A study into the development of an evidence-based HR policy in the Flemish Government.

Evidence-informedHRM is still in its infancy, but there are already several trends within the Flemish government towards an evidence-based policy. This is necessary because society is currently plagued by various wicked problems in which the Flemish government is given a prominent role. More than ever, sustainable recruitment and selection within the Flemish government are of crucial importance. The literature often refers to psychological elements to explain whether or not to use the best available data. However, in addition to these psychological factors, the social environment also plays an important role in decision-making. This topic remained under the radar for a long time and further research regarding the influence of an institutional context was not undertaken. The development of evidence-based HRM and especially its implementation and the associated challenges are at the heart of this research. The scientification of HR policy in the Flemish government is therefore central here. The focus here is, among other things, on recruitment and selection, work environment, and operating resources so that employees have sufficient resources to base such decision-making. Attention to the welfare and ultimately sustainable employability are also important pillars in this research. We also consider the academic-practice gap to make scientific evidence more accessible to the workplace. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods will be used to obtain a global picture of both the current and future situation.