Sept 2001Chris Jarvis

BS3403

Human Resource Management

BS3403 HRM

2

Schedule

Lectures Case study discussion Coursework 50%, Examination 50% On-line Forum/Bulletin Board Study guide and Learning Resources

course WWW-site sol.brunel.ac.uk/~jarvis/degreemodules/bs3403/

BOLAsol.brunel.ac.uk/~jarvis/bola/personnel/

BS3403 HRM

3Chris Jarvis: HRM Theory and Practice

MG5012 Managing Human Resources

Module Texts

Essential (pre-season training) Maund L, 2001, Intro to HRM, Palgrave Beardwell I & Holden, 2000, HRM, Pitman

Further Cornelius, N (1999) HRM: a Managerial Perspective,

International Thomson Legge K, (1995), HRM: rhetorics and realities, MacMillan

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HRM: a mature discipline?

Scientific/philosophical rigourCritical evaluationComplex synthesis

Analytical explanationTechnical application

Contextual understandingDescriptive knowledge

and categorisation

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Scope of HRM

What business activities? Who does them?Evolution of HRM/Personnel functionHR content

job and employee related service functions

HR contexts (STEEPLE) social, technological, economic, ethical, legal and

environmental

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HR AnalysisPlanning, Policy andImplementation

Staffing•Recruitment•Placement•Records

Learning,Training, andEvaluating

RewardsandContracts

Organisationalculture &managementworkforcerelationships

HRM/Personnel Activities

The organisation employs peopleMacro Meso Micro Meta issues

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Karen Legge - Perspectives on HRM Rhetoric

• descriptive functional (policies, procedures, purposes, rules, regulative mechanisms)

• normative (values and commitments: managerial, libertarian, egalitarian, ethical)

• critical evaluative (strength of theory, rhetoric and experience)

• descriptive behavioural (practice, experience and interpretation)

Approaches, theoretical strength, control, philosophies & tension

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Brain of the Firm?

Personnel/HRM at Board Level

non-Exec Directors

Sales andMarketing Director

Finance Directorincl. IT Systemsand Payroll

Operations andDistributionDirector

Director of Human Resources

Managing Director Company Secretary

Chairman

Variants for public sectorVariants for public sector Staff? Systems?

Functionalresponses to internal& external conditions

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ManagersOperatorsTechnicalOverseasGraduatesSales?

Recruitment

General PersonnelPersonnel RecordsStatisticsEqual opportunitiesCommunicationsCatering?

PersonnelServices Manager

Management Devel

NeedsDesignDeliveryEvaluation

Operative training

Staff appraisalCareer counselling

Investors in PeopleTechnical training

HRD Manager

Medical Centrescreening/welfareLoos/hygieneHealth & safetyWelfarecounsellingSocial clubSite security?

Site Services

& Occupational Health

Rewards policy and change?Union bargaining and staffrepresentationContracts

Social/structural & legal adaptation

Managing conflict

EmployeeRelationsManager

Director ofHuman Resources

Employment law

Strategy, external/internal, policy, standards,service quality, organisational Learning and cultures

a service to managementnot a third party, mediator between company & staff

Discipline

Central, functional HRM Services model

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STAGE 1

Records and administration

Regulativeaccountability

Competitive Advantage

Development of HRM/Personnel

STAGE 3

STAGE 2

Admin. Service Manager

Contracts Service Manager

Strategic Manager

Problem-solving, power and innovation

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Personnel administrator Clerk of works: chores, reactive, little authority, difficult to prove

success, cost not profit centre Contracts manager & Architect – deploy systems + innovate

(Tyson & Fell 1986)

Conformist innovator (contacts) professionalism - accepts “ends” & adjusts “means” service & innovation within prevailing norms. policies for effective staffing, admin services & consultancy

Deviant innovator (architect) influence “ends -means” relationships. gain acceptance for different success criteria. strategic: empowerment, creativity, organisational culture

(Legge 1978)

Clerks & InnovatorsClerks & Innovators

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Managerial control: values and assumptions

Employing people - unregulated master-servant relationship

Modern, bureaucratic, efficient corporation - internal regulation

Development of HRM/Personnel - 2

Externally regulated bureaucratic, efficient corporation

Competitive, global, lean, high quality, high tech firm

Dispersed,networked, flexible, K-based organisation

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The distributed organisation

Centralised, corporate activities. Compare with Retail distribution The short life organisation Software house, consultancy and facilities management European or global firm The academic organisation The "professional" organisation (solicitors, accountants) The NHS Local and central government The knowledge-centred organisation

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Why a separate, bolt on HRM/personnel servicing function?

