FEBRUARY 25, 2019

MGMT 3017: HUMAN RESOURCES

MANAGEMENT
Drucker (1961) quoted in Legge (1995) remarked, “Personnel administration is partly a file-
clerk’s job, partly a housekeeper’s job, partly a social worker’s job and partly fire-fighting to
head off union trouble or to settle it.” Critically assess Drucker’s definition of personnel
administration by examining the evolution of the changing functions, roles and competencies
of human resource management.

ROGER BAILEY
Tutor: Renee Thompson Lecturer: Orville lynch
Introduction

Human Resource has evolved from many terms and functions such as human capital, laborers
and personnel. The few changes in these terms also mean changes in the way human resource
managers plan their strategies in managing employees. Human resources is used to describe
those who work for an organization and also the department responsible for managing employee
related resources. The evolution of Personnel administration/Human Resource Management has
progressed from times when people were abused in working conditions to the modern
environment where people are valued, respected and viewed as important members to their
respective organizations.

History of origins: Human Resources

The origins of HRM can be dated back to the 18th century in Western Europe and United States
of America when the Industrial Revolution laid the basis for a new and complex industrial
society. This period saw the USA shifting from Agricultural economy to an industrial economy.
In the historical context of HRM, the first two to be noted for classical management perspective,
began by Robert Owen, a British Industrial reformer and Charles Babbage an English
Mathematician; they noted that workers were important resources in an organization and
expressed concern for their personal welfare (Griffin, 2007). Being a mathematician, Babbage
(1833) emphasized the division of labor because this would bring about specialization of
employees which would result in perfect work. The division of labor aspect had a drawback that
if an employee is down, then the station of work would also be down.

In the early 19th century, productivity grew in businesses and as businesses were expanding,
there was a short fall of sufficient labor. Factory owners forced employees to work long hours
under difficult conditions with little pay. Employees were treated as production machines whose
main priority was to meet profit targets. The industrial revolution began with the substation of
stem power and machinery for time consuming manual labor. In response to this need, experts
began to focus on ways to improve the performance of individual workers. This work led to the
development of Scientific Management advocated by Frederick Taylor and others (Griffin, 2007,
p. 13).

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Scientific management looked at how the performance of individual workers can be measured
scientifically and not by the judgment of a supervisor. Taylor stated that scientific observation of
employees would reveal one best way to do any task. In this study, skills needed for a particular
job were identified and workers were hired and trained to perform that particular job and were
rewarded with a piece rate system. Taylor supervised by a method he called soldiering
employees’ deliberately working at a pace slower than they were capable of because they were
paid for what the piece of job that was measured for them. Scientific management dealt with jobs
of individual employees and as a result this caused the working conditions, social patterns and
the division of labor to diminish because these changes of work patterns led to widening the gap
between workers and factory owners and there was no work relationship.

Around the late 18th century a branch of classical management perspective that focused on
managing the total organization, called administrative management was contributed by Henri
Fayol and others. Using his own management experience he tried to systematize the practice of
management to provide guidance and directions to other mangers. Fayol was the first to identify
the common managerial functions of planning, organizing, leading and controlling (Griffin,
2007). Taylor’s contribution created bureaucracy in organizations and a barrier to open
communication between employees and management and as a result barred efficiency in the
work system.

The Hawthorne studies of around the late 19th century merged the Hawthorne researchers near
Chicago, USA led by Elton Mayo who 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. (Carrell & Elbert, 1996, pp. 8-
9). Therefore the Hawthorne study concluded that payments for work was not the best incentive
to motivate employees to work but that social acceptance played a major role in employee
performance. From the Hawthorne studies, grew the Human relations movement proposed that
workers performed better if their social conditions are satisfied. The study was later improved
by other popular theories that went along with Mayo’s theory, McGregor’s theory X and Theory
Y, Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Victor Vroom’s Expectation theory (Thite, et al.,
2009). The approach of human relations was the opposite of Taylors and seemed to work best for
employees. Maslow proposed that people are motivated by a hierarchy of needs, including

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monetary incentives and social acceptance and McGregor’s theory X and Theory Y model best
represents the essence of human relations movement. Mayo, Maslow and McGregor’s research
have shown that employees’ feelings, emotions and sentiments were strongly affected by such
work conditions as group relationships, leadership styles and support from management.

Personnel Administration

Personnel Administration is also known as an earlier term for Human Resources Management.
Just as people of a country are its whole and sole the same way personnel (employees) are for an
organisation to make it successful. However, manpower (raw labor/people who are able to do
work) itself does not contribute to the success/development of the organisation, it has to be
converted into human resources through systematic planning, adequate training and proper
education. Human resource is converted to human capital through adequate administration and
human resources are the most important and valuable asset and part of an organisation as over
time their value never depreciates, in fact it only increases with the passage of time unlike other
assets and resources of an organization. Adequate usage of human resources/personnel
automatically ensures optimum utilization of financial, physical and technological resources.

