Commonwealth of Learning Executive MBA/MPA

C3 Human Resource Management

Unit 14
Other Emerging Issues
Course Developer: Lalith Weeratunga
Senior Consultant
Postgraduate Institute of Management
University of Sri Jayewardenepura
Columbo, Sri Lanka

Copyright Commonwealth of Learning, 2003

All rights reserved. No part of this course may be reproduced in any form by any means
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 Contents
1 Objectives................................................................................................................... 4
2 Sexual Harassment.................................................................................................... 4
2.1 Definition ............................................................................................................ 4
2.2 Forms of Sexual Harassment .............................................................................. 5
2.3 What the Employer Should Do ........................................................................... 5
2.4 What the Individual Can Do ............................................................................... 6
3 Discrimination ........................................................................................................... 7
3.1 A Legal Definition .............................................................................................. 7
3.2 Equal Employment Opportunities....................................................................... 8
4 Organisational Development (OD) .......................................................................... 9
4.1 Thirteen Major ‘Families’ of OD Interventions................................................ 10
4.2 The Importance of Diagnosis............................................................................ 13
4.3 OD Techniques ................................................................................................. 13
5 Managing Change ................................................................................................... 14
5.1 Motivating People to Change............................................................................ 15
5.1.1 General Reasons for Resistance ................................................................... 15
5.1.2 Change-Specific Reasons for Resistance ...................................................... 16
5.1.3 Implementation – A General Model for Managing Resistance .................... 17
5.1.4 Specific Approaches to Enlisting Cooperation ............................................. 18
5.2 Leading Change ................................................................................................ 19
6 Downsizing............................................................................................................... 20
6.1 Definition .......................................................................................................... 21
6.2 Approaches to Downsizing ............................................................................... 21
6.3 Alternatives to Downsizing............................................................................... 23
6.3.1 Pay Cuts ........................................................................................................ 23
6.3.2 Pay Freezes................................................................................................... 23
6.3.3 Reduced Hours.............................................................................................. 23
6.3.4 Job Sharing ................................................................................................... 23
6.3.5 Talent Pools .................................................................................................. 23
6.3.6 Hiring Freezes .............................................................................................. 24
6.3.7 Outplacement Services.................................................................................. 24
6.3.8 Employment Contracts.................................................................................. 24
6.3.9 Leaves of Absence ......................................................................................... 24
6.3.10 Transfers ................................................................................................... 24
6.3.11 Unpaid Time Off ....................................................................................... 24
7 Toward an HR Philosophy ..................................................................................... 25
7.1 The Need for a Philosophy ............................................................................... 25
7.2 Auditing the HR Function................................................................................. 26
8 Summary.................................................................................................................. 27
9 References and Further Reading........................................................................... 30
 1 Objectives
When you have studied Block 14 of this course, you should be able to:

• Describe some emerging issues in regard to HRM

• Name consequences, for the workplace and the individuals involved, of acts defined as
sexual harassment, and describe suitable interventions.

• Characterise approaches to organisational development

• Recount the leading theories about good management of change

• Describe objectives for downsizing and various approaches to this process.

2 Sexual Harassment
The problem of sexual harassment in the workplace, according to Ferris and Buckley (1995),
is one that requires an active response on the part of the organisational managers. Following a
number of court decisions, particularly in the Supreme Court of the US, organisations have
been cautioned to define and communicate policies on sexual harassment.

2.1 Definition
Sexual harassment is defined as harassment on the basis of sex that has the purpose or effect
of substantially interfering with a person’s work performance or creating an intimidating,
hostile, or offensive work environment (Dessler 2001, 38). The Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission in the US defines sexual harassment as, ‘unwelcome sexual
advances, requests for sexual favours and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature
that takes place under any of the following conditions:

1. ‘Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or

condition of an individual’s employment.

2. ‘Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for

decisions affecting that individual’s employment.

3. ‘Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an

individual’s work performance or of creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive
working environment.’ (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 1980, p.
25024).

The concept of sexual harassment is extremely broad, covering anything that a person who is
not hypersensitive finds offensive – words, magazine pictures, conduct, touching, or looking.
The burden is on the employer to remove offensive items or stop offensive behaviour. An
employee’s responsibility to stop sexual harassment may also extend to off-premises and off-
duty conduct.

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2.2 Forms of Sexual Harassment
There are three forms of sexual harassment:

• Quid Pro Quo – this form of harassment is the exchange of sexual favours for job
benefits (e.g., the promise of a salary raise or promotion). This is also the most direct
form of harassment.

• Hostile environment created by supervisors– This is to create an offensive

working environment. It may be that a male supervisor’s sexual harassment had a
substantial effect on a female employee’s performance.

• Hostile environment created by co-workers or non-employees – The workplace

may be poisoned for an employee without direct harassment by supervisors; this can
come from the employee’s co-workers or even the employer’s customers.

