hrp 013n new form managing seminar_main_2010 july 27

8/8/2019 Hrp 013n New Form Managing Seminar_main_2010 July 27

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Seminar presented as part of HRP-013N-E.S.&HRM :Issues and Practice

Topic: "Employee involvement, social partnership andHRM-working together or just a new form of

management control?.

Adebiyi, Yomi

Agyei-Otoo, DouglasOsuntubo,Adebusola


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Table of Contents

Introduction

HRM Concept

Social Partnership Concept

Employment Involvement

Critique and Conclusion

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Introduction - Human resource management (HRM) is a relatively modern

label for the range of themes and practices involved in managing people. It is definedand described in a variety of (sometimes contradictory) ways.

Many people find HRM to be a vague and elusive concept - not least because it seemsto have a variety of meanings. Pinning down an acceptable definition can seem liketrying to hit a moving target in a fog.

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Factors that contributed to the development of HRM

Started in the US( Harvard Business School)

Restructuring of industry and new types of workersDecline in trade union power

Thatcher philosophy: attraction to the US and American approach to

Decline in collectivism

Re- assurgency of managerial prerogative


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Four Models

y Normative: The optimum utilisation of human recourses in pursuit of

organisational goals

y Descriptive - functional: Pluralist perspective

y Critical - evaluative model: Employer Power which is exploitative rather than

regulatory

y Descriptive behavioural: largely a collection of incidental techniques withoutmuch internal cohesion (Legge,1995)

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Some Definitions of HRMy HRM is regarded as simply a notion of how people can best be managed in the

interest of the organisation.( Armstrong, 1994)

y HRM involves all management decisions and actions that affect the relationshipbetween the organisation and employees- its human resources.(Beer et al 1994)

y This slippery thing that mean different things to different people. (Legge,1995)

Defining Characteristics of HRMy Strategic Integration

y Commitment

y Flexibility

y Quality

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Resulting in:

y Quality Management

y Quality Communication

y Sophisticated R & S Processes

y Changes in Organisational Culture

y Changes in IR/ER Approach/emphasis

HRM Hard and Softy Hard HRM focuses on the links between business and HR strategies and the crucial

importance of the tight fit between the employee and the employer

y Soft HRM focuses on the management of resourceful humans assuming the employees are

valued assets and a source of competitive advantage through their skills and abilities

y Soft HRM in Japanese organisations and other foreign owned companies, Public Sector

y Pick mix other private sector organisations

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Critique of HRM

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y In embracing HRM, managers may have to relinquish any claim to being the guardians of

"humane" human resource management. People will only come first when it economically

advantageous to pursue such a strategy (Keenoy, 1990).

y Keenoy (1990) suggests HRM are "managers of discontent".

As regulators of the employment relationship the role of HRM has frequently been seen as aone of managing the inherent tension and conflict between the imperatives of the market, the

organisational demands for control of employees and the individual needs of people in work.

Vaughan (1994) purports that HRM is as driven by the contradictions of controlling workerswhilst generating consent.

y Legge (1995) explains that there is not one language of HRM, but two, "soft" HRM and"hard" HRM. These are reconciled through the language of 'tough love', which seeks to co-opt

the assent of both those who may suffer as well as those who may benefit from its effects.Consequently downsizing is described as a strategy that sacrifices a few to save the majority

and employability disguises a loss of employment security.

y Argyris and Kaplan (1994) suggest mixed messages such as this are a

y dysfunctional defensive routine used to protect from embarrassment and inhibit the discussion

of the underlying causes of embarrassment. They also protect individuals from feelingresponsible for the consequences. This behaviour controls others, avoids confrontation and

maximizes safety. However, they also lead to ineffective decision and policy making.


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HR and Employee Involvement in Practice

Marchington (2001) sees employee involvement as a feature of soft rather than hard HRM. In firmswith a hard orientation, Marchington considers that the 'numbers-driven', cost-cutting mentality

reduces involvement to a one-way communication channel aimed at

transmitting management decisions and propaganda to staff.

This contrasts with organizations that are true believers in employees as their 'greatest asset'

where there is a strategic commitment to sharing information and opinions and achieving aworkplace culture that meets business needs. Peccei and Rosenthal (2001)

examined attempts to engender desirable customer-oriented behaviours among employees in the

context of a major change initiative in a retail company.

The change programme followed (by now) orthodox management theory which assumed that

management behaviour, job design and values-based training would produce a feeling ofempowerment among employees, and that this sense of empowerment would lead to customer-

oriented behaviour.

A large-scale employee survey showed that staff who took a positive view of managementbehaviour and who had also participated in values-based training were more likely to feelempowered. In turn, Peccei and Rosenthal found a positive relationship between psychologicalempowerment and customer-oriented behaviour


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HR , Organisational Climate & Employee Involvement

y According to Shadar, Kienzle and Rodwell , one of the key factors that may influenceemployees perceptions of involvement is organizational climate.

y The authors argue that employee involvement is composed of three essential variables,namely, participation in decision making, teamwork, and communications.


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SOCIAL PARTNERSHIP

According to Marchington & Wilkinson (2008) academics definedpartnership to centre on co-operation for mutual gain On the other

hand (Braton & Gold, 2007) defines social partnership at the workplace

level as the term given to agreements to ensure flexibility in

employment relations in return for employee involvement.

Armstrong (2009) asserted that social partnership is a concept whereall stakeholders (employees, shareholders, customers, community and

government) involved in employment relations intend to work in one

accord to the benefit of all. He quoted (Ackers & Payne, 1998) to define

social Partnership as a stable, collaborative relationship between

capital and labour to ensure minimum level of social conflict and direct

employee involvement on decision making through strong collectivebargaining.


