Paper Details

Name: Vignesh T, S.Subramanian
Country: India

Year: 2026
Volume: Vol-13, Issue-2, Year-2026 ( July- December)
Page Number: 232-240
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23617236

Digital transformation is reshaping human resource management (HRM), yet police organisations face distinctive workforce challenges because policing requires continuous public service, shift work, operational readiness, high workload, hierarchical command structures, exposure to occupational stressors, and frequent disruption of employees’ personal and family lives. This conceptual paper proposes a Smart HRM 5.0 framework for policing that integrates digital workforce management with a human-centred approach to employee well-being and performance. Smart HRM 5.0 is used here as a proposed conceptual construct that combines data-enabled HRM practices with the human-centric, sustainable, and resilient orientation associated with Industry 5.0. Five digital enablers are identified: AI-enabled workforce analytics, digital employee engagement, intelligent shift and workload management, digital learning and reskilling, and technology-enabled performance management. These enablers are linked to seven organisational and occupational determinants—organisational commitment, perceived organisational support, job satisfaction, workload, shift duty, leadership style, and family support—with work-life balance (WLB) positioned as the principal mediating mechanism and police performance as the focal outcome. The framework is grounded in the Job Demands–Resources model, Social Exchange Theory, and human-centred Industry 5.0 thinking. An ethical governance layer emphasises privacy, data quality, fairness, transparency, employee participation, and meaningful human oversight. The paper develops eight research propositions and explains how the framework can guide future empirical testing in the Tamil Nadu Police Department. The contribution is conceptual rather than empirical; no primary data are analysed in this paper.

Keywords: Smart HRM 5.0; artificial intelligence; policing; work-life balance; police performance; HR analytics; Industry 5.0; human-centred HRM