Introduction to Human Resource Management - Essay Example

Running Head: INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Introduction To Human Resource Management [Insert [Insert of Institution] Introduction To Human Resource Management Developments during the last decades of the twentieth century have produced what may be termed an era of globalization. As business has continued to globalize or migration of many companies to other economies, one of the most challenging aspects has focused on how UK firms manages its human resources to sustain a competitive advantage. Scholars from several disciplines are addressing these issues-coming at them from the perspective of strategy, cross-cultural management, international business, organizational theory, sociology, and personnel management. It appears that the traditional boundaries between academic disciplines and functional areas are becoming more highly integrated and that the globalization of business is having a significant impact on human resource management and organizational performance. The world of work and organization has become increasingly demanding and turbulent. There are eight major challenges currently facing United Kingdom organizations. These are: globalization, migration of many companies to other economies, increasing revenue and decreasing costs, building organizational capability, change and transformation, implementing technology, attracting and developing human capital, and ensuring fundamental and long-lasting change. Thus, levels of competition among organizations have increased. In present period of the migration of many companies to other economies, the UK organizations can replicate technology, manufacturing processes, products, and strategy. On the other hand, personnel management practices and organization are difficult to reproduce, in this manner representing an exceptional competitive advantage. To be successful in the future, UK organizations will have to build organizational capability. Personnel management professionals and personnel management practices will be required to create value by increasing organizational competitiveness. Traditional views on competitive advantage have emphasized such barriers to entry as economies of scale, patent protection, access to capital, and regulated competition. More recent views have highlighted a different source of competitive advantage, a firm's human resources and behavior of employees at different levels of the corporate hierarchy. New demands facing UK organizations as a result of the migration of many companies to other economies, heightened competition, globalization, and technological advances have put a premium on creativity and innovation, speed and flexibility, as well as efficiency. The critical firm assets do not appear on a balance sheet but reside, instead, in behaviors of employees working at different levels of the corporate hierarchy and management systems. The role of company strategy, human resources, and personnel management in company performance is being rethought. Rather than seeing the personnel management function as a cost, a personnel management system that supports a company's strategy should be seen, instead, as an investment, a strategic lever for the organization in creating value. The 2000s witnessed a growth in research interest in examining the link between personnel management strategies and practices and UK companies' financial performances. In the past research studies have shown a strong positive relationship between the two, and this relationship has been observed in studies of one company, one industry, and multiple industries (Brown et al., 2003). Brown et al., (2003) have shown in three separate national surveys (over 2,400 companies) an economically and significant impact on several measures of company performance. They observed a link between changes in the sophistication of a company's personnel management architecture and dollar change in market value per employee, suggesting three stages of personnel management practices on company performance. How do UK organizations create strategy that adds value to investors, customers, and employees Organizational capability is the key and both personnel management professionals and line managers need to work together to achieve this. Burke and Cooper (2004) articulate the reasons why a people-based strategy pays dividends. High-performance management practices that are selective hiring, extensive training, sharing of information, etc. lead to performance results like innovation, productivity while being hard to copy; in the long run, profitability is maintained. Personnel management practices influence employee skills through the acquisition and development of human capital. Effective recruitment and selection practices can provide the company with highly qualified applicants. Training and development opportunities contribute to increasing human capital. Personnel management practices can also influence levels of motivation through the use of performance appraisals, pay-for-performance incentives, and internal promotions systems based on merit. Personnel management practices can also influence the design of work so that highly motivated and skilled employees can use what they know in performing their jobs. The past decade has produced research evidence supporting the critical role personnel management plays in the success of an organization. This evidence has been generated in a variety of different types of UK organizations including manufacturing, professional services, and health care. Cooper (2002) depicts the role of the personnel department in a new light. Personnel management professionals must create policies and practices that make employees more competitive. They require having both personnel management theory and practice in their toolbox. Personnel management initiatives must have a measurable impact on business results. These efforts should increase intellectual capital and add value. Managers need to implement these best practices. Personnel management professionals need to position personnel management as a competitive advantage that adds business value. Line managers need to understand that personnel management practices build up organizational capabilities that, in turn, become a critical source of competitive advantage. In addition, managers need to invest time and resources in expanding organizational capability. Roe (2003) advocate that personnel management focus on the role of human capital steward. This would include deciding on the investments in human capital, developing flexible individuals and UK organizations able to respond to changing demands and use human capital effectively to reach organizational goals. For too long, UK organizations have increasingly become short-term, bottom-line focused with more attention paid to cost cutting than training and development. The trade-off between profits and people is, in fact, an unnecessary opposition. The most successful companies balance an interest in people and productivity. This collection endorses this balance: healthy people and healthy UK organizations go together. It is also important to consider the contemporary context. Organizations, facing increased needs for innovation, speed, and productivity are demanding more of their employees-both their hearts and minds. In turn, the most highly educated workforce the world has ever seen is demanding more of their organizational employers. They want challenge, influence, recognition, development, and ownership. It is easy to view much of the personnel management writing on new approaches to managing people and UK organizations as faddish. In order to understand the ethical considerations consider that following are the characteristics of personnel management practices in UK likely to be "cute, popular and faddish personnel management trends." 