‘Employee champion’ or ‘business partner’?

The views of aspirant HR professionals

Dennis Nickson, Scott Hurrell, Chris Warhurst, Kirsty Newsome,

Dora Scholarios, Jo Commander and Anne Preston
University of Strathclyde

Abstract

This paper focuses on the perceptions, expectations and experiences of full-time

students studying a CIPD-accredited Postgraduate Diploma/MSc in Human Resource
Management. Drawing on survey, focus group and interview data the paper considers
students perceptions of the role of HR, how their views changed during the course of
the academic year, their initial thoughts on pursuing an HR career and early
experiences as HR practitioners. The results suggest that at the point of exiting the
course students tended to view the HR function in a more strategic manner, as
opposed to the employee champion role, and this strategic orientation was also
apparent in the views of the nascent HR professionals. In considering pedagogy and
practice the paper seeks to engage with debates emerging about the nature of CIPD‟s
„professional project‟, whilst also signalling the need for further longitudinal research
to assess continuity and change in the HR profession.

Contact details

Dennis Nickson
Scottish Centre for Employment Research
Department of Human Resource Management
University of Strathclyde
Glasgow
G1 1XU

e-mail: d.p.nickson@strath.ac.uk
 „Employee champion‟ or „business partner‟?
The views of aspirant HR professionals

Introduction

This paper focuses on the perceptions, expectations and experiences of full-time

students regarding the study and practice of the CIPD-accredited Postgraduate

Diploma/MSc in Human Resource Management at the University of Strathclyde.

Specifically, it reports on-going longitudinal research with three cohorts of students

(2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08). The project examines why students want to become

HR practitioners, what they expect of human resource management (HRM) education,

the applicability of that education to practice and their actual experience as HR

practitioners both new and developing. The research is also timely in picking up on a

number of themes emerging from major research emanating from CIPD considering

the changing HR function (CIPD, 2006; 2006a; 2007; 2007a); and relatedly emerging

trends and issues with regard to HR careers and the career paths of HR professionals

(CIPD, 2005; 2006b). For example, in one of the earlier scoping documents CIPD

(2006: 1) notes how „the project aims to consolidate and extend existing knowledge of

the HR function, the changes affecting it, the reasons for the changes and the

implications for further development of the successful contribution of HR

professionals‟. Similarly the research reported in this paper is seeking to explore four

primary research questions:

What are participants‟ perceptions of HRM whilst in education and in

employment?

What are participants‟ expectations of HRM whilst in education and in

employment?
 What are participants‟ experiences of HRM whilst in employment?

What are participants‟ reflections on HRM education when in employment?

The paper reports some initial, indicative findings from research undertaken with the

2005/06 and 2006/07 cohorts, drawing on survey, focus group and interview data.

These findings concentrate primarily on students‟ perceptions of the role of HR, how

their views changed during the course of the year, their initial thoughts on pursuing an

HR career and early experiences as HR practitioners.

Controversies in HRM and the CIPD’s ‘professional project’

The term „HRM‟ has been in vogue for over 20 years with controversies raging about

what the term actually means in theory and practice. Storey (2007: 7) believes HRM

„seeks to achieve a competitive advantage through the strategic deployment of a

highly committed and capable workforce using an array of cultural, structural and

personnel techniques‟. It is this concern with strategic integration and input which is

the most pervasive characteristic of HRM and that which is seen to make HRM

distinct from personnel management or industrial relations (see also Heery and Noon,

2001). HRM is seen as distinct from the pluralist industrial relations approach

involving mediation, mutuality and maintenance of the quality of working life.

Instead it aligns with a unitarist assertion of organisational values, goals and strategy

(Legge, 2005; Storey, 2007). As a result, HRM is also attempting to move away from

the „routine administration‟ of personnel management and into a „business

partnership‟ model, ultimately contributing to the productivity and financial

performance of the firm (Francis and Keegan, 2006). For example, the CIPD (2007)

reporting a survey of 787 HR professionals notes how over half of their respondents
organisations had re-structured in the last year and „by far the most common reason

for restructuring was to enable the HR function to become a more strategic

contributor‟ (p. 2). This strategic aspiration is seen as not only placing the HR

function in a more central position within organisations but also increasing the status

of HR practitioners as professionals.

