Human Resources Management
Part 1: History of HRM
Industrial revolution(1800-1918)
- No focus on employees
- Employees seen as possession -> Abuse
- Hardly any salary
Scientific management(Taylorism)(1918-1948)
- Taylor focusses on improving productivity and efficiency
- Looks at employees to find the most efficient way-> Everybody had to do it this exact way->
very small and repetitive tasks(Time and motion studies)
- Higher productivity = Higher pay-> Turned out to be incorrect as the real employees motives
are ignored
Time and motion studies: Observe and record the time taken to accomplish a task and then defining
norms of it. Result: The best and fastest way had to be followed by every student.
Human relations(1948-1958)
- Mayo conducted studies in the “Hawthorne” plant
- Studied whether changing light affects productivity-> It was higher in both experimental and
control condition
- Conclusion: The employees were motivated, because they were asked for their advice and
felt part of the group, not because of the light-> Employees must feel part of the group
before feeling happy and being productive
Revisionism(1958-1972)
- Economical growth(golden sixties)
- Attention for” quality of work life”
- For the first time they stared thinking about the well-being of the employees
- Participation and responsibility
- Not only salary, also content of work and work environment are important-> Think about the
person behind the employee
Strategic HRM(1973-…)
- Evolution to strategic HRM-> HR becomes a strategic partner-> HR is the base for efficiency
and innovation and helps to achieve the
company's goals
- People become more than a possession->
They become an asset to your company
- Strategic HRM focusses on competencies and
talent-> Integration with organizational
strategy
- EXAM: Differences between strategic and
traditional (if HR isn’t on the direction board-> Not strategic)
,What changes in society could affect HR?
- Globalization: cross-cultural teams-> Different ways of working all over the world when going
global-> Different challenges
- Technical development
- Diversity in personal
- Sustainability and ethics: People, planet and profit
- HR analytics: return on investment
- Covid
- …
Freelancing-> Working independent from a company-> flexible when or where to work
What do you need?
1. Skill in demand-> The few people have your skill, the more you can charge
2. Become and entrepreneur(build network)
3. Get benefits for you and your family
Gig economy is the easiest and fastest way to get hired
Part 2: Organizational structure and job design
In order to reach your goals as a company you need a certain performance from your
employees
You can either hire people based on the job you need OR design a job around the talents of a
person
Traditional: job analysis
Determines the job content. Gives information to the company about the tasks and
requirements of a certain job
Describes and evaluates ONLY the job, not the person doing the job
,How do you decide on job content? Who knows the information
Subject matter experts
o Employees themselves(incumbents)
o Supervisor
o Customer(internal/external)
o HR specialist
How to actually decide?
- Observation
- Interview
- Questionnaire
- Computers/internet
- Information
- Others?
Content of the job
- Tasks
- Knowledge/abilities/attitudes
- Required degrees
- Responsibilities
- Place in the organizational chart
- Technical aspects
- Environmental characteristics
- Products and services to deliver
- Key performance indicators
- Expected future changes
- Contacts
How can job descriptions be used in the different HR domains?
- Recruitment: advertisement
- Selection: testing for the job
- Evaluation
- Development
- …
Problems
- Time consuming
- Expensive
- Not in line with organizational strategy
- Not dynamic in a rapidly changing world
- Too much task focus
- Misuse:” its not in my job description”
- not flexible
- Not in line with job sculpting(customizing jobs)
- Bad quality
, Now: competency management
Competency management:
- Core competencies: What gives the organization
competitive advantage
- Individual competency: a combination of knowledge,
know-how skills, attitude necessary to perform a given job
and achieve the expected results. A competency translates
into observable behavior
Compared to job analysis?
- Quick
- User-friendly
- Flexible
- In line with strategy
- Not only focus on the task
Part 1: History of HRM
Industrial revolution(1800-1918)
- No focus on employees
- Employees seen as possession -> Abuse
- Hardly any salary
Scientific management(Taylorism)(1918-1948)
- Taylor focusses on improving productivity and efficiency
- Looks at employees to find the most efficient way-> Everybody had to do it this exact way->
very small and repetitive tasks(Time and motion studies)
- Higher productivity = Higher pay-> Turned out to be incorrect as the real employees motives
are ignored
Time and motion studies: Observe and record the time taken to accomplish a task and then defining
norms of it. Result: The best and fastest way had to be followed by every student.
Human relations(1948-1958)
- Mayo conducted studies in the “Hawthorne” plant
- Studied whether changing light affects productivity-> It was higher in both experimental and
control condition
- Conclusion: The employees were motivated, because they were asked for their advice and
felt part of the group, not because of the light-> Employees must feel part of the group
before feeling happy and being productive
Revisionism(1958-1972)
- Economical growth(golden sixties)
- Attention for” quality of work life”
- For the first time they stared thinking about the well-being of the employees
- Participation and responsibility
- Not only salary, also content of work and work environment are important-> Think about the
person behind the employee
Strategic HRM(1973-…)
- Evolution to strategic HRM-> HR becomes a strategic partner-> HR is the base for efficiency
and innovation and helps to achieve the
company's goals
- People become more than a possession->
They become an asset to your company
- Strategic HRM focusses on competencies and
talent-> Integration with organizational
strategy
- EXAM: Differences between strategic and
traditional (if HR isn’t on the direction board-> Not strategic)
,What changes in society could affect HR?
- Globalization: cross-cultural teams-> Different ways of working all over the world when going
global-> Different challenges
- Technical development
- Diversity in personal
- Sustainability and ethics: People, planet and profit
- HR analytics: return on investment
- Covid
- …
Freelancing-> Working independent from a company-> flexible when or where to work
What do you need?
1. Skill in demand-> The few people have your skill, the more you can charge
2. Become and entrepreneur(build network)
3. Get benefits for you and your family
Gig economy is the easiest and fastest way to get hired
Part 2: Organizational structure and job design
In order to reach your goals as a company you need a certain performance from your
employees
You can either hire people based on the job you need OR design a job around the talents of a
person
Traditional: job analysis
Determines the job content. Gives information to the company about the tasks and
requirements of a certain job
Describes and evaluates ONLY the job, not the person doing the job
,How do you decide on job content? Who knows the information
Subject matter experts
o Employees themselves(incumbents)
o Supervisor
o Customer(internal/external)
o HR specialist
How to actually decide?
- Observation
- Interview
- Questionnaire
- Computers/internet
- Information
- Others?
Content of the job
- Tasks
- Knowledge/abilities/attitudes
- Required degrees
- Responsibilities
- Place in the organizational chart
- Technical aspects
- Environmental characteristics
- Products and services to deliver
- Key performance indicators
- Expected future changes
- Contacts
How can job descriptions be used in the different HR domains?
- Recruitment: advertisement
- Selection: testing for the job
- Evaluation
- Development
- …
Problems
- Time consuming
- Expensive
- Not in line with organizational strategy
- Not dynamic in a rapidly changing world
- Too much task focus
- Misuse:” its not in my job description”
- not flexible
- Not in line with job sculpting(customizing jobs)
- Bad quality
, Now: competency management
Competency management:
- Core competencies: What gives the organization
competitive advantage
- Individual competency: a combination of knowledge,
know-how skills, attitude necessary to perform a given job
and achieve the expected results. A competency translates
into observable behavior
Compared to job analysis?
- Quick
- User-friendly
- Flexible
- In line with strategy
- Not only focus on the task
