”Hade jag fått önska så hade vi haft rekryterande enheter i alla stadsdelar” - En fallstudie om huruvida en specialiserad rekryteringsenhet kan vara värdeskapande

Abstract

The study aims to identify if a support unit with recruitment specialists can contribute to more value creation. By examining the specialized support units process, organization, and how managers perceive their support we can identify if and how the unit contributes to the value creation of the district's operations. The case in our study is a region in a Swedish city that has implemented an HR transformation through a new specialist unit for recruitment. The units processes and organization has not been evaluated before. The study describes how similar units can organize their processes in the shaping of other recruitment units. Today, the staff of a company is the most important and most value creating resource, and can contribute to the organization's competitive advantage. Our hypothesis is that the unit can contribute to value creation by supporting and unburden the managers, and by contributing to competitive advantage through a more accurate recruitment process. Previous research argues that HR transformation aims to transform HR work to become more efficient, strategic and add value by contributing to the business results and goals. Previous research on value creation means that HR processes shall create value for it’s stakeholders and that the value is determined by the receiver. Value can be created by social support to the managers. Previous research has described social support as a flow of emotional caring, instrumental support and helpful information between people in a social network. Further regarding previous research, competency-based recruitment is a standardized process which shall lead to better recruitments. This study is a qualitative case study where we searched for a deeper understanding of the unit and the regions managers perception of value creation. The study is characterized by an inductive method. We performed nine semi-structured interviews based on a goal-oriented snowball sample and examined documents as a complement. The empirical data is analyzed through a thematic analysis of the interviews and by a descriptive analysis of the documents. The study showed that the managers feels that the unit provides relief and adds instrumental and emotional support. Furthermore, managers experience that the process increases the chances of a properly implemented recruitment and that the unit will contribute to a more professional approach. From this, we identified four value-creating themes: efficiency, quality assurance, perceived support and attractive employer. Our conclusions are that a unit should be designed based on the managers and businesses needs in in order to create value. The unit needs to have a close proximity to it’s recipients to adapt the support and their processes to the context. For the unit to contribute to value creation it requires that their resources are utilized. Hence, it is important to inform and train managers to create awareness of the processes and the support offered.