Across the counter : socially irresponsible human resource management in UK & Ireland betting firms

Abstract

Socially (ir)responsible human resource management (SIHRM) is an area of growing interest to researchers and practitioners. However, SIHRM is in its infancy, indicating a range of research gaps. The gap that this research fills considers how in certain industries employers appear historically irresponsible toward their frontline employees. Specifically, this thesis investigates the work environment experiences of front-line staff within the retail betting industry, a sector rarely examined more widely across HRM research. This research investigates corporate rhetoric of betting firms and staff experiences working within front-line betting firms, which aims to provide a nuanced understanding of what it is like to work within the gambling industry in a customer-facing role. Drawing on gender at work and feminist theory of violence against women this thesis progresses the SIHRM framework by providing a gendered scope by utilising the experiences of betting shop staff as an industry example of SIHRM practices. This research investigates how gender at work and feminist theory of violence against women can be used to analyse and critique the work environment experiences of frontline staff within the retail betting industry, a sector rarely examined more widely across HRM research. This research adopts a mixed method approach, using semi-structured interviews with 22 front-line staff and 292 staff completing a short survey from five different betting firms in the UK. The data was analysed using thematic analysis, guided by the SIHRM framework and the gender at work theory. Building on the work of Richards & Sang (2019) this research contributes to the existing counter-philosophy of SIHRM. The analysis demonstrates how betting firms are socially irresponsible employers, and adds a gendered consideration to SIHRM philosophy. Moreover, this thesis contributes to extending theories related to gender and aggression, and providing a timely, unique and rare empirical accounts of betting shop work. The main findings of this thesis reveal that betting shop staff experience various forms of customer misbehaviour and violence, which are influenced by gender dynamics and the nature of the gambling industry. The thesis also shows that betting firms fail to protect and support their staff adequately, and often engage in practices that contradict their own policies and regulations. The thesis concludes that betting firms are socially irresponsible employers, and that SIHRM can be used as a framework to analyse and critique their practices from a gendered perspective. The thesis also offers some recommendations for improving the working conditions and well-being of betting shop staff, as well as for advancing the SIHRM literature.