2.3 What the Employer Should Do

Ivancevich (1998, 98) states that an employer fulfils its duty to prevent or remedy sexual
harassment in three ways:

• By developing a policy against sexual harassment

• By promptly and thoroughly investigating allegations and complaints of sexual

harassment

• By properly disciplining offenders

All written sexual harassment policies need to contain the following:

• Definition of sexual harassment

• Statement encouraging people to come forward with complaints

• Promise of confidentiality

• Alternative channel for filing complaints

• Promise of prompt and thorough investigation of all complaints

• Promise that the organisation may take interim steps pending full investigation

• Appropriate disciplinary measures against offenders

• Assurance that those who make complaints will not be subjected to retaliation or
punishment in any way for complaining.

Dessler (p. 40) presents a similar viewpoint but with a different approach. Employers can
take steps to minimise liability if a sexual harassment claim is filed against the organisation
and to prevent such claims from arising in the first place:

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 1. First, take all complaints seriously. When confronted with sexual harassment
complaints or when sexual conduct is observed in the workplace, the best reaction
is to address the complaint or stop the conduct.

2. Issue a strong policy statement condemning such behaviour. The policy should
contain a workable definition of sexual harassment, spell out possible actions
against those who harass others, and make it clear that retaliatory action against
an employee who makes charges will not be tolerated.

3. Inform all employees about the policy prohibiting sexual harassment and of their
rights under the policy.

4. Develop a complaint procedure.

5. Establish a management response system that includes an immediate reaction and

investigation by senior management.

6. Begin management training sessions with supervisors and managers to increase

their own awareness of the issues.

7. Discipline managers and employees involved in sexual harassment.

8. Keep thorough records of complaints, investigations, and actions taken.

9. Conduct exit interviews that uncover any complaints and that acknowledge by
signature the reasons for leaving.

10. Republish the sexual harassment policy periodically.

11. Encourage upward communication through periodic written attitude surveys, hot
lines, suggestion boxes, and other feedback procedures to discover employees’
feelings concerning any evidence of sexual harassment and to keep management
informed.

You should observe that these guidelines state that once the employer knows or should have
known of harassing conduct, immediate corrective action is required even if the offending
party is a non-employee. Please note that steps to prevent harassment should include, at a
minimum, an explicit policy against harassment that is clearly and regularly communicated to
employees; efforts to sensitise all supervisory and non-supervisory employees on harassment
issues; and an effective internal complaint procedure.

2.4 What the Individual Can Do

The individual who believes he or she has been sexually harassed can also take several steps
to eliminate the problem. The following is proposed:

1. A verbal request to the harasser and the harasser’s boss that the unwanted overtures
should stop because the conduct is unwelcome.

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 2. Offended person should write a letter to the accused – a polite, low-key letter written
in three parts: The first part should be a detailed statement of facts as the writer sees
them. The second part should describe the writer’s feelings and what damage the
writer thinks has been done (e.g. ‘Your action made me feel terrible; I am deeply
embarrassed…’). Thirdly, the accuser should state what he or she would like to have
happen next (e.g., ‘I ask that our relationship from now on be on a strictly
professional basis’).

3. Offended person should report the unwelcome conduct and unsuccessful efforts to
get it stopped. The report should be made to the offender’s manager or to the HR
director (or both), verbally and in writing.

4. If the employer does not take any action, the offended person could consult a lawyer
about suing the harasser for assault and battery, intentional inflicting of emotional
distress, and to recover compensatory and punitive damages if the harassment is of a
serious nature.

Activity
Do a survey of public and private sector organisations in your country and find out whether
sexual harassment policies exist in those organisations. Examine a policy each from a public
sector and private sector organisation and see to what extent those cover the policy aspects
mentioned above.

3 Discrimination
Many governments provide laws that eliminate discrimination. However, you may be
surprised to hear that laws never defined it: courts have had to, when they have interpreted
the laws.

3.1 A Legal Definition

According to Ivancevich (1998, 77) legal definitions, particularly those arising out of
interpretations by courts of law (in this case the US courts) are of three types:

• Initially, during World War II, US courts defined discrimination as prejudicial

treatment: harmful actions motivated by personal animosity toward the group of which
the target person was a member. However, this first definition was ineffective against
many employment practices that perpetuated inequality.

• Then the courts redefined discrimination to mean unequal treatment. This meant that a
practice was unlawful if it applied different standards or different treatment to different
groups of employees or applicants.

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• The third definition was arrived at by the US Supreme Court: unequal impact. The court
struck down employment tests and educational requirements that screened out a greater
proportion of minorities (African-American) than the whites. Today, both unequal
treatment and unequal impact are considered discrimination.

3.2 Equal Employment Opportunities

According to Goss (1994, 156) there are two ways in which equal opportunities issues are
located within the HRM debate. The first relates to concerns about human capital: where
opportunities to develop and progress are ‘artificially’ blocked for any particular group, this
will result in the sub-optimal use of human resources; hence, it is economically rational to
ensure that all those who have ability also have the opportunity to exercise it on behalf of the
organisation.

From this perspective, equal opportunities is a purely practical matter of

outcomes that need not be concerned with the nature or origin of inequalities;
what is important is the resource value of the employee, not their social
status.

