Human resource management: gendered terrain?

Abstract

This paper addresses the question of whether human resource management can offer greater possibilities for training, development or career advancement for women. Data from two case-study organizations with contrasting approaches to HRM ('soft' and 'hard') are presented. It was found that events in the external environment had impacted on both organizations and led to a reconceptualization of careers which had affected men and women. In general, women at Lloyds Bank, which was characterized by a bias towards the 'hard' approach to HRM, fared less well than those at Hewlett Packard, where the rhetoric, at least, was of 'soft' HRM. However, women's presence at higher levels in both organizations was limited.