A major survey of human-resource management (HRM) practice in Ireland which will cover 2,000 organisations is to begin this month. It is the largest exercise of its kind in the State, and will form part of a larger international HRM study.
Carried out by academics at the University of Limerick as part of the Price Waterhouse-Cranfield Project on International Strategic human-resource management, the study was established in 1989 to examine developments in human-resource management in Europe, and Ireland participated for the first time in 1992.
Based on a triennial survey of HR practice undertaken in collaboration with leading business schools in 25 countries, this study provides the basis for the most comprehensive, authoritative analysis of trends in human-resource management across Europe. To date approximately 600 Irish organisations have taken part and contributed to the development of a database on developments in HRM in Ireland.
The University of Limerick will be circulating questionnaires to over 2,000 Irish organisations. These are designed for completion by management respondents with top-level responsibility for human-resource management and industrial relations.
The Institute of Public Administration will also participate in this year's survey, providing expert advice and assistance with respect to the public sector component. The directors of this study, Mr Mike Morley and Mr Paddy Gunnigle of the University of Limerick, are encouraging HR practitioners to participate.
According to Mr Gunnigle, "This study forms the basis for the most authoritative analysis of human-resource management practice in Ireland and contributes substantially to education initiatives in the HR area by creating a uniquely Irish database on HR practice".
The IPD has played a key role in providing an expert panel of HR practitioners to help the University of Limerick analyse the study findings. As with previous surveys, the organisers hope to disseminate the study findings as widely as possible.
All respondents will receive a complimentary copy of the executive report, which will be prepared later this year. The findings will also be presented at various international, national and regional conferences and seminars, particularly those organised by the Institute of Personnel and Development, and through published articles.
Analyses of previous surveys have also appeared in book form in Continuity and Change in Irish Employee Relations, Human Resource Management in Ireland: Practice in Perspective.