BLHR: BL Human resources
Human resources is term which in many organizations describes the combination
of traditionally administrative personnel functions with performance management,
employee relations, and resource planning. The field draws upon concepts
developed in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. Human resources has at least
two related interpretations depending on context. The original usage derives
from political economy and economics, where it was traditionally called labor,
one of four factors of production. The more common usage within corporations and
businesses refers to the individuals within the firm, and to the portion of the
firm's organization that deals with hiring, firing, training, and other
personnel issues.
Key functions
The objective of Human Resources is to maximize the return on investment from
the organization's human capital and minimize financial risk. It is the
responsibility of human resource managers to conduct these activities in an
effective, legal, fair, and consistent manner. Human resource management serves
these key functions:
Human resources
Modern analysis emphasizes that human beings are not "commodities" or
"resources", but are creative and social beings that make class contributions
beyond 'labor' to a society and to civilization. The broad term human capital
has evolved to contain some of this complexity, and in micro-economics the term
"firm-specific human capital" has come to represent a meaning of the term "human
resources."
Advocating the central role of "human resources" or human capital in enterprises
and societies has been a traditional role of socialist parties, who claim that
value is primarily created by their activity, and accordingly justify a larger
claim of profits or relief from these enterprises or societies. Critics say this
is just a bargaining tactic which grew out of various practices of medieval
European guilds into the modern trade union and collective bargaining unit.
A contrary view, common to capitalist parties, is that it is the infrastructural
capital and (what they call) intellectual capital owned and fused by
"management" that provides most value in financial capital terms. This likewise
justifies a bargaining position and a general view that "human resources" are
interchangeable.
A significant sign of consensus on this latter point is the ISO 9000 series of
standards which requires a "job description" of every participant in a
productive enterprise. In general, heavily unionized nations such as France and
Germany have adopted and encouraged such descriptions especially within trade
unions. One view of this trend is that a strong social consensus on political
economy and a good social welfare system facilitates labor mobility and tends to
make the entire economy more productive, as labor can move from one enterprise
to another with little controversy or difficulty in adapting.
An important controversy regarding labor mobility illustrates the broader
philosophical issue with usage of the phrase "human resources": governments of
developing nations often regard developed nations that encourage immigration or
"guest workers" as appropriating human capital that is rightfully part of the
developing nation and required to further its growth as a civilization. They
argue that this appropriation is similar to colonial commodity fiat wherein a
colonizing European power would define an arbitrary price for natural resources,
extracting which diminished national natural capital.
The debate regarding "human resources" versus human capital thus in many ways
echoes the debate regarding natural resources versus natural capital. Over time
the United Nations have come to more generally support the developing nations'
point of view, and have requested significant offsetting "foreign aid"
contributions so that a developing nation losing human capital does not lose the
capacity to continue to train new people in trades, professions, and the arts.
An extreme version of this view is that historical inequities such as African
slavery must be compensated by current developed nations, which benefited from
stolen "human resources" as they were developing. This is an extremely
controversial view, but it echoes the general theme of converting human capital
to "human resources" and thus greatly diminishing its value to the host society,
i.e. "Africa", as it is put to narrow imitative use as "labor" in the using
society.
In a series of reports of the UN Secretary-General to the General Assembly over
the last decade [e.g. A/56/162 (2001)], a broad intersectoral approach to
developing human resourcefulness has been outlined as a priority for
socio-economic development and particularly anti-poverty strategies. This calls
for strategic and integrated public policies, for example in education, health,
and employment sectors that promote occupational skills, knowledge and
performance enhancement.
In the very narrow context of corporate "human resources", there is a
contrasting pull to reflect and require workplace diversity that echoes the
diversity of a global customer base. Foreign language and culture skills,
ingenuity, humor, and careful listening, are examples of traits that such
programs typically require. It would appear that these evidence a general shift
to the human capital point of view, and an acknowledgment that human beings do
contribute much more to a productive enterprise than "work": they bring their
character, their ethics, their creativity, their social connections, and in some
cases even their pets and children, and alter the character of a workplace. The
term corporate culture is used to characterize such processes.
