Human resources management in public administration
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1. HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Vilma Tubutiene, Lecturer of Public Administration Department Siauliai
University
.
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2. Aim of the course • To provide main understanding about Human Resource
Management processes in public organizations • To share experience among
partners in the main HR managers
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3. Introduction I • Human resources management (HRM) is one of the most
complex and challenging fields of management. It deals with the people
dimension in management. • The human resource approach has redefined the
way people are treated and managed in the organizational context. • This
approach requires that employees be treated as resources and not just as
factors of production (as in the scientific approach) or emotional beings with
psychological needs (as in the human relations approach) • The new role has
emerged for HR function, as a value provider, as a key player in organizational
working and as a contributor to organization's strategy.
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4. Introduction II • The human resources are multidimensional in nature.
Human resources may be defined as the knowledge, skills, creative abilities,
talents and aptitudes obtained by the individual; they represent the total of the
inherent abilities, acquired knowledge and skills as exemplified in the talents
and aptitudes of employees. • Human Resource Management has come to be
recognized as an inherent part of Organizational management. Its objective is
the maintenance of better human relations in the organization by the
development, application and evaluation of policies, procedures and programs
relating to human resources to optimize their contribution towards the
realization of organizational objectives. • HRM plays a major part in the
creation of an environment that enables people to make the best use of their
capacities, to realize their potential to the benefit of both the organization and
themselves and, by improving the quality of working life, to achieve
satisfaction through their work. [1]
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5. Introduction III There are three important components of HRM that
constitute a resource for the organization and are influenced by HR practices
or the HR system: 1. The human capital pool comprised of the stock of
employee knowledge, skills, motivation and behaviours. 2. The flow of human
capital through the organization – the movement of people and of knowledge.
3. The dynamic processes through which organizations change and/or renew
themselves.[1]
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6. Introduction IV Resource-based strategic HRM can produce human
resource advantage. The aim is to develop strategic capability. This means
strategic fit between resources and opportunities, obtaining added value from
the effective deployment of resources, and developing people who can think
and plan strategically in the sense that they understand the key strategic
issues and ensure that what they do supports the achievement of the
organization strategic goals. In line with human capital theory, the
resource-based view emphasizes that investment in people increases their
value to the organization. The significance of the resource-based view of the
firm is that it highlights the importance of a human capital management
approach to HRM and provides the justification for investing in people through
resourcing, talent management and learning and development programmes
as a means of enhancing organizational capability. [1]
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7. Introduction V The scope of HRM is very wide: 1. Personnel aspect: This is
concerned with manpower planning, recruitment, selection, placement,
transfer, promotion, training and development, layoff and retrenchment,
remuneration, incentives, productivity etc. 2. Welfare aspect: t deals with
working conditions and amenities such as canteens, rest and lunch rooms,
housing, transport, medical assistance, education, health and safety,
recreation
facilities,
union-management
etc.
3.
relations,
Industrial
joint
relations
consultation,
aspect:
collective
his
covers
bargaining,
grievance and disciplinary procedures, settlement of disputes, etc. [1]
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8. Introduction VI The Human Resource Management philosophy is based on
the following beliefs: • Human resource is the most important asset in the
organization and can be developed and increased to an unlimited extent. • A
healthy climate with values of openness, enthusiasm, trust, mutuality and
collaboration is essential for developing human resource. • HRM can be
planned and monitored in ways that are beneficial both to the individuals and
the organization. • Employees feel committed to their work and the
organization, if the organization perpetuates a feeling of belongingness. •
Employees feel highly motivated if the organization provides for satisfaction of
their basic and higher level needs. • Employee commitment is increased with
the opportunity to discover and use one’s capabilities and potential in one’s
work. • It is every manager’s responsibility to ensure the development and
utilization of the capabilities of subordinates.[1]
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9. I. Organization of HR function You will understand: •HR functions
•Organization of HR functions •What organizational efforts HR functions
supports
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10. Organization of HR function The activities carried out within an HR
function
can
be
divided
into
two
broad
categories:
1)
strategic
(transformational), which is largely concerned with the alignment and
implementation of HR and organizational strategies, and 2) transactional,
which covers the main HR service delivery activities of resourcing, learning
and development, reward and employee relations. The HR function is involved
in devising HR strategies, policies and practices that meet the needs of the
organization and its members and support the attainment of sustained
competitive advantage. [1]
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11. Organization of HR function The three-legged stool model for the
organization of the HR function. It divides the function into the following three
parts. 1. Centres of expertise These specialize in the provision of high level
advice and services on key HR activities. The most common expertise areas
were training and development, reward and employee relations 2. Strategic
business partners These work with line managers to help them reach their
goals through effective strategy formulation and execution .They are often
‘embedded’ in organization units or departments. 3. Shared service centres
These handle all the routine ‘transactional’ services across the business.
