Adaptive Human Resource Management under Persistent Constraint: Sustaining the Teaching Workforce in a Rural Private School
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17977/um065.v6.i9.2026.16Keywords:
Adaptive human resource management, Organizationally supported commitment, Rural private schools, Teacher retention, Teacher workforce sustainabilityAbstract
Rural private schools often face persistent financial scarcity and policy volatility, yet limited attention has been given to how such conditions shape teacher workforce sustainability through organizational processes. This study examines how a rural private school sustains its teaching workforce amid persistent financial constraints and changing educational policies. The qualitative case study approach with an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was conducted using semi-structured interviews with 14 participants comprizing the Foundation Chairman, Foundation Secretary, principal, and 11 teachers at SMP Cendikia Sukahegar (SMP CS), Cianjur, West Java, Indonesia. The findings identified five interconnected themes emerged: scarcity as a shared organizational condition; policy volatility as organizational discontinuity; HRM reconfiguration around financial scarcity; retention through relational and professional exchange; and collective agency through foundation–principal–teacher collaboration. The findings indicate that adaptive HRM developed not because scarcity was resolved, but through organizational learning, professional support, relational leadership, and distributed responsibility. As implication and contribution, the study positions adaptive HRM as an organizational capability for working within persistent constraints, particularly where conventional financial incentives cannot fully secure recruitment, retention, and professional continuity, and introduces organizationally supported commitment to explain how teachers’ moral and professional commitment can be sustained through supportive organizational conditions.
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