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Murrindindi Shire Council Experience Human Resource management (HRM) has been seen as either having a traditional or contemporary approach. This paper will define both approaches. The HR approach undertaken by the Murrindindi Shire Council (MSC) which was my organisation up to three months ago will be reviewed in this context as well as identifiable costs or opportunities that exist. Human Resource Management is the management of an organisations staff / personnel to meet the needs and achieve the purpose of the business in an efficient and effective manner. HRM is defined by Kramer McGraw Shulder (1997, p. 10) as having having three purposes being &# 61623; To ensure quality of worklife and It has been observed in particular that organisations tend to be very good at the legal compliance as it is legislated as it has some serious consequences if not adhered to.
What is generally overlooked is the financial implications of dot points one and two. Effective human management can contribute to not only product output but also product quality. HRM managers are operating at three distinct levels as explained by Kramer McGraw Shulder (1997, p. 30) strategic, managerial and operational - Operational levels (short term) can be disseminated down to lower level management or team leaders as they involve straight forward and traditional levels of HR - Managerial Level (short term) This level and following tend to be the levels of strategic importance to the organisation - link functions to organisational strategies Strategy as a process is defined by (Shaun Tyson 1997 p. 278) is a mechanism for achieving a desired objective. It can then be said that the Human Resource Strategy needs to be aligned with the organisations business strategies or corporate objectives. In effect one of the mechanisms to be used is that of Human Resources. Miller defined strategic HRM as those decisions and actions which concern the management of employees at all levels in the business and which are related to the implementation of strategies directed towards creating and sustaining competitive advantage (Miller, 1987 p. 352).
HRM will aid the organisation through the change (responsive) process via its long term and medium term HR strategies. The Change theory for Organisation Development (Robbins 1994, p. 813) defines Organisational Development as a planned long-range improvement process, based on humanistic democratic values. It uses change interventions grounded in behaviour science knowledge, which seeks to improve organisational effectiveness and employee well being. He is in effect advocating the same long-term objectives as Kramer McGraw & Shulder to ensure the organisations effectiveness, which will in turn effect the organisation's bottom line. Traditionally HRM departments have had limited opportunity to be involved in the strategic functions of the organisation. HRM was refereed to as Personnel management and is noted by Kramer McGraw Shulder (1997, p. 18) as dealing with activities such as recrement selection, compensation, and training.
It could be said that traditionally HRM has revolved around process rather than strategy. With the growing knowledge in the field and recognition that effective management of this vital resource can effect the bottom line human resource management is now an important part of the total Organisations management. This has been explained by Kramer McGraw Shulder (1997, p. 7) as... Contemporary thinking on HRM tends to see it more broadly distributed organisational competence, including line managers, rather than just a group of specialists in an HR department.
In essence Kramer McGraw Shulder is arguing that HR is an organisational responsibility that should be filtered down through all levels of management. It is broader than simply compliant to process but should be strategic, evolving and responsive to change. I agree with this statement, as many operation functions are process driven in that providing the process is well defined the basic HR functions below can be very simply implemented either by line managers or general operational staff. The basic HR functions common to most organisations are as follows Kramer McGraw Shulder (1997, p. 7, 8) &# 61623; Planning for Human Resource needs &# 61623; Staffing the organisations personnel needs &# 61623; Performance Management and review &# 61623; Improving Employees and their work environment &# 61623; Establishing and Maintaining effective working Relationships Change in simplistic terms is defined (Robbins 1994, p. 885) as making things different. Change management in the context of HR could therefor be defined as contributing to making things different through human resources. Changing the way people behave is the core of change management with the purpose of maximises the organisation's efficiency.
The goals of the organisation can be achieved through the link between the external environment, internal environment; organisations make up, culture, management and human resource policies. Buchanan & Boddy (1992) explained three competencies in relation to change which are reinforced in Kramer McGraw Shulder (1997, p. 25). It is suggested that there is a Technical, Controlling (traditional) and a process agenda. The third competency is where the HR skills are required in communication, leadership, team building, negotiation and leadership. It is important to align the organisations strengths and internal capabilities to that of the external market (Kramer McGraw Shulder (1997, p. 53) ie strategies including that of Strategic Human Resource Management. A number of models are discussed by Kramer McGraw Shulder (1997, p. 56).
The model most aligned with change at BMSC through the amalgamation of Councils process undertaken in 1995 is that best described by Dunphy and Stace (1992; 1994). Their model suggests that the human resource strategies and policies used will determine to what degree an organisation will change to bring it back into align with the into strategic fit within its environment. The four approaches are defined, Kramer McGraw Shulder (1997, p. 62) as Murrindindi Shire Council Experience MSC had a strong CEO who entered a very unstable environment. The State Government had a wide range of performance indicators and measures that were to be adhered to and thus the CEO in this instance was very task orientated which not only served to meet the high level of requirements set but also required staff to be rewarded appropriately and to have a lead part in a new system and way of delivering Local Government. Human Resource strategies were predominantly traditional with a major amount of effort put into position description development, performance appraisal etc. As the Council was required to adhere to strict business principles to meet the requirements of legislation the organisation was carved into a number of Business Units and put to open tender.
As could be imagined the service delivery sectors are quite diverse ranging from statutory functions through to Road Maintenance and delivery of meals. The time lines were short and the human dynamics and emotions were extreme through this process. Personnel welfare was not therefor high on the agenda and the driver for process improvement was competitive costs. The fear of losing your job was extreme as there was no fall back position, you specialised in one delivery of service and the market was not big enough when you were relying on 100 % of your market being with council.
It is worth noting that...
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Research essay sample on Human Resource Management Short Term
