Abstract
Management has the power to select either hard or soft dimension in HRM. The management choice is based on that management purely depends on whether the management emphasis is placed on the employees or the firms resources. Soft dimension seeks to let workers grow over time through coaching them it is based on McGregor theory Y. on the other hand hard dimension is based on McGregor X. in reality management borrows from both dimension so as to make labor policies human and applicable.
Flexibility in the work place is geared at making workers more productive. Several models of flexibility are adopted by different firms depending on external and internal firm’s environment. Flex time is geared at making the worker to effectively balance allocation of time in work and social life. This type of flexibility earns benefits to both employer and employee.
Earnest and Young company has made use of time flexibility. It allows workers to make crucial decisions regarding the number of hours to be allocated to work and those to be allocated to social life. Female employees of Earnest and Young have been the greatest beneficiaries of this flexibility.
HRM is differentiated from both IR and personnel management on several grounds. The main difference is that HRM seem to have welfare of workers at heart than both IR and personnel management.
Introduction
The soft and hard dimensions in HRM are based on different assumptions. First and foremost, hard dimension borrows widely from McGregor theory X while soft dimension has its basics drawn from McGregor theory Y. many firms have failed to make pure choice from both dimensions. They have preferred combination of both.
HRM has its basic goal of caring for the welfare of both the employer and employee. This is why HRM has been clearly distinguished from IR and personnel management.
Flexibility in work place has been used by firms to enhance workers satisfaction and improve efficiency. Earnest and young has made use time flex to enhance work flexibility and productivity
The management of every company is always at cross road in determining the choice of HRM dimension, all in all the decision made should enhance growth of both the work and the firm.
Management choice of either Hard or soft (loose-tight) dimension of human resource management purely depends on whether the management emphasis is placed on the employees or the firms resources. Guest (1987) emphasized that, soft HRM is closely linked with McGregor theory Y, utilization of human talents in work place as well as human relations movement. Soft HRM aims at making the employees very much committed to work. This is achievable when employees’ behavior is not controlled by any external pressure or any form of sanction but rather through self regulation. This creates high levels of trust between the organization and the employees formed on a strong base of effective communication. According to (Storey & Sisson, 1993) the soft or else the loose HRM model is associated with flexibility and adaptability of organizational goals. Creating mutual trust ensures workers are committed in all their duties this definitely results to high productivity. Therefore workers should be treated as very valuable company resources which give a company competitive advantage. This means that employee should be trained and allowed to develop to enhance their productivity.
The management control strategies are based on views of human nature defined in theory X by McGregor which states that people do not like to work, leads to tight managerial control on people through close direction. This puts lots of emphasis on the hard model and deploys usage of performance management techniques as tools. Theory Y, whereas maintains that when individual are self-motivated and are provided with a growth conducive environment, they exercise self direction and self control to achieve the goals the individual has been provided with (McGregor 1960, pp 326). The application of theory Y demonstrates the light control exhibited by management over its employees and is associated with soft model. The soft model assumes that employees work towards their best thereby increasing the company’s performance, when they are completely committed to the organization. It emphasizes that employees become committed to contribute towards achieving organizational goals when they are entrusted, trained and developed and are provided with autonomy to work. This is contrary to the tight version of management’s control put forth by hard model which defines the adherence of the employee’s to the goals and objectives of the company through the usage of performance appraisal system. There are many conflicts and tensions between the two models and ideally, though the soft model looks the perfect to be implemented, in practical situations, both soft and hard, light and tight approaches co-exist with the dynamics between them continuously changing.
On the other hand hard HRM emphasizes on the calculative, quantitative and business strategy of managing head count resource. The focus of hard HRM is on strategic fit where labor policies and practices are coherent among them and are closely tied with the goals and objectives of the organization. The employee has to follow strict policies of the organization. This perspective borrows a lot from the McGregor theory X, which suggests that human beings need to be compelled to perform to the expectations of the management. (Guest,1987)
It is clearly portrayed by (Guest, 1995) that there is conflict between self regulatory behavior and mutual trust advocated for in the soft HRM model verses minimal trust compounded by directing employees emphasized by the hard HRM model. The different assumptions of human nature under each model form the basis of this conflict. Though there is tension and conflict between the models, they all have a place in modern organizations.
It is possible to implement quality soft strategy and low cost hard strategy. Practically human resource policies never take any extreme of hard or soft model. Failure to borrow from both models only leads to deceptive representation of organizational labor policies.
