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    Human Resources Management
    Human Resources Management
    Human Resources Management
    Ebook249 pages4 hours

    Human Resources Management

    By Alan S. Gutterman

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    About this ebook

    The human resources function is at the forefront of a company's efforts with respect to two of the key elements of organizational design—people and organizational structure.  While human resources practices differ around the world, it would seem to be universally true that in order for companies to successfully achieve their strategic goals and objectives they must strive to attract, motivate, and retain those employees who are best qualified to carry out the necessary activities of the company and make sure that they are placed into the right spots in the most effective organizational structure.  The traditional role of human resources was perceived as being largely administrative—recruiting and interviewing prospective employees, administering benefit plans and writing policies—and is often referred to as the "personnel administration" approach; however, forward thinking companies now realize that the human resources function must be part of the company's strategic planning activities and that functional leaders must engage in what is common referred to as "human resources management" strategy and proactively suggest new policies and initiatives to the senior executives of the company to ensure that the company has access to appropriate knowledge and talent in each of the markets where it is active.   This book provides an introduction to the research relating to human resources management and practical guidance for managing an organization's important people assets.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSustainable Entrepreneurship Project
    Release dateMar 16, 2019
    ISBN9781386676096
    Human Resources Management
    Author

    Alan S. Gutterman

    This book was written by Alan S. Gutterman, whose prolific output of practical guidance and tools for legal and financial professionals, managers, entrepreneurs, and investors has made him one of the best-selling individual authors in the global legal publishing marketplace.  Alan has authored or edited over 300 book-length works on entrepreneurship, business law and transactions, sustainability, impact investment, business and human rights and corporate social responsibility, civil and human rights of older persons, and international business for several publishers including Thomson Reuters, Practical Law, Kluwer, Aspatore, Oxford, Quorum, ABA Press, Aspen, Sweet & Maxwell, Euromoney, Business Expert Press, Harvard Business Publishing, CCH, and BNA.  His cornerstone work, Business Transactions Solution, is an online-only product available and featured on Thomson Reuters’ Westlaw, the world’s largest legal content platform, which covers the entire lifecycle of a business.  Alan has extensive experience as a partner and senior counsel with internationally recognized law firms counseling small and large business enterprises, and has also held senior management positions with several technology-based businesses including service as the chief legal officer of a leading international distributor of IT products headquartered in Silicon Valley and as the chief operating officer of an emerging broadband media company.  He has been an adjunct faculty member at several colleges and universities, and he has also launched and oversees projects relating to promoting the civil and human rights of older persons and a human rights-based approach to entrepreneurship.  He received his A.B., M.B.A., and J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley, a D.B.A. from Golden Gate University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, and he is also a Credentialed Professional Gerontologist (CPG).  For more information about Alan and his activities, please contact him directly at alangutterman@gmail.com, follow him on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alangutterman/), and visit his personal website at www.alangutterman.com to view a comprehensive listing of his works and subscribe to receive updates.  Many of Alan’s research papers and other publications are also available through SSRN and Google Scholar.

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      Book preview

      Human Resources Management - Alan S. Gutterman

      1

      Evolution of Human Resources Management

      The human resources (HR) function is at the forefront of a company’s efforts with respect to two of the key elements of organizational design—people and organizational structure.  While HR practices differ around the world, it would seem to be universally true that in order for companies to successfully achieve their strategic goals and objectives they must strive to attract, motivate, and retain those employees who are best qualified to carry out the necessary activities of the company and make sure that they are placed into the right spots in the most effective organizational structure.  The traditional role of HR was perceived as being largely administrative—recruiting and interviewing prospective employees, administering benefit plans and writing policies—and is often referred to as the personnel administration approach; however, forward thinking companies now realize that the HR function must be part of the company's strategic planning activities and that HR leaders must engage in what is common referred to as human resources management, or HRM, strategy, and proactively suggest new policies and initiatives to the senior executives of the company to ensure that the company has access to appropriate knowledge and talent in each of the markets where it is active. The personality profile for HR managers and specialists has also changed radically in recent years due to the fact that the HR function now provides a wide array of services to persons throughout the company's organizational structure including training and development, job analysis, oversight of workplace conditions and mediation of disputes between employees and the company.

