High‐performance work systems,partnership and the working lives of HR professionals

High performance work systems (HPWS) and workplace partnership have generated immense academic and practitioner interest in recent years, however little is known about how combining them affects the working lives of HR professionals. This represents a significant omission as HR practitioners are closely involved in negotiating, developing and implementing such systems. Utilising the findings of a longitudinal study we demonstrate how a high profile change programme that blended HPWS and partnership reaped mixed consequences for the HR population. We develop the notion of ‘maintenance work’ to describe how practitioners engaged with the formal and informal organisation to facilitate the smooth running of these management systems. Whilst those in senior positions experienced increased job satisfaction, the service providers found work intensified and efforts unrecognised.