Human Resource Development

Lecture 1

1.

Evolution of Personnel Management

In 1955, American guru, Peter Drucker suggested that the role of the personnel manager was no more than a fire fighter, filing clerk and welfare worker. As late as 1968, some UK academics were still subscribing to what the Americans had labelled the trash model. The personnel specialists role was described as collecting together such odd jobs from management as they are prepared to give up. In 1975, George Thomason stated that there was a too strong emphasis solely on workforce efficiency and top-down control worried lot personnel managers. They felt the personnel manager should have a primary concern for fairness and employee well- being implying a position as man-in-the middle or company negotiator, serving not only the employer but also acting in the interest of employees as individuals and by extension the interests of society. Another model of personnel management came in the 1970s and 80sthat is of the specialist adviser particularly in relation to the rapid growth in employment legislation. Organisations did not want to engage in matters of industrial relations and the personnel manager was to act as a legal adviser specialist. The 1970s saw the emergence of a model which dominated the personnel scene for years- the industrial relations fire fighter or IR negotiator. In many organisations the personnel manager was given executive negotiating power to conclude pay deals and other collective agreements

2.

The different stages of Personnel Development

Frederick Taylor develops his ideas on scientific management. Taylor advocates scientific selection of workers based on qualifications and also argues for incentive-based compensation 1890-1910 systems to motivate employees. Many companies establish departments devoted to maintaining the welfare of workers. Welfare officers first appeared in the First World War. They were mainly concerned with issues such as canteens and first aid. 1910-1930 The discipline of industrial psychology begins to develop. Industrial psychology, along with the advent of World War I, leads to advancements in employment testing and selection.

The interpretation of the Hawthorne Studies' begins to have an impact on management thought and practice. Greater emphasis is placed on the social and informal aspects of the workplace affecting worker productivity. Increasing the job satisfaction of workers is cited as a means to increase their productivity. As 1930-1945 well as being concerned with welfare, support was provided to management in the form of recruitment, basic training and record keeping

In the U.S., a tremendous surge in union membership between 1935 and 1950 leads to a greater emphasis on collective bargaining and labour relations within personnel management. 1945-1965 Compensation and benefits administration also increase in importance as unions negotiate paid vacations, paid holidays, and insurance coverage.
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The Civil Rights movement in the U.S. reaches its apex with passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The personnel function is dramatically affected by Title VII of the CRA, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, colour, sex, religion, and 1965-1985 national origin. In the years following the passage of the CRA, equal employment opportunity and affirmative action become key human resource management responsibilities. Three trends dramatically impact HRM. The first is the increasing diversity of the labour force, in terms of age, gender, race, and ethnicity. HRM concerns evolve from an affirmative action to "managing diversity." A second trend is the globalization of business and the accompanying technological revolution. These factors have led to dramatic changes in transportation, communication, and labour markets. The third trend, which is related to the first two, is the focus on HRM as a "strategic" function. HRM concerns and concepts must be integrated into the overall strategic planning of the firm in order to cope with rapid change, intense competition, and pressure for increased efficiency.

1985present

3.Definition of Human Resource Management

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 Human resource management (HRM), also called personnel management, consists of all the activities undertaken by an enterprise to ensure the effective utilization of employees toward the attainment of individual, group, and organizational goals.

An organization's HRM function focuses on the people side of management. It consists of practices that help the organization to deal effectively with its people during the various phases of the employment cycle.

Three stages of the employment cycle:

1.

Pre-hire stage.

The pre-hire phase involves planning practices. The organization must decide what types of job openings will exist in the upcoming period and determine the necessary qualifications for performing these jobs. 2. Hire stage. During the hire phase, the organization selects its employees. Selection practices include recruiting applicants, assessing their qualifications, and ultimately selecting those who are deemed to be the most qualified. 3. Post hire stage In the post-hire phase, the organization develops HRM practices for effectively managing people once they have "come through the door." These practices are designed to maximize the performance and satisfaction levels of employees by providing them with the necessary knowledge and skills to perform their jobs and by creating conditions that will energize, direct, and facilitate employees' efforts toward meeting the organization's objectives

4. Development of Human Resource Management

Human Resource Management, phase one (1980s) the concepts of HRM developed by American writers were taken up, especially as personnel managers had to adjust to the enterprise culture and the market economy.

The concerns were about how Personnel and HRM could have an impact on the bottom-line and affect productivity.

Therefore strategic HRM approaches developed that could link HRM with the needs of the business

Human Resource Management, phase two (1990s) a reaction against the enterprise culture of greed and individualism appeared. The new approach relied on teamwork, empowerment and continuous development. More were used for culture management, performance and reward management performance-related pay and management development Recession increased the demand for leaner, flatter organisations. Personnel became involved in downsizing and major redundancy programmes.

5. Influences on Human Resource Management

The main influences on current thinking about HRM have come from the following writers:

The Human Relations school- Developed by Elton Mayo ( 1933)emphasizing peoples social needs and the belief that productivity is related to job satisfaction The Behavioural Science Movement- Maslow (1954), Argyris (1957), Hertzberg (1957) and Likert (1961). They underlined the importance of integration and involvement and highlighted the idea that management should accept as basic value the need to increase the quality of working life as a means of securing improved motivation and better results. The Organisation Development Movement- Bennis (1960) , Schein (1969). This movement was closely associated with overall organisational effectiveness, especially with regard to process- that is, how people behave in situations in which they are constantly interacting with others. The Excellence School- Pascale and Athos (1981), Peters and Waterman (1982)- they produce list of attributes that they felt characterised successful companies. The Human Resource Management School- Beer et al (1984), Walton (1985). They popularised the concept of HRM strategic and coherent management oriented approach to managing people and gaining their commitment in the interests of the organisation. The successful organisations will be those that are able to quickly turn strategy into action: to manage processes intelligently and efficiently: to maximise employee contribution and commitment; and to create the conditions for seamless change ( Ulrich ,1998)

The changing role of personnel- according to research carried out in the mid-1990, HR practitioners and line managers perceive the need to move from traditional roles, but the emerging roles are still being developed. The distinctions appear to broadly as follows: Traditional

Emerging Proactive Business partner Task and enable focus Strategic issues Qualitative measures Constant change Why? ( strategic) Multi-functional People as assets

Reactive Employee advocate Task focus Operational issues Qualitative Stability How? ( tactical) Functional integrity People as expense