ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with examining the role that government has played in recent years in shaping the approaches adopted to managing human resources (HR) in voluntary sector organisations. Historically, the voluntary sector has developed an approach to operating, which has distinguished it from the public and private sectors (Armstrong, 1992; Billis, 1993; Lloyd, 1993; Tassie, Zohar, and Murray, 1996; Palmer, 2003). This distinctive approach has developed, at least in part, as a result of the context in which it operates (Armstrong, 1992). There is some evidence to suggest, however, that this approach has been subject to change in recent times by becoming increasingly professional and more similar to approaches that are characteristic of the public and private sectors (Kellock Hay, Beattie, Livingstone, and Munro, 2001; Palmer, 2003; Parry, Kelliher, Mills, and Tyson, 2005; Rodwell and Teo, 2004; Parry and Kelliher, 2009).
