1. Introduc,on to Human Resource Management – Defining the field
1.1 HRM defined
HRM is that part of organiza1onal management which is focused on influencing people’s behavior in
an integrated and pro-ac1ve way. The final purpose is to increase the added value of the individual or
groups of individuals taking into account the strategy of the organiza1on.
Any ambi1on that wants to change people in an organiza1on is wrong! We can’t change people in an
organiza1on, because everyone has their own personality (inside) and personality is crystalized around
the age of 2 to 3 (= it’s given). But we might slide on the behavior (outside).
Difference between “managing to be” and “managing to do”:
1. Managing to be: You can’t manage to be, because people are who they are.
o Example: You are lazy, introvert, etc.
2. Managing to do: You can manage behavior, not anything that goes deeper. This is the only thing
you can manage.
o Example: As long as you work for me, I want to see you at 8:30am.
1.2 Posi0oning the HRM field
1.2.1 Organiza,onal Behavior
Organiza1onal behavior (OB) is the science of understanding human behavior within a company.
- Descrip1ve science
- It’s the goal of the company: How are we going to compete?
o What can go wrong with the OB? The goal is not clear and/or not shared/aligned with
one another. Different forces, people look at it in a different way = lack of goal
congruency.
1.2.2 Organiza,onal Design
Organiza1onal design (OD), also organiza1onal structuring (OS), is se]ng up a structure that support
striving for a goal.
- How can we influence behavior?
- Way bigger impact compared to HRM.
1.2.3 Human Resource Management
Human Resource Management (HRM) is the finetuning of trying to adjust that behavior.
- Norma1ve (compared to OB).
- It’s about systems and procedures, based on OB, to finetune that behavior.
1
,1.3 The five basic pillars of HRM: HR temple
HRM is about integra1ng strategy and structure of the organiza1on. This needs to be done within a
certain environment, the labour market.
- Why are labour markets so important? Companies go where labour is available.
- Depending on which country you’re in, this environment may be very different! Environment
is the availability of labour, but also at a certain price level.
1.3.1 Environment
A great resigna1on in Belgium?
Transi1on percentages at the labour market (15 and 64 years old). These are changes between 2020
and 2021: So, what happened in 2021 to people who were in a given status in 2020?
- Working: 92,4% stayed working.
o 2,0% became unemployed.
o 5,6% became inac1ve (illness, re1rements, discouraged, etc.).
- Unemployed: 38,0% stayed unemployed.
o 37,6% found a job.
o 24,4% became inac1ve, meaning not looking for a job anymore or fallen sick.
- Inac1ve (not looking for a job, e.g. students, long-term sick, early re1rees, house men/women):
81,6% stayed inac1ve.
o 13,3% entered employment.
o 5,1% became unemployed.
2
,The par1cipa1on effect in Europe
European goal by 2030: par1cipa1on rate of 80%.
- Northern Europe: Very close to 80%.
- Southern Europe: Problem, way bellow 80%.
- US doesn’t care about employment.
o Reason: Europe has a Social Security System that
can only stay alive if we hit that 80%. This is a
repar11on system: today I am a social security
payer as an employee or employer. This goes
today to the re1red people. For most European
countries, the money is gone, we don’t build up.
So, this system can only be sustainable if the
people in the future keep filling this pit. We do
have an interest to keep this 80%.
The Belgian challenge: 25Y – 54Y
- 74,1% Working
- 4,1% Unemployed
- 21,8% Inac1ve (different ac1ve): our biggest problem!
o Discouraged unemployed: not too problema1c.
o Early re1rees (re1rement before the age of 66): almost non-exis1ng.
o House men/women (simply decide not to work): one of the most problema1c
categories. This is the hardest category to encourage to work.
o Long-term sickness (600.000): one of the most problema1c categories. The two most
important reasons are anything related to cancer or hearts.
o Full-1me students (in this case over the age of 25): least problema1c category. The
longer they study, the more they will earn (contribute a huge part as taxpayer).
European goal = 80% par1cipa1on.
- Belgium: 21,8% inac1ve (non-par1cipa1on) vs Europe: 19,7% inac1ve
o Belgium is the bomom 4th of the 27 European countries.
