THE ENVIRONMENTFOR HUMAN RESOURCES

Human Resources: Past and Present

Scientific Management – this technique was the first radical change in what most owners and managers of the early 1900s generally considered the most effective means of managing employees – constant supervision and threats of the loss of their jobs.

Before the advent of scientific management, all employees were considered equally productive, and if their productivity did not measure up, they deserved to be quickly terminated which is different to scientific management.

Frederick Taylor, the Father of Scientific Management, Frank and Lilian Gilbreth, and Henry Gantt believed that managers should take a scientific and objective approach in studying how work can be most efficiently designed.

Human Relations– during the 1930s and 1940s, with impetus provided by the classic Hawthorne studies, management’s attention shifted to Human Relations.

The Hawthorne studies demonstrated that employee productivity was affected not only by the way the job was designed and the manner in which employees were rewarded economically but also by certain social and psychological factors.

Hawthorne researchers, Elton Mayo and F.J. Roethlisberger discovered that employees’ feelings, emotions, and sentiments were strongly affected by such work conditions as group relationships, leadership styles, and support from management.

And those feelings could, in turn, have a significant impact on productivity.

The Mayo-Roethlisberger research led to the widespread implementation of behavioral science techniques in industry, including supervisory training programs that emphasized support and concern for the workers.The shift to human relations was also influenced by the growing strength of unions during the period. The rise of unionism was largely the result of passage of the Wagner Act of 1935, which gave workers the legal right to organize and to bargain collectively with employers in disputes about wages, job security, benefits, and many other work conditions.

Human Resources – the emerging trend in human resource (HR) management is clearly toward the adoption of the human resource approach, through which organizations benefit in two significant ways: an increase in organizational effectiveness and the satisfaction of each employee’s needs.

Figure 1 – Human Resource Approach

Strategic Human Resource Management

In a fast-paced global economy, change is the norm. Environmental, social, and technological change, the increased internationalization of business, and the increased scarcity and cost of HR, can only mean that long-term planning is risky but absolutely essential.

How do organizations make decisions about their future in this complex, rapidly changing world?

The process is called STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT. It involves making those decisions that define the overall mission and objectives of the organization, determining the most effective utilization of its resources, and crafting and executing the strategy in ways that produce the intended results.

Business strategy is management’s game plan. Without one, management would have no road map to follow and no action plan to produce desired results. Strategic human resource management activities address a wide variety of people issues relevant to business strategy.

HR management crosses all the functional areas and is fully integrated with all the significant parts of the organization: operations, marketing, finance, and so on.

Human Resource Functions

Because the human resource function within each organization is unique to that organization, the activities included in the HR department will vary from organization to organization.

Among the activities that are most likely to be assigned exclusively to the HR department are:

1. Compensation and benefits issues, such as insurance administration, wage and salary administration, unemployment compensation, pension plans, vacation/leave processing, and flexible benefits accounts.

2. Employee services such as outplacement services, employee assistance plans, health and wellness programs, savings plans, and relocation services.

3. Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity.

4. Job analysis programs5. Preemployment testing, including drug testing6. Attitude surveys.

In addition, the HR department is likely to carry out some activities jointly with other departments in the organization, including interviewing, productivity/motivation programs, training and development, career planning, disciplinary procedures, and performance appraisals.

Job Analysis and Design

For an employee to perform satisfactorily, his or her skills, abilities, and motives to perform the job must match the job’s requirements. A mismatch may lead to poor performance, absenteeism, turnover, and other problems.

Through a process called job analysis, the skills and abilities to perform a specific job are determined.

Recruitment and Selection

Recruitment of human resources is a critical HR function. Recruiting and selecting a qualified labor force involves a variety of HR activities, including analysis of the labor market, long-term planning, interviewing, and testing.

To a great degree, the effectiveness of an organization depends on the effectiveness of its employees.

Appraisal, Training and Development

The growth of an organization is closely related to the development of its human resources. When employees fail to grow and develop in their work, a stagnant organization most likely will result.

A strong employee development program does not guarantee organizational success, but such a program is generally found in successful, expanding organizations.

• One important developmental function is the appraisal of employee performance. During an appraisal process, employees become aware of any performance deficiencies they may have and are informed of what they must do to improve their performance and thus become promotable.

• The heart of the development process is composed of on-the-job and off-the-job activities that teach employees new skills and abilities.

• Training and development offer many rewards but also pose many problems for training personnel:

Who should be trained and why? What training techniques should be used? Is training cost-effective?

Compensation and Health

The issue of compensation has long posed problems for the HR manager: How should jobs be evaluated to determine their worth? Are wage and salary levels competitive? Are they fair? Is it possible to create an incentive compensation system tied to performance?

An increasingly important part of compensation is employee benefits. Because the cost of benefits for many organizations now averages as much as 40 percent of total payroll costs, employers are trying to control benefit costs without seriously affecting the overall compensation program.

Labor Relations

Labor unions exert a powerful influence on employers and help shape the HR policies and programs for union employees. Because union participation in personnel decision making may have great impact on the economic condition of the firm, managers must understand a union’s philosophies and goals and explore ways in which a cooperative rather than an adversarial relationship may be achieved.

HR Department Roles

The primary task of the HR department is to ensure that the organization’s HR are utilized and managed as effectively as possible. HR administrators help design and implement policies and programs that enhance human abilities and improve the organization’s overall effectiveness.

HR Policies

HR policies are guides to management’s thinking, and they help management achieve the organization’s HR objectives. Policies also help define acceptable and unacceptable behavior and establish the organization’s position on an issue.

Critical Policy Issues

1. Employee Influence2. Personnel Flow3. Reward System4. Work System

Communication

• All business organizations depend on communication. Communication is the glue that binds various elements, coordinates activities, allows people to work together, and produces results.

• Often it is the HR staff who plays a pivotal role in the design and maintenance of good companywide communication flows to and from all employees.

• Downward communication methods, from management to employees, include orientation sessions, bulletin boards, newsletters, and employee handbooks.

• Upward communication methods usually include suggestion programs, complaint procedures, electronic mail, attitude surveys, and open-door meetings.

1. New Employee Orientation2. Bulletin Boards3. Communication Meetings4. Newsletters5. Employee Handbooks6. Suggestion Programs7. Complaint Procedures8. Electronic Mail9. Surveys10.Open-door Meetings

Advice and Services

To cope with complex issues, managers often turn to staff experts for advice and counsel.

• How do I deal with an employee who I suspect is on drugs?

• How do I meet my equal employment goals without raising cries of “reverse discrimination”?

• How do I tell a high-achieving employee that the budget will not allow a merit increase this year?

• How do I counsel a manager who is suffering a midcareer crisis?

• How do I deal with an employee who has been with the company for twenty-five years but not can no longer perform effectively?

• How can I increase employee morale?

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