As a result of the move towards business partnership some have argued that HRM

suffers from a „social legitimacy‟ gap in terms of the traditional pluralist employee-

centred welfare function (see for example Kochan, 2004; 2007). Indeed, Francis and

Keegan (2006) drawing on the work of Ulrich (1997) recognise that two possible

roles that HR managers could fulfil are that of „business partner‟ and „employee

champion‟ with the latter more concerned with humanist issues than the former.

These authors imply that the two roles are somewhat opposed and hard to reconcile.

As a result of becoming „perfect agents‟ of top management in enforcing

organisational strategy, it is argued by some, therefore, that HRM has lost sight of its

essential role in supporting employees (Kochan, 2004; 2007). As Kochan (2004: 134)

notes at the end of the 1990s „HR professionals lost any semblance of credibility as a

steward of the social contract because most HR professionals have lost their ability to

seriously challenge or offer an independent perspective on the policies and practices

of the firm‟.

The two approaches to HRM outlined above may not, however, be mutually exclusive

and many argue that HRM should allow for mutually beneficial employer and

employee outcomes. Heery and Noon (2001), in their analysis of the ambiguity

present in the term „HRM‟, state that it is possibly simply a convenient short-hand
term which encompasses all sub-disciplines related to managing people whether

employer or employee centred. HRM concepts such as high commitment management

(HCM) and high performance work systems (HPWS) are also, in theory, designed to

allow employee involvement and increase employee satisfaction whilst also

improving organisations‟ performance (Legge, 2005).

Some commentators, however, doubt the degree to which the rhetoric of mutuality is

fully met. Research by Guest and Peccei (1998; 2001) and Marchington (2001), for

example, showed that even where practices consistent with HPWS/HCM were

apparent there was little direct employee involvement and participation, trust

remained low and „partnership‟ was largely determined by management. Furthermore,

research undertaken by the CIPD (2003) on 1,200 HR professionals‟ orientations

revealed that the majority saw themselves as business partners and „change agents‟

eschewing the employee champion role. By 2007 the situation was little changed and

in a survey of nearly 800 HR professionals only eight per cent saw themselves as

employee champions and „and in nearly 800 written responses to the question of HR‟s

purpose, nobody mentioned championing employees and only two saw HR‟s role as

“to encourage and facilitate employee voice”‟ (CIPD, 2007a: 47). The increasing

focus on business partnership and the privileged role afforded to strategic imperatives

may, therefore, explain why HRM sometimes fails to deliver certain employee-

centred outcomes (Legge 2005; Thompson 2003). It is, therefore, of interest to

determine the roles that prospective HR professionals believe they will fulfil in the

workplace.
Many of the above debates can also be seen to inform recent CIPD pronouncements in

support of what Gilmore and Williams (2007) term the organisation‟s „professional

project‟. Indeed, as noted earlier CIPD has recognised some of the potential

challenges of this approach and has sought over the last two years to „explore how HR

functions and professionals can best be organised to make the most of high

performance within organisations‟ (2006a: 1). Recent publications from the CIPD

have addressed the changing nature of the HR function (CIPD, 2006; 2006a 2007;

2007a) and the likely consequences of the changing HR function for HR professionals

(CIPD, 2005; 2006b). For example, CIPD (2007a) whilst recognising that business

partner has become the most attractive role for HR practitioners to aspire to, also note

that finding people of the right calibre and with the right skill set and competencies

for fulfilling such a role may be rather more problematic. Moreover, from a supply

side there are concerns about the opportunities available for the „brightest and best‟

who „find HR a difficult nut to crack‟ (CIPD, 2006b: ix). Thus although graduates are

selecting HR as a career they then find themselves in what are described as „dull‟

jobs, with little opportunity for progression. Whilst there may be some frustrations for

those at the outset of their careers the evidence is more encouraging for those already

pursuing a HR career with 81 per cent answering yes to the question of „if you could

start your career again from the beginning, would you still opt for HR‟. The reasons

given for this response related to aspects such as „variety, challenge, interest and

enjoyment‟ in the job and also „the view that HR is at the heart of the business and

offers an opportunity to make a difference‟ (CIPD, 2006b: 37).

