chapter 7
....................................................................................................................................................HRM AND THE
WORKER
TOWARDS A NEW
PSYCHOLOGICAL
CONTRACT?
....................................................................................................................................david e. guest
7.1 Introduction
.........................................................................................................................................................................................
Formanagers who accept the argument that eVective management of human
resources provides a distinctive basis for competitive advantage (Barney and
Wright 1998 ), the case for taking human resource management seriously is
compelling. But terms sometimes associated with advocacy of strategic human
resource management such as a ‘full utilization of the workforce’ or ‘exploiting
your assets’ do not bode well for the workers who constitute those human
resources. So what’s in it for the workers? Does human resource management
(HRM) oVer them a positive deal or is it, as Keenoy ( 1990 ) once suggested, ‘a
wolf in sheep’s clothing?’ This chapter will explore HRM from a worker’s
perspective. It will build on an analytic framework proposed by Wright and
Boswell ( 2002 ) and utilize the concept of the psychological contract to consider
how HRM helps to shape workers’ attitudes and behavior and in particular their
satisfaction and well-being.