Bureaucratic system & maintenance regulated environment to service transactions

(staff <==> firm). admin. burden. Routinisation, consistency, predictability.

Strategic preparedness & development intelligence & expertise. anticipate staffing problems. Coordinate, reduce risk strategic analysis, choice & implementation (global or local) Support development & business prosperity

Stick to the knitting? ==> Outsourcing Each section manager as their own HR manager?

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ManagersOperatorsTechnicalOverseasGraduatesSales?

Recruitment

General PersonnelPersonnel RecordsStatisticsEqual opportunitiesCommunicationsCatering?

PersonnelServices Manager

Management Devel

NeedsDesignDeliveryEvaluation

Operative training

Staff appraisalCareer counselling

Investors in PeopleTechnical training

HRD Manager

Medical Centrescreening/welfareLoos/hygieneHealth & safetyWelfarecounsellingSocial clubSite security?

Site Services

& Occupational Health

Rewards policy and change?Union bargaining and staffrepresentationContracts

Social/structural & legal adaptation

Managing conflict

EmployeeRelationsManager

Director ofHuman Resources

Scope for Out-sourcing HRM Services

Employment law

Strategy, external/internal, policy, standards,service quality, organisational Learning and cultures

a service to managementnot a third party, mediator between company & staff

Out-source

?

Out-source

?

Out-source

?

Out-source

?Discipline

The dist

ributed

,

Knowledge-b

ased

organisatio

nThe d

istrib

uted,

Knowledge-b

ased

organisatio

n

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HR Planning

DEMANDforecastinganalysisqualitativequantitative

SUPPLYInternal&externallaboursupply

Service and Innovationbusiness and population trends

The right people, in the right place, at the right time, at the right cost and with the right frame of mind.

Jobs, contracts, skills, organisational membership

Planning objectives?

Short-/long-termPIMs & Internet technologies

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Jobs filledCompetenciesReputationCostsFlexibilityHarmonyContribution & performance

Attract

Recruitment• Internal• External: advertising sources costs methods

Select

The right candidatefor the job:

ValidityReliabilityUtility of :

•application process•interviews & tests•assessment centres•reference & security checks

Staffing

OrganizationalGoals

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Competence, training and learning

1. Needs2. Design and

implementation3. Evaluation

• business needs?• what training needs?• training objectives &

learning outcomes• know-how & learning• criteria for evaluation

• what methods• training policy• learning processes• resources & materials• scheduling• delivery & learning

support

• Assess outcomes against criteria

• What outcomes?• What criteria?

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Rewards and equity issues

External equity retention & distributionpay survey & benchmarking key jobsoccupational class & transfer values

Internal equityJob evaluation:Methods

Individual equity (acceptance & motivation)Direct:• pay rises (seniority& performance)• broad banding• skill-based pay• gain sharingIndirect:• benefits and trappings of membership

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Performance Appraisal

Describe proceduresValues and assumptionsEvaluate theory/practiceDescribe behaviours

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Exchange, bargaining and the law

Contracts - rights and obligations Fairness and justice - unfair dismissal Liberty, ownership and property - redundancy and TUPE Right to work eligibility Discrimination and equal opportunity Union recognition, membership and activities Negotiation of wage-work bargain Employee surviellance Global adaptation and frameworks

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Transactions in internal and external labour markets services to support staff employment personnel records & documentation recruitment & selection contracts of employment reward systems staff training & development unions & collective bargaining welfare services equal opportunities policies communications & culture

Descriptive-Functional perspective

Purposes, policies, rules, procedures & competencies of personnel & HRM practice. Prescriptions & guidelines:Purposes, policies, rules, procedures & competencies of personnel & HRM practice. Prescriptions & guidelines:

Very practicalMembership +Boundary management

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Pay-offs in Employer-Employee Relationship

Task structure - work within policy, procedure & technical constraints. Jobs, work arrangements

Knowledge & skill - employer wants know-how, competence, experience. Employee wants to be put to good use & be developed

Psychological - mgt & co-workers want committed, loyal, motivated staff. Individual wants satisfaction

Efficiency/rewards - employer wants performance & quality output. Employee wants equity, felt-fair rewards & opportunity

Ethical - values & commitments in right/wrong behaviour

(after Mumford 1972)(after Mumford 1972)

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Normative perspective

Culture & values: explicit & implicit assumptions: hire-fire, caring,“tough love”, profit maximisation, power, TQM, competitiveness.

