Employee perspectives on human resource risk management in Zambian quasi-governmental organisations: The gap between perception and practice

Abstract

This study explores human resource professionals’ accounts of employee perceptions of human resource risk management in Zambian quasi-governmental organizations, addressing a critical gap between formal governance frameworks and organisational practice. While existing research identifies human resource risks and policy implementation challenges, less is known about how organisational actors interpret risk, governance, and responsibility within quasi-governmental organisations, particularly in the Zambian context. The study is theoretically grounded in Social Constructionism and Problematic Integration Theory, supported by Institutional Theory, to explain how organisational actors construct meanings around human resource risks, reconcile uncertainty with valued outcomes, and interpret the relationship between formal governance structures and organisational practice. Drawing on in-depth interviews with thirteen senior human resource professionals from thirteen quasi-governmental organizations, the study is grounded in a relativist ontology and interpretivist epistemology. It examines how organisational actors construct and interpret human resource risk and the extent to which these interpretations shape perceptions of governance and policy implementation. The findings reveal a persistent policy-practice gap in which formal human resource policies exist but are inconsistently implemented. Participants reported that employees often perceive favouritism and nepotism, rather than merit, as influential in recruitment and promotion decisions, thereby weakening confidence and trust in human resource governance systems. The findings further indicate limited awareness of formal risk management processes, with participants reporting that employees often encounter policy outputs without understanding the underlying risk rationale. The study contributes to human resource governance literature by showing that the policy-practice gap involves not only inconsistent implementation but also competing interpretations of risk, fairness, participation, and organisational responsibility. Effective HR risk governance therefore requires both structural reforms and greater attention to how risk is communicated, interpreted, and experienced within organisations.