These include such activities as recruitment, absence monitoring and advice
on dealing with employee issues such as discipline and absenteeism. [1]
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12. Organization of HR function The central focus for HR management must
be on contributing to organizational success. Key to enhancing organizational
performance
is
ensuring
that
organizational efforts focusing
human
resources
on productivity,
activities
service,
support
and quality.
Productivity: continuous improvement of productivity has become even more
important as global competition has increased. The productivity of the human
resources in an organization is affected significantly by management efforts,
programs, and systems. Quality: The quality of products and services
delivered significantly affects organizational success over the long term. If an
organization gains a reputation for providing poor-quality products and
services, it reduces its organizational growth and performance. An emphasis
on quality requires continuous changes aimed at improving work processes.
That need opens the door for reengineering the organizational work done by
people. Customer value received and satisfaction become the bases for
judging success, along with more traditional HR measures of performance and
efficiency. Service: Because people frequently produce the products or
services offered by an organization, HR management considerations must be
included when identifying service blockages and redesigning operational
processes. Involving all employees, not just managers, in problem solving
often requires changes in corporate culture, leadership styles, and HR policies
and practices. [2]
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13. Organization of HR function • To accomplish these goals, HR
management is composed of several groups of interlinked activities. However,
the performance of the HR activities must be done in the context of the
organization, which is represented by the inner rings in Figure below. • All
managers with HR responsibilities must consider external environmental
forces —such as legal, political, economic, social, cultural, and technological
ones—when addressing these activities. HR activities for which a brief
overview follows are: • HR Planning and Analysis • Equal Employment
Opportunity • Staffing • HR Development • Compensation and Benefits •
Health, Safety, and Security • Employee and Labor/Management Relations [2]
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14. II. HRM activities You will understand: •Main HRM activities and how they
are linked •What benefits they could provide for Organization
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15. HRM Activities
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16. HRactivities HR planning and analysis activities have several facets.
•Through HR planning, managers attempt to anticipate forces that will
influence the future supply of and demand for employees. •Having adequate
human resource information systems (HRIS) to provide accurate and timely
information for HR planning is crucial. •The importance of human resources in
organizational competitiveness must be addressed as well. As part of
maintaining organizational competitiveness, HR analysis and assessment of
HR effectiveness must occur. [2] HR Planning and Analysis
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17. Human resource planning flow chart [1]
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18. HRactivities Aims of HR planning Human resource planning aims to
ensure that the organization has the number of people with the right skills
needed to meet forecast requirements. Human resource planning activities
Scenario planning, demand and supply forecasts, action planning. Action
planning Action plans are derived from the broad resourcing strategies and the
more detailed analysis of demand and supply factors. [1] Planing
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19. HRactivities The aim of staffing is to provide an adequate supply of
qualified individuals to fill the jobs in an organization: •By studying what
workers do, job analysis is the foundation for the staffing function. •From this,
job descriptions and job specifications can be prepared to recruit applicants for
job openings. •The selection process is concerned with choosing the most
qualified individuals to fill jobs in the organization. [2] Staffing
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20. HRactivities Job analysis methodology and techniques The essence of
job analysis is the application of systematic methods to the collection of
information about job content. It is essentially about data collection and the
basic steps are: • obtain documents such as existing organization, procedure
or training manuals which give information about the job; • obtain from
managers fundamental information concerning the job; • obtain from job
holders similar information about their jobs. [1] Staffing
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21. HRactivities Job descriptions Job descriptions should be based on the job
analysis and should be as brief and factual as possible. The headings could
be: job title, reporting to, reporting to job holder, main purpose of job, main
activities, tasks or duties. Role analysis methodology Role analysis uses the
same techniques as job analysis but the focus is on identifying inputs
(knowledge and skill and competency requirements) and required outcomes