With the emergence of democratic institutions and the welfare state, government as well as
corporates' tasks are on a steep increase and so there is an increased demand for personnel at
every level in terms of efficient discharge of their duties, and it is the job of the Personnel
Administration department to assure that this demand is met at the right time with the suitable
candidates.

Personnel Administration does not have a standard definition but still there is unanimity among
writers on one that is as put by Flippo " Personnel function is concerned with the procurement,
development, compensation, integration and maintenance of the personnel and their inter-
relationships in an organization for the purpose of contributing toward the accomplishment of
that organization’s major goals and objectives (1976).”

Thus, Personnel Administration deals with recruitment, placement, training, disciplinary

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measures, curbing nepotism and favoritism, monetary and non-monetary incentives and
retirement benefits of the personnel within an organization as well as handle the nature of
personnel relationships in the organization as well as assisting the top management in negotiating
with labor unions. Drucker (1961) quoted in Legge (1995) remarked, “Personnel administration
is partly a file-clerk’s job, partly a housekeeper’s job, partly a social worker’s job and partly fire-
fighting to head off union trouble or to settle it.” Personnel administration also includes all those
activities and functions relating to policy formulation, planning, policy implementation, social
change and modernization, administrative reforms and public relations in an organization.

Personnel Administration is affected by the socio-economic-political environment as well. For

example, in the era of welfare and developmental programs, personnel/employees are now
expected to be more efficient, effective, sympathetic and competent. People's involvement in
administration is also increasing via NGOs, NPOs, Civil Society and other policies and programs
of the government.
Personnel are to perform 'line' and 'staff' functions, line functions refer to those activities related
to the primary activity of the organization and the staff functions are those which facilitate and
assist the performance of line work. Like staff perform the functions of processing and supplying
required number of personnel and training and development of personnel whereas those
personnel perform the field and executory works of the organizations goals and objectives.

It is not a simple area of management in today's times as Personnel management/administration

has to keep the motivation and morale of the personnel high every time for them to whole
heartedly perform the humongous tasks they have at hand efficiently and competently as well as
sympathetically. Thus we can see that without an efficient personnel management/administration
or more popularly as it is called Human Resources management contributing to Human
Resources/Personnel Development, it is impossible to achieve organizational goals and become a
successful organization.

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Human Resources management

The term Human resource management has to a larger extent replaced the term personnel
management from around the late 20th century emerging from the development and introduction
of new theories such as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. As earlier defined by different writers,
HRM is the set of organizational activities directed at attracting, developing, and maintaining an
effective workforce.
Human Resource Management (HRM) is a modern term for what has traditionally been referred
to as personnel administration or personnel management (Rue & Bryars, 2000, p. 3).
HRM transformed from personnel management with the goals of carrying out the overall
strategy of seeking to provide Human resource management policies and practices that
reinforced the organizations’ policies and culture.

This meaning is based on the understanding that human resources are uniquely important in
sustained business success. An organization gains competitive advantage by using its people
effectively, drawing on their expertise and ingenuity to meet clearly defined objectives (Bach,
2005). Therefore, HRM is aimed at recruiting capable, flexible and committed people,
managing and rewarding their performance and developing key competencies. The current role
of human resource management encompasses more than just taking care of employees. It is also
a strategic partner with the organization carrying out the functions of management with greater
emphasis on planning, monitoring and control rather than on problem solving and mediation.
Organizations now realize that the effectiveness of their HR functions has an important impact
not only on top managers, but on all other employees as well.

The changing Roles of Human Resource Management

Today’s dynamic work environment has also enacted dynamic responsibilities for Human
Resource managers. The human resource manager’s job is no longer that of hiring, paying and
firing, it includes broader and more strategic responsibilities. As the world becomes a global
village, it means the human resource manager also has become a global manager and more
globalizations means more competition and more completion means more pressure to be ‘world
class’ (Dessler, 2005, pp. 10-11). Therefore to achieve this, the HR manager is now expected to
be a productive and an alert person in the affairs of employees and that of the organization. The

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HR manager also has to be conversant with the country’s labor laws in which she or he operates
from and this means to be able to formulate regulations and guidelines for the organization that
are competitive. The HR manager has to be sensitive to the needs of the diversified group of
employees and understand their social culture backgrounds while at the same time uphold the
standards of the organization.

The human resource manager is expected to embrace technological advances as most

organizations are involved in technology in the way they transact business such as the training
processes. The HR manager must embark on improving in technology every day in the daily
tasks of the organization such as preparing manuals and specifications for work schedules and
expectations. These can range from the hiring process, the interview process and the training
process. The nature of work for the HR manager is changing every day because jobs are more
technologically demanding from production to the sale point. Therefore, employees need
professional computer training skills to achieve these demanding and changing jobs.

