Strategic Human Resource Management and Deeply Rooted Personnel Management Model - Example

Running Head: STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Strategic Human Resource Management [Name Of Student] [Name Of Institution] STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT INTRODUCTION The purpose of this paper is to discuss the extent to which Strategic Human Resource Management differs from the deeply rooted personnel management model. Therefore in this paper I provide Human Resource Management and Personnel Management with a complete, comprehensive review of essential personnel management concepts and techniques in a highly readable and understandable form. Throughout this paper I have emphasized the basic blocks of personnel management and human resource management by focusing mainly on the concepts and techniques all managers need to carry out their personnel related tasks. DISCUSSION While discussing personnel management, for the sake of ease I shall sub-divide it into four sections, the first dealing with Recruitment and Placement, the second with Compensation and Motivation, the third with Appraisal and Development, and the fourth with the Environment of Personnel Management (Cascio, 2004). The Recruitment and Placement includes dealing with employment discrimination, organizing and analyzing jobs, personnel planning and recruiting, interviewing job candidates, other (noninterviewing) selection techniques, and orientation and technical training. That is, they are very much "how to" oriented and, where a weakness exists, it is typically an under emphasis on the "why". For example, in the interviewing, the kinds of errors that can occur and it also outline a number of useful suggestions that, if implemented, might reduce these errors. They do not deal in any substantial way, however, with the reason(s) why these errors occur. Why, for example, does negative information get weighted more heavily than positive information in the interview? (Daniel, 2005)Perhaps it is because of its uniqueness (i.e., it is unusual and unexpected) or because of an underlying motive to use whatever means available to reduce the number of job applicants to a manageable number. Whatever the explanation, however, an understanding of the reason why such errors occur is more likely to result in eliminating or reducing it than is simple awareness of its occurrence. Discrimination has become a major issue in personnel selection and should be used it to illustrate the importance of evaluating the reliability and validity of selection devices. With this emphasis on practical considerations, managers may be more motivated to "plough through" what might otherwise be considered somewhat esoteric topics such as the validation process (Daniel, 2005). On the negative side, relatively little emphasis is paid on the discussion of reliability and validity in the context of the interview and reserve the principal discussion of these issues (e.g., how to measure them) for management people (Cascio, 2004). The need to increase the reliability and validity of the interview, the failure to place equal emphasis on these issues is likely to promote rather than reduce the apparently pervasive belief that conducting interviews as opposed to administering "tests" is a way of avoiding costly and time-consuming validation procedures. It is also noteworthy that the managers do not discuss factors beyond validity (e.g., selection ratio, base rate, cost/benefit ratio) as criteria for evaluating the utility of a selection device (Cascio, 2004). Nor do they discuss the methods for combining information derived from several sources to arrive at a selection decision. Finally, the part on training, although emphasizing the importance of evaluation, gives little attention to the methods of evaluation (i.e., experimental and quasi-experimental methods) and their relative merits. Although a matter of this nature may not be the place for a comprehensive discussion of program evaluation, the managers might have taken the opportunity in addressing future personnel administrators to make them aware of the basic issues involved in evaluating training. The section of personnel management on Compensation and Motivation includes fundamentals of motivation, establishing pay plans, financial incentive, benefits and services, and non-financial methods for improving performance. Again these are oriented toward practical issues in personnel management (Loden and Rosener, 2004). The opening theme on motivation provides an overview and evaluation of the major theories of motivation, including the need theories, equity theory, and expectancy theory. The managers then refer to these theories in subsequent issues dealing with the administration of pay and benefits to indicate how an understanding of worker motivation can be used to improve administration procedures and increase worker effectiveness (e.g., by tying pay to performance) (Shoop, 2004). The morale and employee performance, participation and performance (including MBO and goal setting), job enrichment, and behavior modification are also an integral part of personnel management. Although admittedly these can all be considered "non-financial methods for improving performance, their importance cannot be undermined. The third section of personnel management focuses on Appraisal and Development. The first two deal with methods of conducting performance appraisals and providing appraisal feedback, respectively (Cascio, 2004). In line with the general theme of the study, the discussion for managers now revolves largely with the "how to" aspects of appraisal (i.e., how to construct reliable and valid appraisal measures and how to provide appraisal feedback in such a way as to increase the likelihood of positive change and decrease the likelihood of defensiveness). Students training to be managers, as well as individuals who are currently in positions where they must conduct appraisals, will find a number of valuable suggestions in this area of personnel management. The last part of personnel management deals with employee and management development as well as organizational development. The element of employee and management development has more in common with the earlier part on technical training than it does with organizational development (which is often erroneously confused with management development and, if for no other reason, should be treated separately) (Daniel, 2005). The final link of the personnel management deals with the Environment of Personnel Management and includes labour relations and grievances, employee safety and health, and personnel management, career planning, and quality of work life. These are very vital and deal with important issues in human resource management. They appear, however, to deal with a number of "leftover" issues which, although important in their own right, are relatively unrelated (Cascio, 2004). In dealing with the material, managers view human resource management from a broadly managerial point of view. They approach HRM from the perspective of the manager who uses personnel activities in the course of making the organization work--as opposed to approaching HRM from the perspective of the personnel professional who is responsible for making HRM programs work. The authors use the managerial approach effectively. In fact, I think its best when manger deals with the ways in which HRM activities are influenced by the organization's internal and external environment and the ways in