Where's the 'Human' in Human Resource Management? Managing Work in the 21st Century

We all have to work to pay the bills – but what influence do we really have over our pay and working conditions? The emergence of the global economy, digital technologies, mass migration, gig work and zero hours contracts have thrust this question to the forefront of HRM. So how can we keep the ‘human’ in human resource management faced by these pressures?

This book adopts a critical approach to today’s major workplace challenges. It turns traditional HRM on its head by placing workers’ perspectives towards the workplace alongside those of managers to create an HRM textbook for the 21st century. Written by two experienced and research-active authors, the book:

• locates control of labour costs and productivity at the heart of HRM policy and practice;

• covers key issues that are overlooked in many textbooks, including conflict and resistance, the ‘new’ unitarism, migration and the challenges of Artificial Intelligence;

• adopts a critical approach that will appeal more to students who don’t wish to become traditional managers;

• includes current examples and case studies from the international world of work and business that will bring the subject to life.

This is a comprehensive one-stop resource for students and lecturers alike.

Michael Gold is Professor of Comparative Employment Relations at Royal Holloway University of London. His work focuses on employee participation, self-employment and industrial relations theory as well as on employment policies across the member states of the EU.

Chris Smith is Professor of Organization Studies and Comparative Management at Royal Holloway University of London. His interests are in labour process theory, knowledge transfer through the transnational firm, comparative analysis of work and employment, and professional labour.