HR Working Practices and Patterns - Essay Example

HR Working Practices & Patterns Historical Background Before Industrial Revolution: The exact beginning of HR function can not be traced precisely.Some people say that the history of HR can be traced back to biblical records which talks about selection and training problems faced by Moses. The concept of large organizations was not largely present before industrial revolution. The work was basically done in the form of small groups with the exception of Churches and Government functions. The work was mostly related to small family based set ups in farms, homes, or small shops. Hence no formal HR management role could be found in those days. Industrial Revolution: Industrial revolution brought in picture big organizations and factories first in England and later in North America. The concept of Economies of Scale also came in the picture according to which large people were required to work to achieve cost benefits. The involvement of large number of people in work areas brought complexities. In the initial days, however, the emphasis was more on machines than people. The working conditions favored machines and their efficiency rather than people and their capabilities. As a result, working conditions were dismal for people. Welfare/Social Secretaries: The growing issues associated with the work force, made them raise their voices against human problems. Employees started forming Unions to make their voices heard. In order to deal with such issues the post of welfare secretaries or social secretaries was created. This can be considered as the most primitive form of HR function after the industrial revolution. The initial task of such secretaries was to keep workers from directly reaching managers for their grievances. Secondly, they were required to discourage employees from dealing with unions or forming unions for their problems. The creation of the post of secretaries can be considered a move to give a specialized status of dealing with the issues related to employees. Before such posts were created operating managers were also dealing with the issues of employees. The creation of these new posts relieved operation managers of this extra burden. Birth of Scientific Management: Frederick Taylor was the person who put forward the concept of scientific management. He emphasized on the inclusion of scientific study in the management arena. He suggested improvement in management practices i.e. study of different situation be carried out to bring about improvements. He basically worked on A steel plant called Bethlehem Steel Plant and studied the typical procedures and made his recommendation to improve the whole process. He also introduced an incentive system to improve the whole process and so human capital management made an important component of his study. "He worked out an incentive system that paid each man $1.85 a day for meeting the new standard, an increase from the previous rate of $1.15. Productivity at Bethlehem Steel shot up over night" (Daft 1997). Primitive HR: 1900 brought primitive HR departments within large organizations like AT&T. So welfare secretaries were replaced by these new departments that were called personnel department. This change started from the period ending World War I. "While historians disagree on the specific date assigned to the appearance of the first personnel department, most agree that, between 1900 and 1920, more organizations were employing specialists to assist with personnel matters" (Jamrog & Overholt 2004). Their tasks generally included compensation handling, dealings with unions and other employee concerns. Though a separate department was dealing with the needs of employees, but production, finance and to some extent marketing was considered important functions or departments. However, with the passage of time the personnel department started getting more attention from top management. Hawthorne Studies: Hawthorne studies conducted at Western Electric's Hawthorne plant can be considered instrumental in bringing changes in the HR function. Previously scientific management brought forward the issues related to efficiency but it ignored the human aspects of the workforce. This study made experts realize that Hawthorne experiments gave employees a feeling of importance. They became involved with the work because they thought they were given importance. The human emotional aspects of workforce come to the fore because of these experiments. These studies became the foundation for evolution of management in general and human resource management in particular. Modern Role of HR: Though Hawthorne studies brought new meanings to the management of people but the era of depression and later World War II stalled the evolution of HR practices. Depression era in particular made people wary of businesses and turned toward government for compensation, social security etc. Government also looked into the issues of employees and made legislation to support them. This legality brought the modern role of HR. As mentioned earlier, the main purpose of such departments was to discourage union activities in the organization. However, legislation that were made unions stronger than before. As union activities increased the responsibilities of personnel departments also increased with respect to the welfare of employees. The interaction of these departments with unions increased so much that they were given the name of industrial relations department. World war 11 also brought new responsibilities of recruitment and training for personnel departments. After the war the importance of human relations brought forward by Hawthorne Studies and other behavioral researches increased again. Experts started looking at management from human relations perspective. In the era f 1960 and 70s new legislation were passed related to discrimination in pay and employment because of sex, race, religion, age etc. Later on acts like occupation safety and health act, equal employment opportunity act, employee retirement income security acts, pregnancy discrimination act were assed the further safeguarded the position of employees and made personnel department more prominent in organizational affairs. Later on personnel departments transformed into human resources and became integral part of the organization structure. "Human resource strategy