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September 10, 2025Open Access

Addressing Contextual Pressures and Challenges in Social Care: The Prospects of Multi‐Actor Engagement With Strategic HRM

ABAlina BaluchUniversity of St Andrews DSDora ScholariosUniversity of Strathclyde ICIan A. CunninghamRobarts Clinical Trials

Key Points

Multi-actor engagement enhances understanding of strategic HRM, fostering a shared vision and adaptability to challenges.
The study found that contextual pressures shaped engagement, leading to both convergence and divergence in HRM practices.
In-depth qualitative study reveals internal dynamics that affect workforce responses in nonprofit social care organizations.
The findings highlight limitations of traditional HRM systems in achieving sustainable workforce objectives within social care.

Abstract

ABSTRACT Drawing on an exemplary case of strategic HRM in a nonprofit social care provider responding to a recruitment and retention crisis, this article offers evidence for a multi‐actor, recursive model of HRM implementation. We examine how multi‐actor engagement with strategic HRM reinforces or modifies intended HRM, and how this engagement is shaped by external and internal contextual pressures in nonprofit social care organizations. Through an in‐depth qualitative study, we shed light on the internal process dynamics that not only engender a shared understanding of intended HRM strategy and practice among key organizational actors ( convergence ) but also allow for local deviation ( divergence ) that forges a more adequate response to workforce challenges. Our study contributes to theory on the social dynamics of HRM implementation within wider institutional contexts while highlighting the limits of a business‐oriented HRM system for delivering a sustainable workforce within social care.

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