      Scope and Importance of Human Resources Management

      At the outset it is important to have a basic understanding regarding the scope of HRM and the importance of HRM to organizational performance.  Scholz et al. argued that HRM activities consist of the following: the attraction of qualified and talented job applicants (personnel marketing); the placement of the right people in vacant positions (personnel selection); the knowledge update, education and training of employees (personnel development); the creation of incentive systems (motivation and encourage of employees); and, finally, the determination of the employee’s monetary value for the company (human capital management).[1]  Another comprehensive list of activities described in more detail below is similar and includes recruiting and staffing; organizational and space planning; performance management and improvement systems; organization development; employment and compliance to regulatory concerns; employee orientation, development, and training; payroll; HRM information systems; policy development and documentation; employee and labor relations; compensation and benefits administration; employee safety, welfare, wellness and health; and employee services and counseling.

      There has been a virtual avalanche of research on the relationship between HRM and organizational competitiveness and while the empirical data is sometimes difficult to analyze and use as a basis for definitive conclusions the general feeling is that people are among the most important determinants of success for companies.[2]  Scholz et al. cited the results of various surveys that appear to provide support for a link between the quality of HRM in companies and the monetary value of the company human capital and the conclusion that the marginal value of investing in human capital is substantially greater than the value of investment in machinery, and they also argued that HRM affects all domains of organizational performance.[3]

      The apparent links between HRM and organizational performance have formed the foundation for what is commonly referred to as strategic HRM, a process that Scholz et al. explained as . . . strategic realignment of the HR function with the company’s business goals . . . [such that] . . . the HR function becomes a business partner for the line management, which means that HR managers work hand in hand with line managers to institute and manage the process of accomplishing the company’s goals—whether these goals are financial targets, balanced scorecards, visions, or others.[4]  This means that companies should develop an HRM strategy that addresses the key issues associated with creating, administering and improving those elements of the organizational infrastructure of the company that are related to the individuals that carry out the operational activities necessary for the company to achieve its goals and objectives.  HRM strategy should be aligned with strategies in other areas, such as operations and finance, in order to ensure that the overall company strategy is cohesive and that all managers and employees are moving forward in the same direction. 

      The key elements of the HRM strategy for any company will depend on the activities of the company and its stage of development; however, most HRM strategy statements should include career and personnel development in order to assist employees in fulfilling their potential and acquiring the skills necessary for the company to achieve its objectives; organizational development to ensure that the organizational structure of the company and the various horizontal and vertical communications channels therein is appropriate for the company’s strategic goals and objectives; and creation and support of an appropriate organizational culture that promotes desired performance and a stimulating and supportive workplace environment.  Another list of key HRM policies and practices related to gaining a competitive strategic advantage includes organizational culture, organizational structure, performance management, resourcing and communication and corporate social responsibility.[5]  Important enabling elements of this type of HRM strategy include audits to understand the current HRM situation, monitoring and assessment tools and policies and procedures to facilitate effective implementation of the core HRM activities described above.

      It is apparent that interest in HRM, and the areas of focus of researchers within HRM, will continue to expand.  One researcher provided the following inventory of trends and emerging values in HRM which can serve as a starting point for projecting the direction that HRM research will take in years to come[6]:

      There is a great deal of interest in how to effectively manage HR on a worldwide basis, a problem that is confronting a growing number of businesses from countries all around the world as their business models transform into complex international organizations.  The challenge with respect to HRM, as well as other aspects of business activities, is how to think globally while acting locally.

      It has become apparent that much additional work and study is needed in order to understand the impact of societal culture on various aspects of HRM.  Again, in the context of global organizations, that means acknowledging diversity among managers and employees spread out over numerous countries and taking that into account when attempting to launch HRM strategies such as creating high-performance teams and when designing performance appraisal and reward systems.

