This article connects human resource management (HRM) research to studies of street-level bureaucracies and public professionals. It investigates the intermediary role of professional behavior in the HRM–individual performance link in the context of public human service organizations. The article hypothesizes that human resources (HR) practices, aimed at enhancing street-level workers’ abilities, motivation, and opportunities, strengthen these workers’ professional behavior; that professional behavior and individual performance are positively related; and that professional behavior mediates the relationship between HR practices and individual performance. The analysis of findings from a survey study of street-level workers in local welfare agencies implementing welfare-to-work policies in the Netherlands shows support for the mediating role of professional behavior in the HRM–individual performance chain. Based on this evidence, the article concludes that the professional behavior of street-level workers in public human service organizations deserves scrutiny of both HRM scholars and HR practitioners who are interested in promoting the performance of public professionals.

本文将人力资源管理 (HRM) 研究与街头官僚机构和公共专业人员的研究联系起来。它调查了公共人力服务组织背景下职业行为在人力资源管理与个人绩效联系中的中介作用。本文假设人力资源 (HR) 实践旨在提高街头工人的能力、动力和机会，增强这些工人的职业行为；职业行为与个人表现呈正相关；职业行为在人力资源实践和个人绩效之间起到中介作用。对荷兰实施福利到工作政策的地方福利机构的街头工人的调查研究结果的分析表明，支持职业行为在人力资源管理 - 个人绩效链中的中介作用。基于这一证据，本文得出结论，公共人力服务组织中街头工人的专业行为值得对提高公共专业人员绩效感兴趣的人力资源管理学者和人力资源从业者进行审查。