4/25/2010

MGC 1010: Week 8

Lecture overview
Human resource management
• The strategic role of HRM
• Environmental influences on HRM
Dr Tui McKeown
• The changing nature of careers
• Attracting an effective workforce
• Developing an effective workforce
• Maintaining an effective workforce

Human resource
management (HRM)
Definition:
‘Activities undertaken to attract, develop
and maintain an effective workforce within
an organisation.’

(Samson and Daft 2009: 438)

THE HRM FRAMEWORK

THE HRM FRAMEWORK
The Harvard Map
Stakeholder interests and situational factors: Key assumptions underlying HRM
• Proactive approach, linked to strategic
HR policy decisions about: planning and cultural change
• Extent of employee influence (participation)
• Flow of human resources • View of people as capital for development, not
• Reward systems as a cost
• Work systems
• Possibility of common interests and mutually
beneficial relationships between stakeholders,
Outcomes of HR decisions:
rather than conflicts
• Degree of employee commitment
• Competence of employees
• Cost effectiveness of HR policy choices
• Congruence between employee and employer goals
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Evolution of Australian HRM -

Stages
1 - 1900-1940s, Welfare and administration - hiring
staff, keeping records
2 - 1940s-1970s, Expanded welfare and
administration - personnel functions
3 - Mid-1970s - late 1990s, HRM (expanded HRM
functions: planning, IR, training and
development, OH&S)
4 - 2000 - present, Strategic HRM - a more
strategic focus - devolution of traditional HRM to
line managers
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The strategic role of HRM
Three key elements of a strategic approach
to HRM:
1. All managers are HR managers.
2. Employees are assets.
3. HRM is a matching process.
• Integrating organisational strategy and goals
with the correct approach to managing the
firm’s human capital.

The strategic role of HRM The strategic role of HRM

Current strategic issues of concern to

managers are: <<Insert Exhibit 12.1 Samson 3e p439>>
– Becoming more competitive on a global
basis.
– Improving quality, innovation and customer
service.
– Managing mergers and acquisitions.
– Applying new information technology for
e-business.

Environmental influences Environmental influences

on HRM on HRM
• Competitive strategy
‘Our strength is the quality of our people.’ – Organisational strategy demands for skills
‘Our people are our most important and employees.
resource.’ – Building human capital.
• The economic value of the knowledge,
• HRM is crucial experience, skills and capabilities of employees.
– Without the right people, even the brightest
idea is doomed to failure.
• Human resource executives need to be
involved in competitive strategy.

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Environmental influences Environmental influences

on HRM on HRM
• Competitive strategy
– Globalisation
• Competing on a global basis brings new
challenges to HRM.
• International human resource management
(IHRM).
– Addresses the complexity that results from recruiting,
selecting, developing and maintaining a diverse
workforce on a global scale.

Environmental influences The changing nature of

on HRM careers
• Competitive strategy
– Information technology • The changing social contract
• Human resource information system
– An integrated computer system designed to provide
data and information used in HR planning and decision
making.
– Can dramatically improve effectiveness of long-term
planning in HR.

The changing nature of Attracting an effective

careers workforce
• HR issues in the new workplace: • Matching model:
– Becoming an employer of choice – Employer and applicant try to match each
– Teams and projects other’s needs, interests and values.
– Temporary employees • HR Planning.
– Technology • Selecting.
– Work/life balance
– Downsizing

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Attracting an effective Attracting an effective

workforce workforce
• Human resource planning • Human resource planning
– The forecasting of HR needs and the – HR planning begins with several questions
projected matching of individuals with • Emerging new technologies?
expected job vacancies. • Volume of business?
• Is turnover a problem, is it avoidable?

Attracting an effective Attracting an effective

workforce workforce
• Recruiting
• Human resource planning – Activities or practices that define the
– Use responses to ask: characteristics of applicants to whom the
• How many senior managers are needed? selection procedures are ultimately applied.
• What types of engineers will we need, how – Are internal applicants preferred?
many? – Advertising, government employment
• Are people with adequate computer skills service, private employment agencies, job
available? fairs, employee referrals.
• What administrative personnel (technicians,
secretaries) will we need to support managers
and engineers?
• Can we use temporary, contingent or virtual
workers?