The second link between HRM and equal opportunities, in contrast, emphasises the
importance of social justice.

In this respect, equal opportunities is primarily a moral or ethical project that

focusses on the processes giving rise to inequalities and seeks to address
these in a qualitative sense, not by reducing social difference to a common
currency, but by promoting its acceptance and understanding.

Goss (1994, 156) further advocates that promoting equal opportunities is first and foremost a
social duty for an employer, although economic benefits may subsequently flow from this.
Here, the affinity is more with humanistic traditions of HRM.

As you would see, there could be different approaches to equal opportunities and that may
well create tension. Arising from this, stances on equal opportunities and its appearance as an
issue within HRM frameworks are likely to be variable, depending, on the one hand, on the
nature of the commitment of management, and on the other, on the ability of under-
represented groups to influence employment policy. Goss (p.157) presents a framework to
describe the ways in which equal opportunities may appear as ‘agendas’ for HRM. (See
figure below) In the framework there are two major factors: commitment and focus.
Commitment can be either shallow or deep whilst the focus could be either broad or narrow.
Commitment

Shallow Deep

Broad Token agenda Long agenda

Focus
Narrow Short agenda Focussed agenda

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Shallow commitment means that the organisation is capable of adopting or abandoning equal
opportunities, in line with legal or economic expediency. Narrow commitment means equal
opportunities will be restricted only to those measures required by law or demanded by short-
term labour market conditions. Where humanistic HRM predominates, the tendency is likely
to be towards a deep commitment based upon principle and a wide coverage beyond
minimum legal requirements.

Interpreting the above framework, Goss states that the key distinction is between the long and
short agendas, the others being variants of these. Thus, the token agenda covers inequalities
other than those specified in employment legislation, but treats these in a generally
superficial way that owes more to public relations and short-term economic pressure than to a
commitment to fundamental change. In this respect, its approach, while broad, is essentially
the same as the short agenda. Similarly, the focussed agenda approaches equal opportunities
with the same concern for real change as the long agenda but concentrates attention on a
limited range of issues.

Just to put into summary, the short agenda is concerned merely with policy measures that
meet short-term economic and legal requirements, while the long agenda is both broad in its
coverage and geared towards positive action to equalise employment opportunities beyond
the level required by law or economic expediency. The long agenda approach is one of ‘equal
share’, which goes beyond simple ‘equal chance’, usually involving some form of positive
action.

Positive action does not involve meeting quotas by positive discrimination; rather it provides
members of under-represented groups with the skills necessary to reach the selection-pool
and to be able, once there, to compete equally on merit alone. In broad terms, positive action
covers four areas:
• policies and practices
• behaviour and attitudes
• training and development
• resource provision

These will not be discussed at length here, but if you are interested in this topic you may refer
to Goss (1994, 156-174).

4 Organisational Development (OD)

Dessler (2001, 292) defines Organisation Development (OD) as:

a method that is aimed at changing the attitudes, values, and beliefs of

employees so that the employees themselves can identify and implement the
technical changes such as reorganizations, redesigned facilities, and the like
that are required, usually with the aid of an outside change agent or
consultant.

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According to Dessler, action research is the common denominator underlying most OD
interventions. It includes:

1. gathering data about the organisation and its operations and attitudes, with an eye
towards solving a particular problem;

2. feeding back these data to the parties involved; and then,

3. having these parties team-plan solutions to the problems.

You would see from the above three activities that in OD, the participants always get
involved in gathering data about themselves and their organisation, analysing these data and
planning solutions based on these analyses. Dessler further says that OD efforts include
survey feedback, sensitivity training and team building.

Ivancevich (1998, 453) defines OD as a process of change that involves the continuing
development of human resources. It is not unusual that organisations and their environments
are dynamic and constantly changing. Especially, as the environment keeps changing,
organisations will have to keep pace with it. What really happens in the environment? New
technologies are developed and introduced, competitors enter and leave markets, inflation
increases and productivity fluctuates. In general, managers have to face these kinds of
changes but HR managers have to cope with specific changes manifested in the workforces.

Although there is no definition that is universally accepted, perhaps the most quoted
definition of OD is the following, from Beckhard (1969) by way of Ivancevich (1998):

An effort (a) planned, (b) organisation wide, (c) managed from the top, to (d)
increase organisational effectiveness and health through (e) planned
intervention in the organisation’s ‘processes’ using behavioural science
knowledge.

You will note that as per the above definition, OD is planned, since it requires systematic
diagnosis, development of a programme, and the mobilisation of resources (such as trainers,
participants, teaching aids). As Ivancevich points out, it involves either the entire system or
an entire unit. As you will agree, it must have top-management commitment if it is to be a
success. You should also note another important feature in this definition. OD is not a
specific technique such as behaviour modelling, transactional analysis or sensitivity training.
These techniques and others are part of an OD effort.

The following is a list containing a variety of approaches that are available to managers.
However, be aware that there is no one best approach

4.1 Thirteen Major ‘Families’ of OD Interventions

Ivancevich (1998) notes that organisational development activities come in a variety of
forms. All share a focus on improving the effectiveness of an organisation’s self-diagnosis
and problem-solving abilities, rather than solving any particular organisational problem.

