Focus in Management is on efficient and effective use of resources to satisfy organizational objective, The Concept of HRM was first defined by Bakke in 1966, who was of the opinion that as with all other resaources in the business that needs to be properly managed and utilized, the optimum utilization of Humans as resource is inevitable for the success of any business organisation, thus the term Human Resource Management was coined.
Origin of HRM
Focus in Management is on efficient and effective use of resources to satisfy organizational objective, The Concept of HRM was first defined by Bakke in 1966, who was of the opinion that as with all other resaources in the business that needs to be properly managed and utilized, the optimum utilization of Humans as resource is inevitable for the success of any business organisation, thus the term Human Resource Management was coined.
Bakke (1966) wrote that:
"The general type of activity in any function of management is to use resources effectively for an organizational objective. The function which is related to the understanding, maintenance, development, effective employment, and integration of the potential in the resource of people’ I shall call simply the human resources function."
The above definition resonates between the continum of Individual Objectives and the Organisational objectives. The ultimate desire is to achive the business mission but through focus on individuals who are entrusted to carryout business activities, this could be done through variety of means, for instance, development of skills base, make business environment where effective results could be attained and creating a communicative and network environment where knowledge sharing is a normal activity.
The Development of the Concept of HRM
Two schools of thoughts exist on the issue of how different is HR from Personnel Management, the first is of the opinion that HRM and Personnel Management are just terms, both have sames processes and what is now called HRM was previously known as personnel management, Armstrong (1987) belongs to this school of thought and called HRM a virtual replacement of the term 'personnel management', with almost no different between HRM and PM. He noted that:
"HRM is regarded by some personnel managers as just a set of initials or old wine in new bottles. It could indeed be no more and no less than another name for personnel management, but as usually perceived, at least it has the virtue of emphasizing the virtue of treating people as a key resource, the management of which is the direct concern of top management as part of the strategic planning processes of the enterprise. Although there is nothing new in the idea, insufficient attention has been paid to it in many organizations."
However, there is another opinion as well that comes from commentators such as Guest (1987) and Storey (1995), who found HRM as a different model built on unitary (employees share the same interests as employers), individualism (Rewarding and Developing Employees), high commitment and strategic alignment (integrating HR strategy with the business strategy). They further noted that HRM is more holistic than traditional personnel management.
HRM Policy Goals
Strategic integration
HRM Strategies shall from from the Organisational Strategies, it is off utmost importance that HR Strategies are inline with the Organisational Startegy, that would help establish a direction, focus and unified approach to business performance, for instant if Organisational Strategy is focused on Improving Business Performance through Quality that HR strategies shall focus on how to improvde the quality of the employees, how to enhance employee learning, how to create an environemt where the focus is on knowledge sharing, building networks of information.
High Commitment
HR needs to bring positive change in both the Attitudes and Behaviours of the employees, Behavioural commitment to act in a way that would aid in attainment of the agreed goals , whereas attitudinal commitment reflected in a strong identification with the enterprise through change in values of the employees, bringing positive change in liking for the organisational objective and believing in the vision and mission of the business enterprise.
High Quality
High Quality is the utmost objective of any business firms for the products and services it produces, its about taking actions that ensures efficiency and effectiveness , it requires management to ensure quality business environemt, provision of quality resources and investment in high quality employees.
Flexibility
Hard HRM is a thing of the past, people cannot be treated like other organisational resources, they demand attentions, care, empathy, motivation, commitment and better work environment, HR shall work towards creation of an adaptable organization with structure and systems with the capacity to manage innovation and learning.
David Guest (1987, 1989a, 1989b, 1991)
References
Bakke, E W (1966) Bonds of Organization: An appraisal of corporate human relations, Archon, Hamden.
Armstrong, M (1987) Human resource management: a case of the emperor’s new clothes, Personnel Management, August, pp 30-35.
Guest, D E (1987) Human resource management and industrial relations, Journal of Management Studies, 14 (5), pp 503-21.
Guest, D E (1989a) Human resource management: its implications for industrial relations’, in (ed) J
Storey, New Perspectives in Human Resource Management, Routledge, London.
Guest, D E (1989b) Personnel and HRM: can you tell the difference? Personnel Management, January, pp 48-51.
Guest, D E (1991) Personnel management: the end of orthodoxy, British Journal of Industrial Relations, 29 (2), pp 149-76.
Storey, J (ed) (1995) Human Resource Management: A critical text, Routledge, London.
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