and planning has changed and grown significantly during the last 25 years. We can track these developments from functional strategies in the 1980s to capabilities strategies in the 1990s to results strategies today" (Gubman 2004). Changes in Working Practices Many changes came about in the working practices and organizational culture with the start of modern era in human resources. Some of these changes are equal employment opportunity, discussion about sensitive issues like harassment in work place and diversity management. Equal Employment & Working Practices: Legislation related to equal employment, equal pay etc can be considered landmark events in changing the working practices in organizations. These developments changed the way personnel or HR departments functioned within organizations. These changes not just increased the working patterns of HR departments in particular but they also made organization wide differences. These laws affected all HR activities like planning, recruiting, selection, placement, training, compensation, performance appraisals etc. New legislation and update in existing legislation required HR personnel to stay abreast of different legalities. In carrying out different activities consideration of compliance to different employment laws became another responsibility of HR departments. Such laws in the past also resulted in lawsuits by government agencies, social welfare organizations and individuals in the event of non compliance. "Equal employment constraints have three origins: federal acts, state and local legislation and executive orders of the president. Each source has similar and sometimes overlapping objectives and jurisdictions" (Werther & Davis 2000). These laws brought the issue of bias and discrimination in the process of hiring or making contracts with the employees. This resulted in consciousness on part of management in the activities related to hiring and firing in particular. Later on amendments in the acts further gave rights to disabled people, pregnant women and people belonging to different religions or ethnicities. These changes improved the work environment as workforce belonging to different groups realized that these laws protect them from any kind of discrimination. However, these laws made people working in organizations realize that if they put in their efforts then everyone has equal chance of getting recognition for his or her performance. The main change that came about was the policy of rewards or punishments on the basis of performance only. These legislations gave new direction to the organizations. The work environment improved considerably and so the efficiency of personnel and overall organizations improved drastically. Discussion of Sensitive Issues: Modern organization with HR departments had different sensitive issue like harassment to face in their organizations. Hostile working environment to personnel belonging to a particular group related to sex, religion, ethnicity etc. may result in the issue of harassment. These issues are most difficult to deal with because they could be very subtle at times. Since these harassment cases are not related to performance or productivity they are most difficult to deal with. Many of the times people's comments on the basis of sex or religion can hurt someone's feeling and such person then can make harassment charges. These changes made HR department formulate special training programs and policies intimating workforce of the consequences of their actions or words. "Proactive departments are using awareness training programs to help employees understand the pain and indignity of harassment. Such programs if they are comprehensive and used aggressively can be highly effective" (Werther & Davis 2000). Issues like harassment that were generally brushed under the carpet can now be discussed openly. Employees have gained a lot of importance and most of their issues are now important as HR departments exist to serve them. Diversity Issues: Diversity is another element of modern HR practices. Organizations must work to get the benefits out of their diverse workforce. "By 2005 Hispanics are projected to be the largest minority population in America. Blacks and African Americans now account for 13 percent of the total, an increase of about 16 percent. Asian Americans have almost doubled their presence since 1990, to 4.2 percent of the total population. While whites still remain the largest single group in the United States--69 percent--that number is down from 76 percent in 1990" (Hayes 2004). Diversity is now considered a benefit rather than a problem by modern HR departments. The presence of minorities, people belonging to different religious, ethnic and social backgrounds add value to the overall work experience. If used productively such a diverse workforce can do wonders for an organization. Therefore, success of the business today depends on the skill of leaders related to the management of diversity. Today in most American organizations diversity has become a part of overall HR strategy. And a number of organizations have specialized diversity programs for attracting, retaining and managing diverse workforce. "The facts are clear by 2008, 70% of new entrants into the U.S. workforce will be women or minorities" (Hayes 2004). HR as Strategic Partner ROI concept gave way to strategic role of HR in an organization. Many changes taking place within organizational framework have enhanced the role of HR in the organization. Increasing role of information technology and fast changes taking place in the external business environment are considered important in bringing forth the strategic role of HR. Previously, HR had mainly administrative function to perform but with information technology has over the years taken over the administrative function from HR. After the most administrative tasks were taken over by technology then HR function became confined to recruiting, staffing, and developing individuals using their knowledge about the organization as a business and as a strategic entity. "Even IT cannot be harnessed without the fundamental role played by human and intellectual resources" (Thite). Now HR has greater role to play in strategic decision making because of its association with human capital. Since, human capital makes and implements strategy, so understanding and developing the capabilities