Gilmore and Williams (2007) and Francis and Keegan (2006) also seek to critically

engage with the debates about CIPD‟s „professional project‟ and the consequences for
aspiring and existing HR practitioners. Gilmore and Williams suggest that the CIPD‟s

„professional project‟ raises a number of important issues. For example, they question

the extent to which the unitary and normative character of CIPD‟s claim to

professionalism reflects the realities of managing people in contemporary

organisations, pointing to some of the potential „contradictions, ambiguities and

tensions inherent in managing people in a capitalist market economy‟ (p. 399).

Gilmore and Williams also take issue with the „tightly defined‟ nature of the CIPD

professional standards in terms of their managerialist character; the „managerialist and

prescriptive‟ CIPD-sponsored student texts; the manner in which CIPD promotes „its

own commissioned research with its normative, ideological character‟; and the

„highly technical process of quality assurance‟ in the process of accreditation (all

quotes p. 399). In a similar vein, Francis and Keegan seek to question whether the

framing of the concept of „thinking performer‟ around the notion of business partner

„is damaging its potential to facilitate the incorporation of broader issues of employee

well-being through promoting more critically reflective HR practices‟ (p. 232).

Authors such as Francis and Keegan, Gilmore and Williams and Kochan are clearly

critical of HR‟s shift to a business partner role, advocating instead a much more

pluralist view of HRM to ensure a healthy and sustainable balance of power in

organisations. For Francis and Keegan and Gilmore and Williams specifically there

are concerns that the synonymity between the notion of thinking performer and

business partner produces a particular view of what the CIPD should seek to achieve

with its professional standards and their impact on aspiring HR professionals.

However, Francis and Keegan also suggest that:

 … the framing of the thinking performer concept in ways that emphasise a

„critically thoughtful approach‟ and the importance of employee well-being in

all HR considerations could (emphasis in original) help balance the overly

business focussed tendencies noted in business partnership models, but is this

happening as the thinking performer moves into practice? (p. 237).

In this conceptualisation of the thinking performer, Francis and Keegan suggest that

the education of HR practitioners should aim to engage in „critical discussion of the

ideology and practice of HRM in ways that allow professionals to develop more

skilled approaches to balancing inherent tensions in the employment relationship‟ (p.

246).

In sum, there are a number of competing views as to what the HR function should be

seeking to achieve and a number of roles that HR professionals could adopt. The

evidence increasingly points to HR professionals seeking to become business partners

and in the process be seen as more strategic and adding greater value to the

organisation. However, more critical accounts suggest that in this headlong rush to

professionalise the HR profession has lost sight of its humanist values. It is these

tensions which are now considered in relation to aspirant HR professionals drawing

upon data collected from full-time students on the CIPD-accredited Postgraduate

Diploma/MSc in Human Resource Management at the University of Strathclyde.

Methods

The paper draws on data from surveys, focus groups and interviews for two student

cohorts: 2005/06 (26 students) and 2006/07 (31 students). Focus groups and surveys
were conducted with the students at entry to the course. The survey focused on

reasons for studying HRM at postgraduate level and at Strathclyde, immediate career

plans on graduating (position sought, location, salary expectations, sector), key factors

thought to influence obtaining a job in HR, factors important in choosing a job and

career expectations. The focus groups further explored reasons for choosing

postgraduate study, perceptions of HRM as a field of study and a business profession,

and perceptions and involvement with the CIPD.

This entry stage analysis was important for establishing initial expectations, providing

a baseline to assess later cohort pedagogical and professional experience - the latter

over the course of their career. Each cohort group could be described as diverse in

terms of prior experience of HR but more uniform with respect to academic

qualifications. All students were required to possess a good social science

undergraduate degree which was believed to be an essential grounding for

understanding HRM. This background implied a range of prior expectations and

understandings of HRM. This diversity also avoided biasing initial perceptions in any

particular direction.

