BUSI1628

Managing Organisations and

Individuals
Lecture 9: Human Resource Management and Labour
Relations

Dr Kenisha Linton
Overview
1. Human Resources (HR)
2. Human Resource Management
(HRM)
 Definition
 Main HRM activities
 2 main approaches to
HRM: hard and soft
3. Legal constraints and freedoms
for employers.
Questions to ponder
1. Why are human resources so different to physical and
financial resources?
2. What are the main activities in HRM?
3. What is the difference between hard and soft HRM and
what influences employers’ choice of approach?
4. What are the legal rights of employees and to what
extent does the law constrain or enable employers?
Human Resources
Human resources are different to other resources:
• Human resources (or “personnel”) are the people comprising an
organisation’s workforce.
• People are creative and complex but sometimes irrational and
unpredictable.
• People’s behaviour is influenced by factors within and outside
the organisation.
• People in employment are protected against discrimination
and unfair treatment with regard to age, disability, gender
reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy
and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual
orientation.
• People have free will. So an ‘effort bargain’ has to be struck
between employers and employees.
Human Resource
Management: definition

• Human resource management (HRM)is the set of

organizational activities directed at attracting, developing, and
maintaining an effective workforce. In recent years, experts
have come to appreciate the strategic importance of HRM as
well as the need for systematic human resource planning.

• A series of integrated decisions that form the employment

relationship; their quality directly contributes to the ability of
the organisation and the employees to achieve their
objectives.
(Milkovich & Boudreau, 1999)
HRM versus
People-management

• Human Resource Management is concerned

with the overall strategic contribution of
people to the organisation.

• People-management is about the day-to-day

implementation of the HRM policies and
treatment of staff by line-managers.
HR Planning
Forecasting HR Demand and Supply

1. Forecasting internal supply , the

number and type of employees
who will be in the firm at some
future date
2. Forecasting external supply ,
the number and type of people
who will be available for hiring
from the labour market at large
Simmons & Simmons – law firm

• They recruit for intellectual ability and interpersonal

skills.
• They recruit people who fit their culture.
• They significantly invest in the development of their
young lawyers.
• This is because their lawyers ARE what their clients
value and pay for.
• They win awards and are a very profitable firm with
an excellent reputation.
Key activities of HRM
Learning
&
Development

Recruitment
& Selection PERFORMANCE Appraisal

Rewards

...Underpinned by day-to-day people-management...

Fombrun, Tichy and Devanna model of HRM
Adapted from: Bratton & Gold, 1999: 18
Stages of
recruitment
and selection
Two broad approaches to HRM
The ‘soft’ HRM model
• People are seen as an
investment in the long-term
future of the business.
• This approach aims to
increase the contribution of
employees through raising
commitment and quality.
The ‘hard’ HRM model
• People are seen as an
ongoing cost incurred in the
pursuit of profit.
• This approach aims to
increase performance
through minimising costs
and maximising output.
What influences employers’ choices of hard v. soft HRM?

1. Competitive strategy
• Competition based on costs hard HRM
• Competition based on quality soft HRM

2. Bargaining position in the labour market

• Powerful position over employees hard HRM
• Dependency on employees soft HRM
External influences on HRM

• Government Regulations & Legislation

• Economic Conditions

• Workforce Demographics

• Technological Advancements

• Availability of skills

• Social expectations
Examples of statutory rights
• of expectant mothers.
• not to be discriminated against because of trade union membership
or activities.
• not to be discriminated against on the grounds of sex, race, physical
ability, religion or sexual orientation.
• to a minimum period of notice.
• to time off without pay for public duties.
• to redundancy payment and time off work in redundancy situations.
• not to be unfairly dismissed.
• to a written statement of the reasons for dismissal.
The Equality Act 2010
The remit of the Equality Act 2010 extends beyond prohibiting discrimination at
work to allowing employers to take proactive steps to promote equality.
9 protected characteristics:

1. Age
2. Disability
3. Gender reassignment Replaces historical
4. Marriage and civil partnership legislations such as:
5. Pregnancy and maternity
6. Race  Sex Discrimination Act
7. Religion or belief 1975;
 Race Relations Act 1976
8. Sex
9. Sexual orientation
Recap
1. Human resources are different to other resources and therefore must be managed
differently.
2. The main activities in HRM are recruitment and selection, learning and development,
appraisal and reward – all are focused on maximising business performance.
3. Hard or soft approaches HRM can be taken. These are usually dependant on the type
of business strategy the organisation adopts and the nature of the labour market and
the current economic climate.
 Reading and further research

• Capon (2009) Ch.7

• Mullins (2013) Organisational Behaviour, Ch.13
• Legge (1990) HRM rhetorics and realities.
• Mullins, L. J. (2016) Management and Organisational Behaviour. Pearson:
UK.
• Pettinger, Richard (2012) Management: A Concise Introduction. Palgrave
Macmillan.
• King, D. and Lawley, S. (2016) Organizational Behaviour. Oxford University
Press
• Combe, Colin (2014) Introduction to Management. Oxford University Press.