1. Diagnostic activities: fact-finding activities designed to ascertain the state of the

system, the status of a problem, the ‘way things are.’ Traditional data collection

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 methods – including interviews, questionnaires, and meetings – are commonly used.
Below is a diagrammatic representation of this stage.
Source: Ivancevich (1998, p.455).

Organizational analysis
1. Determine short- and long- term Discussion
goals of the organisation Records
Analysis of meetings
Review goals, mission, and strategic
plan

Job analysis
2. Examine job requirements, job Observation
specifications, and changes in Questionnaires
jobs Records

3. Determine behaviours needed to Human resource analysis

Observation
perform jobs and performance
Records
standards
Critical incidents

4. Develop behavioural objectives Objectives to be used in evaluation of

to be accomplished through OD success of OD programme

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The list of organisational activities continues thus:

2. Team-building activities: activities designed to enhance the effective operation of

system teams.

3. Intergroup activities: activities designed to improve effectiveness of

interdependent groups. The focus is on joint activities.

4. Survey feedback activities: activities involving analysing data produced by a

survey and designing action plans based on these data.

5. Education and training activities: activities designed to improve skills, abilities,

and knowledge of individuals. There are many possible approaches that concentrate
on technical, interpersonal or other competencies.

6. Technostructural or structural activities: activities designed to improve the

effectiveness of the technical or structural inputs and constraints affecting
individuals or groups (e.g. interventions involving job enrichment, matrix structures,
management by objectives, and physical settings).

7. Process consultation activities: activities on the part of the consultant that help
managers understand and act on human processes in organisations. This includes
teaching skills in diagnosing and managing communications, leadership,
cooperation and conflict, and other aspects of interpersonal functioning.

8. Grid organisation development activities: activities developed by Robert Blake

and Jane Mouton, constituting a six-phase change model involving the entire
organisation. The phases include upgrading individual manager’s leadership
abilities, team improvement activities, intergroup relations, corporate planning,
development of implementation tactics, and evaluation of change and future
directions.

9. Third-party peacemaking activities: activities designed to manage conflict

between two parties, conducted by some third party, typically a skilled consultant.

10. Coaching and counselling activities: activities that entail working with individuals
to better enable them to define learning goals, learn how others see their behaviour,
explore alternative behaviours and learn new behaviours.

11. Life- and career-planning activities: activities that help individuals identify life
and career objectives, capabilities, areas of strength and deficiency, and strategies
for achieving objectives.

12. Planning and goal-setting activities: activities that include theory and experience
in planning and goal setting. They may be conducted at the level of the individual,
group, and total organisation.

13. Strategic management activities: activities that help key policy makers identify
their organisation’s basic mission and goals; ascertain environmental demands,
threats and opportunities; and engage in long-range planning.

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 Source:Ivancevich (1998, p.454 ) citing W. French and C. Bell (1983), Organizational Development:
Behavioral Science Interventions for Organization Improvement, 3rd ed. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall), pp.126-128.

4.2 The Importance of Diagnosis

Ivancevich points out that an important characteristic of any OD intervention is that it should
follow diagnosis. A manager merely having a certain viewpoint of a problem is not a
sufficient reason to implement a technique such as behaviour modelling. The rational way is
to collect data in a scientific way through interviews, observations, questionnaires or checks
of records and then plan an OD intervention after careful consideration and selection.

Ivancevich’s sources consider the collection of diagnostic data to be part of OD’s orientation
toward action research. Action research involves seven main steps:

1. Problem identification.

2. Consultation among experts. This could involve hired consultants, HR specialists,

and senior executives.

3. Data collection and diagnosis.

4. Feedback of findings to key people.

5. Group discussion of the diagnostic data and findings.

6. Action. Adoption of techniques such as sensitivity training, transactional analysis,

and team building.

7. Evaluation of the action steps taken in step 6.

Ivancevich observes that HR specialists may be involved in any or all of these seven steps.
Step 6 – action – is extremely important in developing human resources; it involves
determining which planned interventions or techniques are available for use as part of OD
programmes.

4.3 OD Techniques
A reasonable classification of OD techniques proposed by Ivancevich (1998, p. 456) is by the
target area they are intended to affect: (1) individual (2) group or (3) organisational.

1. Goal setting is designed to improve an individual’s ability to set and achieve goals.
Behavioural modification is the use of individual learning through reinforcement.

2. Team building focusses on the group.

3. Grid OD and Total Quality Management (TQM) target the organisation as a whole.

You may refer to Ivancevich (1998) for further information on the techniques.

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Nair & Nair (1999) present another framework to list various interventions managers could
undertake. The following summarises their thinking.

• Sensitivity Training: The group seek to change their behaviour through

unstructured group interaction.

• Survey feedback: In this intervention questionnaires are used to identify

discrepancies of perceptions among members belonging to same working family,
group or department. These are then discussed through feedback and discrepancies
are weeded out.