• Horse-power contracts vs.. “you for your own sake”

• perform-reward orientation

• “people are our greatest asset” … if…. minimum cost

• teams, participation, empowerment, quality, creativity e.g. McGregor Theory X & Y

• unitary vs. pluralistic frameworks & TUs

• flexible, lean firm & learning organisation

Culture & values: explicit & implicit assumptions: hire-fire, caring,“tough love”, profit maximisation, power, TQM, competitiveness.

• Horse-power contracts vs.. “you for your own sake”

• perform-reward orientation

• “people are our greatest asset” … if…. minimum cost

• teams, participation, empowerment, quality, creativity e.g. McGregor Theory X & Y

• unitary vs. pluralistic frameworks & TUs

• flexible, lean firm & learning organisation

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HRM credibility gap

Dirty Harry. Big hat - no cattle. Other? Line mgr & staff disappointment with HRM people. Personnel’s status vs. the control of HRM systems Rag bag of incidental techniques. Little cohesion. Personnel cul-de-sac? Filing clerk, social worker.

Welfare & fire-fighter images. “I’m Steve from Personnel. I can help.”

Distant, out of touch, react to events or passive Defend status quo - existing policy Not risk takers + insufficiently business oriented Little influence over power-brokers

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“Managers… confused, stereotyped

perception of a personnel service.

They agree that...personnel.... exists to

provide a service to “the line” who

must decide what this.. should be but

when... asked about what ideal

service they needed...many... were at a

loss to suggest anything other than

routines.”

Ambiguities & tensions in rhetoric & delivery of hard & soft HRM under market capitalism.

Legge 1978

Critical-Evaluative perspective

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Talk and the social construction of realityIs HRM theory robust or built on weak foundations?

primary driver of strategy? greatest assets = funds + products + brands? staff & HRM people are costs. Down-size & out-source! language of power - "justifications & mystifications". HRM policies/practices control & direct performances power imbalance - NOT between equal partners. external politico-legal intervention employers under competition want invisible-hand not welfare

intervention. normative, inclusive view neglects countervailing forces employees as stakeholders - what stake & contract?

Critical-Evaluative Perspective - 2

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Compare actual behaviour with normative rhetoric? Say vs. Do.Actual behaviour & experience of parties.

The dramatic metaphor: actor, “Face”, role demands, choices & constraints. On-stage, back stage, off stage

What do “they” actually do-feel-assume-accomplish political world, pragmatism, egoism vs. idealism & altruism

strategic?operational staffing?client-server relationships & alliances -

individuals/groups? Behaviours in situations of co-operation, competition, conflict?

Descriptive-behavioural perspective

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figurehead leader liaison

Interpersonalroles

Informationprocessingroles

Decision-makingroles

(after H Mintzberg)(after H Mintzberg)

• monitor

• disseminator

• spokesperson

• initiator/changer

• resource allocator

• disturbance handler

• negotiator

Thinker

BattlerHelper

Personnel Client-Server Roles

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Helper-Battler-Thinker.... a world of

Friendlyhelper

Toughbattler

Logical thinker

trust, concern, respect, affection, empathy. Win-together understanding, harmonising, compromising, encouraging

confrontation, conflict, competition, position play, survival, assertion, emotional resilience. Win-or-don’t lose

initiating, negotiation, striving, implementation & results, pressing for agreement & resolving differences.

data, analysis, logic, modelling, systems, knowledge. information gathering, clarifying, synthesis, systems

development, defining rules/regulations, deciding

Out-sourcing

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HRM & Winning Strategies

Flexible, lean organisation structures. SBUs.

Culture generation - competitive, creative, innovative,

customer, quality & added value

Fit to handle rapid change?

Competence & performance orientation.

Tough-love

Intrapreneurs

Centralisation/decentralisation issues, local &

international/global