Components of high commitment and low commitment HR strategies (Leopold, J. and Harris, L. (2009).

The
Strategic Managing of Human Resources, 2nd ed. London, UK: Prentice Hall)

Components of a low commitment HR strategy Components of a high commitment HR strategy

(where human resources tend to create low (where human resources tend to create high
levels of uncertainty for managers) levels of uncertainty for managers)
Organizational culture  rule-based  shared values
 emphasis on authority  emphasis on problem-solving
 task focus  customer focus
 mistakes punished  learning from mistakes
Organizational Structure  layered hierarchy  flat hierarchy
 top-down influence  mutual (top-down/bottom-up) influence
 centralization  decentralization/devolution
 mechanistically bureaucratic (rigid)  organically bureaucratic (flexible)
Work/job design  de-skilled, fragmented jobs  whole, enriched jobs
 doing/thinking split  doing/thinking combined
 individual has single skill  individual multi-skilled
 direct control of individual by supervisor  indirect control with semi-autonomous
teams
Performance expectations  objectives met to minimum level  objectives ‘stretch’ and develop people
 external controls  self-controls
 external inspection  self/peer inspection
 pass quality acceptable  continuous improvements in quality sought
Rewards  pay may be varied to give individual  pay may be varied to give group
incentives performance
 individual pay linked to job evaluation  individual pay linked to skills, ‘mastery’
Communication  management seek and give information  two-way communication indicated by any
party
 information used for sectional advantage  information shared for general advantage
 business information given on ‘need to  business information widely shared
know’ basis
Employment relations  adversarial  mutual
 collective  individual
 win/lose  win/win
 trade unions tolerated as inconvenient  unions avoided OR unions increasingly by-
constraints passed in the hope of their eventual
withering away
 OR unions used as convenient intermediaries  OR unions involved in partnership relations
between managers and employees with employers to give a ‘voice’ to
employees in working towards employment
security, innovative work practices, fair
rewards and investment in training
Employee development  training for specific purposes  training to develop employees’ skills and
competence
 emphasis on courses  continuous learning emphasis
 appraisal emphasizes managerial setting and  appraisal emphasis negotiated setting and
monitoring of objectives monitoring of objectives
 focus on job  focus on career
HR department  marginal, and restricted to ‘welfare’ and  integrated into management, and working
employment administrative tasks as ‘partners’ with other managers
 reactive and ad hoc  proactive and strategic
 staffed by personnel specialists  staff interchange with the ‘line’ or other
functions