• Process consultation: Although many persons may identify the problems, they may
not know the solutions. In order to avoid bias, an outside consultant is brought into
suggest solutions that are formulated based on his past experience.

• Team building: As mentioned above, the objective is to improve coordination

between the members and thereby increase group performance.

• Intergroup development: The idea here is to remove interdepartmental conflicts.

This method seeks to change attitudes, animosity, and perceptions that groups have of
each other.

Activity
Taking your organisation as an example, what OD interventions have been undertaken? Do
such interventions exhibit the elements discussed here? In addition to what has been
presented above, what specific examples could you give of OD interventions you have come
across?

5 Managing Change
Every manager needs a clear understanding of how to manage change effectively. Think of
yourself in a managerial role, either present or past. You would have had the challenge of
managing change some time or the other in your work life. According to Bateman and Snell
(1999) organisational change is managed effectively when:

1. The organisation is moved from its current state to some planned future state that
will exist after the change.

2. The functioning of the organisation in the future state meets expectations; that is, the
change works as planned.

3. The transition is accomplished without excessive cost to the organisation.

4. The transition is accomplished without excessive cost to individual organisational
members.

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People are the key to successful change. It is the people that will finally determine the fate of
the organisation. Whether an organisation is poised to be great or just to survive, people have
to care about its fate, and perceive how they can contribute. You should not think that it is
only the leadership that should be involved in the change process. It is the entire organisation
that should be involved in a change. In small organisations this is easy but as the organisation
gets bigger there needs to be a permanent rekindling of individual creativity and
responsibility. The essential task is to motivate people fully to keep changing in response to
new challenges posed by the environment.

5.1 Motivating People to Change

You have probably observed that people usually resist change and must be motivated to
embrace it. As a manager, your efforts at such motivation will only succeed if you understand
why people often resist change. An informative resource for you is Doherty and Horne
(2002), which defines and describes organisational change and various theories about it,
which are categorised in the book as:
• Biological • Political
• Cultural • Psychoanalytic
• Developmental • Psychological
• Economic • Sociological
• Energy • Systems
• Mathematical

Of these, energy theories refer to Newton’s second law of thermodynamics. It states that in
any random transaction, the entropy will increase. Entropy is a measure of how random
things are – in other words, how chaotic. This implies that throughout the universe, any
random change will be in the direction of increasing variety and complexity. It should be
clear to you that if a manager doesn’t do anything, the organisation will change anyway.
Therefore, managers need to be vigilant to intervene when the effect of the random change is
detrimental.

5.1.1 General Reasons for Resistance

Some reasons are general and arise in most change efforts while others relate to the specific
nature of a particular change. Let us first see what the general reasons are. These arise
regardless of the actual content of the change (Bateman and Snell 1999, 609):
• Inertia. Usually, people do not want to disturb the status quo. The old ways of doing
things are comfortable and easy, so people don’t want to shake things up and try
something new.
• Timing. People often resist change because of poor timing. If managers or
employees are unusually busy or under stress, or if relations between management
and workers are strained, the timing is wrong for introducing new proposals. Where
possible, managers should introduce change when employees are receptive.

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 • Surprise. One key aspect of timing and receptivity is surprise. If the change is
sudden, unexpected, or extreme, then resistance may be the initial – almost reflexive
– reaction. When people have time to prepare for the change, the resistance may be
less.
• Peer pressure. Sometimes, work teams resist new ideas. Even if individual members
do not strongly oppose a change suggested by management, the team may band
together in opposition.

Reasons for resistance to change in public services

• Adherence to bureaucratic ‘habits’ related to delegation, legalism, procedural
regulation; the need for caution and security:
• Scepticism – often legitimate – about management.
• Difficulties due to multiple levels of authority, accountability and reporting.
• Tendency to push decision making upwards. This conflicts with approaches
that seek to increase self-control and self-direction.
• Relationships are guided by the interests of stakeholders.
• Conflicting interests, agendas, alliances, reward structures and values.
• Financial support for change management programmes is difficult to obtain.
Source: Doherty and Horne (2002, 41)

5.1.2 Change-Specific Reasons for Resistance

According to Bateman and Snell (1999), other causes of resistance arise from the specific
nature of a proposed change. Change-specific reasons for resistance stem from what people
perceive to be the personal consequences of the change. Some of these reasons are (Bateman
and Snell, 1999, 610):

Self-interest. Most people care less about the organisation’s best interest than they
do about their own best interests. They will resist a change if they think it will cause
them to lose something of value.

Misunderstanding. Even when the management proposes a change that will benefit
everyone, people may resist because they don’t fully understand its purpose.

Different assessments. Employees receive different - and usually less – information

than management receives. Such discrepancies cause people to develop different
assessments of proposed changes. Some may be aware that the benefits outweigh the
costs, while others may see only the costs and not perceive the advantages.

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 Who might resist change?

• Check out employees who are older – they may fear that they are
too old to learn.

• Check out the less well educated – they may doubt their self
worth, or their value to the organisation, or their ability to
benefit from retraining.

