the encouragement of workers to consider management as 'partners' rather than as opponents - 'us and us', rather than 'us and them'.
Source: www.hrmguide.co.uk.
In the words of its own professional body, The Institute of Personnel and Development, personnel management; another term for HRM, can be described as:.
" that part of management concerned with people at work and their relationships within an enterprise. Its aim is to bring together and develop into an active organization the men and women who make up an enterprise and, having regard for the well being of the individual and of working groups, to enable them to make th3e best contribution to its success. Personnel management is also concerned with the human and social implications of change in internal organization methods of working, and of economic and social changes in the community.".
(IPM 1963).
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Although the concept of HRM is fairly hard to define, its important to note that it's a relatively new approach. One advocate has described HRM as:.
"a strategic approach to acquiring, motivating, developing, and managing the organization's human resources which is devoted to shaping appropriate cultures, and introducing programmes that reflect and support the core values of the organization and ensure its success.".
(Armstrong 1990).
The most important idea is that in HRM, practices are driven by the overall strategic needs of a business (Miller 1991) which according to Hendry and Pettigrew (1990), results in four key characteristics:.
A strong emphasis on planning the use of human resources.
Coherent employment policies, underpinned by a distinct philosophy.
The machinery of human resource activities is matched to a clearly stated business strategy.
A view of people (employees) as a strategic resource for gaining competitive advantage.
To us, "best practices" are documented strategies and tactics employed by highly admired companies.
