High reliability Human Resource Management (HRM): A system for high risk workplaces

High Performance Work Systems (HPWS) research is based on the search for the most suitable bundle of complementary practices appropriate for the organisation and its operating environment. We examine the contents of a HPWS in organisations seeking impeccable safety and reliability as their foremost ‘performance’ outcome. We propose a ‘High Reliability HRM’ framework, and examine the degree of implementation in a three case study of Australian state emergency services organisations. The findings highlight HRM practices inconsistent with the framework, and illustrated by rich interview accounts, we detail associated negative implications for employee behaviour and attitudes. We contribute to HPWS research by empirically examining how reliability-seeking organisations conceptualise and implement HRM systems. This study emphasises how inconsistency in HRM practice bundles can pose a threat to reliable service provision, a critical finding for emergency services and reliability-seeking organisations more broadly.     

Material and nonmaterial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from a low-income country

How have COVID-19-related restrictions affected consumption levels and life satisfaction in low-income countries? We conducted phone surveys with 577 households in Liberia to compare consumption patterns across three points in time: November 2019 (pre-COVID-19), May 2020 (short term), and September 2020 (medium term). This article analyzes the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and the related restrictions on food and nonfood consumption, which we categorize as “material” welfare and life satisfaction, which we categorize as “nonmaterial” welfare. We find differences between food and nonfood consumption patterns under pandemic conditions. In particular, consumption by households dependent on food and labor markets was negatively affected by the pandemic. In terms of life satisfaction, we find that most respondents perceived their lives to have worsened due to the pandemic.