Surveys and focus groups were conducted again as students exited the course

approximately eight months later to determine any change in expectations and

perceptions of HRM as a field of study and business profession. Given the consistent

academic standards of each cohort recruited, any observed changes could be attributed

to changing orientation with respect to HR as a career, rather than to low levels of

competence with respect to the course requirements. Another important point to

consider is whether the content of the course may have predisposed students towards
any particular view. Strathclyde University is a CIPD-recognised Centre of Research

Excellence and students are presented with a range of perspectives of HRM through

research-led teaching that has been accredited by CIPD as meeting their Professional

Standards. It is unlikely therefore that any strong bias could have been introduced

which would skew the students‟ perceptions of HRM, other than that of encouraging a

more complete knowledge of the CIPD-accredited academic syllabus. Moreover, all

students are required to complete a work placement and management report based on

an applied problem in the placement organisation during the course, and which

supplements the academic content with a practitioner perspective. Thus, for those

students who may have been described as „naïve‟ with respect to HRM on entry to the

course, we would expect to detect a gradually crystallising view of HR, though the

direction of this view cannot be predicted.

At the final stage of the study, structured in-work interviews (n=6) were undertaken

with graduates from the 2005/06 cohort eight months after exiting the course as they

entered the profession. The respondents for the in-work interviews were employed in

a range of roles. Two respondents were on graduate trainee schemes, one was

employed as a personnel manager, whilst the remaining three respondents were

employed as an HR advisor, HR assistant and HR administrator respectively. These

interviews aimed to evaluate the alumnis‟ experience of HRM as practice, and how

they then perceived the relationship between that practice and pedagogy. In addition,

the interviews gathered information about the employing organisation (size, location),

the alumni‟s position and tenure, the perceived importance of the HRM qualification

for finding and performing the job and future career goals, ongoing continuous

professional development, and interaction with the CIPD. To-date, the entry and in-
work analysis has been done for 2005-06 whilst both entry and exit analyses have

been conducted for 2006-07.1 It is the findings from this data that is reported in this

paper.

Findings

Student characteristics

The vast majority of both cohorts were female (82 per cent in 2005/06 and 72 per cent

in 2006/07). The average student was in their mid-20s (mean age 25 and 26 in the two

intakes respectively). In 2005/06 almost three quarters were British whilst in 2006/07

the proportion of non-British students had increased considerably, more than doubling

between the years. Around half of the students in each cohort had either a business or

management background (including a number who had studied HRM as part of a

single or joint honours degree) and the majority of remaining students had undertaken

other social science degrees (typically in psychology or sociology). Around 40 per

cent of students entered the course straight from their first degree, whilst the

remainder had had varying employment experience, including a number who had

spent some time working in HR roles, largely doing administrative tasks.

Entering and exiting the course

From the surveys, at the point of entry the vast majority of respondents in both years

(75-88 per cent) were looking for a permanent career in HR, with the private sector

the preferred destination. There was variation in the types of HR jobs that respondents

thought they would enter, although HR assistant was the most popular choice. At the

point of exiting there was evidence that respondents had shifted downward their

1
As a result of industrial action in 2005/06, only four exit surveys were returned and only one student
attended the exit focus groups. As a result, there are no exit results from this cohort.
expectations about their first job after graduation. The proportion stating that they

believed they would start as an HR manager had decreased three-fold, with the

proportion reporting that they would start as a graduate trainee increasing by 50 per

cent in comparison to the entry survey. There was also a small increase in the

numbers reporting that they would start as HR officers and assistants.

Reflecting the varying backgrounds and experiences of the students at the point of

entry to the course there was differing views about the role of HRM expressed in the

focus groups. A number of these views recognisably pointed to support for both a

business partner and employee champion role. Often those expressing the more

strategic view of HR were those students with employment experience. One such

student suggested that „I think [HR] has a responsibility to act like other departments

in the company … it can‟t just be that place to try and resolve employee problems, it

also has to show worth in a way because if you don‟t then you can see that a company

will quickly disrespect or lose interest in having an HR department, as my company

did‟. Similarly another student noted how HR had increasingly to be more „business

like‟: „I do think HR managers have obviously got to be the ones to be prepared to

listen as well because they‟ve got to be the ones who do understand that ultimately,

yes, it is a business as well, so the methods that they use and implement or what

they‟re feeding back down to the employees has got to be realistic as well‟.