to make and implement strategy requires a greater participation in the strategy making task. "Corporate HR practitioners are expected to have a strong command of business practices, to understand financials, to be able to quantify the effects of their programs on the bottom line and to sell their programs to management" (Solomon 1994). Another important aspect to consider here is that most of the time excellent strategies are formulated but such strategies fail because of failure in implementation. Strategy implementation requires certain capabilities and sills. If such skills do not support the strategies then failure of implementation takes place. "In short, execution failures are often the result of poor human capital management. This opens the door for HR to add important value if it can deliver change strategies, plans and thinking that aid in the development and execution of business strategy" (Lawler III & Mohrman 2003). New Concepts in Strategic Role of HR As HR assumes strategic role in an organization several new and important concepts affecting organizational culture and work environment came to be known. Some of these crucial concepts and changes are as: ROI Concept: ROI or Return on Investment is the new concept because of which HR considers employees as investment rather tan cost. Now the decisions related to employees are considered as important as the decisions on capital investment. ROI concept relates the employee and organization performance to HR activities. If the workforce accomplishes the strategies to take organization ahead and has the requisite skills to do so then HR succeeds in making an impact on performance through its policies. However, if there is opposite situation then HR has not evolved and is not doing enough to make things happen. The old concept of HR just being a function and looking at tasks like hiring, benefits, administration, training, performance management, rewards, communications etc. is no longer holds true. In new paradigm HR is considered a part of the bigger picture. HR is now supposed to take part in strategy making tasks and look at its function as investment in the long term future of organization and its employees. "Moving HR from a role of administrative expert to strategic partner is a big step for management. Not only must it change its view of its employees from costs to contributors, it must also evaluate the skills of its HR staff relative to its ability to partner with management and the work force to carry out this organizational initiative" (Pawlak 2005). Ownership and Shared Vision: Employees are an integral part of any organization and uplifting their motivations and enhancing transparency in human resource management ultimately increases their performance. Over the years the retention of employees has also been a big problem for many companies. They have been looking for answers to find out what concept in modern HR practices would help them in retaining a knowledgeable workforce. "As organizations escalate the war for talent, pay and programs are at risk of becoming commodities. They're relatively easy to duplicate. If a competitor is trying to lure away your people, it's not hard to compete with individual elements of employment such as wages and benefits" (Taylor 2002). Various articles, papers and books have been written on the concept of ownership and shared vision in organization. According to this important concept, an organization can succeed only if the employees working in it have the real sense of ownership and everyone in the organization shares the common vision. That is they are so involved with the business and activities of the organization that they own its problems and issues. In order to involve and motivate the employees and to inculcate a sense of ownership among employees, organizations carry out many activities. Sharing the vision and goals of the company is one of the most practical and fruitful ways of instilling the sense of ownership among employees. This philosophy builds trust and trust further creates a sense of ownership. In the environment of trust and ownership, overall goals and objectives of the company are understood by the employees in a better way resulting in better performance not just by the employees individually but also collectively by the company or organization. The example of companies like Texas instrument is well known. It implemented a plan calling for total involvement of its employees to improve quality in the whole company. The efforts paid dividends in the form of better performance by the employees. Similarly companies like Northern Telecom believe in investment in training of their employees as way to involve them in company goals and mission. This shows a clear move from consideration of labor force as expense to capital investment as way to make them an integral part of organization and its strategy. Empowerment: Empowerment is the next step in implementing the modern HR management philosophy. Opening the financial information for employees and making them understanding organizational goals is not enough. Employees must be empowered to take action based on the basis of their understanding of different situations and scenarios within the organization. This empowerment will develop their problem solving skill and they will become a part of the big picture. Whether employees are working individually or they are part of the cross-functional teams, HR departments and organizations today give employees the freedom and responsibility of making independent decisions. In order to win the trust of employees an organization must show reliance and confidence in its employees and their decisions. Good HR departments support the culture of experimentation and making mistakes and thus promote innovation and empowered culture. Work Groups & Cross-functional teams: Making workgroups is considered a better way to empower employees. When employees work as a team or work group they are responsible for the numbers they are contributing and the targets they are achieving. They become responsible for numbers because they monitor and follow output and try to find out ways to improve it. If they fail to achieve targets work group members can work together to resolve the issues. They may also justify some investments in improving the plant or process. "Today's cross functional teams combine