Orientation: There is a gap between the administrative expertise held by the human resource (HR) function and the delivery of services. Research purpose: The purpose of this article was to explore the perceptions of both the HR managers and employees, on how HR policies are communicated and experienced, respectively, within South African municipalities. Motivation for the study: To help policy users within the South African municipalities gain deeper awareness and understanding of the influence their use of HR policies has on employees’ morale and performance within the workplace. Research approach/design and method: This qualitative study utilised an interpretivist paradigm and a qualitative descriptive strategy. A convenience, quota, purposive and inclusion criteria sample comprising three HR managers ( n = 3) and 12 employees ( n = 12) was used. Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted and analysed by employing thematic analysis. Main findings: The findings of the study indicated that HR managers experience a lack of clear guidance from draft recruitment-and-selection policy and draft learning-and-development policy, and employees experience challenges with regards to the lack of communication on performance management. Practical/managerial implications: This study promotes fairness and equality during the use of the three mentioned HR policies in order to provide all employees with the necessary developmental opportunities within municipalities. Contribution/value-add: This study contributes to the body of knowledge concerning the establishment of a municipal culture that values human capital, prioritises the growth and well-being of employees and understands the valuable link between human resource management and service delivery.

中文翻译：

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探索南非城市人力资源政策的使用和影响

定位：人力资源 (HR) 职能所拥有的行政专业知识与服务提供之间存在差距。研究目的：本文的目的是探讨人力资源经理和员工对人力资源政策如何在南非城市内分别进行沟通和体验的看法。研究动机：帮助南非城市的政策使用者更深入地了解和理解他们使用人力资源政策对员工士气和工作场所绩效的影响。研究方法/设计和方法：这项定性研究利用了解释主义范式和定性描述策略。使用了包括三名人力资源经理（n = 3）和 12 名员工（n = 12）的便利性、配额、目的性和纳入标准样本。采用主题分析法进行和分析半结构化的面对面访谈。主要发现： 研究结果表明，人力资源经理在招聘和选拔政策草案和学习与发展政策草案中缺乏明确的指导，员工在绩效管理方面缺乏沟通方面面临挑战。实际/管理意义：本研究在使用上述三项人力资源政策期间促进公平和平等，以便为所有员工在市政当局内提供必要的发展机会。贡献/增值：本研究有助于建立重视人力资本的城市文化的知识体系，