On the other hand a number of students who were entering the course straight from

first degrees tended to adopt more of an employee champion view of HR, with the

following views being typical: „Well, to me, management‟s always focused on the

bottom line. It‟s always concerned with managing profit. HRM has got to be different
because you‟re working with real people‟, „I always thought that human resource

departments were meant to be there for the staff‟, „I think they act as a bridge between

employees and the employers. That bridge is very important for a good company to

function‟. Although students entering the course straight from their first degree tended

to more readily articulate an employee champion role there were also examples of

students who had HR experience also seeing the function in these terms. For example,

a student who had worked for five years in a unionised environment suggested that

HR should be „the liaison between the managers and trade unions. Right? You are

more the person to resolve conflicts, who will help the trade unions work towards

harmony with the managers … you are, 90 per cent of the time, in a Catch-22

situation, trying to figure out where you need to go … So, you‟re more like the middle

point for both of them to come and resolve conflicts‟. Equally, a number of students

were sufficiently reflective to realise the views they held at entry to the course would

almost certainly change with one noting how, „I think once I get into a workplace as

an HR manager my views might change somewhat‟. Similarly, at the point of entry a

number of focus group participants saw the importance of mixing theory and practice,

with a typical view being that „I think a critical background gives something to

practice. I mean, practice is possible only when you have something in theory. So I

think both are important but mostly I think it‟s a practical subject‟.

At the point of exiting the course the vast majority of students surveyed reported that

their understanding of HRM as both practice and pedagogy had changed with the

general consensus that the discipline was much more varied, interesting and involved

than originally thought. There was also an awareness of the way in which the

implementation of practices may differ between organisations and that, often, no

single „best‟ practice existed. In the focus groups one student, for example, suggested

that „I just think HR can look completely different from organisation to organisation. I

think some places it seems to be the guard dog to make sure that everyone is

following the book on hiring and firing and, and while other places, like you say the

strategy, having visions, where do you want to go?‟. Similarly another student

recognised how „the definition of HRM is changing so it‟s kind of what HR does to

have to change so HR, at one time, can actually be an admin person for long periods

and later can become a business partner, and there may be change too, to change

agents and actually HR has diverse kind of functions within the same organisation‟.

That said, compared to the entry focus groups a greater number of students were now

much more readily using the language of business partnership and recognising the

need for HRM to be closely aligned to the organisation‟s business strategy: „when I

was in the work placement, I saw the importance of it in terms of meeting the bottom

line, the business aspect of it, managing the employees so that you make sure you are

able to achieve the goals of the business … that strategic element that is what HRM is

supposed to be about, I saw that come out a lot‟. Even though there were more

students who were recognising the more strategic and business-oriented aspects of

HR, a number still continued to believe that HR had a dual role in meeting business

and employee interests summed up by one respondent as „the role of HR is to make

sure that both groups [employees and managers] get a fair crack of the whip … so in

that respect it‟s almost a steward for the employees‟.

As can be seen from the discussion above much of the realisation concerning the

students changing perceptions about the role of HR was due to their experiences

during their in-course work placements. This finding was reaffirmed by the exit
survey responses. Indeed, it was noteworthy that when examining the aspects of the

course which students most enjoyed a large number of them reported the

practical/professional skills2 content of the course had been especially useful, with the

most popular single aspect being the work placement. As one student in the focus

group noted, „I felt the placement, along with the skills module, was probably the best

part of the course‟. In sum, the vast majority of students reported that their

understanding of HRM as both an academic subject (82 per cent) and management

function (79 per cent) had changed during the course. Almost four fifths of students

also believed the course had prepared them to become a „thinking performer‟ –

summed up by one focus group participant as „someone who has a brain and knows

how to use it‟.

In work interviews

The main duties of the respondents varied considerably, although the most frequently

cited responsibilities were related to operational HR policy implementation and

employee relations. Four of the respondents (the personnel manager, HR assistant, HR

advisor and one of the graduate trainees) reported that their biggest job

responsibilities were providing general advice to staff, advising staff on HR policies

and or providing staff counselling. Other commonly reported responsibilities included

staff appraisals, disciplinary procedures, recruitment and training. Only the personnel

manager reported having responsibility for other staff members and co-ordinated HR

administration, recruitment, immigration and staff accommodation in a large

international hotel. Two other respondents had been given responsibility for

2
The Professional Skills module was taught by specialist tutors, who often had significant experience
as HR practitioners. It aims, through the use of role play, to equip the students with some of the
practical skills required by HR professionals, for example, grievance and discipline handling,
recruitment interviewing and negotiation.
developing policies themselves with the HR assistant developing an induction process

and the HR advisor designing an employee handbook.

