Interprofessional collaboration (IPC) between childcare services and primary schools is increasingly considered important as it is believed to have added pedagogical value for children. Nonetheless, the intensity of IPC between childcare providers and primary schools in child centres in the Netherlands is still relatively low and impediments are experienced by employees from both sides (Verheijen-Tiemstra et al., 2020). Following the AMO framework, we assume that employees exhibit the desired behaviour if they have the abilities (A), motivation (M) and opportunity to perform (O) (Runhaar, 2017). Yet, HR literature using the AMO-framework is often investigated from a management-centred approach (Meijerink et al., 2016) while IPC on the operational level takes place in daily practice between staff from both sectors. Insight into this provides guidance for the design of HRM aiming to shape AMO in the specific contact of child centres and this seems a relevant, yet little studied, angle. To fill this gap, our study sheds light on the extent to which school teachers and childcare workers perceive to have the abilities, motivation and opportunity to perform in IPC and if impediments they perceive in IPC, can be linked to AMO. Data have been gathered through a mixed methods study among16 child centres in the Netherlands, consisting of a survey (n=273) and focus group interviews (n=26) among school teachers and childcare workers. By linking impediments that were raised during the focus groups to the distinguishing AMO aspects, results showed that impediments can be predominantly attributed to opportunity to perform. Impediments indicating a lack of an inclusive organisational climate were found most, followed by impediments indicating insufficient time available for IPC. An organisational climate is crucial in order to benefit from the positive effects of interprofessional teams with strong fault lines (Randel et al., 2018). Perception differences between school teachers and childcare workers were found in perceived motivation and in perceived opportunity to perform. Results indicate that, compared to school teachers, childcare workers put more effort in IPC in order to receive social rewards, such as praise and respect from others. Furthermore, childcare workers perceive a lower inclusive organisational climate compared to school teachers. These results suggest that in order to support their staff in IPC, both school leaders and childcare leaders could align their HR practices by focusing on fostering an inclusive organisational climate and by organising adequate time for IPC.

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