Authors: Georgia Passali, Theodoros Katerinakis
Title: What Makes the “Top place to work”? Employment Culture and Cross-Fertilization of “Best Workplace” Practice with Social and Solidarity Economy Principles in a Comparative Study
Abstract
Human Resources Management (HRM) is experiencing a difficult operation prior the pandemic dealing with the “present and future of work”. On the other hand, the cooperative sector (often framed as Social and Solidarity Economy) in modern economies is in a challenging position to meet competition due to the reform process resulting in increased privatization of the economy and also increased market access to the domestic market at the global level. Current efforts are being made to promote professionalism in cooperative management, among members and cooperative personnel. If the managerial personnel of the cooperatives are efficient and are professionally competent, the goals of cooperative organizations would be achieved quickly and at a minimum cost. HRM route to high performance should be built on the requirement for commitment, quality and flexibility.
The practice of Best Workplace investigates how conventional legal entities got creative in caring for people, deepened their commitment to community, and courageously connected in new ways. The World’s Best have set themselves up for business success even as they have accelerated the movement toward a better future, in which all organizations become great places to work for all. Such mindset elevates the practice in terms of Hofstede’s concept of culture , "the programming of the human mind”, for employees and management.
The current study examines the cross-fertilization between SEE and conventional economy using the field of employment relations, in order to present aspects of good practice for HRM. SEE paradigm is the basic theoretical framework for its concern and sensitivity around “social enterprise operators”, as a sustainable approach. This framework is selectively projected in conventional economy with the principles of work quality and personnel evaluation (from lower staff to upper management and vice versa), adopted by companies as good practice. A typical comparative reference framework is the “Best Workplace” practice, investigated in depth for its similarities with international cooperative (ICA) principles and other theories about SEE. The effects identified in the way the practice is applied but also in the perception of stakeholders in the conventional economy, are investigated and evaluated using the dynamics of SEE and its perspective in the future. Can SEE go beyond itself and influence the dominant model as a good practice? And if so, to what extent?
The research part of this paper explains the original design and implementation of qualitative research with the methodology and tools of focus groups, with the main researcher as moderator and coordinator. Two real-life focus groups are implemented during the past months, in a market with the demanding conditions of the pandemic. The first focus group engaged personnel members of a public traded legal entity of reference (which has received the Best Workplace decoration more than once) and the second one called members of a collective union entity “The Athens Trade Employees Association” who are also employees of companies that embrace the “Best Place to Work” practices. Analysis and interpretation of the findings of the empirical process is conducted through descriptive tabulation and interactions with the theoretical framework of Ostrom, Gibson-Graham, Best Workplace evaluation reports, but also the ICA cooperative principles. The scope of influence of SEE over conventional entrepreneurship is highlighted in the field of labor relations, while providing evaluation criteria of “where to work”.
The story telling narrative in the focus groups transcripts, using meaningful pseudonyms for participants, creates a lively text with semantic analysis and interpretations.
