4-1 Introduction to responsibilities for delivering human resource management

Question 1

What is HR according to Gratton & Ghoshal (2003)?

Answer 1

Gratton & Ghoshal (2003) define human capital as comprising the intellectual, emotional and social capital of individuals and organisations.

Question 2

What are the different types of capital in the context of HR?

Answer 2

1. Human capital ‑ the talents and capabilities of people in an organisation that create value or wealth
   Intellectual capital ‑ the knowledge, skills and expertise within an organisation
2. Emotional capital ‑ the motivation and resilience for taking actions
3. Social capital ‑ the resources, such as psychological states and behavioural expectations, embedded within and available through the network of social relationships within the organisation

Question 3

Armstong Definition of HR

Answer 3

“…a strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organization’s most valued assets – the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of its objectives”. (Armstrong, 2006: 3)

Question 4

The activities of HR are ususally the following:

Answer 4

1. organisation – including work organisation design
2. employee resourcing – including planning, recruitment, selection and retention
3. HRD – including training, learning and learning organisation
4. reward management – including pay and benefits (although this may be included under the employment relationship)
5. employee relations – including trust, commitment, empowerment, engagement and the psychological contract
6. organisation development – including designing and managing change

Question 5

Ulrich & Brockbank’s (2005) view of HR practices in terms of four flows as follows.

Answer 5

1. People – staffing, training, succession planning, outsourcing
2. Performance management – appraisal, compensation, benefits
3. Information – information, HR information systems, employee relations
4. Work – organisational design, work process redesign and workplace design

Question 6

2 types of HRM

Answer 6

Soft and Hard HRM

Question 7

Soft (collaborative) HRM is

Answer 7

as the name suggests is about developing and nurturing human resources in such a way that it leads to a positive employer-employee relationship.

That is to say that soft HRM approach leads to employee commitment, motivation and loyalty thereby increasing organisational performance. Soft HRM looks into high-commitment work practices (Guest, 1987) that prioritises employee participation and involvement thereby increasing employee empowerment which ultimately affects positive attitudes and behaviours at work

Question 8

Hard HRM (calculative HRM) is

Answer 8

Hard HRM (Guest, 1987) approach highlights the use of labour for organisational gains using exploitative practices such as low pay (e.g. only providing national minimum), lack of job security (e.g. Zero hours contract), demanding working conditions (e.g. lack of health and safety, overtime, excess workload) ultimately leading to negative work behaviours and attitudes (e.g. low commitment, lack of loyalty)

Question 9

How do most organisations use hard and soft HRM?

Answer 9

These approaches are not mutually exclusive but co-exist simultaneously and at each stage of the organisational growth cycle, these affect different individual and organisational outcomes.