Human Resource management 1

1. Human Resource management 1 Deus KamunyuMuhwezi Department of Geography Makerere University Kampala

2. What is Human Resource Management? • HRM concerns the human side of the management of enterprises and employees’ relations with their firm (Bennet, 1998). • The intention of the employer would be to obtain the greatest possible benefit from their abilities. • The employees obtain material and psychological rewards from their work • You should note that every one in a firm who has control over others shares in human resource management.

3. What is Human Resource Management? • HRM emerged from Personnel Management in Britain • Developed from activities of industrial welfare of workers – Later half of 19th century • One common factor is about the need of the people at work – Stage One: championed by employers and philanthropists who wanted to better workers physical working environments and quality of life. • Stage two:- After first world war when there was acute labour shortage with an existing need to increase industrial productivity.

4. What is Human Resource Management? • This led to the systematic study of employer-employee relations and the human aspects of industrial work. Led to emergence of personnel officers role. • Third Stage: advancement in 1930s and 40s of studies into general social science and later in 1960s when specializations developed within the personnel function and hence a discipline in its own right.

5. What is Human Resource Management? • HRM applied to all forms and sizes of business and work situation with functions such as; • Compiling company personnel policies and procedures • Recruitment and selections • Training and development • Industrial relations • Labour planning • Salary administration • Employee appraisal • Staff motivation • Performance management • Worker empowerment • Total quality management • Organizational modification

6. Personnel Management • Personnel management is that part of management concerned with people at work and with their relationships within an enterprise. Aim • Bring together and develop men and women that make up an enterprise into an effective organization • Having regard for well being of an individual and working group • To enable workers make a contribution to the organization success

7. Personnel Management Personnel management is concerned with the development and application of policies governing: • Human resource planning, recruitment, selection, placement and termination • Education and training: career development • Terms of employment, methods and standards of remuneration • Working conditions and employee services • Formal and informal communication and consultation both through the preventatives of employees and employers and at all levels of the firm • Negotiation and application of agreements on wages and working conditions; procedures for the avoidance and settlement of disputes.

8. Personnel Management Other responsibilities of personnel management • Conducting research into local wage levels to ensure that the firm’s reward system is competitive with other firms • “Incentivating” i.e. devising remuneration systems to stimulate workers into enhanced effort and efficiency • Administration of superannuation schemes and advising employees about their pension and other entitlements • Maintenance of personnel records and statistics • Preparation of accurate job descriptions and other recruitment aids • Implementation of health and safety regulations, accident prevention and the provision of first aid facilities

9. Personnel Management • Management training, development and succession planning • Employee communication, transmitting information of interest to employees via newsletters, notice boards, briefing sessions etc Personnel management can therefore be defined as a range of policies, institutions and procedures which enable the principles of work psychology to be put into practice. Its purpose is not only to make effective use of people at work and develop satisfactory relationships among them but to motivate them both by providing them with jobs which are satisfying in themselves and by offering them financial and other rewards.

10. Personnel Management • Personnel management can also be re-defined as management which deals with people at work as regards • Utilization – recruitment, selection, transfer, promotion, separation, appraisal, training and development • Motivation – job design, remuneration, fringe benefits, consultation, participation, negotiation and justice • Protection – working conditions, welfare services, safety, implementation of appropriate legislation

11. Differences between Personnel Management and HRM (a) Personnel management is a practical, utilitarian and instrumental, and mostly concerned with administration and the implementation of policies while HRM conversely has strategic dimensions and involves the total deployment of human resources within the firm and considers such matters as; • The aggregate size of the organizations labour force in the context of the overall corporate plan • How much to spend on training the workforce, given strategic decisions on target quality levels, product prices, volume of production etc

12. PM Vs HRM • The desirability of establishing relations with trade unions from the view point of the effective management control of the entire organization. • Human asset accounting – the systematic measurement and analysis of the cost and financial benefits of alternative personnel policies e.g. (monetary consequences of staff development exercise, the effect of various salary structures etc) and the valuation of the human worth of the enterprise employees.

13. PM Vs HRM (b) HRM is concerned with the winder implications of the management of change and not just the effects of change on working practices. It seeks proactively to encourage flexible attitudes and the acceptance of new methods. (c) Personnel management is reactive and diagnostic. It responds to changes such as employment law, labour market conditions, trade union actions, government codes of practice and other environmental influences while HRM is prescriptive and concerned with strategies, initiatives and development of fresh ideas

14. PM Vs HRM (d) HRM determines general policies for employment relationships within the enterprise and focuses on the need to establish the organization culture that conductive for employee commitment and co- operation. PM on the other hand has been criticized for being concerned primarily with imposing compliance with company/organization rules and procedures among employees rather than loyalty and commitment to the firm. (e) PM has short term perspectives while HRM has long term perspectives, seeking to integrate all human aspects of the organization in a coherent whole and to establish high-level employee goals

15. PM Vs HRM • HRM approach emphasizes a need; • For direct communication with employees rather than their collective representation • To develop an organizational culture conducive to the adoption of flexible working methods • For group working and employee participation in group decisions • To enhance employees long-term capabilities, not just their competence at current duties • HRM is a “unitaristic” approach to people management while PM is a “pluralistic” orientation to people management.