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CHARACTERISTICSOFSP

It acknowledges that workers have different interest from mangers.

It encourages their representation and its believes such an approach can be effective in

regulating work and the labour market.

Partnership can be viewed at different levels eg. European, National, Sectoral andEnterprise.


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LEVELS OF PARTNERSHIP

This can be seen at task, departmental, establishment or

corporate.

It advocates participation as an extension of employee citizenship

rights and not just business expedience

(Marchington & Wilkinson, 2005)


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ANTI-PARTNERSHIP

On the contrary, the London Underground and the National Railway Network union have

explicitly rejected the social partnership in favour of the repeated threat and use of strikes onissues such as pay, working conditions, pensions and the effects of privatization (Capital and

Class).

The national union of Rail Maritime and Transport Workers is one the most militant andleft-Wing trade unions in Britain.RMT between 2000-2008

1.balloted not less than 50 different industrial action and engaged in 18 different strikes on

London Underground.

2.On the Railway Network there were 68 balloted industrial actions and engaged in 33different strikes. Such an approach has contributed to a growth of 37.3% (56,037 to 75,939)

from 1999-2007.


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Employee Involvement

What is Employee Involvement?

Employee involvement is creating an environment in which people have animpact on decisions and actions that affect their jobs. It is a management and

leadership philosophy about how people are most enabled to contribute tocontinuous improvement and the

ongoing success of their work organization.

Susan M. Heathfield.


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Marchington (2001) considers that EI became prominent in the 1980s as an attempt to findparticipative ways in which to manage staff.The context initially was reduced union power and an anti-corporatist Thatcher government,which resisted statutory blueprints and encouraged firms to evolve the arrangements whichbest suited them.

It was management initiated, often from outside the industrial relations sphere; and with

scant reference of trade unions.It was individualist, stressed direct communications with individual employees.Employee Involvement in its limited form could be characterised as a move away form youwill do this to this is why you will do this (Wilkinson et al 1993).EI imply a neo-unitarist win/win approach which is moralistic in tone and is represented as

squaring the circle of organisation needs for high levels of employee performance and

employees demand for autonomy and self-expression in work( Claydon &Doyle 1996)Guest(1986) states Involvement is considered to be more flexible and better geared to thegoal of securing commitment and shared interest.


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Marching ton (2001) sees EI as feature of soft rather than hard HRM. Such organizationsare true believers in employees as their greatest asset where there is a strategic commitmentto sharing information and opinions& achieving a workplace culture that meets business

need. The UkWork and Employee Relations Survey(WERS) (Cully et al. 1999) showedthat even in firms that recognized trade unions, managers consulted individual

employees(57%) in preference to union representatives(36%). In fact , 41% of thecompanies surveyed did not have any union involvement but a mere 8% stated that they

never involved individuals employees. The 2004 WERS confirmed the growth in EIP andcommunication.

Management Theorists have put forward some reasons for adopting EI by the Senior

Management. They includeEthical, political and moral base, argument being that, in a democratic society, workers

should be involved in the decision-making process when outcome of those decisions impacton their lives. It therefore provides a socially acceptable management style.Economic reason, championed by the model of excellence school in North America, derives

form the utilitarian principle that EI improves the quality of decision making and productivity.

(Verma and Taras,2001) energises workers.


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Behavioural- EI derives from the perennial managerial problems associated with perceived

dysfunctional behaviour: resistance to change, strikes, absenteeism and other forms ofconflict(Beer et al., 1984; Guest, 1986). EI is seen as a solution to these dysfunctional human

behaviours.Practical- An acknowledgment of the greater & more detailed knowledge that experienced

employees may have of specific process when compared with a manager who may be relativelynew or who has never been involved at a working level with those processes. Skilled workersmay be aware of implications that are invisible to the manager.Legal- Authority of managers may be constrained by an organisations own rules in the form

of company handbooks, job definitions, reporting paths & consultation procedures so thatthe involvement of employees in decision making cannot be avoided. Most companies have

employment regulations in place that rights of employees within a legal context. These rightsare set individually& collectively so that employers and managers do not have total discretion

over consultation & to a lesser extent involvement.


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FORMSOF EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT

Effective EI comprises most if not all of the following elements,Effective & continuing 2-way communication between management and employees, especially

about the organisations objectives and its progress towards reaching them;

Financial Involvement includes share ownership plans, tax incentives;Upward problem solving designed to tap into employee knowledge & opinion ;Quality circles volunteers coming together to discuss problems associated with their work and

develop solutions ;Extended consultation such as suggestion schemes, staff attitude surveys, works committees ;

Cross-functional teams;

Self directed teams;Collective bargaining;Worker directors;

Works councils.Developing individuals through training, performance management, staff appraisals,Community development circles are also suggested such as projects like helping small businesses,

providing work experience to the community, helping to improve local environment by installinglitter bins, planting trees etc.


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BENEFITS

Improved Performance and ProductivityImproved Quality and Customer Care- a 55% reduction in customer complaints wasachieved by a large manufacturing company; another increased on-time deliveries from

60% to 65%.

A more cooperative atmosphere in the workplace- reduced costs and increased profitsenabled many companies to make resources available to improve employees terms andconditions of employment.Reduced staff turnover-most companies reported an increase in employee satisfaction;Reduced lost time through absenteeism and disputes;

Added value through drawing on the skills and knowledge of all employees.


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CONCERNSWITH EI

That it may produce greater work intensification, increased stress levels and redundancies;There is a fear that employers are exchanging strong union centred forms of participation

for EIP initiatives that are weak on power.Reflects management agenda

Means of information gathering in which is one way and may not be put to any useManagement led and controlled.In reality provides little opportunity to input into real decision -making.

hrp 013n new form managing seminar_main_2010 july 27

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