Attracting an effective Attracting an effective

workforce workforce
• Recruiting
– Assessing organisational needs • Recruiting
• Job analysis – Realistic job previews (RJP)
– The systematic process of gathering and interpreting • Gives applicants all information about the job
information about the essential duties, tasks and and the organisation.
responsibilities of a job.
– Legal considerations
• Job description
– A concise summary of the specific tasks and • Affirmative action.
responsibilities of a particular job. • Equal opportunity employer .
• Job specification – E-cruiting
– An outline of the knowledge skills, education and
physical abilities needed to adequately perform a job.
• Internet recruiting.
– Other recent approaches
• Employee referrals.

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Attracting an effective Attracting an effective

workforce workforce
• Selecting • Selecting
– The process of determining the skills, – Selection devices (assessing applicants)
abilities and other attributes a person needs • Application form
to perform a particular job. • Interview
• Employment tests
– Validity • Assessment centre
• The relationship between one’s score on a – Selection based on performance on a series of
selection device and one’s future job simulated managerial tasks.
performance.

Developing an effective workforce

Training and development
-
Developing an effective
– On-the-job training workforce - Training and development
– Orientation training – Performance appraisal
• The process of observing and evaluating an
– Classroom training/Self-directed employee’s performance, recording the
learning/Computer-based training assessment and providing feedback.
– In-house development in corporate • Assessing performance accurately.
universities e.g. McDonald’s Hamburger University • Performance evaluation errors:
– Promotion from within – Stereotyping - Categorising employees based on one or
a few traits or characteristics.
• Grows and expands employee abilities. – Halo effect - When an employee receives the same
– Workforce optimisation rating on all dimensions regardless of performance on
individual ones.
• Putting the right people in the right jobs. – Solution: use a behaviourally-anchored rating scale (

Maintaining an effective workforce Maintaining an effective workforce

– Compensation & Benefits - Benefits
– Monetary payments & non-monetary goods/
commodities used to reward employees. – Make up 40 per cent of labour costs.
• Wages, salaries – Some are required by law.
• Benefits (car), holidays • e.g. Superannuation, holiday leave loading,
worker’s compensation.
– Wage and salary systems
• Skill-based / Competency-based/ Job-based? – Others can be provided by the
– Compensation equity? organisation.
• e.g. Health insurance, onsite fitness centres.
• Job evaluation
• e.g. Subsidised child care, tennis and squash
– Wage and salary surveys courts.
• Study other organisations’ corresponding
• Provided to maintain an effective workplace.
employees
– Pay for performance

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Maintaining an effective THE HRM FRAMEWORK

workforce
Regulatory
• Termination: • A long history of government support for union
– Retire involvement
– Voluntary • Since early 1990s, major shift toward enterprise
• Turnover or individual agreements
– Involuntary • Increasing reliance on civil law processes
• Mergers, cutbacks • Growth of regulation relating to human rights,
• Poor performance discrimination, EEO, OH&S, environmental
– Exit interview matters
• Determine reasons
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CONTEMPORARY HRM
LECTURE SUMMARY
ISSUES
• Establishing, maintaining and terminating the
• Managing diversity employment relationship
• Ageing workforce • The regulatory and environmental context
• HR Planning: Job analysis, descriptions and
• Skills shortages specifications
• Work-life balance (WLB) • Recruitment and selection processes
• Outsourcing HRM • Maintaining the relationship - remuneration,
• Measuring HRM effectiveness training and development, performance appraisal
....
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...continued
• Impacts of information technology: HRIS and
networks
• Flexible organisations, flexible workers. Call
centres, teleworking, hot-desking
• Terminating the employment relationship - careful
management needed
• Contemporary issues: diversity, ageing workforce,
skill shortages, work-life balance, oursourcing,
measuring HRM effectiveness
• Human resource flow or changes will affect other
HRM and general management functions
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