Exploring Human Resource Management Practices in Nonprofit Sport Organisations

Contemporary business challenges and globalisation pressures have had a significant impact on the human resource management (HRM) practices of many organisations. Whilst the adoption of more sophisticated, complex and strategic management systems is well documented in the general HR literature, organisations that operate with both paid and volunteer human resources have been virtually ignored by scholars. In this paper we report on a study on the adoption of HRM practices by state sport organisations in New.South Wales, Australia. Our results indicate that despite pressures to become more strategic in their people management, only a minority of these sport organisations have formal HRM systems. We also found differences between the HRM practices used with paid employees and volunteers particularly in organisations with formal HR policies. Research and practical implications for HRM in sport organisations are discussed as well as future challenges.