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week5.pdf
UTS BUSINESS SCHOOL UTS CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00099F business.uts.edu.au
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT WHAT IS IT?
WHERE DID IT COME FROM?
WHERE IS IT GOING?
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TODAY (1) Brief Recap of Last Week’s Lecture
• Subject requirements • Revisit ‘what is Human Resource Management’ (HRM)?
(2) Responses from Class Survey
• About you as a student cohort
(3) The Evolution of HRM • Where did it come from? Where is it going? • How can we conceptualise the functions of HRM? • Approaches to employment relations and ethics of HRM
UTS BUSINESS SCHOOL UTS CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00099F business.uts.edu.au
BRIEF RECAP OF WEEK 1
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SUBJECT OBJECTIVES
1. Critically evaluate the theory and practice of human resource management in contemporary organisations
2. Find and interpret basic business data and information through the lens of human resource management
3. Apply relevant theories and concepts to evaluate the impact of demographic changes on the practice of human resource management
4. Propose and justify certain HRM actions to resolve complex organisational problems with support from empirical research
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Week Topic & enquiry questions What's On
1 (15/3) Introducing HRM
2 (22/3) Human Resource Management: What is it? Where did it come from? And, where is it going? Tutorials commence
3 (29/3) The HRM Lens: How do HRM managers see the world?
4 (5/4) Human Resource Planning: How does HRM impact on organisations?
5 (12/4) Work & Job Design: How do we work when we are at work? And, how might we work even better? Tutorial Group 1 & 2 present
6 (19/4) Engagement and Retention: What drives employees to stay at a particular organisation? Online lecture. No tutorials (public holiday)
7 (3/5) Employee Selection: How are employees ‘usually’ hired? Tutorial Group 3 & 4 present
8 (10/5) Performance Management: What things drive employees to perform? Tutorial Group 5 & 6 present
9 (17/5) Talent Management: What is Talent Management, and what problems are associated with it? Assessment Item 1: Due 25/9 at 11:59pm
10 (24/5) Safety Management: How can we ensure our employees are operating safely? Tutorial Group 7 & 8 present
11 (31/5) Employee Diversity: How can we (ever) achieve equality in our workplaces and society? Tutorial Group 9 & 10 present
12 (7/6) Evaluating HRM: What is the future of HRM? Assessment Item 3: Due 19/10 at 11:59pm
Week Topic & enquiry questions What's On
1 (15/3) Introducing HRM
2 (22/3) Human Resource Management: What is it? Where did it come from? And, where is it going? Tutorials start Week 2
3 (29/3) The HRM Lens: How do HRM managers see the world?
4 (5/4) Human Resource Planning: How does HRM impact on organisations?
5 (12/4) Work & Job Design: How do we work when we are at work? And, how might we work even better? Tutorial Group 1 & 2 present
6 (19/4) Engagement and Retention: What drives employees to stay at a particular organisation? Online lecture. No tutorials. Portfolio due on 19 April, 11.59pm
7 (3/5) Employee Selection: How are employees ‘usually’ hired? Tutorial Group 3 & 4 present
8 (10/5) Performance Management: What things drive employees to perform? Tutorial Group 5 & 6 present
9 (17/5) Talent Management: What is Talent Management, and what problems are associated with it? Tutorial Group 7 & 8 present
10 (24/5) Safety Management: How can we ensure our employees are operating safely? Tutorial Group 9 & 10 present
11 (31/5) Employee Diversity: How can we (ever) achieve equality in our workplaces and society?
12 (7/6) Evaluating HRM: What is the future of HRM? Individual Essay due on 7 June, 11.59pm
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KEY ASSESSMENTS Assessment 1 – Individual Essay
Weighting – 55%
Due Week 12, 7 June at 11.59pm
Analyse HRM issues in one organisation and propose solutions
Assessment 2 – Group Presentation
Weighting – 20%
Week 5, 7-10
15-20 min group presentation on a key HRM issue
Assessment 3 – Portfolio Weighting – 25%
Due Week 6, 19 April at 11.59pm
Answer 5 questions (out of 10). Each response worth 5 marks
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HRM DEFINITION
Human resource management (HRM) refers to the policies, practices and systems that influence employee’s behaviour, attitudes and performance…
De Cieri et al. (2014) Human Resource Management in Australia, Macquarie Park, McGraw Hill Australia
It isn’t employee control It isn’t a micromanagement tool It isn’t perfect
It is behavioral – it is dealing with the complexity of humans It is situated within organisations
“Employees represent the hidden wealth of organizations; it’s the intellectual, or human, capital. Organizations with more talented employees will win over time; those with less talented employees will lose….