1 It is simple and claims to solve complex problems. 2 It claims to apply to and help everyone. 3 It is not anchored or related to any known and generally accepted theory. 4 Proponents hesitate to present it in academic settings or write about it in refereed journals. 5 Proponents cannot tell you exactly how it works. 6 It is a "track" topic at 75 percent of the conferences you attend. 7 Its proponents claim that it has changed their lives and that it can change yours too. 8 Its greatest proponents are those with the least experience in the field. a) Proponents claim that the only way to really understand it is to try it personally. b) It cannot be explained or demonstrated. 9 It is just too good to be true. While amusing, these statements ring all too true. For too long, personnel management practices have been adopted as "quick fixes" and implemented in a rushed and superficial manner. When expected immediate benefits were not evident, UK organizations jumped to the next "one-minute" solution. Brewster argues (1994) that UK personnel management practices that are likely to be successful are not faddish, hard to understand, or hard to understand why they work, or contingent on a company's particular organizational strategy. But to be effective, these personnel management practices must be interrelated and internally consistent. Although we are beginning to understand more about effective personnel management practices, significant challenges remain in the application of this knowledge. It takes significant time to achieve a competitive advantage through the workforce. Organizations doing well may feel no need to change; UK organizations doing poorly may face immediate pressures making it, too, unlikely to change. Managers may not use the knowledge they have about effective personnel management. There also may not be enough communication of best-practice knowledge. In addition, managers may know something that researchers do not. Finally, some personnel management practices may be risky and often fail. However, Brewster estimates that only about one-eighth of efforts to change management and organizational approaches will introduce personnel management practices that lead to organizational success. Of those who read about these concepts, one half will not believe the evidence, one half of the other half will attempt a quick fix, and only one half of those undergoing substantial change will persist in their efforts. Considerable research has shown that UK organizations do not use current or innovative personnel management best practices. In fact, very few personnel management practitioners even read the research literature. Personnel management research has become increasingly technical, making it more difficult to keep up with the literature. It may also be that personnel management practitioners do not see the personnel management research as being relevant or useful in meeting their needs. Rynes et al. (2003) surveyed personnel management managers to determine whether their beliefs about personnel management best practices were consistent with the latest research findings. It was assumed that personnel management professionals were the ones responsible for spreading information about effective personnel management to their UK organizations and helping line managers develop personnel management strategies to achieve business objectives. They concluded that personnel management practitioners lacked knowledge about best practices supported by research evidence. Rynes et al. (2003) conducted a study of business recruiters' espoused preferences for students with both technical skill and behavior of employees at different levels of the corporate hierarchy. Students tend to believe that recruiters favor technical skill. Although recruiters indicated a preference for students that combined both, they gave the same employability rating to students who only took functional/technical course work. There is considerable evidence that business students are skeptical about the value of courses in personnel management and. Yancey et al. (2003) believe that personnel management practitioners and personnel management researchers move in different circles (i.e., belong to different professional associations, read different publications, attend different conferences). They surveyed 45 industrial-organizational psychologists, examining where they published, what conferences they attended, and what they knew about the personnel management practitioner community. Their findings indicated that industrial-organizational psychologists shared their research ideas with each other rather than with personnel management practitioners. What can be done about this state of affairs The first step is to see this crisis in personnel management legitimacy as a systemic, not a local, problem. Other suggestions include: more clearly defining the personnel management knowledge base, forming alliances with other teaching disciplines having greater legitimacy, doing better research on the teaching of personnel management, being more critical of negative practices and proposing even more positive organizational futures. References Brewster, C. (1994) European HRM: Reflection of, or challenge to, the American concept. In P.S. Kirkbride (ed.) Human Resource Management. London: Routledge, pp. 56-89. Brewster, C. and Hegewisch, A. (1994) Policy and Proactive in European Human Resource Management: The Price Waterhouse Cranfield Survey. London: Routledge. Brown, M.P., Sturman, M.C., and Simmering, M.J. (2003) Compensation policy and organizational performance: The efficiency, operational and financial implications of pay levels and pay structure. Academy of Management Journal, 46, 752-762. Burke, R.J. and Cooper, C.L. (2004) Leading in Turbulent Times. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Inc. Cooper, C.L. and Burke, R.J. (2002) The New World of Work. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Inc. Roe, R.A. and van den Berg, P.T. (2003) Selection in Europe: Context, developments and research agenda. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 12, 257-287. Rynes, S.L., Trank, C.Q., Lauson, A.M., and Ilies, R. (2003) Behavioral course work in business education: Growing evidence of a legitimacy crisis. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 2, 269-283. Yancey, G., Wagner, S., Baxa, J., Alkouri, K., and Haugen, E. (2003) Is the dissemination of knowledge about industrial-organizational psychology too insulated Psychological Reports, 92, 723-730. Read More