To what extent does HRM differ from past management practices Essay

To what extent does HRM differ from past management practices - Essay Example Bratton & Gold (14) acknowledge that personnel management was a caring activity aimed at satisfying employee’s work-related needs as well as solving their problems. Traditional organizations were highly bureaucratic hence employee involvement was not essential in ensuring organization success. As the environment continued to change, personnel management could not be able to respond quickly hence the emergence of a more responsive approach; human resource management. However, there is a lot of controversy as to whether HRM evolved from personnel management or it is just a broadening of scope of personnel management. HRM is strategic in nature and commitment-oriented and is concerned with human relation issues. Armstrong (2003, p. 1; 2006, p 3) defines HRM as ‘a strategic and coherent approach to the management of the organizations most valued assets: the people who individually and collectively contribute to achievement of its objectives’. For Heathfield (2011), HR M is ‘a strategic and comprehensive approach to managing people, workplace culture and environment’. ... FedEx is a parcel delivery service and among the 100 â€Å"best companies to work for† as indicated by the fortune magazine 2003 (Casestudyinc.com). Blues is a garment factory with 800 employees. The paper will compare the past management practices with HRM in light of the above organizations. Personnel Management and Human Resource Management Though some scholars argue that there is no difference between personnel and HRM and that one is an extension of the other, some differences can be observed in how employee relations are handled, the way modern management is linked to business strategy, emphasis on high employee commitment, employee development, outsourcing, increased role of line managers, increased use of technology in HR systems, use of team work among others. One of the most significant differences is treating employees as an asset rather than a cost that needs to be minimised (Armstrong 2003, 4; Armstrong 2006, 10; Aswathappa, 7). The employees are thus very importa nt in an organization as they ensure organization retains its competitive advantage. As an asset, investments are done on the employees through training and development, talent management and ensuring employee retention. In so doing, the organizations recognize that employees are valuable and essential for an organization to be profitable. At FedEx, the employees are encouraged to be innovative and its people-service-profit philosophy ensures employees’ needs are taken care of. The survey –feedback –Action program is used to get data on employees and then it is used by management to detect any problems such as training needs and address them. They also show how effective HR policies are in ensuring high performance and achievement of goals. It also has