Trade unions have been a central part of the Australian workplace. The workplace however has changed over the past two decades and it is possible that the role of trade unions within the workplace has been replaced by the introduction of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices. As stated by Leigh, 2005 “from 1914 until 1980, at least two in five workers were members of a union” and unionism was therefore for the most part the dominant approach, in terms of employment relations. However current membership is at around 20 per cent and coinciding with this decline in trade union membership is the increase in the step away from collectivism to individualism and the use of strategic HRM practices in response to the shift from a …show more content…
In other words, recognising ‘human resources’ as assets as they strive for effective organisational performance. HRM is essentially an approach rooted in the concept of individualism whereby “employers deal with workers individually and or individual employees prefer to look after their own interests rather than relying on third parties” (Balnave et al, 2009). HRM emerged in Australia during the 1980’s, with both the hard and soft approach being applied to the Australian workforce. Both focus on corporate performance, with the hard approach viewing employees as a commodity and emphasising “job standarisation, employee measurement and organisational values and priorities” (Balnave et al, 2009). The soft approach however has a “humanistic” view that emphasises employee empowerment as they work towards meeting organisational and personal objectives. With this in mind, the practices employed by the HRM approach have been “identified as crucial in developing sustainable competitive advantage for organisations. They include; selectivity in recruiting, equal employment opportunity, training and development, strategic rewards systems/pay for performance and dismissal” (Flanagan and Deshpande, 1996). The strategic approach to recruitment and selection ensures that a great emphasis is placed on employee potential and personal characteristics with staffing linked to organisation’s objectives and
Human resources management was defined as ‘a strategic, integrated and coherent approach to the employment, development and well-being of the people working in organizations’ by Boxall and Purcell (2003). Noon, 1992 (as cited in Armstrong, 2014 a, p6) drew ‘doubts of whether HRM was a map, a model or a theory. But it is evident that the original concept could be seen as a philosophy’. The human
By allocating a team to hire employees it makes the role of HRM much easier and efficient. This allows them to address the policies implemented much effectively. Human Resource Management covers four main areas; employee influence, work systems, human resource flow and reward management. Different roles of the HRM allows to manage the organisation thus fulfilling the assigned areas. One key role of HRM is the executive role, where the managers are viewed as specialists that encompass Human resources or people management. The audit role are concerned with the company’s HR policy thus checks the organisation to ensure all HR policies such as health & safety, staff appraisals are being implemented. The Management Information System in Harrods undertakes the facilitator role of the HRM, which helps or facilitate other departments to achieve the organisational strategy through the HR policies implemented. This in turn allows Harrods to maintain its identity as a Top Employer. Similarly the People Support team could be classed with the consultancy and service roles, allowing the department to act as internal consultants offering expertise, advice and assistance to line managers and other staff in order to achieve the organisational objective. (Brockbank, 2008). This ensures that the HRM values the importance of discretion, compliance and unwavering support.
Johnson, E. (2000). The practice of Human Resource Management in New Zealand: Strategic and Best Practice? Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 38(2), 69
3. Dessler, Griffiths and Lloyd-Walker (2004), Human Resource Management, 2nd ed, Frenchs Forest, N.S.W. : Prentice Hall Australia
The recent royal commision on union corruption and other negative media coverage has brought the role that trade unions play in the workplace into questions. A trade union refers to an organisation consisting mostly of employees or workers, the principal activities of which include the negotiation of rates of pay and conditions of employment for its members (awu.net.au,nd). There is one group of people what well greatly benefit from union involvement in the workplace and that is the management group. Where trade unions stand for the employees, management represent the employer and the owners of the firm. Management’ role is to combine, allocate and organise the organisation’s resources to achieve organisational objectives (REFERENCE). Management are in a key position of power in the workplace and the question at hand is should they extended to exiling unions from their workplace. In discussing whether management should have the right to determine whether a union should operate within their workforce, the evolution of the role of management, the benefits that unions offer, adverse effect of unions and recent trends in union membership will be addressed.
Human Resource Management is a vast field and there are infinite issues related to it, this paper will focus only on core issues faced by Human Resource Practitioners in Australia and thus analyse how such practitioners can contribute to achieve high performance workplace culture. It is indeed necessary to identify these challenges faced by Human Resource Practitioners in Australia in order to implement and develop effective HR practices & policies and thus enable the Human Resource Practitioners to achieve a high performance workplace culture which would be beneficial to the organization. The Human Resource Practitioners need to identify the external as well as internal influences that will impact the organization and formulate a strategy
Human resource management in the past was said to be about systematic and bureaucratic control, “however, today it is more and more becoming an integral part of the strategic response to change and a very important facet of attempts by management to carve out competitive advantage” (Macklin & Jenkins, 2007:1).
So, Human Resource Management has become one of the most discussed approaches to the practice and analysis of the employment relationship in world market economies. Whether the perspective is supportive or critical, the idea that a reformulated relationship between management and employees is occurring has taken hold to a considerable degree. There’s no doubt that the world as we know it is rapidly changing. As part of an organization then, HRM must be prepared to deal with the
(See Appendix I) The results don’t show a great deal of variance, however, if we compare them to the results of 2003, it shows that they have improved in three areas – contribution to business performance, influence on board decisions and closeness to the business.
Based on Bratton and Gold (2007:55), as applying the resource-based model, managers consider HR as ‘an asset’ which is emphasised when there is an access to ‘advanced technology and other inanimate resources’. Moreover, Barney (1991:99) claims that to sustain the competitive advantage, it is vital for an organisation to be equipped with four characteristics of resources and capabilities:
"Human resource management can be defined as a strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organisation 's most valued assets; the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of its objectives."(Armstrong, 2001, pp.3-4).
Recruitment begins by specifying human resource requirements (numbers, skills mix, levels, time frame), which are the typical result of job analysis and workforce planning activities. Furthermore, strategic business objectives are critically important to the overall recruitment-selection process.
organization. HRM is the process of managing people of an organization with a human approach. Human
Human resource management is a term that is often used loosely and is assumed to be common sense, but the people behind good human resource teams know that those accusations are simply not true. HRM is all about how to manage people in the most effective manner in order to produce the best outcome for the company. HRM has many fascists, including recruitment of employees, initial training, hiring, advising employees, developing job descriptions, providing ongoing training to all employees, developing safety measures in the work environment, and so much more.
“Human Resource Management (HRM) is the function within an organization that focuses on recruitment, management and providing direction for the people who work in the organization. HRM is the organizational function that deals with issues related to people such as compensation, hiring, performance management, organization development, safety, wellness,