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Samenvatting Principles of HRM
- Établissement
- Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Samenvatting van het vak Principles of human resource management. Gemaakt aan de hand van de lessen en de syllabus. Geslaagd in eerste zit met 16/20.
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Principles of human resource management1. The balancing act of managing human resources
What is human resource management?
Human resource management (HRM) refers to the constellation of decisions and actions associated with
managing individuals throughout the employee life cycle to maximize employee and organisational
effectiveness in attaining goals
This includes functions that range FROM analysing and designing jobs & recruiting individuals TO apply
for jobs, selecting individuals to join organisations, training and developing people while they are
employed, helping to manage their performance, rewarding and compensating employee performance
and protecting and improving employees’ well-being HRM is about making decisions about people
Human resources matter
Human resources: refer to the pool of human capital under the firm’s control in a direct
employment relationship – simply put, the people employed by an organisation
Human resource practices: are the organisational activities directed at managing the pool of
human capital and ensuring that the capital is employed towards the fulfilment of organisational
goals example: employer branding, structured job interviews, outward bound training,
multisource feedback, …
“People are the most important asset” is often used in the modern corporate world – HR should be seen
as a key function, but this however is not the case, why?
HR managers lack business acumen
HR is too narrowly focused on pursuing efficiency instead of value
HR pursues standardization and uniformity in the face of a workforce that is heterogeneous and
complex
The main message
Human resources are one of the primary means of creating ‘sustained competitive advantage’
for the organisation
To do so, the human resource architecture needs to be aligned with the business strategy and
needs to be internally consistent
Good human resources management considers the context in which the company operates
(culture, legislation, industry, etc.)
These aligned practices will ensure a continuous influx of skilled and motivated personnel, who,
when given the opportunity, will exert efforts that benefit the business strategy
Certain positions hold more significance than others in achieving the organisation's strategy,
justifying the need for a differentiated HR policy
HR is seen as an integral component of business operations, thus students in this course are
expected to acquire proficiency in the language of business
We position ourselves in the role of HR professionals; consequently, this course does not offer
optimal recommendations for prospective or current employees (e.g., advice on job applications
or salary negotiations)
The course's central focus lies in the connection between HR and value creation. In each chapter,
we explore how HR can contribute to the organisation's strategy. Therefore, this course does
not revolve around 'soft' HRM (e.g., organising team-building activities or corporate picnics);
rather, it concentrates on how well-considered HRM can enhance overall firm performance
Performance and well-being
Human resources are active individuals with past experiences, internalized values, and norms not
necessarily matching those of the employing organisation – they belong to a range of different
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,communities both inside and outside the organisation and their behaviour is only partially governed by
the institutions for which they work so, in this course we go beyond seeing employees as a means to
an end, that is, as an instrument to outperform competitors, and take instead a humanist perspective
that employees are an end in themselves, worthy of being developed and nurtured
We argue that organisations have an important social role to play and are at least partially responsible for
the well-being of their employees – they should care for the well-being of the people they employ, not
primarily because a healthy workplace leads to better results (which is indeed the case) but because well-
being is important
HR roles and competencies
After years of research, in 1998 Dave Ulrich presented his ‘HR business partner’ model in which he
identified four distinct roles for the HR professional along two axes:
strategic versus operational focus
processes (HR tools and systems) versus people
The four roles are: HR as administrative expert, as employee champion, as strategic partner or as change
agent
HR as administrative expert (processes - operational focus)
In this role, HR should become an expert in the way work is organised and executed, delivering
administrative efficiency to ensure that costs are reduced while quality is maintained
HR professionals should try to improve the efficiency of their own function, lowering costs by removing
steps or leveraging technology – similarly, they can prove their value as administrative experts by
rethinking how work is done throughout the entire organisation, not only their own function
It is by improving efficiency that HR will build credibility, which, in turn, will open the door for it to
become a partner in executing strategy (example: job analysis, recruitment and selection, compensation
systems, performance appraisal and management, …)
HR as employee champion (people - operational focus)
This role entails vigorously representing employees’ concerns to senior management and at the same
time increasing employees’ commitment to the organisation and their ability to deliver results – HR
professionals must be held accountable for ensuring that employees are engaged
Creating an engaged workforce can be achieved by offering employees challenging work, opportunities
for personal and professional growth, and by providing resources that help employees meet the demands
put on them
HR professionals must have a good understanding of how (re-)designing jobs impacts employee morale,
and job design should be considered a core function of HRM & HR staff must be an advocate for
employees, representing them to management and be their voice in management discussions
HR professionals aim to influence workers’ ability, motivation, and opportunity to contribute to firm
performance – employee champions spend their time with working with union representatives,
promoting employee involvement and participation, communicating, and installing trust, monitoring
work stress and job satisfaction, and managing ‘psychological contracts’
HR as strategic partner (processes - strategic focus)
