HARD & SOFT HRM Flashcards
Hard HRM vs Soft HRM
Hard HRM seen as ‘instrumental’, policies, practices, resourcing the organization, efficient achievement of tasks, accountability, appraisals: humans as resources
Soft HRM seen as ‘developmental’, relationships and collegial culture, professional efficacy, teamwork, relationships, collaboration: resourceful humans
Hard HRM is composed of 3 domains for meeting the goals and achieving the strategic plan of the organization:
get the right people in place to do the job (staffing the organisation)
make sure that the job is done well (performance management)
support their ability to achieve organisational goals and promotion (development and succession).
What does Hard HRM say about staffing the organization:
‘people chosen to fit the jobs needed’
Oldroyd (2002) ‘Leadership for Learning or Results?’
Results: NPManagement system which increases accountability, measurable outcomes, yet gives greater autonomy (budget, staffing) and emphasis on productivity, pre-specified standards and outcomes
Learning: professional empowerment and organizational learning, driven by democracy and community values, developing human potential at all levels, needs transformational and distributed leadership
The case for a balance between autonomy and accountability
England: tilt now in the other direction. Accountability too high, not enough development: demoralizes teachers and leads to recruitment crisis, need a balance.
(Baker, 2001)
Middlewood (2002) on appraisal systems and performance management
balance to be found between accountability and development, problems exist at both extremes, but
climate of trust essential. Organizational and individual needs must be balanced, quality of students’ learning must be central to purpose
Fosket and Lumby’s (2002) ‘Managing people in education’
The two approaches to HRM are overlapping and one cannot without the other. Schools still operate in societies and cultures where one model is expected over the other. External conditions place constraints on ideal practice.
Soft HRM is composed of 3 things
Personal efficacy, Individual professional efficacy, collegial professional efficacy
Leaders are emotionally intelligent, growth-enhancing, and distribute leadership
Goleman’s (2005) research into Emotional Intelligence comprises 5 parts
self-awareness self-regulation motivation empathy social skills
KEY to all three types of efficacy
Owens and Valesky’s (2006) work on motivation
Behaviour (motivation) is a function of the person and the environment.
It is the role of the school leader to create a ‘growth-enhancing environment’ which will help increase teacher motivation to develop
Evans (2003) on motivation, job satisfaction, and morale
Argues that leaders can influence attitudes and motivations when they create contexts where staff are valued as individuals and their specific needs are met: a ‘teacher-centered’ leadership approach