- In Belgium:
o 17,2% of men are inac1ve, versus 26,4% of women
o 44,2% Non-EU versus 29% EU
o 59,3% Non-EU-females (6 out of 10)
ð Conclusion: Change the fishing pool! Belgium should tap into underu1lized groups with high
inac1vity rates – especially woman and non-EU people living in Belgium (par1cularly non-EU-
women
3
, 1.3.2 The basic pillars of HRM: basic processes within the field of HRM.
1. HR Planning: SWP = Strategic Workforce Planning.
o How many people (quan1ty) and which diplomas (quality) do I need in the nearby
future (not only today, but being able to overarch a longer period)? If the company is
growing, how much more? If the company is shrinking, how much less?
2. HR Staffing: R&S = Recruitment and Selec1on.
o Is the right person in the right chair?
o Recruitment: Trying to find and convince the right people on the market to work at the
company. Selec1on: Once we found the right people, selec1ng the best ones.
§ The quality of selec1on is a func1on of the quality of recruitment. You can’t
select bemer than you did recruit. This explains why we put so much money in
headhun1ng. Put all your money and efforts in recrui1ng, not in selec1ng!
3. HR Developing
o How to keep the right person on the right chair?
o T&D = Training and Development
o Career Management (mo1va1ng)
4. HR Nego1a1ng: Managing formal rela1onships between employers, employees and trade
unions to set collec1ve employment terms, wages and working condi1ons.
o Industrial rela1ons = rela1onships with the union.
o Unions differ between countries!
§ Nordic countries are the highest unionized countries in the world (75-85%):
The unions are part of your board, what means that they first think in the
interest of the company. E.g. Volvo and Ikea.
§ France is having a unioniza1on of only 10%.
§ Belgium: 55%.
5. HR Compensa1ng
o PR = Payroll: People need to get paid at the end of the month.
§ Payrolling is mostly done by social secretaries (e.g. ACERTA, SQ WORX,
MANPOWER, PARTENA, etc.) (non-profit organiza1ons).
§ White collars: Same amount every month (disregarding the number of working
days in each month).
§ Blue collars: Calculated salary based on number of hours that he/she is been
working this month.
o Comp&Ben = Compensa1on and Benefits: Amrac1ng certain people or making sure
that certain people will never come.
By using these five pillars, you influence the behavior of your employees. That behavior is indirectly
influenced by the organiza1onal culture.
4
1.1 HRM defined
HRM is that part of organiza1onal management which is focused on influencing people’s behavior in
an integrated and pro-ac1ve way. The final purpose is to increase the added value of the individual or
groups of individuals taking into account the strategy of the organiza1on.
Any ambi1on that wants to change people in an organiza1on is wrong! We can’t change people in an
organiza1on, because everyone has their own personality (inside) and personality is crystalized around
the age of 2 to 3 (= it’s given). But we might slide on the behavior (outside).
Difference between “managing to be” and “managing to do”:
1. Managing to be: You can’t manage to be, because people are who they are.
o Example: You are lazy, introvert, etc.
2. Managing to do: You can manage behavior, not anything that goes deeper. This is the only thing
you can manage.
o Example: As long as you work for me, I want to see you at 8:30am.
1.2 Posi0oning the HRM field
1.2.1 Organiza,onal Behavior
Organiza1onal behavior (OB) is the science of understanding human behavior within a company.
- Descrip1ve science
- It’s the goal of the company: How are we going to compete?
o What can go wrong with the OB? The goal is not clear and/or not shared/aligned with
one another. Different forces, people look at it in a different way = lack of goal
congruency.
1.2.2 Organiza,onal Design
Organiza1onal design (OD), also organiza1onal structuring (OS), is se]ng up a structure that support
striving for a goal.
- How can we influence behavior?
- Way bigger impact compared to HRM.
1.2.3 Human Resource Management
Human Resource Management (HRM) is the finetuning of trying to adjust that behavior.
- Norma1ve (compared to OB).
- It’s about systems and procedures, based on OB, to finetune that behavior.
1
,1.3 The five basic pillars of HRM: HR temple
HRM is about integra1ng strategy and structure of the organiza1on. This needs to be done within a
certain environment, the labour market.
- Why are labour markets so important? Companies go where labour is available.
- Depending on which country you’re in, this environment may be very different! Environment
is the availability of labour, but also at a certain price level.
1.3.1 Environment
A great resigna1on in Belgium?
Transi1on percentages at the labour market (15 and 64 years old). These are changes between 2020
and 2021: So, what happened in 2021 to people who were in a given status in 2020?
