L'efficacité des pratiques de gestion des ressources humaines : le cas de la gestion des professionnels syndiqués au Québec

Résumé

La mesure de l'efficacité des pratiques de gestion est une préoccupation forte de la « nouvelle » gestion des ressources humaines (GRH). Pourtant — au-delà du discours — peu de recherches empiriques ont été effectuées sur ce sujet à cause de la complexité des devis de recherche qui exigent le contrôle de nombreuses variables influençant la relation entre les pratiques de GRH et la performance organisationnelle. En mesurant l'efficacité des pratiques de GRH à partir de leur capacité à réduire l'insatisfaction professionnelle de 2 497 professionnels syndiqués québécois, le devis de cette recherche s'avère non seulement réaliste mais aussi efficace puisque cette insatisfaction professionnelle (due à la confrontation des valeurs professionnelles avec les exigences organisationnelles) s'avère positivement reliée à la faible loyauté organisationnelle, au faible rendement perçu et à de nombreux comportements contre-productifs. Une analyse multivariée de 66 pratiques de GRH (qui se regroupent en 26 grappes homogènes) met en évidence l'importance des pratiques de participation, de communication, de formation et de valorisation professionnelle. Le modèle « idéal » de gestion de la main-d’œuvre professionnelle qui se dégage de l'analyse explique 41,3 % de la variance totale de l'insatisfaction professionnelle. Il continue à expliquer 28,3 % de cette variance alors même que 37 variables individuelles et 6 variables organisationnelles sont contrôlées.

Abstract

Evaluating the effectiveness of human resource (HR) practices is a key dimension of the "new" Human Resource Management model. However, despite a great deal of prescriptive literature, little empirical research has been conducted on this topic, mainly because of the complexities involved in designing research that controls for the major variables intervening between the HR practices and organizational effectiveness.

By choosing to measure HR management effectiveness in terms of the capacity of HR practices to reduce professional dissatisfaction, the design of the present research is not only practical, but also effective. Based on a sample of 2497 unionized professionals in Quebec, the study shows that professional dissatisfaction — related to the clash of values between managerial and professional cultures — is positively correlated with low organizational commitment, low perceived performance and several deviant behaviors (Raelin 1986a).

Among the many HR practices treated in the literature on the management of professionals, a number of practices are given special prominence for their potential to diminish the clash of values between managerial and professional cultures. The sixty-six practices selected for the study can be grouped as follows: (l)job enrichment/enlargement practices (allowing a better use of abilities), (2) communication practices (allowing a better understanding of the corporate vision), (3) "weak" control practices (allowing more autonomy to professionals while maintaining some control over their work), (4) participation practices, (5) development and career practices, (6) recognition practices and (7) other practices related to working conditions, employees' rights and expression mechanisms. Respondents were asked to indicate whether each of these practices existed in their setting. In addition to HR practices, several other variables were measured in the study. For instance, professional dissatisfaction was measured by 33 items (a = 0.92) to assess the gap between specifie professional expectations and their possibility of being met at work (Guerin et al. 1996). The researchers also measured several sets of variables: 10 sociodemographic factors, 10 individual factors, 17 personality factors and 6 organizational factors. Data were collected through questionnaires sent to 8801 professionals belonging to 13 unions. Given the response rate of 28.4%, we ended up with a sample of 2497 unionized professionals.

Multivariate analysis reveals that HR practices account for 41.3% of variance in professional dissatisfaction while the other sets of variables account for only 39%. This result demonstrates the importance of HR practices in explaining professional satisfaction. Indeed, the main source of dissatisfaction stems from the absence of a number of HR practices. Furthermore, it was found that 66 HR practices can be clustered into 26 groups and that the ideal model for managing professionals rests upon four core bundles of practices (job enrichment, participation in job design, communication, and development).

Such an optimal model can be used to identify the strengths and weaknesses of different work contexts with respect to the management of professionals. For one thing, an index of HR effectiveness was computed for each of the contexts under study. In addition to being strongly correlated with professional dissatisfaction (r = -0.63), this index allows us to compare the different ways of managing professionals across organizations.

In summary, the "ideal" HR model for professionals supports Lawler's theory, which focuses on four forms of sharing — power, information, knowledge and profit. Although not rejecting the contingency approach to HRM, we believe that an effective HR strategy is likely to be a well-balanced mix of two kinds of practices : one set consisting of universal practices (à la Lawler) and the other being more contingent (Dyer and Reeves 1995). Finally, these findings are discussed in light of professionalization and unionization.

Resumen

La medida de la eficacia de las practicas de gestion es una preocupación de importancia en la nueva gestion de los recursos humanos. Sin embargo, — por sobre el discurso — muy pocos estudios empìricos han sido realizados sobre este tema debido a la complejidad del estudio que exige del control de varias variables que influencian la relacion entre las practicas de gestion de los recursos humanos y los resultados organizacionales. Al medir los resultados de las practicas de la gestion de los recursos humanos a partir de su capacidad de reducir la insatisfacción profesional de 2497 profesionales sindicalizados de Québec, esta insatisfacción profesional parece estar ligada a la relativamente débil lealtad organizacional, a los débiles resultados percibidos y a varios comportamientos contra productivos. Un analisis multivariado de 66 practicas de gestion de los recursos humanos (que se reagrupan en 26 grupos homogéneos) pone en evidencia la importancia de las practicas de participación, de comunicación, de formación y de valorización profesional. El modelo « idéal » de gestion de la mano de obra profesional que sobresale del analisis explica el 41.3 % de la variación total de la insatisfacción profesional. Este mismo modelo explica aun un 28.3 % de esta variación aun y cuando 37 variables individuales y 6 organizacionales son controladas.