HR should become a partner with senior and line managers in strategy execution, this does not imply that
HR should now be the sole responsible for making strategy – strategy remains the responsibility of the
company’s executive team, of which HR is a member
HR managers need to have a good understanding of the ‘organisational architecture’ – after all, HR
systems are part of the overarching organisational design, consisting of organisational goals, strategy,
processes, structure, culture, and technology, all of which mutually influence each other and need to be
considered conjointly
HR can assess the extent to which the components of the organisational design are ‘(mis-)aligned’ and
can take the lead in proposing changes – relatedly, HR should take stock of its own work and set clear
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,priorities that follow from the organisation’s goals and strategy, and that are most likely to be linked to
business results (example: translating corporate strategy into specific, supportive HR-activities, aligning
HR-processes, implementing HR information systems, …)
HR as change agent (people - strategic focus)
HR should become an agent of continuous transformation, shaping processes and a culture that together
improve an organisation’s capacity for change (as change agents HR professionals do not themselves
execute change, but they make sure that it is carried out – they need to provide change tools and models
to their organisation and guide executive teams through it)
In a next stage, change readiness needs to be assessed and employees need to be empowered to act in
ways consistent with the vision the change agent is mainly concerned with preparing people for
change, managing organisational culture, conflict resolution, action plans, monitoring progress, and
making change last
CONCLUSION: the role of the HR specialist is multifunctional, acting as both a facilitator and leader of the
strategic direction of the firm
HR roles in context
All HR professionals are operating within a certain organisational and national context context can
alter the importance/relevance of the various HR roles (the importance of HR roles differs according to
time and place)
The role of HR has changed significantly over time
During the industrial revolution the emphasis was on efficiency
Around 1880 a countermovement followed, with more attention being paid to employee welfare
In the 1980s, with increasing globalization, the emphasis shifted to HR as a strategic partner
Today, agility is the new buzzword, forcing HR to play the role of change agent
HR needs to fulfil all roles, but some roles are at times more central than others – survey research found
that HR practitioners are more likely to aspire involvement in the strategic dimensions of Ulrich’s
typology rather than the operational roles
HR competencies
The term competency refers to an individual’s demonstrated knowledge, skills, or abilities, and other
characteristics, including personality (KSAOs)
Ulrich and colleagues identified nine competencies:
Strategic Positioner: Able to position a business to win its market
Credible Activist: Able to build relationships of trust by having a proactive point of view
Paradox Navigator: Able to manage tensions inherent in business (including long-term and short-
term tensions, and top-down and bottom-up tensions)
Culture and Change Champion: Able to make change happen and manage organisational
culture
Human Capital Curator: Able to manage the flow of talent by developing people and leaders,
driving individual performance, and building technical talent
Total Reward Steward: Able to manage employee well-being through financial and nonfinancial
rewards.
Technology and Media Integrator: Able to use technology and social media to create high
performing organisations
Analytics Designer and Interpreter: Able to use analytics to improve decision making
Compliance Manager: Able to manage the processes related to compliance by following
regulatory guidelines
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, Ulrich and colleagues concluded that HR professionals need to behave as Credible Activists to get invited
to business discussions; they need to be Strategic Positioners to serve customers and investors; and they
need to be Paradox Navigators to deliver business value
the job of an HR professional is multifaceted and inherently paradoxical, and it requires a versatile
balancing act to reconcile all roles and responsibilities
History of HRM
Pre-industrial revolution: guild members were entrepreneurs and personnel departments, but
we cannot yet speak of real personnel management
Industrial revolution: start of rationalization of work, employees were assets to entrepreneurs,
start of the labour problem (peaked 1917-1919 when personnel management was born)
Industrial welfare, scientific management, human relations, and industrial psychology
- Industrial welfare: welfare work involved employer expenditures to improve the lot of
workers that were above and beyond cash compensation and legal requirements
- Scientific management (Taylor): employers sought ways of enhancing efficiency and
productivity, thus creating scientific management – these methods diminished workers’
autonomy and stressed that employees should be supervised closely to ensure that they
performed the job exactly as expected
- Human relations movement: emphasizing the importance of social factors in output, it
challenged the assumption that people do not want to work, and it stressed that people
make important contributions to organisations
- Industrial psychology: paid much more attention to the worker himself and the individual
differences between workers – psychology could make many contributions to the testing,
selection, training, and motivation of employees
WWI and WWII: for the first time there also rose a clear need for a separate personnel
administration, which functioned in a centralized manner under the authority of a personnel
director and was responsible for the welfare and efficiency of employees
Personnel management after WWII: all separate management activities and practices, with the
common feature of being employee-oriented, are assigned to the personnel department – there
was focus on labour relations and the quality of work life
From personnel management to SHRM: since the 1970s, human resources management has
evolved from a function aimed at preserving the status quo, social peace, and good labour
relations to one of the most important and critical functions for efficient and innovative
management
The future of HRM
Evidence-based HRM: make decisions based on the best available evidence
Big data and e-HRM: reduce administrative workload by making all personnel information easily
accessible
Sustainable HRM: people should be put back at the centre (= people policy)
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