Summary
Summary HRM2605 Summarised Study Notes
- Institution
- University Of South Africa (Unisa)
Latest exam pack questions and answers and summarized notes for exam preparation. for assistance. All the best on your exams!!
[Show more]
Connected book
Book Title:
Author(s):
- Edition:
- ISBN:
- Edition:
1 review
By: matthewkoeberg • 1 year ago
Content preview
HRM2605NOTES
, HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
HRM 2605
TOPIC 1
STUDY UNIT 1:
Chapter 1: The foundation of Human Resources
Introduction
Human Relations
The scientific management approach of the 1930’s and 1940’s shifted to human relations. The Hawthorne
studies demonstrated that 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.
Hawthorne researches discovered that employees’ feelings, emotions and sentiments were strongly affected
by work conditions such as group relationships, leadership styles and support from management and that
those feelings could, in turn have a significant impact on productivity. The Mayo – Roethlisberger research led
to the widespread implementation of behavioural science techniques in industry.
The shift to human relations was also influenced by the rise of unionism word wide and in South Africa, and as
a result of strikes on the mines in South Africa the first Industrial Conciliation Act was passed in 1924. This Act
gave workers the legal right to organise and bargain collectively with employers in disputes about wages, job
security, benefits and other work conditions. Although the Act, did not legislate good human relations it did
compel many employers to improve their personnel programmes (i.e. employee relations) in an effort to keep
unions out.
With unionisation came formal grievance procedures, which provided employees with a measure of protection
against subjective or despotic supervision. The human relations approach was instrumental in improving the
working environment of many workers, but it achieved only minimal success in increasing worker output and
job satisfaction.
The Human Resource Approach
The human relations approach fell out of favour with management during the 1950’s and 1960’s, and
considered passé today. While good human relations are still an important organisational objective, the human
relations approach is no longer guides the leadership style within organisations.
The emerging trend in HR management is clearly toward the adoption of the HR approach, through which
organisations benefit in two significant ways, namely:
• An increase in organisational effectiveness, and the
• Satisfaction of employee needs.
Rather than addressing organisational goals and employee needs as been separate and exclusive, the human
resource approach holds that organisational goals and human needs are mutual and compatible. The HR
1
,approach became popular in the 1970’s as research in the behavioural sciences showed that managing people
as resources rather than as factors of production could result in real benefits to both the organisation and the
employee. A number of principles provide the basis for a HR approach, namely:
• Employees are investments which provide long-term rewards to the organisation in the form of greater
productivity when effectively managed and developed.
• Policies, programmes and practices must be created that satisfy both the economic and emotional
needs of employees.
• A working environment must be created in which employees are encouraged to develop and utilise
their skills to the maximum extent.
• HR programmes and practices must be implemented with the goal of balancing the needs and meeting
the goals of both the organisation and the employee.
Strategic Human Resource Management
With the fast-paced global economy long-term planning in the form of strategic management is becoming ever
more important. Strategic management involves making those decisions that define the overall mission and
objectives of the organisation, determining the most cost effective utilisation of its resources, and crafting and
executing the strategy in ways that produce the intended results.
Strategic Human Resources Management (SHRM) activities address a wide variety of people issues relevant to
the business strategy.
Previously, people issues were the sole function of the personnel department. Today strategic HR problems are
the responsibility of every manager in every department. HR staff members are resources who are called on in
support of operating managers. All managers who are responsible for people are in effect HR managers.
An HR manager needs to acquire the following competencies in order to be successful:
• Business mastery: The HR manager will need to know the business of their organisation thoroughly.
• HR mastery: The HR manager will have to keep abreast of changes relating to issues such as staffing,
development, appraisals, rewards, team building and communication.
• Change mastery: The 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.
• Personal credibility: The HR manager must establish personal credibility; this is done by standing up for
their beliefs and being fair-minded in dealing with others.
Human Resource Functions
Because the human resource function within each organisation is unique to that organisation, the activities of
the HR department will vary from organisation to organisation. The activities that are likely to be assigned
exclusively to the HR department are:
• Compensation and benefit issues, such as insurance administration, wage and salary administration,
unemployment compensation, pension plans, holiday/leave processing and flexible benefits accounts.
• Employment, Affirmative action and employment equity,
• Job analysis programmes,
• Pre-employment testing,
• Attitude surveys (research)
2
, The HR department is also likely to carry out some activities jointly with other departments in the organisation,
including interviewing, productivity/motivation programmes, training and development, career planning,
disciplinary procedures and performance appraisals.
Job analysis and design
For an employee to perform satisfactorily, their skills, abilities and motives to perform the job must match the
job’s requirements. A mismatch may lead to poor performance, absenteeism, turnover and other problems.
Through a process called job analysis, the skills and abilities to perform a specific job are determined. Various
job analysis techniques exist.
Recruitment, selection, induction and internal staffing
To a great degree, the effectiveness of an organisation depends on the effectiveness of its employees. Without
a high-quality labour force, an organisation is destined to have mediocre performance. The recruitment of
human resources is a critical HR function, and involves activities such as the analysis of the labour market, long-
term planning, interviewing and testing.
Once employees are placed in their post it is important that they are introduced to their organisation, tasks,
superiors and co-workers through a process known as socialisation or orientation.
Appraisal, training, development and career management
The growth of an organisation is closely related to the development of its human resources. A strong employee
development programme does not guarantee organisational success, but such a programme is generally found
in successful, expanding organisations.
One important developmental function is the appraisal of employee performance. During an appraisal process,
employees become aware of any performance deficiencies they may have and are informed of what they must
do to improve their performance.
While career management is difficult to implement, advances in recent years have brought about
improvements in the decision making processes that affect employees’ careers.
Compensation and health
The issue of compensation has posed problems for HR managers for a long time. Questions arise such as “how
should, jobs be evaluated to determine their worth?”, “Are wage and salary levels competitive? And are they
fair?”, “Is it possible to create an incentive compensation system tied to performance?”
An increasingly important part of compensation is employee benefits. The cost of benefits for many
organisations averages as much as 40% of total pay roll costs, and because of this employers are trying to
control benefit costs without seriously affecting the overall compensation programme.
A newer area of concern to the employee today is health and safety. Each year, accidents, injuries and
occupational diseases cost billions of Rands in medical expenses, medical insurance, equipment damage and
production problems.
Labour relations
3
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through EFT, credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying this summary from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller iStudy. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy this summary for R50,00. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
78799 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy summaries for 14 years now