• Check out the junior staff – they may be the least informed and
the most vulnerable to rumour and to cynicism from older staff
who have ‘seen it all before’ and may advise junior staff to keep
their heads down and wait for the change to go away.
Source: Doherty and Horne (2002, 44)

5.1.3 Implementation – A General Model for Managing Resistance

According to Bateman and Snell (1999), motivating people to change often requires three
basic stages: unfreezing, moving to institute the change and refreezing.

Unfreezing Moving Refreezing

(breaking from (instituting the (reinforcing and
the old ways of change) supporting the
doing things) new ways)

Unfreezing: In this stage, management realises that its current practices are no longer
appropriate and the organisation must break out of (unfreeze) its present mould by doing
things differently. Unfreezing often results from an assessment of the organisation’s
adjustment to its present environment and its readiness for the future. If management
concludes that the fit between the organisation and its present or anticipated environment is
poor, change is needed.

An important contributor to unfreezing is the recognition of a performance gap, which can be

a precipitator of major change. A performance gap is the difference between actual
performance and the performance that should or could exist. A gap typically implies poor
performance. Another form of performance gap could exist when performance is good, but
someone realises that it could be better. Thus the gap is between what is and what could be.

Moving: This is to institute the change by establishing a vision of where the organisation is
heading. The vision can be realised through strategic, structural, cultural and individual
change.

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Refreezing: This means strengthening the new behaviours that support the change. The
changes must pervade throughout the organisation and be stabilised. Refreezing involves
implementing control systems that support the change, applying corrective action when
necessary and reinforcing behaviours and performance that support the agenda. The ideal
new culture to be instituted through change is one of continuous change. The behaviours that
should be refrozen are those that promote continued adaptability, flexibility, experimentation,
assessment of results and continuous improvement.

5.1.4 Specific Approaches to Enlisting Cooperation

As you would have understood by now, changes could only be brought about with the
cooperation of the people involved. Their support has to be enlisted to implement change.
According to Bateman and Snell (1999) most managers underestimate the variety of ways
they can influence people during a period of change. Let us look at several effective
approaches to managing resistance and enlisting cooperation.
1. Education and communication. Management should educate people about
upcoming changes before they occur. It should communicate not only the nature of
the change but its logic. This process can include one-on-one discussions,
presentations to groups or reports and memos.
2. Participation and involvement. It is important to listen to the people who are
affected by the change. They should be involved in the design and implementation of
the change. When feasible, management should use their advice. Often, it will be
useful, and it may lead to consideration of important issues previously overlooked.
3. Facilitation and support. Management should make the change as easy as possible
for employees and be supportive of their efforts. Facilitation involves providing the
training and other resources people need to carry out the change and perform their
jobs under the new circumstances. In other words, authority should be decentralised
and people empowered. Offering support involves listening patiently to problems and
being understanding through the period changes take place so that the employees are
guided through a difficult period.
4. Negotiation and rewards. When necessary, management can offer concrete
incentives for cooperation with the change. Perhaps job enrichment is acceptable only
with a higher wage rate, or a work rule change is resisted until management agrees to
a concession on some other rule. Rewards such as bonuses, wages and salaries,
recognition etc., can be examined and perhaps restructured to reinforce the direction
of the change.
5. Manipulation and co-optation. Some times, managers use more subtle, covert
tactics to implement change. One form of manipulation is cooptation, which involves
giving a resisting individual a desirable role in the change process. Often, the leader
of a resisting group is co-opted.
6. Coercion. Some managers apply punishment or the threat of punishment to those
who resist change. With this approach, managers use force to make people comply
with their wishes.

C3: Human Resource Management, Block 14 page 18 of 30

5.2 Leading Change
Bateman and Snell (1999) argue that successful change requires managers to lead it. You
would see below the essential activities summarised in a graphical presentation.

1. Establishing a sense of urgency

2. Creating the guiding coalition

3. Developing a vision and strategy

4. Communicating the change vision

5. Empowering broad-based action

6. Generating short-term wins

7. Consolidating gains and producing more change

8. Anchoring new approaches in the culture

Source: Bateman and Snell (1999, p. 616)

Here is a brief look at each of the steps presented in the figure above.

Every change leader has a crucial responsibility – to establish a sense of urgency. This could
be achieved by examining current realities and pressures and the competitive arena,
identifying both crises and opportunities, and being frank and honest about them. A change
leader must not allow his organisation to become complacent. You may sometimes recall
instances of complacency in your organisation and also identify reasons for it.

To create a guiding coalition means putting together a group with enough power to lead the
change. You also may have experienced change efforts failing – it may have been due to a
powerful coalition not being formed. It is imperative that the top management starts the

C3: Human Resource Management, Block 14 page 19 of 30

change process and enlists the support of others as well. Groups at all levels are the glue that
can hold change efforts together.

What will direct the change process is the development of a vision and strategy. What would
be in store after the change has to be made clear to everyone. This will help to dispel
rumours, clarify expectations and mobilise people’s energies. If you are the change leader in
your organisation, never underestimate the power of a compelling vision. The clearer you are
about it, the more able you will be to convince others. Half the change process is then done.