When employees are properly placed, trained, and incented, they produce. It behooves HR professionals to get, keep, and grow people. Mastering the tools for enhancing employee abilities is both the heritage and future for HR professionals. HR professionals coach, architect, design, facilitate, and lead the process of developing employee ability.” Losey, M., Meisinger, S., & Ulrich, D. (2005) ‘Conclusion: Reality, Impact, and Professionalism’, Human Resource Management, 44(2), pp. 201-206.
WHY STUDY HRM?
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HOW DOES HRM RELATE TO OTHER BUSINESS FUNCTIONS?
“HR professionals do not operate in a vacuum” Losey, M., Meisinger, S., & Ulrich, D. (2005) ‘Conclusion: Reality, Impact, and Professionalism’, Human Resource Management, 44(2), pp. 201-206.
UTS BUSINESS SCHOOL UTS CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00099F business.uts.edu.au
SOME ANALYSIS OF OUR CLASS Results will be provided in the lecture
UTS BUSINESS SCHOOL UTS CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00099F business.uts.edu.au
THE EVOLUTION OF HRM - Where did it come from? - Where it is going? - How can we conceptualise the functions of HRM? - Approaches to employment relations and ethics of HRM
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AN AUSTRALIAN PERSPECTIVE ON HRM Stage 1 1900s – 1940s Welfare and administration
Stage 2 1940s – 1970s Welfare, administration, staffing and training – personnel management and industrial relations
Stage 3 1970s – 1990s HRM, managerialism, motivation, performance, strategic HRM
Stage 4 2000s – The rise of responsible HRM, evidence-based HRM
Stage 4 2019 – Globalisation, technology, changing nature of work
Personalised control: direct and personalised supervision (Taylorism – breaking work down into smaller units)
MANAGEMENT CONTROL STRATEGIES
Technical control: systems that limit worker discretion (Fordism – large scale mechanised mass production)
MANAGEMENT CONTROL STRATEGIES
Bureaucratic control: work rules, company policy (formal and informal rules, dress code, rewards, etc.)
MANAGEMENT CONTROL STRATEGIES
“PwC scraps its dress code”, Australian Financial Review, 1 June 2016
“PwC receptionist sent home for refusing to wear high heels”, Australian Financial Review, 12 May 2016
Commitment-based control: selection and “cultivation" of worker efforts to be better aligned with the organisation’s interests (training and socialisation, shaping of
employee behaviour)
MANAGEMENT CONTROL STRATEGIES
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FROM PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT TO HRM • Personnel management: a set of functions or activities; predominantly an
administrative function (e.g. payroll, leave, increasing involvement with unions due to the rise of workers compensation laws)
• With the rise of specialisation (i.e. different people, different skills, undertaking different components on a production line, to produce one unified product) within organisations – a more tailored model of administration was needed to source and deploy workers
• Human resource management: an integrated set of personnel management activities, linked strategically with organisational objectives
As our work models became more complex, and robust, we needed a different model - HRM was the answer
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PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT VERSUS HRM
Personnel Management HRM
Time and planning Short term, reactive, ad hoc, marginal Long term, proactive, strategic, integrated
Psychological contract Compliance Commitment
Control systems External Self-control
Employee relations Pluralist, collective, low trust Unitarist, individual, high trust
Structures and systems
Bureaucratic/mechanistic, centralised, formal
Organic, developed, flexible
Roles Specialist/professional Largely integrated in management
Evaluation Criteria Cost minimisations Maximum utilisation
Human Resource Management – psychology and organisational behaviour, emphasis on ‘strategic fit’ between HR strategy and business objectives.
Unitarist
• universal psychological needs of employees for happiness, interaction and intellectual stimulation at work, which management needs to satisfy
• management initiatives and policies that enhance employees’ job satisfaction, motivation, work performance and organisational commitment
Conservative and pro-management. The unitarist assumes common interests between employers and employees, and commitment by both parties.
APPROACHES TO THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP UNITARISM
APPROACHES TO THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP PLURALISM
Employment relations – adopts analytical tools from institutionalist tradition.
Assumes attitudes and behaviours of employees and employers can be understood by focusing on the rules that regulate the employment relationship.
