A Leader's Role in Strategic People Management: Reflections, Gaps and Opportunities

Abstract Strategic people management is a widely studied topic, emphasizing the relationship between management policies and practices and other organizational variables. The managerial roles of organizational actors have been scarcely researched, making the implementation process of people management little explored. The study of human resources contributes to show a gap in the implementation process, as it addresses the role of professional consultants. This work aims to analyze the performance of leaders as a link in strategic people management through reflections suggested and guided by theoretical framework (strategic people management, leadership and the relations between those themes) and suggests an integration of theoretical models (leadership and people management) to support the evolution of research. The four leader orientations proposed by Yukl (2012), the organizational spaces defined by O'Reilly, Caldwell, Chatman, Lapiz and Self (2010), as well as Gratton and Truss' (2003) three-dimensional model and the people management roles Ulrich (1997) suggests may serve as a base to integrate the themes. Through this article, we intend to contribute by providing support for the development and deepening of empirical studies, as well as address the topic of implementation in strategic management of people.