One of the key failures in a change process is the inability of the change leader to
communicate the change vision. Every possible channel and opportunity to talk to your
employees must be thoroughly explored so that there is reinforcement.

Empowering broad-based action means getting rid of obstacles to success. You should not
hesitate to replace anything that stands in the way of the change process. It may be systems
and structures, but it is necessary that those be replaced to facilitate the change process. If
you are in the role of the change leader, encourage others to take risks, experiment and
empower people by providing information, knowledge, authority and rewards.

Every change leader must aim for small wins geared toward the grand success he or she is
looking for. When there are small victories the followers will have faith in the change leader
and they will strive for further victories as ‘success begets success.’ It also shows everyone
that progress is being made.

With the well-earned credibility of earlier successes, you can bring about more change that
supports your vision.

Finally, anchor new approaches in the culture. Bateman and Snell (1999, 618) advocate
highlighting positive results, communicating the connection between the new behaviours, and
improved results and continuing to develop new change agents and leaders. Continually
increase the number of people joining you in taking responsibility for change.

Activity
Find out in-depth about an organisation in your country that has gone through a major
structural change (e.g. a privatised state enterprise, a restructured public or private sector
institution, or a company that has implemented down sizing) and list what that organisation
has done to bring about the change. Has there been resistance and if so, how did the
management cope with it?

6 Downsizing
Attempting to become leaner and more competitive, business organisations have adopted
downsizing as the prevalent strategy during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Downsizing,
which implies reducing the workforce through forced measures, was once considered a last-
breath effort of a failing organisation, especially a company. Currently it seems to be the

C3: Human Resource Management, Block 14 page 20 of 30

fashion among American business concerns, regardless of their financial performance.
According to some estimates, 85 percent of the Fortune 1000 firms either have eliminated
workers or are planning to do so in the foreseeable future. Even IBM, which not long ago
championed its lifelong employment policy as a competitive advantage. is reducing its
payrolls at a rapid rate in an effort to reduce overhead and overcome the poor financial per-
formance of the past several years.

This study block attempts to integrate the current knowledge of downsizing to analyse the
reasons why organisations pursue downsizing in favour of other labour cost reduction
strategies and to identify different types of downsizing implementations.

6.1 Definition
What qualifies as downsizing? Ferris & Buckley (1996) define downsizing as a set of
activities designed to make an organisation more efficient, productive, and/or competitive
through the planned elimination of positions or jobs. Dessler (2001) defines downsizing as
reducing, usually dramatically, the number of people employed by the firm. Ferris and
Buckley (1996) state that several elements of the former definition deserve special attention.
First, underlying the downsizing decision is the distinct intention to improve the
organisation’s position in the market. Second, implementing a downsizing strategy requires
eliminating a portion of the workforce. This elimination can occur through voluntary means,
such as enhanced retirement plans and employee buy-outs, or through involuntary means
such as terminations or permanent layoffs. Either approach suggests a planned effort to
eliminate workers. Finally, implementing a downsizing strategy requires more than reducing
the number of workers; it demands organisational adaptation to a smaller workforce.

6.2 Approaches to Downsizing

As you see, downsizing commonly takes a number of different forms. According to Ferris
and Buckley (1996), the organisation can rid itself of excess employees through a variety of
methods, some of which allow employees to leave voluntarily or through systematic elimi-
nation. Because eliminating workers through involuntary means is painful for everyone
involved and can be detrimental to the organisation’s reputation as an employer, encouraging
workers to leave voluntarily is an attractive alternative.

Voluntary eliminations are typically efforts on the part of the company to make resignation or
retirement desirable for existing workers through financial incentives. Such incentives,
known as buyouts, are compensation packages awarded to workers for resigning or retiring.
Depending upon the magnitude of the packages, they can provide an effective means for
eliminating workers without having to fire them. But this strategy conceals a double-edged
sword: Its effectiveness is dependent upon the generosity of the packages, which is directly
related to its costliness (Ferris and Buckley 1996, 101).

According to Ferris and Buckley, voluntary downsizing efforts often precede involuntary
efforts in the hope of minimising the unpleasant task of eliminating workers involuntarily. If
you had been involved in any downsizing process, you would realise how painful it could be
for both the employer and employee. The decisions concerning which employees to dismiss
must be fair, transparent and according to the law of the country concerned. Because

C3: Human Resource Management, Block 14 page 21 of 30

employees’ livelihoods are at stake, the determination of who will stay and who will leave is
a painful exercise for the decision makers as well as the workers affected. This section will
not extensively deal with the criteria but will mention some commonly utilised criteria for
such decisions (Ferris and Buckley, 1996).

• Divestiture of product or function: Occasionally the restructuring associated with

downsizing involves the organisation’s eliminating a product or service or a
departmental function. The majority of those to be terminated are generally affiliated
with the divested properties.

