Human resources, the uncaring profession: whatever happened to employee well-being?

Ulrich's business partner model of human resources (HR) argues that HRM (human resource management) practices should be an integral part of an organisation's strategy for achieving sustained organisational performance, with HRM practices being aligned to business strategy at all levels in the organisation. In Ulrich's (2008) model, the people management role of HR is embedded in HR practices, but have these activities as a consequence been lost? Has business partnering been achieved at the expense employee well-being and engagement? Recent research into engagement (Alfes et al 2010; Rich et al 2010; Macleod and Clarke 2009) argues that engagement and employee well-being are at the heart of performance management motivating staff towards higher performance levels, but whilst performance management is a key factor in the business partner role, employee engagement and well-being appears to be overlooked by HR business partners in practice. So who is looking after employee well-being and engagement to achieve sustained organisational performance? Using the results of our initial survey of 100 companies as the basis for further discussion, this workshop will employ a highly participative round table discussion format to consider the issue of the role of the HR practitioner in 21st century, and its links to employee well-being and engagement. Some of the critical questions to be addressed include: Do employees matter, and if so who should take care of them? To what extent does performance (and related outputs) override factors such as commitment, engagement and motivation? Is well-being ignored in contemporary organisations? How effective is the Ulrich business partner model of HR? The workshop will conclude with a plenary session, whereby conclusions will be drawn and suggestions for future research will be presented.