16. “Pluralistic” and “Unitary” Frames A frame of reference is the totality of all the attitudes, pre assumptions and psychological influences that determine how a person perceives and interprets issues and events A unitary frame of reference regard both management and employees as having identical interests and in consequence, believe that workers should naturally co-operate with management, should work together as a team, and actively seek to assist management achieve its objectives

17. “Pluralistic” and “Unitary” Frames PM Vs HRM The above means that HRM needs to involve; • The unification of effort • The implementation of measures designed to inspire and motivate the workforce • The communication to workers of details of the organization's wider goals • The construction of policies for securing employees loyalty and commitment to the firm Problems of unitarism are: • It cannot comprehend the motives of individuals who do not regard everyone in the organization as being in the same boat • Arguably, it fails to recognize the inevitability of conflicts of interest in certain management/employee situations • It can impair the efficient resolution of disputes

18. “Pluralistic” and “Unitary” Frames PM Vs HRM Pluralism has therefore been suggested as a more effective approach Pluralistic frame of reference is one which sees conflicts of interest and disagreements between managers and workers over the distribution of firms profits as the normal and inescapable state of affairs Realistically, management should accept that conflicts will always occur and should therefore seek to resolve them by establishing sound procedures for settling disputes

19. “Pluralistic” and “Unitary” Frames PM Vs HRM Pluralism assumes that the best way to achieve consensus and long-term stability in management/worker relations is for management to • recognize conflicting interests, • To negotiate compromises • To balance the demands of various groups This suggests a need for • Grievance procedures • Joint-negotiation committees, • Union-recognition agreements • Arbitration arrangements etc all mundane, practical and utilitarian devices that are associated with PM

20. New approach to HRM A “new” approach to HRM emphasizes: • Individualism rather than collectivism – more than ever before, less employees today belong to trade unions • Wage systems based on personal contracts involving individual negotiation with a firm as opposed to collective bargaining involving trade unions • Increasing levels of casual and part-time employment • The idea that managers and workers have common interest of management and workers in achieving company goals • The need for cost cutting and “lean production” methods consequent to ever –increasing international business competition

21. New approach to HRM • Interpersonal relationships and management/worker communications systems appropriate for “high-tech” industries using the latest management techniques • Flexible labour practices • Teamwork, implementation of corporate values, company-wide learning, and the idea of “putting the customer first”. Pluralistic concerns with conflict management are put to one side, with HRM specialists concentrating more on wide-ranging cultural and leadership issues than on the detailed procedures and rules.

22. New approach to HRM Much as the new HRM approach introduces a dynamic approach to people management, there are many close similarities that exist between HRM and PM with both recognizing that they occupy an advisory role in relation to line managers with both; • Concerned with the needs of people at work • Dealing with the same range of practical matters such as recruitment and selection, training etc

23. Criticisms of “new approach” to HRM • Although the approach reflects management hopes and aspirations, the fact that is that it is ambiguous and lacks concrete policy prescriptions. • The mix up of “directive management processes (performance management, quality control etc) with the traditional personnel management functions gives the latter a bad name, leading to downgrading of vital personnel activities • The approach leads employees to perceive HRM as a little more than an unfair set of devices designed to make them work harder for less money. • Power in employer-employee relationship situations in fact lies predominantly in the hands of management. • Workers are expected to display commitment to their employing firms, but what in practice does not actually mean?

24. Criticisms of “new approach” to HRM • Workers may become brainwashed into doing whatever the organization wants them to do, without question and regardless of what is best for the individual • An employee individuality might be overlooked in a business dominated by strong corporate culture • Constant exposure to management persuasion and propaganda could cause employees to feel that are being manipulated. • Implementation of new approach to HRM requires a trained, competent and committed managers. In reality most of the executives are not up to the task.

25. Criticisms of “new approach” to HRM • At the end of the day, production and profitability considerations are bound to override HRM considerations • It is difficult to apply the ideas associated with the new HRM in organizations that lack a coherent strategic direction

26. HRM/PM Model Economic forces Labour markets Laws and regulations Labour unions EXTERNAL INFLUENCES HRM Activities HRM Outcomes Individuals Ability and Motivation • Attraction • Performance • Retention • Attendance • Satisfaction • Other • Support activities • Analyzing individuals and jobs • Assessing outcomes • Human resource planning Jobs Requirements and rewards • Functional activities • External staffing • Internal staffing and development • Compensation • Labour relations • Work environment