The definition of employment relations becomes:
“…the study of the formal and informal rules which regulate the employment relationship and the social processes which create & enforce these rules.”
Employment relations is pluralist: employees and employers have common and conflicting interests
APPROACHES TO THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP MARXIST/RADICALISM
Marxism – focus on class struggle and control Assumes two defining features of the employment relationship under capitalism:
• the machinery, technology and the raw materials necessary for production (the means of production) of goods and services are owned by one class;
• production requires labour, which capitalists must buy from workers in the form of labour power.
“Radical” and anti-management. Inevitable and ongoing conflicts of interest.
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TRENDS IN HRM – (1) BEST PRACTICE Think about…
• Why do many company’s HR divisions look quite similar? • How is it that similar conversations around employee engagement can be heard from one company to the next?
‘Best practice’ HRM emerged from the late 1990s and focused on institutionalising, benchmarking and comparing the HRM functions across organisations.
Is this a good thing?
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TRENDS IN HRM – (2) BEST FIT
To counter the ‘best practice’ model of HRM, a push towards a more bespoke/ customised model of HRM emerged.
‘Best fit’ HRM emerged from the 2000s and focused on how organisations can cater for the individual needs of their employees, with some commonalities around ‘employee engagement’ from one organisation to the next
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• Multiple sets of data and information to inform HR decision making • Uses internal as well as external information to inform decisions • The rise of positive organisational behaviour models of HRM
Best available scientific evidence Practitioner
judgement
Best available organisational
evidence
Organisational values and stakeholder concerns
Everyday management practice and
decision making
TRENDS IN HRM – (3) EVIDENCE-BASED HRM
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STRATEGIC HRM
The pattern of planned HR deployments and activities intended to enable an organisation to achieve its goals. Kramer et al. 2014
The development of the SHRM discussion enabled us to begin to develop our understanding of talent, performance, motivation, balance (long term sustainability of employees), development, reward etc.
Accommodative: HR strategies follow organisational strategies.
Interactive: HR contributes and reacts to overall strategies.
Fully integrated: total involvement in overall strategic process in both formal and informal interactions.
1. Innovation: discretion and minimal controls, group-based interaction; training and development; greater discretion, focus on long-term performance.
2. Quality enhancement: employee participation; egalitarian structures; training & development.
Results in: • Enhanced morale • Highly skilled employees • Greater commitment • Highly reliable behaviour • Individuals identify with
organisational goals
THREE BUSINESS STRATEGIES
3. Cost-reduction: narrow job descriptions; short-term result focus; minimal training and development; tight control; narrow career paths
Results in: unhappy employees & expendable workforce
THREE BUSINESS STRATEGIES (cont.)
HRM is concerned primarily with contributing to the bottom line success of organisations (i.e. financial results).
Ethical questions are raised about its emphasis on employees as resources = risk of commodification
Managers may lack the appropriate managerial capacity or commitment to implement a HRM agenda.
HRM may primarily infer a hard HRM focus…
CRITICAL VIEWS ON HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
‘Hard’ HRM focuses on: • strategic, managerial issues • effective utilisation of HR towards broad goals and objectives
‘Soft’ HRM focuses on: • involvement of employees through consultation • empowerment, commitment and communication
‘HARD’ OR ‘SOFT’ HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT?
ETHICS AND HRM
• unethical management practices have contributed to this crisis and many organisations have adopted a ‘full-spectrum’ performance review process in response
• stakeholder theory emphasises the responsibilities that organisations have towards all associated stakeholders (i.e. not just shareholders)
• the main ethical concern in HRM is the way in which people are managed for the achievement of organisational goals
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SOME RECENT EXAMPLES
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LECTURE SUMMARY
• What is HRM and how did it evolve? • What functions does HRM involve? • How does HRM relate to other parts of an organisation? • What is Strategic HRM? • Different approaches to the employment relationship • Describe best practice, best fit, and evidence-based HRM • What are some of the criticisms of HRM? • Ethics and HRM
UTS BUSINESS SCHOOL UTS CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00099F business.uts.edu.au
NEXT WEEK The HRM Lens: How do HRM managers see the world?
Readings:
• Nankervis et al. (2014), Chapter 2.
• Cogin, J. (2012) Are generational differences in work values fact or fiction? Multi-country evidence and implications, The International Journal of Human Resource Management. 23(11): 2268-2294.