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Harvard Model of Human Resources Management

Figure 1 Harvard Model of Human Resources Management (Beer, et al., 1984)

The Harvard Model (also referred to as the Harvard Map or Framework) was devised to help managers in their
assessing of the effectiveness of human resource policies and practices. Created by Michael Beer et al1, it takes
analytical approach to the causal factors or determinants of HRM policies. It offers the architects of a strategic HR
process a valuable opportunity to model the potential outcomes of people decisions. It is useful in
showing that HRM theories are way broader than simply a personnel function. It consists of five

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(Beer, et al., 1984)

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main factors supporting the central principle of the utilization of employees to ensure the
achievement of an organization’s desired goals, namely the stakeholder interest, situational
factors, HRM policy choice, HR outcome and long-term consequences (Nankervis, et al., 2008).

Managers and personnel specialists, according to the Harvard model, must work together to
ensure that the organization has an appropriate flow of people to meet its strategic requirements.
Human resource flow concerns managing the flow of people into, through, and out of the
organization. This means making decisions on recruitment and selection, promotion, termination
of employment, and related issues of job security, career development, advancement, and fair
treatment. Reward systems regulate how employees are extrinsically and intrinsically rewarded
for their work. Extrinsic rewards are tangible pay and benefits: pay, overtime pay, bonuses, profit
sharing, pensions, holiday entitlement, health insurance; and other benefits, such as flexible
working hours. Intrinsic rewards are intangible benefits and are said to strongly influence
employees’ motivation, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Intrinsic rewards are
rewards from the work itself, such as sense of purpose, achievement, challenge, involvement,
self-confidence, self-esteem, and satisfaction (Salah, 2016). The Harvard model recommends
that employees should be highly involved in the design of an organization’s reward systems but
observes that final decisions, besides meeting employees’ needs, must be consistent with the
overall business strategy, management philosophy, and other HRM policies. Work systems are
the ways in which people, information, activities, and technology are arranged, at all levels of the
organization, so that work can be performed efficiently and effectively.

Conclusion
As noted, the term Human Resource management has progressively evolved through the
centuries mainly replacing personnel management. The few changes in these terms have brought
about changes in the way human resource managers function. Personnel management was
viewed as a department that carried out rules and regulations of the employee welfare. Today
Human resource management is viewed more than that, it looks at working conditions to the
modern environment where people are viewed as strategic partners to business and are valued
and respected because they bring profit to the organization.

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The human resource management approach remains integrated to the organization’s core strategy
and vision, and seek to optimize the use of human resource for the fulfillment of organizational
goals. This strategic and philosophical context of human resource management makes it more
purposeful, relevant, and more effective compared to the personnel management approach.

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Works Cited
Analytic Technologies, 2015. Hawthorne Studies. [Online]
Available at: http://www.analytictech.com/mb021/handouts/bank_wiring.htm
[Accessed 20 February 2019].

Babbage, C., 1833. On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures. 3rd Edition Enlarged ed. London:
Cambridge University Press.

Bach, S., 2005. In Manageing Human Resources: Personnel Management in Transition. 4th ed. Oxford:
Blackwell Publishing.

Beer, M. et al., 1984. Managing Human Assets. s.l.:Macmillan USA.

Carrell, M. & Elbert, N. H. R. G. P., 1996. Human Resources Management in South Africa. s.l.:Prentice Hall
South Africa.

Dessler, G., 2005. Human Resources management. 6th ed. s.l.:Prentice Hall .

Drucker, P., 1961. The Practice of management. s.l.:HarperBusiness; Reissue edition (October 3, 2006).

Flippo, E., 1976. Principles of Personnel Management. s.l.:Mcgraw Hill Publications.

Griffin, R., 2007. Pricnciples of Management. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Legge, K., 2005. Human Resources Management Rhetorics and Realities. Anniversary Edition ed. s.l.:Red
Globe Press.

Lewis, P., Millmore, M. & Morrow, T., 2007. Strategic Human Resources Management, Contemporary
Issues. s.l.:Prentice Hall.

Mathis, R. & Jackson, J., 2007. Human Resource Management. 12th ed. Ohio: Thomson South- Western.

Nankervis, A., Compton, R. & Baird, M., 2008. Human Resource Management. 6 ed. s.l.:Cengage
Learning Australia.

Rue, L. & Bryars, L., 2000. Human Resources Management. 6th ed. St Louis: Irwin Mcgraw Hill.

Salah, M., 2016. The Influence of Rewards on Employees Performance. British Journal of Economics,
Management & Trade, Issue 12, pp. 1-25.

Thite, M., Michael, K. & Johnson, R., 2009. Evolution of Human Resouces Management and Information
Systems. s.l.:s.n.

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