(key result areas) rather than simply listing the tasks to be carried out.[1]
Staffing
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22. HRactivities There are three fundamental characteristics shared by all
jobs: 1. Job range – the number of operations a job holder performs to
complete a task. 2. Job depth – the amount of discretion a job holder has to
decide job activities and job outcomes. 3. Job relationships – the interpersonal
relationships between job holders and their managers and co-workers.[1]
Staffing
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23. HRactivities Task structure Job design requires the assembly of a number
of tasks into a job or a group of jobs. Individuals may carry out a variety of
connected tasks (multi- tasking), each with a number of functions, or these
tasks may be allocated to a team of workers or divided between them. The
internal structure of each task consists of three elements: planning (deciding
on the course of action, its timing and the resources required),[1] Staffing
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24. HRactivities Defining requirements Requirements are set out in the form
of job descriptions or role profiles and person specifications. These provide
the information required to draft advertisements, post vacancies on the
internet, brief agencies or recruitment consultants and assess candidates by
means of interviews and selection tests. Selection methods The aim is to
assess the suitability of candidates by predicting the extent to which they will
be able to carry out a role successfully. It involves deciding on the degree to
which the characteristics of applicants match the person specification and
using this assessment to make a choice between candidates. [1] Staffing
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25. HRactivities •Beginning with the orientation of new employees, HR
training and development also includes job-skill training. •As jobs evolve and
change, ongoing retraining is necessary to accommodate technological
changes. Encouraging development of all employees, including supervisors
and managers, is necessary to prepare organizations for future challenges.
•Career planning identifies paths and activities for individual employees as
they develop within the organization. Assessing how employees perform their
jobs is the focus of performance management.[2] HR Development
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26. HR activities The elements of Talent Management [1]
.
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27. HR activities The process of Career Management [1]
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28. HR activities The nature of a learning culture A learning culture is one that
promotes learning because it is recognized by top management, line
managers and employees generally as an essential organizational process to
which they are committed and in which they engage continuously. How
learning and development activities contribute to organization performance
While it is possible and highly desirable to evaluate learning, establishing a
link between learning and organizational performance is problematic, although
research has shown that learning and development can be a crucial
intervening factor.[1] The features of a learning and development strategy A
learning and development strategy should be organization-led in the sense
that it is designed to support the achievement of organization goals by
promoting human capital advantage. But it should also be people-led, which
means taking into account the needs and aspirations of people to grow and
develop. Learning and training
.
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29. HR
activities
•Compensation
rewards
people
for
performing
organizational work through pay, incentives, and benefits. Employers must
develop and refine their basic wage and salary systems. •Also, incentive
programs such as gainsharing and productivity rewards are growing in usage.
•The rapid increase in the costs of benefits, especially health-care benefits,
will continue to be a major issue.[2] Compensation and benefits
.
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30. HRactivities Objectives of employee benefits • Provide a competitive total
remuneration package. • Provide for the personal needs of employees. •
Increase the commitment of employees to the organization. • Provide for some
people a tax-efficient method of remuneration.[1] Flexible benefi ts Flexible
benefit schemes (sometimes called ‘cafeteria systems’) allow employees to
decide, within certain limits, on the make-up of their benefits package.
Schemes can allow for a choice within benefits or a choice between benefits.
Employees are allocated an individual allowance to spend on benefits. This
allowance can be used to switch between benefits, to choose new ones, or to
alter the rate of cover within existing benefits. [1] Compensation and benefits
.
.
31. HRactivities •The physical and mental health and safety of employees are
vital concerns. The traditional concern for safety has focused on eliminating
accidents and injuries at work. Additional concerns are health issues arising
from hazardous work with certain chemicals and newer technologies.
•Through a broader focus on health, HR management can assist employees
with substance abuse and other problems through employee assistance
programs (EAP) in order to retain otherwise satisfactory employees.
