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Rebalancing the role of human resources
Author(s) -
Kochan Thomas A.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
human resource management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.888
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1099-050X
pISSN - 0090-4848
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-050x(199721)36:1<121::aid-hrm19>3.0.co;2-e
Subject(s) - citation , library science , human resource management , human resources , sociology , management , computer science , media studies , knowledge management , economics
Over the long run, the influence of human resources (HR) rises and falls depending on how well professionals in this field anticipate and respond to changing external and internal forces that shape the employment relationship. The key external labor market forces affecting the role of human resources historically have been the tightness of labor markets, the influence of government policies regulating employment relations, and the strength or threat of unionization or other forms of worker unrest (Kochan & Cappelli, 1984; Jacoby, 1985; Baron, Dobbins, & Jennings, 1986). In recent years, these forces have taken a back seat to the product market competitiveness pressures and the increased activity and power of shareholders and financial institutions. Chief executive officers (CEOs) and line managers were the first to feel these pressures and they in turn demanded significant changes in employment practices that would increase productivity, quality, customer responsiveness, and adaptability while simultaneously controlling compensation costs, restructuring, downsizing, and outsourcing work not deemed to fall within the organization’s main mission or “core competencies.” As a result, the human resource profession has been preoccupied with efforts to become a more strategic resource to senior and line management. This has led the profession to turn somewhat inward and, in view of one leading professional, to behave as “perfect agents” of top management (Doyle, 1993). The major question facing the profession today is whether this internal orientation has now become myopic and disconnected from the changing realities of today’s workplace and tomorrow’s employment problems and challenges. I believe it has and that the profession either will undergo dramatic shifts in the years ahead or will lose even more influence both within the managerial community and in the broader society it is expected to serve. I will lay out the reasons for this view and then propose the shifts in perspective and approach that will be needed for human resources to play a more influential and constructive role in the future.