talent, opinions, turf issues, problem solving, decision making and thinking (in and out of the box)" (Pawlak 2005). A Cross-Functional Team is formed when people with varied levels of skills, experience, backgrounds or departments are brought together for discussion and to accomplish a task. The nature of Cross-Functional Teams is sometimes permanent while usually it is ad hoc. In such teams people with different breadth and depth of knowledge, skills, and experience share their views and so as a result of this discussion people get to learn from each other's point of views. This practice not only enhances interaction and involvement of key organization personnel but they also generate new ideas. When IRS wanted to change to a new information system they created a Cross-Functional Team with people having expertise in job analysis, organizational development, change management, training, facilities, ergonomics, and industrial psychology that helped them in producing better results. It also showed to employees that they care about the human factor and ergonomics etc. also resulting in higher employee morale. Development Program & Career Planning: The concept of career planning or guiding them to achieve their personal goal has also gained tremendous importance in HR These important concepts of development and career planning in modern organizations suggest that an organization becomes a fort in the today's competitive business environment if it has a strong team of employees to support the organizational goals and mission. This concept of strong team of employees further illustrates that the workforce is not just for the current situation but is geared to the future needs of the organization. The future needs can only be met if the company has talent and it hones the talents of its employees to prepare them for future responsibilities by carrying out proper development activities. So, it's not just about having strong talented candidates for employees but it also involves engaging them in activities for a future position. If the company then has a pool of honed and geared-up talent ready to assume more responsibilities then it gives that organization an edge. "The prime advantages of building leadership talent, besides eliminating the disadvantages of going outside, are twofold. First, the organization gets to groom the next generation in line with its culture and strategic agenda. Second, the organization has greater control over the supply of leaders with the requisite skills, making strategic implementation faster" (Pernick 2001). In order to adapt to changes in the market place and to deal with unforeseen circumstances organizations keep a record of people with appropriate experiences and skills as a result of their leadership development program. The selection aspect becomes more important in the whole process. The selection coupled with training and development and mentoring can result in better succession program and a strong team. The absence of a proper development plan on the other hand may hamper the effective performance of the organization. Also, the development plan should pervade all levels of management identifying people with talent and potential for progression in the management cadre. Managers must see a strong team as a strategic move to steer the organization ahead in changing times. Conclusions HR has evolved from is initial task of dealing with the affairs of unions. Today HR is a business partner taking active part in the strategic decision making. HR can no more be compartmentalized or restricted to just the typical role of 'personnel' or 'HR' management. Human resources is the responsibility of the whole organization. Every department and every function must know the needs of human resource management because every department or function performs and achieves its goal with the help of its capable and empowered human resources. In the new human resource management philosophy a people centric approach with emphasis on ethics, values, fair play, trust, ownership, shared values, shred vision, learning, emotional intelligence, experimentation and many new and exciting concepts have gained tremendous importance. In today's competitive and dynamic environment success of businesses will depend on capitalization of their human capital. References: Pawlak, J. 2005, 'Make HR Department a Partner in Achieving Goals', Daily Herald, 12 Sept., p.2. Lawler III, E. & Mohrman, S.2003,'HR as a Strategic Partner: What Does It Take to Make It Happen', Human Resource Planning, Vol.26, No.3, p.15+. Daft, R. 1997, Management, The Dyrden Press, USA. Werther, JR., W. & Davis, K. 2000, Human Resources and Personnel Management, McGraw Hill Inc., USA. Ibarra, P. 2005,'Succession Planning: An Idea Whose Time Has Come', Public Management, Vol. 87, January-February. Jamrog, J. & Overholt, M. 2004, 'Building a Strategic HR Function: Continuing the Evolution', Human Resource Planning, Vol.27, Issue.1, p.51+. Hayes, C. 2004,'Diversity Leaders-Advancing Business Performance through Diversity' Black Enterprise, Vol.34, Issue.12, p.127+. Taylor, C. 2002,'Focus on Talent; Zoom In: Transferring Part of the Responsibility for Talent Retention from HR to Operations, to Leaders, Is a Cultural Shift. It's Likely That HR Will Gladly Share Ownership. Here's How Sprint Did It', T&D, Vol.56, Issue.12, p.26+. Gubman, E. 2004,'HR Strategy and Planning: From Birth to Business Results', Human Resource Planning, Vol.27, Issue.1, p.13+. 'Cross- Functional Teams', The Human Resource Development Council, Available at; http://www.humtech.com/opm/grtl/ols/ols3.cfm Betof, E. 2004, 'Leaders as Teachers', T&D, Vol.58, Issue.3, p.55+. Allen, R. & Helms, M. 2002, 'Employee Perceptions of the Relationship between Strategy, Rewards and Organizational Performance', Journal of Business Strategies, Vol.19, Issue.2, p.115+. Pernick, R. 2001,'Creating a Leadership Development Program: Nine Essential Tasks', Public Personnel Management, Vol.30, Issue.4, p.429. Solomon, C. 1994, 'When People Are the Bottom Line: No Longer a Place for Has Beens, Human Resources Moves to the Cutting Edge of Strategic Business Planning', Black Enterprise, Vol.24, Issue.7, p.131+. Thite, M. 2004, Managing People in the New Economy, Sage Publication, New Delhi. Pawlak, J. 2005,'Teams within a Business Do Best with Right Leader' Daily Herald, 28 March, p.2. Read More