which HRM activities influence organizational outcomes. The clearest example of this approach is found in the operation of the HRM function or department within an organization. If you are a person on the outside looking in, the critical issues are the mission of the personnel department within the overall organization, line and staff coordination, and the evaluation of the department's effectiveness (Loden and Rosener, 2004). All of these are extensively discussed in the scope of HRM. We should view the HRM function from the perspective of the personnel professional. Therefore, little space is devoted to the structure of the personnel department, the maintenance of personnel records, and the formulation and implementation of personnel policies in HRM. The model views the outcomes of HRM activities as attraction, performance, retention, attendance, satisfaction, and "other," which recognizes outcomes of interest to individual organizations (Johnston, 2004). The HRM activities that affect these outcomes are divided into two broad categories, support and functional. The functional activities, which include staffing compensation, labor relations, job design, and occupational health and safety, directly affect the HRM outcomes. The support activities, on the other hand, have indirect effects. These activities include job analysis, performance appraisal, and human resource planning (Cascio, 2004). In the model, the effects of HRM activities are moderated by the motivation and ability of the organization's members and by the nature of the jobs they are asked to perform. The model further recognizes that all HRM activities and outcomes are affected by external factors such as economic and market forces, labor unions, and the legal/regulatory environment. I find the broad managerial focus to be very obvious even when the managers describe the functional area of HRM. As an example, one of the best basic blocks of HRM deals with labor-management relations (Bernhard, 2005). Although it elaborates on contract negotiation and administration, their focus is on the environment of collective bargaining, especially the external economic, competitive, and legal environment. When discussing the collective bargaining agreement, they emphasize the ways in which bargaining issues have been affected by recent environmental changes and the consequences to the organization, in terms of cost and flexibility, of the alternative contract provisions. The emphasis on the broad managerial perspective comes at a cost, however, a tendency to underemphasize important technical detail. That is not to say that the managers do not include technical detail (Mirvis, 2004). They do. Rather, when technicalities are discussed, they play a supporting role to the primary purpose of the discussion, which is to discuss HRM from a managerial point of view. Technicalities that do not make a contribution to understanding the decisions a manager must make may receive only brief mention. As an example, validity plays an important role in evaluating the utility of selection programs. Therefore, the managers describe in some detail the various forms of validity. But they devote only a brief period to the concept of reliability, which is of greater psychometric than managerial interest. The subordination of the technical to the managerial can also be seen in the way the managers approach the role of legal issues in HRM. Early in the training, the managers briefly review various federal laws that apply to HRM (Johnston, 2004). In principle, these laws receive more detailed treatment as they relate to the material in the various issues. Because these laws frequently represent the technical details of personnel management, however, they frequently receive cursory treatment. Consistent with their approach, the managers from the HRM point of view do not have an Equal Employment Opportunity chapter. Instead, EEO issues are raised in various other meetings as they fit with the topic under discussion. This is effective if the purpose is to discuss all aspects of a managerial issue; however, it tends to fragment the discussion so that the reader does not get a sense of the underlying principles of EEO law and the technical issues involved (Shoop, 2004). Another indication of the managers' desire to avoid technical detail is the fact that they rarely refer to specific court cases in the text material (although reference is made in footnotes). This may be the managers' attempt to avoid unnecessary technicalities. However, the effect is to deprive the reader of a sense of the legal/technical constraints that affect managerial decisions in the HRM area (Cascio, 2004). Because of the treatment of technical detail, it seems to me that this may not be the best choice in a course for personnel majors. CONCLUSION In sum, Personnel Management is a model for managers of personnel and human resource management (Cascio, 2004). It is clearly stated, uses examples to illustrate important points, and includes cases and exercises to allow students to "practice" what they learn in the course of dealing with people. This is reflected, for example, in the fact that the managers are sometimes less critical of the research findings than they might be, and are too ready to make recommendations based on these findings. REFERENCES Bernhard, H., and Ingols, C. (September-October 2005). Six lessons for the corporate classroom, Harvard Business Review, 88: 40-48. Cascio, (2004a), Applied psychology in personnel management (4th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall. p. 40 Cascio, (2004b), Costing human resources: The financial impact of behavior in organizations (3rd. ed.). Daniel, C., and Rose, B. (2005). Blending professionalism and political acuity: Empirical support for an emerging ideal, Public Administration Review, 51: 438-441. Hudson Institute (2005). Opportunity 2007: creating affirmative action strategies for a changing workforce, Indianapolis: The Hudson Institute. Johnston, W., and Packer, A. (2004); Workforce 2007: work and workers for the twenty-first century, Indianapolis: The Hudson Institute. Karr, A., (June 19, 2007). Workplace panel is urging changes in schools, on job, The Wall Street Journal: C-15. Klingner, D. and Nalbandian, J. (2003). Public Personnel Management: Contexts and Strategies, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 3rd. Loden, M., and Rosener, J. (2004). Workforce America! Managing Employee Diversity as a Vital Resource, Homewood, ILL: Business One Irwin. Mirvis and B. A. Macy, (2004). Human resource accounting: A measurement perspective. Academy of Management Review, Shoop, T. (May 2004). Paying for performance, Government Executive, pp. 16-18. Solomon, J. (February 10, 2006). Firms address workers' cultural variety: the differences are celebrated, not suppressed, The Wall Street Journal, p. B-1. UK Office of Personnel Management (April 2003). Strategic Plan for Personnel Automation. London, DC: Personnel Systems and Oversight Group, Office of Workforce Information. UK Office of Personnel Management (August 2006). Manage to Budget Programs, London, DC: Office of Systems Innovation and Simplification, Personnel Systems and Oversight Group, PSOG-203). UK Office of Personnel Management (May 2004). Federal Total Quality Management Handbook, London, DC: Federal Quality Institute. UK Office of Personnel Management (November 2007). Strategic Plan for Federal Human Resource Management, London, DC: Office of Systems Innovation and Simplification. Read More