The traditional but extremely narrow context of hiring, firing, and job
description is considered a 20th century anachronism. Most corporate
organizations that compete in the modern global economy have adopted a view of
human capital that mirrors the modern consensus as above. Some of these, in
turn, deprecate the term "human resources" as useless.
As the term refers to predictable exploitations of human capital in one context
or another, it can still be said to apply to manual labor, mass agriculture, low
skill "McJobs" in service industries, military and other work that has clear job
descriptions, and which generally do not encourage creative or social
contributions.
In general the abstractions of macro-economics treat it this way - as it
characterizes no mechanisms to represent choice or ingenuity. So one
interpretation is that "firm-specific human capital" as defined in
macro-economics is the modern and correct definition of "human resources" - and
that this is inadequate to represent the contributions of "human resources" in
any modern theory of political economy.
Human resource development
In terms of recruitment and selection it is important to consider carrying out a
thorough job analysis to determine the level of skills/technical abilities,
competencies, flexibility of the employee required etc. At this point it is
important to consider both the internal and external factors that can have an
impact on the recruitment of employees. The external factors are those out-with
the powers of the organization and include issues such as current and future
trends of the labor market e.g. skills, education level, government investment
into industries etc. On the other hand internal influences are easier to
control, predict and monitor, for example management styles or even the
organizational culture.
In order to know the business environment in which any organization operates,
three major trends should be considered:
Demographics – the characteristics of a population/workforce, for example, age,
gender or social class. This type of trend may have an effect in relation to
pension offerings, insurance packages etc.
Diversity – the variation within the population/workplace. Changes in society
now mean that a larger proportion of organizations are made up of female
employees in comparison to thirty years ago. Also over recent years
organizations have become more culturally diverse and have increased the number
of working patterns (part-time, casual, seasonal positions) to cope with the
changes in both society and the global market. It is important to note here that
an organization must consider the ethical and legal implications of their
decisions in relation to the HRM policies they enact to protect employees.
Employers have to be acutely aware of the rise in discrimination, unfair
dismissal and sexual/racial harassment cases in recent years and the detrimental
effects this can have on the employees and the organization. Anti-discrimination
legislation over the past 30 years has provided a foundation for an increasing
interest in diversity at work which is “about creating a working culture that
seeks, respects and values difference.”
Skills and qualifications – as industries move from manual to a more managerial
professions so does the need for more highly skilled graduates. If the market is
‘tight’ i.e. not enough staff for the jobs, employers will have to compete for
employees by offering financial rewards, community investment, etc.
In regards to how individuals respond to the changes in a labour market the
following should be understood:
Geographical spread – how far is the job from the individual? The distance to
travel to work should be in line with the pay offered by the organization and
the transportation and infrastructure of the area will also be an influencing
factor in deciding who will apply for a post.
Occupational structure – the norms and values of the different careers within an
organization. Mahoney 1989 developed 3 different types of occupational structure
namely craft (loyalty to the profession), organization career (promotion through
the firm) and unstructured (lower/unskilled workers who work when needed).
Generational difference –different age categories of employees have certain
characteristics, for example their behaviour and their expectations of the
organization.
Recruitment methods are wide and varied, it is important that the job is
described correctly and any personal specifications stated. Job recruitment
methods can be through job centres, employment agencies/consultants,
headhunting, and local/national newspapers. It is important that the correct
media is chosen to ensure an appropriate response to the advertised post.
Modern concept of human resources
Though human resources have been part of business and organizations since the
first days of agriculture, the modern concept of human resources began in
reaction to the efficiency focus of Taylorism in the early 1900s. By 1920,
psychologists and employment experts in the United States started the human
relations movement, which viewed workers in terms of their psychology and fit
with companies, rather than as interchangeable parts. This movement grew
throughout the middle of the 20th century, placing emphasis on how leadership,
cohesion, and loyalty played important roles in organizational success. Although
this view was increasingly challenged by more quantitatively rigorous and less
"soft" management techniques in the 1960s and beyond, human resources had gained
a permanent role within an organization.
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