Towards Organizational Flexicurity?
[We’re pleased to welcome Dr. Andreas Kornelakis of the School of Business, Management and Economics at the University of Sussex. Dr. Kornelakis’s article entitled “Balancing Flexibility With Security in Organizations? Exploring the Links Between Flexicurity and Human Resource Development” appeared in the December issue of Human Resource Development Review.]
When it comes to public policy on lifelong learning and employability the
discussions are –more often than not- disconnected from practices at the level of organizations. Vice versa, current trends in organizational practices ignore the potential synergies with external policies such as the welfare state and other labour market institutions. How do we conceptualize the links between the two realms and what is the role that organizations may play in balancing flexibility with security? Andreas Kornelakis discusses these issues in his article “Balancing Flexibility with Security in Organizations? Exploring the links between Flexicurity and Human Resource Development” published in the Human Resource Development Review.
The abstract:
Recent scholarship in the Human Resource Development (HRD) field considered how practice might respond to contemporary issues facing organizations, such as the emergence of the knowledge economy, and the need for lifelong learning and organizational flexibility. A similar set of challenges have pre-occupied European policymakers, with a notable debate on how to increase flexibility in Europe. The article reviews the theoretical debate on flexibility, and the related policy of “Flexicurity” that aspires to balance flexibility with employment security at the national level. The article argues that the challenges that both nations and organizations face should not be seen as mutually exclusive. Instead, it suggests that labor policy and workplace practice can be mutually enhancing and calls for a research agenda on “organizational Flexicurity.” The article suggests that HRD scholars are best placed to advance such an agenda, as career development and learning lies at the heart of those issues.
You can read “Balancing Flexibility With Security in Organizations? Exploring the Links Between Flexicurity and Human Resource Development” from Human Resource Development Review for free by clicking here! Like what you read? Click here to sign up for e-alerts from Human Resource Development Review and get all the latest news and research sent directly to your inbox!
Andreas Kornelakis is a lecturer in human resource management at the Department of Business and Management, University of Sussex. He received a PhD degree from the London School of Economics. He is a member of the British Sociological Association, the British Universities Industrial Relations Association, and the European Group for Organizational Studies. His research interests include labor markets, labor relations, and political economy in comparative perspective. His work has been published at the European Journal of Industrial Relations, Relations Industrielles/Industrial Relations, Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, and Work Employment and Society.
