Embracing Complexity in HRM Research: A Call for System and Process Perspectives

Abstract

Human resource management (HRM) is inherently complex. It involves systems of principles, practices, and activities operating at individual, group, organizational, and macro levels, which are interlinked through complex processes. Yet, empirical research has not kept pace with this conceptual richness. We hope to inspire HRM scholars to address complexity. We draw on theoretical frameworks that explicitly conceptualize systems as systems , processes as processes and systems as processes complemented by empirical examples (mainly from adjacent fields) to illustrate how these modes of thinking have helped solve complex problems and how this could be applied to HRM. Embracing complexity in HRM is not about making research harder for its own sake but about seeing the field as it truly is dynamic, interconnected, and evolving. We need to shift our attention from isolated variables toward patterns, processes, and interdependencies across time. This requires richer data, deeper collaboration, and methodological boldness, and opens new possibilities for understanding the patterns and dynamics that shape people and organizations. Complexity in HRM invites us to see connections rather than fragments, to uncover the dynamics beneath the surface, and to design insights that matter. Perhaps the future of HRM research lies not in simplifying complexity, but in embracing it.