HR: THE ISOLATED ISLAND - Collaboration and visibility, a way to the organization’s heart?

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how an HR department could gain legitimacy for themselves while undergoing a reorganization of the department. This reorganization was affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic that enforced changes in how the organization was working by imposing remote work. Theory: This thesis follows Suchman’s (1995) framework for organizational legitimacy, which offers strategies for gaining, maintaining, and repairing legitimacy. Although, this thesis mainly focuses on gaining strategies as the HR department was implementing new processes and strategies that focused on becoming more centered in the organization. This theory enabled the authors to further analyze the collected data by categorizing it between the various legitimacy strategies. Method: This thesis was conducted as a qualitative case study, which consisted of 15 semi-structured interviews and two observations during the HR department’s meetings. All interviews were conducted with members of the HR team remotely using a video communication tool. The data were transcribed and coded using thematic analysis to understand the themes that emerged during the interviews. Result: The empirical findings showed that the HR department had gained legitimacy in various ways throughout the reorganization of the department. The findings revealed that the process of gaining legitimacy started prior to the reorganization, however, the process was boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic sped up the implementation of remote work and increased meetings between the members of the department cross-contexts. Conclusively, becoming more visible and increasing collaboration with managers as well as other departments were key factors to gain legitimacy. Adhering to societal HR trends, distancing themselves from the depiction of traditional HR, and implementing agile working methods all contributed to the department’s gained legitimacy.