Can Employability Do the Trick? Revealing Paradoxical Tensions and Responses in the Process of Adopting Innovative Employability Enhancing Policies and Practices in Organizations

Abstract

This study uses a ‘paradox lens’ to contribute to employability debates in HRM by examining the effectiveness of employability enhancing policies and practices (hereafter EP&Ps) in three case organizations. We identify three organizing paradoxes reflecting the complexities of the Dutch economic, political and socio-cultural contexts. In line with the EP&Ps' competing goals, we label these: the ‘(inverted) flexibility/commitment paradox’; ‘self-management/(human-resource) management paradox’; and the ‘sustainability/effectiveness and efficiency paradox’. We further analyse how their underlying paradoxical tensions spill over and create role-performance, belonging and learning paradoxical tensions at the micro-level and how these cumulatively impact managers' and employees' responses to EP&Ps. We then explore how HRM tries to actively go beyond ‘reinforcing paradox cycles’ by creating awareness and stimulating contextual change to foster the wider adoption of EP&Ps. In conclusion, we argue that the paradox lens can inform HRM scholars and labour market stakeholders to search for innovative ways to study and govern contemporary employability issues.

Keywords

employability employment relationship HRM paradox policy adoption psychological contract social security

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