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Summary Industrial Psychology 244 Notes
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- Stellenbosch University (SUN)
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- HR MANAGEMENT IN SA.
Comprehensive summaries of Human Resources Management in South Africa
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Human Resource Management 244Summaries
CHAPTER 1: THE FOUNDATION AND
CHALLENGES OF HRM
,Human Resources: Past and Present
1. Scientific Management
The first radical change in what most owners and managers of the early
1900s generally considered the most effective means of managing employees
o Constant supervision and the threat of the loss of their jobs
Before scientific management
o All employees were considered equally productive
o If their productivity did not measure up, their employment deserved to
be quickly terminated
Instead of relying of fear and intimidation, managers should take a scientific
and objective approach in studying how work could be most efficiently
designed
Workers who produce output above the standard must receive additional
incentive pay
The results of scientific management techniques received widespread praise
in the newspapers around the world and its principles spread quickly,
generally with success
This approach resulted in work methods and techniques that showed great
concern for employee output but little concern for employee satisfaction
The concept of the economic man held that a worker is motivated primarily
by economic gain and that a worker’s output can be maximised only through
financial incentives
Taylor created the differential piece-rate system whereby workers would
receive a higher rate of pay per piece produced after the daily output standard
had been achieved
The personnel departments of large companies had the traditional
responsibilities of recruiting, selection, training and health and safety; but the
main focus of their activities was the implementation of scientific management
techniques
During this period, many personnel departments also actively supported
welfare programmes that addressed the needs of the employee
2. Human relations
During the 1930s and 1940s, management’s attention shifted from scientific
management to human relations
The Hawthorne studies
o Employee productivity was affected not only by the way the job was
designed and the manner in which employees were rewarded
economically but also by certain social and psychological factors
o Employee’s feelings, emotions and sentiments were strongly affected
by such work conditions as group relationships, leadership styles and
support from management and that those feelings could have a
significant impact on productivity
, o Treating employees with dignity would both enhance employee
satisfaction and enable the achievement of higher productivity
The personnel department was primarily responsible for designing and
implementing programmes such as the supervisory training programmes
The shift to human relations was also influenced by the growing strength of
unions in SA and all over the world during this period
With unionisation came formal grievance procedures, which provided
employees with a measure of protection against arbitrary or despotic
supervision
The human relations approach achieved only minimal success in increasing
worker output and enhancing job satisfaction
This is attributable to
o The approach was based on an oversimplified concept of human
behaviour in an organisational setting
o The approach failed to consider the concept of individual differences
o The approach failed to recognise the need both for job structure and for
controls on employee behaviour
o The approach failed to recognise that good human relations are but
one of many conditions necessary to sustain a high level of employee
motivation
3. The human resources approach
Organisations benefit in two significant ways from this approach
o An increase in organisational effectiveness
o The satisfaction of each employee’s needs
The human resource approach holds that organisational goals and human
needs are mutual and compatible
The term became popular in the 1970s
o Research in the behavioural sciences showed that managing people as
resources rather as factors of production, or as human beings who act
solely on the basis of emotions, could result in real benefits to both the
organisation and the employee
Principles that provide the basis for a HR approach
o Employees are investments that will provide long-term rewards for the
organisation in the form of greater productivity
o Policies, programmes and practices must be created that satisfy both
the economic and emotional needs of employees
o A working environment must be created in which employees are
encouraged to develop and utilise their skills to the maximum extent
o HR programmes and practices must be implemented with the goal of
balancing the needs and meeting the goals of the organisation and the
employee
, Strategic Human Resource Management
Involves making those decisions that define the overall mission and objectives
of the organisation, determining the most effective utilisation of its resources,
and crafting the strategy in ways that produce the intended results
SRHM activities addresses a wide variety of people issues relevant to the
business strategy
Strategic HR problems are the responsibility of every manager in every
department
The HR staff are themselves resources to be called on in support of operating
managers
To be successful, the HR manager will need to acquire a complementary set
of competencies which can be classified as follows
o Business mastery
HR manager will need to know the business of their organisation
thoroughly and their strategies
o HR mastery
HR manager will have to keep abreast of changes relating to
issues such as staffing, development, appraisals, rewards,
team-building and communication
o Change mastery
HR manager will have to be able to manage change processes
so that HR activities are effectively merged with the business
needs of the organisation
o Personal credibility
HR manager must establish personal credibility
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