      The influence of regulation on HR practices is an increasingly important topic throughout the world.  Industrialized countries such as the US have long had an extensive library of federal, state and local regulations that impact employment relationships.  In Europe HRM practices in individual countries are being influenced by pronouncements from the European Union and regulatory developments at the country level have impacted the balance of power among various stakeholders including trade unions.  As for developing countries, many have started building a framework of employment laws and regulations where little or nothing existed in the past and there is much to be learned about the success of such initiatives and the impact on employees in those countries.

      Companies in many countries around the world are experimenting with transitioning away from traditional compensation schemes, which often use standard pay scales based on the type of job and/or seniority, toward incentive-based compensation systems that measure and reward individual performance.  While such changes are driven by competitive factors they can be, and often are, quite disruptive and pose significant challenges for HR professionals.

      Changes in compensation systems are just one of a number of HRM areas that raise gender equality issues and companies all around the world, in both industrialized and developed countries, will be called upon to address how to improve opportunities for women in the workplace.  In fact, the issue of equal opportunity extends beyond gender to include equal treatment of employees with different racial and ethnic backgrounds and physical disabilities. 

      Globalization has driven two other trends that have had important consequences for HRM in industrialized countries.  First of all, global competition has forced companies to pursue greater efficiencies and productivity and this has led to plant closures and layoffs that have displaced large numbers of workers and scrambled local labor markets.  Second, industrialized countries have seen higher levels of inbound foreign investment and this has led to introduction of HRM from afar, an interesting switching of roles after decades during which foreign investment flowed strongly in the other direction.

      Many countries are struggling with complex, and often divisive, issues raised by immigration and the movement of workers between countries.  In some cases immigration is welcomed as a national and firm-level strategy for addressing skills shortages; however, for those countries that benefit there are others that suffer from the loss of skilled workers who are no longer available, at least in the short-term, to participate in economic development efforts in their home countries.  In many other instances, however, immigration has been a contentious issue accompanied by discrimination and violence and confusion among governmental policymakers.

      The nature and structure of the work relationship is changing in many areas of the world as companies and countries experiment more and more with outsourcing, flexible working patterns and new forms of work (i.e., call centers and teleworking).  Among other things, these trends have created pressures on HR professionals to learn new skills including how to engage and manage consultants that provide services on an outsourced basis that were previously handled internally by employees and how to manage and motive participants in a virtual office.

      Traditional employment practices are eroding, and literally disappearing, in industrialized and emerging markets countries around the world.  In Japan, for example, the long-standing lifetime employment system is breaking down in the face of sweeping socio-cultural and economic changes.  At the same time, the labor market in China is changing as economic activities move from state-owned enterprises to privately-owned and managed firms and foreign investors continue to import their HRM practices.  Companies in Eastern Europe are coping with the transition from Soviet-style personnel management (or hard HRM), which emphasized control over employees and neglect of their personal needs, to more enlightened approaches to the employment relationship. 

      Development and Evolution of Human Resources Management

      Much has been written regarding the development and evolution of the administration and management of the HR function.  The HR landscape is continuously changing in all countries around the world and while it would appear that the direction of these changes is fairly well established the pace of change and the manner in which it will occur is difficult to predict and will depend, in large part, on the unique circumstances in each country.  Development and evolution is typically explained as a transition from personnel administration to strategic HRM; however, they are actually a number of different viewpoints such as the evolution of HRM as a professional and scientific discipline, as an aid to management, as a political and economic conflict between management and employees and as a growing movement of employee involvement which has been influenced by developments in industrial/organizational and social psychology.[7]  In addition, the notion of strategic HRM itself implies a growing recognition that employees are no longer simply one of the means of production, along with capital and machines, but are becoming a key potential source of competitive advantage in an increasingly knowledge-based economy. 

