To the extent to which these roles are contradictory, the HRP may have to confront a
fundamental paradox: how can HR reconcile its fiduciary responsibility of representing
management interests while serving as the champion of employees? How does that paradox
inform the stance of HR in bullying situations? The HRPs Cowan (2009) reported on were
clearly conflicted, with one respondent ironically stating, “My role is to be the objective third
party that represents the company” (p. 142). That is, they know they need to be objective in
bullying situations, yet they always represent the company. Harrington et al. (2014) in the UK
similarly found in manger to target bullying cases, HR continually took a strategic partner
role. In a similar vein, in organisations with highly competitive cultures, HR may reflect top
management’s view of aggressively high performers not as bullies, but rather as highproducing
individuals delivering results for the organisation, thus acting as a motivating
factor in the situation (Salin, 2003; Salin and Hoel, 2011). If HRPs embrace their role as
strategic partner to the exclusion of their role as employee champion, they may be more
focused on adverse effects of bullying on the organisation rather than on the individual, and
in fact may be motivated to ‘make it all go away’. In that case, the strategic alignment
with the interests of the corporation is likely to conflict with the employee champion role in
the way HR interprets and responds to employee bullying complaints. Indeed, there is
evidence of this role prioritisation as Harrington et al. (2012) found HR did indeed privilege
their strategic partner role in bullying situations to preserve their relationship with
management.