlight frontline

HRM relationality problems to secure more managerial support.

• Frontline HRM relationality may also shape implementation of HPWPs in other professionalized settings.