•Employee wellness programs to promote good health and exercise are
becoming more widespread. •Workplace security has grown in importance, in
response to the increasing number of acts of workplace violence. HR
management must ensure that managers and employees can work in a safe
environment.[2] Health, Safety, and Security
.
.
32. HRactivities •The relationship between managers and their employees
must be handled effectively if both the employees and the organization are to
prosper together. Whether or not some of the employees are represented by a
union, employee rights must be addressed. •It is important to develop,
communicate, and update HR policies and rules so that managers and
employees
alike
know
what
is
expected.
•In
some
organizations,
union/management relations must be addressed as well.2] Employee and
Labor/Management Relations
.
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33. III. HR management roles You will understand: •Main HRM roles •What
benefits they could provide for Organization
.
.
34. HR management roles [2] •
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35. HRmanagementroles • The administrative role of HR management is
heavily oriented to processing and record keeping. Maintaining employee files
and HR-related databases, processing employee benefits claims, answering
questions about tuition and/or sick leave policies, and compiling and
submitting required state and federal government reports are all examples of
the administrative nature of HR management. These activities must be
performed efficiently and promptly. • However, this role resulted in HR
management in some organizations getting the reputation of paper shufflers
who primarily tell managers and employees what cannot be done. If limited to
the administrative role, HR staff are seen primarily as clerical and lower-level
administrative contributors to the organization [2] Administrative Role of HR
Management
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36. HRmanagementroles • Operational activities are tactical in nature.
Compliance with equal employment opportunity and other laws must be
ensured, employment applications must be processed, current openings must
be filled through interviews, supervisors must be trained, safety problems must
be resolved, and wages and salaries must be administered. In short, a wide
variety of the efforts performed typically are associated with coordinating the
management of HR activities with the actions of managers and supervisors
throughout the organization. • This operational emphasis still exists in some
organizations, partly because of individual limitations of HR staff members and
partly because of top management’s resistance to an expanded HR role.
Typically, the operational role requires HR professionals to identify and
implement operational programs and policies in the organization. They are the
major implementors of the HR portion of organizational strategic plans
developed by top management, rather than being deeply involved in
developing those strategic plans. [2] Operational Role of HR Management
.
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37. HRmanagementroles • Organizational human resources have grown as a
strategic emphasis because effective use of people in the organization can
provide a competitive advantage, both domestically and abroad. • The
strategic role of HR management emphasizes that the people in an
organization are valuable resources representing significant organizational
investments. For HR to play a strategic role it must focus on the longer-term
implications of HR issues. • How changing workforce demographics and
workforce shortages will affect the organization, and what means will be used
to address the shortages over time, are illustrations of the strategic role. The
importance of this role has been the subject of extensive discussion recently in
the field, and those discussions have emphasized the need for HR
management to become a greater strategic contributor to the success of
organizations. [2] Strategic Role of HR Management
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38. Exercise
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39. Several last years there are discussions among practioners and
researchers about establishing of Senior Civil Service in Lithuania. For
example Jagminas, Valickas (2009) make assumption based on their research,
that strategic approach to human resource management implies that human
resources are especially unique and valuable and leaders should be treated
differently from other groups of employees within the public sector. They
assume, that civil service system should invest much in providing internal
development possibilities for them and use commitment-based human
resource management practices. This idea should be used as one of the
bases implementing the reforms in human resource management in civil
service. Taking in account the previous material, please give some (3-4)
possible competences/abilities of leaders in Civil service, that are crucial
important to be developed in your country. Explain in one-two sentences, how
those competences/abilities could impact on Organizational effectiveness.
You could read mentioned publication here: sent Jagminas J., Valickas A. The
Assumptions for Senior Civil Service in Lithuania. VIEŠOJI POLITIKA IR
ADMINISTRAVIMAS, 2009. Nr. 27
.
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40. References 1. Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Management
Practice. London, 2009. 2. Dessler, G. Human Resource Management,
Prentice
Hall.
More
about
Lithuanian
Civil
Service:
open
http://eurofound.europa.eu/observatories/eurwork/co
mparative-information/national- contributions/lithuania-working-conditions-incentral-public-administration