Support for an HR Approach in Australia: The Perspective of Senior HR Managers

Abstract

Results from a national survey of membership of the professional body the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) provide clear support that senior HR managers have internalized key features of an HR approach and have largely moved away from the personnel mindset. Results also indicate that recent HR policy initiatives have focused on recruitment and selection, training and development and performance appraisal. These policy areas are complementary, central to strategic HRM and reflect an attempt to develop key HR capabilities. Further HR policy areas that are discussed at the senior management committee level reinforce policy initiatives being taken by HR managers. There is also adequate opportunity for this group of senior HR managers to communicate their ideas directly with the CEO. These findings raise important questions about how this perceived move towards an HR approach will be received and supported elsewhere in the organization. Sector and ownersbip were also taken into account. HR managers in the private sector were more willing to embrace a business focus and greater emphasis is given to training by overseas-owned firms.

HR managers, SHRM and the Australian metals mining sector: Embracing the unitarist vision

“…However, the authors also found the existence of certain obstacles to change (which had been predicted earlier by Beer 1997) including limitations in the appreciation by senior management of the requirements of SHRM, in the allocation of resources to HR managers to facilitate organisational change, and in the capacity of HR professionals to carry out the extended strategic role (Dowling and Fisher 1997). Fisher and Dowling (1999) built on these findings by investigating the perceptions of senior HR professionals of the apparent changes within the HR function, especially with respect to: the role change for HR; the strategic involvement of HR; the nature of HR policy and business orientation; and the extent of strong and direct communication between employees and management. The authors found that there was strong support among senior HR managers for HR policies to be strategically integrated and focused, and also a strong belief in the need for HR to 'contribute to the (organisational) bottom line' (Fisher and Dowling 1999, 15).…”

“…The unitarist belief that organisational stakeholders, particularly employers and employees, will have common interests in attaining organisational goals and objectives is arguably a 'useful fiction' which serves to overcome apparently intractable theoretical difficulties that pluralism besets for the managerial prerogative. Indeed, the notion that unitarism lies at the heart of HRM philosophy is an important theoretical assumption made by Fisher and Dowling (1999) (and many others), discussed above. Nankervis, Compton and McCarthy (1996, 5-6) suggest that unitarism is reflected in models of HRM developed in the US, and in the practices of a number of South East Asian countries.…”

“…From the research by Dowling and Fisher (1997) and Fisher and Dowling (1999), and theoretical work upon which these studies are based, a number of important themes appear to emerge. The first theme relates to the nature of the HR job itself: what are the current HR functions, roles, and practices?…”

“…Smart (1995) observed that, at the time, there was limited research data available to examine the impact of SHRM in Australian organisations. There have been a number of important and recent contributions to SHRM research in Australia (for example, Dowling and Fisher 1997;Fisher and Dowling 1999), although the tendency has been to survey HR manager perceptions in a broad range of Introduction organisations across different industries, but with limited detailed insight into practice. This presents an opportunity for more detailed research into specific Australian enterprise categories or industries to explore HR trends and practices.…”

Leading an entrepreneurial workforce: development or decline?

“…However, this would not mean sustainable competitive advantage unless the employees are continually motivated, requiring a focused entrepreneurial strategy (Kuratko et al, 2004). In addition, human resource practices are needed to maintain employee commitment and long-term employee retention that requires strategically focused organisational human resource policies rather than a shorter term cost cutting strategy (Fisher and Dowling, 1999). Conversely, it may be argued that entrepreneurial spirit is endemic and even without motivational techniques entrepreneurial events will occur as a result of the pursuit of entrepreneurial activity (Brazeal and Herbert, 1999;Rae, 1999).…”