- Working: 92,4% stayed working.
o 2,0% became unemployed.
o 5,6% became inac1ve (illness, re1rements, discouraged, etc.).
- Unemployed: 38,0% stayed unemployed.
o 37,6% found a job.
o 24,4% became inac1ve, meaning not looking for a job anymore or fallen sick.
- Inac1ve (not looking for a job, e.g. students, long-term sick, early re1rees, house men/women):
81,6% stayed inac1ve.
o 13,3% entered employment.
o 5,1% became unemployed.
2
,The par1cipa1on effect in Europe
European goal by 2030: par1cipa1on rate of 80%.
- Northern Europe: Very close to 80%.
- Southern Europe: Problem, way bellow 80%.
- US doesn’t care about employment.
o Reason: Europe has a Social Security System that
can only stay alive if we hit that 80%. This is a
repar11on system: today I am a social security
payer as an employee or employer. This goes
today to the re1red people. For most European
countries, the money is gone, we don’t build up.
So, this system can only be sustainable if the
people in the future keep filling this pit. We do
have an interest to keep this 80%.
The Belgian challenge: 25Y – 54Y
- 74,1% Working
- 4,1% Unemployed
- 21,8% Inac1ve (different ac1ve): our biggest problem!
o Discouraged unemployed: not too problema1c.
o Early re1rees (re1rement before the age of 66): almost non-exis1ng.
o House men/women (simply decide not to work): one of the most problema1c
categories. This is the hardest category to encourage to work.
o Long-term sickness (600.000): one of the most problema1c categories. The two most
important reasons are anything related to cancer or hearts.
o Full-1me students (in this case over the age of 25): least problema1c category. The
longer they study, the more they will earn (contribute a huge part as taxpayer).
European goal = 80% par1cipa1on.
- Belgium: 21,8% inac1ve (non-par1cipa1on) vs Europe: 19,7% inac1ve
o Belgium is the bomom 4th of the 27 European countries.
- In Belgium:
o 17,2% of men are inac1ve, versus 26,4% of women
o 44,2% Non-EU versus 29% EU
o 59,3% Non-EU-females (6 out of 10)
ð Conclusion: Change the fishing pool! Belgium should tap into underu1lized groups with high
inac1vity rates – especially woman and non-EU people living in Belgium (par1cularly non-EU-
women
3
, 1.3.2 The basic pillars of HRM: basic processes within the field of HRM.
1. HR Planning: SWP = Strategic Workforce Planning.
o How many people (quan1ty) and which diplomas (quality) do I need in the nearby
future (not only today, but being able to overarch a longer period)? If the company is
growing, how much more? If the company is shrinking, how much less?
2. HR Staffing: R&S = Recruitment and Selec1on.
o Is the right person in the right chair?
o Recruitment: Trying to find and convince the right people on the market to work at the
company. Selec1on: Once we found the right people, selec1ng the best ones.
§ The quality of selec1on is a func1on of the quality of recruitment. You can’t
select bemer than you did recruit. This explains why we put so much money in
headhun1ng. Put all your money and efforts in recrui1ng, not in selec1ng!
3. HR Developing
o How to keep the right person on the right chair?
o T&D = Training and Development
o Career Management (mo1va1ng)
4. HR Nego1a1ng: Managing formal rela1onships between employers, employees and trade
unions to set collec1ve employment terms, wages and working condi1ons.
o Industrial rela1ons = rela1onships with the union.
o Unions differ between countries!
§ Nordic countries are the highest unionized countries in the world (75-85%):
The unions are part of your board, what means that they first think in the
interest of the company. E.g. Volvo and Ikea.
§ France is having a unioniza1on of only 10%.
§ Belgium: 55%.
5. HR Compensa1ng
o PR = Payroll: People need to get paid at the end of the month.
§ Payrolling is mostly done by social secretaries (e.g. ACERTA, SQ WORX,
MANPOWER, PARTENA, etc.) (non-profit organiza1ons).
§ White collars: Same amount every month (disregarding the number of working
days in each month).
§ Blue collars: Calculated salary based on number of hours that he/she is been
working this month.
o Comp&Ben = Compensa1on and Benefits: Amrac1ng certain people or making sure
that certain people will never come.
By using these five pillars, you influence the behavior of your employees. That behavior is indirectly
influenced by the organiza1onal culture.
4