There was evidence of some respondents carrying out data processing tasks. The HR

administrator reported that she simply processed employee data and generated

contracts in an outsourced HR function. This respondent believed that her job was

monotonous and that she was using none of the skills developed on the MSc. The HR

assistant also reported that she had to process the details of leavers whilst one of the

graduate trainees reported that managers sometimes expected her to do administrative

work which was not part of her role.

In terms of the respondent‟s views of HRM, four of the six respondents were keen to

stress that HR was predominantly business centred and/or of central strategic

importance. One of the graduate trainees, for example, stated that one of the most

enjoyable features of her job was the development of an HR „business partner‟ model

within her organisation, away from an administrative role. The personnel manager

also revealed that one of the least favoured aspects of the job was dealing with

personal issues that employees had, believing that such problems detracted him from

more important business-related tasks.

The views of two of these strategically minded respondents had changed since

finishing study. The HR assistant claimed that since starting work she now saw HR

issues much more from the employer‟s viewpoint, whilst one of the graduate trainees

reported that: „there‟s strategic decisions everywhere [in HR] … [this] goes to prove

that the academic stuff was true … it was surprising actually‟. The personnel manager
however stated that he had „always considered HR a management function‟ whilst one

of the graduate trainees reported that she now saw HR less as an academic subject and

more in terms of its practical applications but did not state that her consideration of

the strategic importance of HR had changed.

The HR advisor reported a more employee-centred view of HR and stated that the

most enjoyable part of her job was dealing with people and resolving employee

queries and problems. This respondent stated that one of her main motivations for

working in HR was the felt „sense of helping someone‟. The HR advisor had worked

in HR before her studies began and, resultantly, her expectations of the role had not

changed since finishing the MSc.

The dichotomy between those taking a strategic and person-centred view was,

however, not clear cut and some respondents reported tensions inherent in the HR

function. The personnel manager, for example, reported that he liked to use

disciplinaries as a development tool. This viewpoint frequently brought him into

conflict with line managers who, he believed, used disciplinaries as a means to justify

sacking staff. One of the graduate trainees and the HR advisor also revealed that

dismissals, redundancies and disciplinaries conflicted with the people-centred

objectives of HR and gave the function a „bad name‟ (HR advisor).

Concluding comments

This paper reported on the perceptions, expectations and experiences of students

undertaking the CIPD-accredited Postgraduate Diploma/MSc in Human Resource

Management at the University of Strathclyde. The research is timely in allowing for

consideration of issues and controversies emerging from debates about the changing

nature of the HR function, the impact of these changes on the skill-set required by HR

professionals, the likely effects on careers and career paths and how these aspects may

be manifested in the CIPD‟s „professional project‟, thus informing the training and

development of aspiring and existing HR practitioners.

The results emerging from the analysis of the 2005/06 and 2006/07 cohorts suggests

that at the point of exiting the course students felt they had developed a more nuanced

understanding of HRM as both an academic subject and management function. For

example, they generally recognised the need for HR professionals to be good at both

transactional and transformational aspects, having a range of skills and abilities

reflecting specific HR knowledge and more general business knowledge; and how the

emphasis between these aspects could vary across organisations. A key role was

attributed to the provision of professional skills and the work placement in developing

this appreciation of the range of skills required by HR professionals. At the point of

exiting the course the majority of students were also readily using the rhetoric of

business partnership and the need to view the HR function in a strategic way in terms

of its ability to add value to the organisation. This more strategic orientation was also

apparent in the views of the nascent HR professionals interviewed as part of the

research.

The extent to which the views expressed by these newly-qualified HR professionals

change over time is something that the longitudinal nature of this research will

facilitate, allowing us, we would argue, to assess both continuity and change in the

HR profession. More immediately this research is aiming to encourage both students

and educators to think reflexively about the ideological and pedagogical implications

of the CIPD‟s „professional project‟. In that sense the paper offers an important

contribution to the timely and necessary debate instigated by Francis and Keegan and

Gilmore and Williams on the role of CIPD in shaping the education of aspirant HR

professionals.

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