      The evolutionary path in the HR area is typically illustrated by a historical review from the US.  It begins in the early part of the 20th century, prior to World War II, when activities relating to employees were carried out by a personnel function that focused primarily, if not exclusively on so-called caretaker activities such as recordkeeping, which was considered to be important as a means for closely tracking employee activities so as to ensure that they were performing at maximum productivity consistent with the then-dominant management philosophy of scientific management.  Compensation schemes tended to be based on piece rates and companies had great latitude with respect to how they managed employment relations as government intervention in the form of laws, regulations and inspection was quite low in relation to today’s standards.  As time went by, however, abusive worker practices led to the formation and growing importance of trade unions; World War II and the aftermath brought a realization that employee productivity and motivation could have a significant impact on firm profitability; and there was a growing appreciation that employees were motivated not just by money but also be social and psychological factors, which meant that HR managers needed to understand and implement new rewards and recognition tools and create programs that would nurture the growth and development of employees and their careers.  In addition, government became much more involved in the workplace and passed new laws and regulations relating to all aspects of the employment relationship.  Finally, at least in the US, employee participation and empowerment became important themes.  The end result of these changes was an expansion of the breadth and depth of HR functions, a phenomenon that required a strategic approach that became known as strategic HRM.

      Development and evolution of HRM is not, however, strictly an American story and the following sections describe research and commentary from other parts of the world including the European Union, Israel, Korea and India.  The survey is not exhaustive but nonetheless illustrates how historical, political, industrial and cultural factors come into play as attitudes and priorities change and evolve in specific regions and countries.  In the European Union, for example, the focus in recent years has been on the proper balance between social partnership and taking the steps necessary for European firms to achieve and sustain competitiveness in the global economy.  Israel is an example of country that has been grappling with the transformation from an agrarian low-tech economy to a high-tech strategy that has exposed Israeli firms to HR practices from the US and other industrialized countries and transformed the role and power of traditional institutions such as labor unions.  Korea is an example of the evolution of HRM in the context of a Confucian Asian societal culture that has been focused on economic development since the early 1960s.  Finally, the section on India provides both a reminder that HRM has existed in developing countries in some form for centuries and a list of the challenging issues that HR professional in developing countries are required to face as they race forward into the global economy, often well before basic HR supports such as education, health and safety and information technology are in place. 

      European Union

      Scholz et al. suggested that one way for assessing the development and evolution of HRM, and the relative progress of countries along the path, is to focus on two topics they identified from a review of HRM in thirteen European countries: movement from a focus on social partnership in HRM toward increased business orientation or business partnership and the transition of the personnel function from largely administrative activities to more strategic initiatives.[8]  Scholz et al. explained that social partnership is strongly related to the existence and influence of HR institutions such as trade unions and works’ councils that have traditionally been engaged in representing and defending the interests of employees vis-à-vis their employers on topics such as wages, working conditions and social benefits.  They went on to note that emphasis on social partnership diminishes as the influence of the aforementioned HR institutions recedes in the face of the realities of changing employer-employee relationships due to rapid transformation of the competitive landscape.  For example, employers need to have more flexibility with regard to staffing in order to keep up with market demands and thus have become less committed to long-term relationships with employees.  For their part, employees no longer have the strong loyalties to their employers that existed in the past and are more likely to focus their attention on their own careers and pursue project-based assignments.  These changes, taken together, have gradually transformed the employer-employee relationship into a new business partnership in which each side seeks to protect their own interests while combining their resources in a way that is effective in the competitive product marketplace to generate returns for both sides (i.e., profits for employers and work/compensation for workers, either as employees or contractors).[9]

      The concept of strategic HRM is discussed elsewhere in this chapter and involves conscious strategic realignment of the HR function with the business goals established for the entire company and calls for HR managers to work closely with line managers to developed processes that will contribute to achievement of those goals.[10]  The HR manager in this type of environment needs to act less like a personnel administrator—being reactive, prescriptive and administrative—and engage with the rest of the organization in a manner that is seen as proactive, descriptive and executive.  The transformation of personnel management into HRM has been documented and extended to included commentaries on HRM as a new source of competitive advantage and a direct influencer of firm performance.  However, strategic HRM requires more than simply a change at the top of the organizational hierarchy, it also requires that HR managers learn new skills and line managers begin to view the HR function from a new, more enlightened perspective.

      The distinction between strategic HRM and personnel administration has been widely discussed and many commentators make no distinction between HRM and strategic HRM.  For example, it has been

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