Guest realizes the rift between the two models but does not embark on their distinctions in theory building. Guest, (1988, 1995) model has six dimensions: human resource strategy, human resource outcome, human resource practices, performance out comes, financial out comes and behavioral outcomes. According to him this core values should be integrated with strategic objectives of a firm. For example on outcome, the management may aim at reducing head count to enable expansion of the firm.
Behavioral outcome refers to how the employees react to certain issues through communication or other ways. Performance out comes refers to firms objective which monitors employees yearly performance e.g. the number of new clients the employer has brought on board over one year. Financial outcomes measure the increase in profits due to reduced costs.
The model has its bases on the assumption that traditional personnel management is different from human resource management. It emphasizes that fundamental elements such as commitments have direct relationship with performance of any firm. Guest was categorical that it is not easy to establish commitment relationship and high performance. Finally the guest model has lukewarm view on labor unions.
Differences between Storey’s definitions of HRM, personnel and IR practices
Storey (1992) has indicated that firms have evolved from personnel and IR to HRM practices. In his work he pointed out four elements which distinguish HRM from IR and personnel management. First and foremost HRM emphasizes on human capacity and commitment which is the cornerstone to organization growth. Secondly, HRM is critical for success of organization therefore top level management should consider it in strategic plans of every organization. Third, HRM has long term implication on every organization hence should be integrated to core business activities that is why line managers are involved are concerned. Finally recruitment, evaluation of workers performance as well as rewarding them should be used only for enhancing commitment of workers but not compliance.
To clearly distinguish HRM from IR and personnel management storey developed four basic outlines which include beliefs and assumption, line management, key levers and strategic concepts.
Under beliefs and assumptions he proposed that HRM aims are beyond contractual limits and aims at nurturing the worker through on job coaching but not policing every workers action. Therefore he called for unitary approach in HRM. This is unlike in IR and personnel management where the point of importance is drafting contract and monitoring employees. Rules and regulations in IR and personnel management are very critical but in HRM they are only put in place according to business needs and may sometimes be overlooked depending on the surrounding circumstances. In addition, HRM focuses on values as well as mission of the organization, this is central when making any major decision but in IR and personnel management the central focus is on norms.
The strategic aspect differentiates HRM from IR and personnel management on several grounds. First and foremost HRM follows business strategies in all its aspects, ensures that decision are made fast and strategies formulated are well integrated. On the other hand, IR and personnel management strategies are piece meal and the strategies are laid down very slowly.
Pertaining line management, HRM emphasizes on direct communication between management and employees to ensure that it is effective this is unlike IR and personnel management where communication is indirect. The key managers under IR and personnel management are specialist of their fields but in HRM makes use general managers. High standardization is emphasized in IR and personnel management unlike in HRM where standardization is not an issue of great concern. The management role HRM where management aims at transforming the organization while in IR and personnel the management has transactional role.
Key levers; in IR and personnel management jobs grades and categories are emphasized so much than in HRM. Due to this categorization of jobs employees are restrained from accessing courses which lead to promotion. In addition, there is excessive division of labor in IR and personnel management than in HRM where team work is emphasized to bring unity in work place. In HRM the aim of solving conflicts is to achieve long term stability unlike in IR where the management aims at settling dispute for short term harmony in the organization.
Flexibility in the Workplace
There are various forms in which flexibility can manifest itself in organizations, like the development of flexible manufacturing and operating systems, to achieve the labor flexibility four sources of flexibility are worth discussing here:
Functional Flexibility – Also referred to as task flexibility, this requires employees to be multi-skilled and is concerned with the ability to redeploy employees with appropriate training to difficult tasks and activities. This enables the organization to deploy the skills of the employees to match the task required by it changing strategies. This could be viewed as a deliberate policy to train and upgrade the skill of the people, hence considered as motivational. However, it is also argued that functional flexibility requires the workers to do additional work, with the employees undertaking an array of roles to overcome the labor shortage. The aim of this model of flexibility is to enhance productivity.
Another model of flexibility is the numerical model wherein the adjustments are made in the number of workers to meet the demand or fluctuations of output. It means that the numbers of employees can be increased and reduced to reflect the volume of demand for their services. This can be achieved through the deployment of the part-time staff, temporary workers or sub-contractors.
