Perceptions of HR: an analysis of millennial and postmillennial insights

Sarah M. Paukert, Russell P. Guay and You Jin Kim

Organization Management Journal, 2021, vol. 18, issue 1, 36-51

Abstract: Purpose - The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of the human resources (HR) function from millennials and postmillennials who are either just finishing college or already in the early stages of their careers. Previous works have often revealed negative stereotypes toward HR, and this study serves to discover whether these perceptions are changing. Further, the study aims to address the origins of and reasoning behind these new perceptions. Design/methodology/approach - A two-study survey research design using a sample of 106 college of business students (Study 1) and an additional sample of 135 former business students who have graduated since 2011 (Study 2) is used. Findings - The results demonstrate that perceptions of HR are changing and quite positive, with the majority of these perceptions originating from personal experiences. In fact, the vast majority of respondents not only felt positive about HR but also like and trust their HR representatives. Originality/value - Results also suggest that there may be a disconnect between perceptions of the HR function and its actual purpose, suggesting that HR professionals need to better educate others about their important role as a strategic business partner.

Keywords: Perceptions; Stereotypes; Millennials; Postmillennials; Human resources (HR) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:omjpps:omj-01-2020-0861

DOI: 10.1108/OMJ-01-2020-0861

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Organization Management Journal from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().