Developing resilient human capital to cope with environmental uncertainties
Ainamo, Milla (2023-05-22)
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2023052246133
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2023052246133
Tiivistelmä
The external environment, currently considered as VUCA environment, in which
organizations and individuals operate can be characterized by numerous uncertainties.
As a result of these uncertainties, one significant aspect that is affected is the individual
KSAOs as part of the human capital concept. A thorough understanding of how
uncertainties affect KSAOs allows individuals and organizations to adapt, be resilient,
and respond effectively to the changing environment. One research field that
encompasses the external environment and its uncertainties as well as individual
KSAOs is strategic human resource management (SHRM). However, the relationship
between these key concepts has not yet been addressed. Also, much of SHRM research
has been devoted to the company's perspective, largely ignoring the employees’ point of
view. Thus, this research aims to fill a gap in prior research by exploring the
relationship between the external environment with its uncertainties and individual
KSAOs from the employee’s perspective. To further implement this knowledge in
practice, two scenarios are created to demonstrate the factors companies should focus
on in order to increase their human capital’s resilience.
To identify the relationship between external uncertainties and individual KSAOs, a
conceptual framework was developed. The framework outlines the foundation for a
qualitative case study with a Swedish consultancy company as a single case. A
comprehensive data foundation was constructed through data triangulation, which
involves combining both primary and secondary sources of data. In this study,
organizational documents provided by the case company were used as secondary data
while primary data was gathered through semi-structured interviews with six employees
of the case company.
The findings indicate differences between prior literature and the collected empirical
data. For example, employees’ view on prioritizing different KSAOs (knowledge, skills,
abilities, and other characteristics) showed that soft skills were seen as far more
important than hard skills when coping with uncertainties. This challenges the prior
literature on human capital that has mostly focused on hard skills and the importance of
their development through education and training. By using COVID-19 as a recent and
accurate example of uncertainty, the data revealed changes in ways of working and
work-life balance. It also revealed that environmental and technological uncertainties
are currently considered the most effective. While they were seen to have unpredictable,
and possibly even negative long-term effects, they were also considered as possibilities
for the future. With subjective research philosophy, we could find contradictory
opinions within the sample which further extended prior research by highlighting the
need for considering individuality rather than the company perspective when making
decisions that relate to the external environment, its uncertainties, and the individual
KSAOs.
Keywords: External environment, VUCA, Uncertainties, Human capital, KSAOs,
Scenario planning, COVID-19, Resilience.
organizations and individuals operate can be characterized by numerous uncertainties.
As a result of these uncertainties, one significant aspect that is affected is the individual
KSAOs as part of the human capital concept. A thorough understanding of how
uncertainties affect KSAOs allows individuals and organizations to adapt, be resilient,
and respond effectively to the changing environment. One research field that
encompasses the external environment and its uncertainties as well as individual
KSAOs is strategic human resource management (SHRM). However, the relationship
between these key concepts has not yet been addressed. Also, much of SHRM research
has been devoted to the company's perspective, largely ignoring the employees’ point of
view. Thus, this research aims to fill a gap in prior research by exploring the
relationship between the external environment with its uncertainties and individual
KSAOs from the employee’s perspective. To further implement this knowledge in
practice, two scenarios are created to demonstrate the factors companies should focus
on in order to increase their human capital’s resilience.
To identify the relationship between external uncertainties and individual KSAOs, a
conceptual framework was developed. The framework outlines the foundation for a
qualitative case study with a Swedish consultancy company as a single case. A
comprehensive data foundation was constructed through data triangulation, which
involves combining both primary and secondary sources of data. In this study,
organizational documents provided by the case company were used as secondary data
while primary data was gathered through semi-structured interviews with six employees
of the case company.
The findings indicate differences between prior literature and the collected empirical
data. For example, employees’ view on prioritizing different KSAOs (knowledge, skills,
abilities, and other characteristics) showed that soft skills were seen as far more
important than hard skills when coping with uncertainties. This challenges the prior
literature on human capital that has mostly focused on hard skills and the importance of
their development through education and training. By using COVID-19 as a recent and
accurate example of uncertainty, the data revealed changes in ways of working and
work-life balance. It also revealed that environmental and technological uncertainties
are currently considered the most effective. While they were seen to have unpredictable,
and possibly even negative long-term effects, they were also considered as possibilities
for the future. With subjective research philosophy, we could find contradictory
opinions within the sample which further extended prior research by highlighting the
need for considering individuality rather than the company perspective when making
decisions that relate to the external environment, its uncertainties, and the individual
KSAOs.
Keywords: External environment, VUCA, Uncertainties, Human capital, KSAOs,
Scenario planning, COVID-19, Resilience.