1. Managing Human Resources
HRM - past, present and future

2. Developments in HRM Session Objectives To identify previous learning
To consider the nature of HRM
To trace the historical origins of HRM
To review current issues in HRM
To consider the future of HRM

3. The HRM debate
HRM was and remains controversial. Many issues in the field are hotly contested.

4. What is HRM?
“…HRM, the management of work and people towards desired ends, is a fundamental activity in any organisation in which human beings are employed”
It happens in some form or another in all organisations
It is legitimate to question its relative value compared to other organisational investments (e.g. marketing or product development), but no organisation could survive without the reasonably effective organisation of work and management of people.
Boxall et al 2007

5. What is HRM?
Four objectives form the foundation of all HRM activity (Torrington et al 2011):
Staffing objectives
Designing organisation structures
Designing jobs
Deciding on contracts
Recruiting, selecting and developing the people required to fill the roles
Retaining the best, affordable workforce
Releasing people who no longer have a role to play

6. What is HRM? Performance objectives
Ensure employees are well motivated
Ensure employees are committed so as to maximise their performance
Develop employees to maximise their potential
Design reward packages which maximise effort and focus attention on performance targets
Discipline employees effectively and fairly where their individual conduct/performance standards are unsatisfactory
Promote employee involvement initiatives to raise levels of engagement

7. What is HRM? Change management objectives
Recruitment of people with the necessary leadership skills to drive the change process
The employment of change agents to encourage the acceptance of change
The development of reward systems which underpin the change process
Administration objectives
Maintain accurate and comprehensive data on individual employees
Ensure legal compliance with regard to pay, the monitoring of health and safety systems, the issuing of contracts and legal obligations relating to the National Minimum Wage, Working Time Regulations, etc.

8. What is HRM?
HRM as a distinctive approach to the management of people, to be contrasted with personnel management.
Identified with management (as opposed to employee) interests
People management and development aligned with organisational strategy
HR interventions aligned and mutually reinforcing
Line management involvement in HRM
See Storey (1992) - 27 points of difference between HRM and personnel management

9. What is HRM?
HRM as a ‘particular model of employee relations that revolves around the management of people, following a particular ideological position; the central principle takes a particular stance on how to get the most out of workers whilst fostering an employment experience that is positive for employees’
HRM in underpinned by the assumption that ‘it is possible to sustain an organisation in which all stakeholders share the same interests and goals’, i.e. a unitarist perspective.
Bach & Edwards 2013

10. ‘Hard’ vs ‘Soft’ approaches to HRM Storey (1989)
‘Human’
Workplace learning
High commitment
Enlightened leadership
Emphasis on qualitative
Theory Y motivational assumptions
Hard
‘Resource’
Rational
Business strategy and HR strategy aligned
Little attention to employee ‘needs’
Emphasis on quantitative
Theory X motivational assumptions
N.B. Is this distinction too simplistic?

11. The development of HRM Late 19th and early 20th centuries
Paternalistic employers appoint welfare officers. Scientific management dominates.
1920s to 1940s
Personnel managers gain responsibilities in the areas of staffing and training. Personnel thinking influenced by the Human Relations School.
1950s to 1970s
Focus on Industrial relations – personnel managers acquire expertise in negotiation. Emphasis on manpower (human resource) planning.

12. The development of HRM 1980s
HRM as a new philosophy for managing and developing people with a focus on high commitment
- HRM as ‘an industrial version of Thatcherism’ (Strauss 2001)
- Influence of Japanese working practices (Kaizen, Total Quality Management, quality circles, etc.) and ‘excellence’ literature (e,g. Peters & Waterman)

13. The Harvard Model (‘Map’ of HRM)
Analytical rather than prescriptive
Recognises different stakeholder interests that impact on performance
Emphasises factors in the environment that will shape HR strategy (‘situational factors’)
Has the potential for comparative analysis 13

14. The Matching Model (Fombrun et al )14

15. The Matching Model (Fombrun et al )15

16. The Matching Model (Fombrun et al )
Based on two forms of fit:
External fit (‘vertical integration’) – that HR strategy should fit with (support) business strategy
Internal fit (‘horizontal integration’) – that all HR interventions should be aligned and mutually reinforcing
Criticisms of the matching model:
The model’s dependence on the planned approach to strategy formulation
The one-way relationship with organisational strategy
Its unitarist assumptions – no recognition of employee interests
Ignores employee relations issues 16

17. The development of HRM 1990s
HRM emerges as a term to describe all aspects of personnel practice
Debate characterised by uncertainty about the HR contribution
Focus on the HR-performance link
Emphasis on strategic HRM

18. The development of HRM 2000s - key issues
The role of the HR function in adding value
How to achieve HR transformation
HRM as the responsibility of all managers
Segmentation and differentiated HR practices (e.g. talent management)
Where do the boundaries of HR lie? Increasing involvement in marketing activities for example (e.g. employer and employee branding)
Employee engagement rather than commitment
The impact of the Global Financial Crisis
HR analytics

19. The emergence of ‘the New HR’
HRM
The New HR
Values
Commitment/loyalty
Engagement
Focus
Job
Person
Orientation
Employer
Customer/brand
(Adapted from Bach 2005)

20. The emergence of ‘the New HR’
“...the starting point is (not a set of managerially defined values but) a bottom-up focus on the personality of individuals at selection stage, which is then reinforced to ensure that the organisation understands its employees and what shapes their engagement with the organisation and how these personal values can be harnessed for organisational success” (Bach 2005, p.135)

21. References
Bach, S. and Edwards, M. (ed.) (2013) 'Managing Human Resources: Human Resource Management in Transition' Wiley Publishing
Boxall, P., Purcell, J. and Wright, P. (2007) ‘The Oxford Handbook of Human Resource Management’ OUP
Fajana, Sola (2002). Human Resource Management: An Introduction, Labaofin, Lagos
Marchington, M. and Wilkinson, A. (2005), ‘People Management and Development’. CIPD.
Storey, J. (1992) ‘ Developments in the Management of Human Resources: an Analytical Review’ London:Blackwell
Strauss, G ‘HRM in the USA: Correcting some British Impressions’ Journal of HRM 12 (6) , cited in Bach (2005)
Torrington, D., Taylor, S., Hall, L. and Atkinson, C. (2011) ‘Human Resource Management’, London, Prentice Hall.