Det ligger nog i deras arbete att vara problemlösare : En kvalitativ fallstudie om HR-funktionens image och identitet ur ett intraorganisatoriskt perspektiv

Sammanfattning: Introduction: HR departments have been developed to take care of the organizations most important resource: the human being. HR as a function has however faced criticism claiming that the function does not entail any value to organizations. The rest of the organization often have a hard time understanding what HR’s daily work means and thereof not having a clear image of the function’s purpose or the function’s role in the organization   Aim: The purpose of this study is to describe the relationship between the organization's view of the HR department (image) and the HR department's image of themselves (identity) in order to create a greater understanding of how the HR function successfully can be a well-functioning resource in an organization's overall business.   Methodology: The study was conducted in the form of a case study. We have approached the issues by taking different perspective into account, which includes HR, managers and employees. The research has a qualitative research strategy with an abductive approach where data collection is done through qualitative interviews   Results: The study has resulted in different perceptions of what HR's identity is, and different perceptions of what HR's image is. Depending on which work group who answered, we also got different answers on what the HR function’s identity and image is. Although the images are different, the results shows that the HR function is actually needed and the function is proving to be useful, but it can be more useful to the organization in general. The study's contribution to the theory is a model that shows the potential enhancement to give HR more space in the business.