Temporal flexibility is also an additional model of flexibility which involves the allowance of variability of labor work time by varying patterns of hours worked in response to changing patterns of demand. This is achieved through:
Flexible working time – this includes for a given number of hours with a bandwidth of hours during the day. In this, the employees have to complete a certain number of hours working like 8 or 9 hours in a day and the office timings are not fixed.
Compressed hours – This means that in each working day, certain amount of hours are added which results in less number of working days in a wee. For example, in some companies 12 hours of office timings are mandatory which results in 4 working days in a week.
Job Sharing – For this, two or more employees are assigned one job demanding lot of commitment and the employees switch between them and share the responsibilities. This gives the organization’s the opportunity to deploy talented staff that can’t be deployed full-time due to budget or time constraints on either parts.
Financial model of flexibility is also an important flexibility criterion and demonstrates the ability of pay levels to reflect the external costs of labor and also the financial position of the business.
The flexibility of the organizations is defined by the concept of flexibility firms as proposed by Atkinson in 1984. This views an organization as consisting of core or key set of employees who possess the scarce skills or competencies that are highly specific to firm and are critical for the organization’s survival. These individuals tend to have high status, are well paid, have opportunities for promotion, and a fair degree of security. The employment condition for the core should encourage retention by providing training and career development opportunities to facilitate functional flexibility.
The rest of the employees in the flexible form are referred to as peripheral or contingent workers and enjoy none of the benefits given to core worker. These are categorizations within the peripheral group. The first peripheral group is given the status of full time employees but who are more vulnerable than core-workers. There is no need to achieve functional flexibility among this group as little training is required to perform the jobs, since they tend to be less skilled. The relatively high labor turnover of this group contributes to quick and simplified numerical flexibility.
The second peripheral group is made up of staff employed on a part time, temporary, or fixed term contract basis with limited skills, less chance of promotion are paid lower wages than the core employees. The third peripheral group comprises of the staff that is external to company like contract employees.
Such firms are said to flexible as they are able to flex their workforce in a number of ways. Numerically, they find it easy to reduce or increase their workforce in response to changes in market demand; functionally, they have a core of skilled talent that can adapt to new task demands; temporally, they can adapt by flexing the working hours of their employees to meet peaks and troughs in demand and they are financially flexible in the way they reward the workforce, by using performance related payment systems that enables wage costs to be related to outputs.
An alternative model on labor flexibility is Handy’s shamrock organization which can be defined as “cost of essential executives and workers supported by outside contractors and part-time help”. The theory of the shamrock organization is similar to the flexible firm in that it suggests that firm seek to cut fixed costs and increase flexibility by having several levels of workers. The model comprises of the following:
The professional core workers who conduct the key, company specific activities and who provide the core competencies and distinctive knowledge base of the organization; usually full-time salaried staff of middle and senior management grade.
The flexible labor force or peripheral workers includes part-time and temporary workers, often low-skilled and who perform non-company-specific jobs. They can be deployed as and when required, for example seasonal activities or projects. Staff in this group tends to be poorly paid and the firm makes little effort to invest in them, for example delivery drivers, systems analysts and more.
Contractual fringe comprises of external providers that can undertake non-core activities and provide specialist service more economically, for example self-employed, contractors and freelancers. In shamrock model, the fourth concept has also been added to the model which is the consumers who do some of the work of the organizations.
The flexibility models have innumerous implications for employees, which starts with:
Contract based flexibility – Job contracts are less closely defined in terms of of the tasks and duties of the permanent employee. There will be also a significant increase in the use of contract staff, that is, staff employed either on a casual basis or to complete designated projects.
Time-based flexibility – This provides the staff with the liberty to adjust their timings as per the requirement. The set timing schedule does not incorporate the flex timing whereas the time based flexibility incorporates this feature in the organizations.
Conclusion
It is illogical for any company to purely adopt soft or hard dimension of HRM. Every management seeks to strike balance between this two dimensions.
HRM is quit different from either IR or personnel management. HRM has the welfare of both the company and the workers at hand. It aims at promoting long term harmony and stability in work place unlike in IR and personnel management where the aim is enhance job categories and short term stability in the organization. (Storey& Sisson, 1994).
HRM decides to adopt time flex in work place with aim of helping the employees to balance their social and work life. Earnest and Young company has made full use of this flexibility. This has benefited both the management and the employees. The management benefits by reduced labor turn over as well as increased job satisfaction which results to increased productivity. The employees especially married women are able top achieve a perfect balance between work and family life. The management has put in place adequate measure to tame inefficiencies which may result from this flexibility.
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