• Reduction of organisational or hierarchical layers: Attempting to become leaner

and less bureaucratic, some organisations have eliminated entire layers of their
organisational hierarchies. The most recent downsizing trend is unique because many
of its downsizing efforts are aimed at middle management, a sector of the workforce
that had largely been immune from previous reductions. Eliminating entire
organisational levels allows a firm to reduce its workforce in a relatively quick
process. One potential drawback to elimination of layers is that it redefines traditional
career paths to allow fewer opportunities for promotion.

• Elimination of specific jobs in the organisation: If organisational changes cause

certain jobs to become obsolete, one approach to downsizing is eliminating the
incumbents in those jobs. The drawback to this approach is that the organisation may
lose good people simply because they have held the less essential jobs. To counteract
this negative effect, companies try to keep the best people by transferring them to
other jobs that will survive the downsizing.

• Recognition of seniority. Retaining the most senior workers and eliminating those
with the shortest tenure makes for a relatively easy decision. However, the resulting
workforce may not be ideal. In making such a decision, the organisation risks losing
its best younger workers while retaining some less able workers with seniority.

• Recognition of merit: If, during downsizing, the company’s goal is to retain only the
best workers, basing the decisions on merit is the most logical approach. This is also
described as ‘high-grading’ or the ‘best players play’ strategy, where management
compares the workers against one another to determine who stays. If job performance
is easily and accurately measurable (as in the case of sales records), this is a highly
appropriate means for decision-making. Unfortunately, for many jobs, evaluating
performance is more subjective, so determining the best and worst workers can be
difficult. Using past performance reviews as criteria is acceptable, but the orga-
nisation must have confidence in the reliability of those reviews in distinguishing
levels of performance. Interestingly, this approach raises some questions regarding
the validity of using past performance to predict future performance in a post-
downsizing organisation. If the restructuring involved in downsizing is significant, it
is conceivable that the skills that were necessary in the old organisation will be
obsolete in the new one. In this case old performance reviews might not be very
helpful in determining the best employees to keep.

Whichever form of decision making the organisation uses in determining who will stay and
who will leave, the process is agonising because careers and livelihoods are at stake.

C3: Human Resource Management, Block 14 page 22 of 30

6.3 Alternatives to Downsizing
Because the costs of eliminating employees are so significant in terms of financial
expenditure, morale, productivity, reputation, and adaptability, companies may pursue other
methods of reducing expenses while retaining existing employees. The following paragraphs
describe these alternative means and discuss their effectiveness (Ferris and Buckley 1996,
106-108).

6.3.1 Pay Cuts

Pay cuts are most frequently associated with organised labour: Union members agree to
sacrifice a portion of their pay in return for a promise that no layoffs will occur.
Theoretically, pay cuts allow the company to maintain consistent levels of productivity be-
cause the amount of labour does not change.

6.3.2 Pay Freezes

Pay freezes are less dramatic than pay cuts, but they have the same intent. Because workers
expect to receive occasional increases in their earnings through cost-of-living adjustments or
merit increases, pay freezes save money in subsequent years’ payrolls. For this reason, pay
freezes are a relatively slow way to accumulate payroll savings. Also, issues of equity and
worth may cause employees to seek employment elsewhere.

6.3.3 Reduced Hours

As with pay cuts and freezes, the employees bear the sacrifice of lower income. However, a
reduced-hour strategy allows employees to keep their same total wages, although they work
fewer hours. This approach means that total productivity for the organisation will decrease
because it is utilising fewer labour hours. So, when facing declining product demand,
companies may prefer reduced-hour strategies over pay cuts.

6.3.4 Job Sharing

Similar to reduced hours, job sharing entails fewer hours, but it also necessitates the
coordination of multiple workers. Imagine that a company hires two accountants but then,
because of restructuring, needs only one of the positions. Rather than eliminate one of the
individuals, job sharing allows both to work by sharing the responsibilities of the single job.
Each worker would work fewer hours than previously, but at least both would still be
employed. Job sharing also allows for flexibility in coverage. For example, if one sharer is ill
or on vacation, the other can cover for him or her during the absence.

6.3.5 Talent Pools

Talent pools are frequently used for clerical workers who were habitually assigned to a
specific function or individual. In a talent pool the workers are not assigned to anyone or
anyplace in particular; they, are used on an ‘as needed’ basis throughout the organisation.
The argument for talent pools is that they distribute work more evenly and eliminate the need
for temporary workers.

C3: Human Resource Management, Block 14 page 23 of 30

6.3.6 Hiring Freezes

Hiring freezes are a way to reduce the number of employees without resorting to eliminating
workers. Using ordinary attrition – or the exit rate of workers who quit, retire, or are
terminated for cause under normal circumstances – the organisation decreases its labour force
by not filling the vacancies caused by the departures. Although a hiring freeze eliminates the
need to fire workers, comparatively it is a very slow means of reducing a workforce.

6.3.7 Outplacement Services

Outplacement services are normally associated with workers who have been dismissed in
downsizing efforts, but they can be used as a means to ‘push’ employees out of the
organisation. Such services commonly include job and skills training that equip displaced
workers to find jobs outside the organisation after they have been dismissed. However, when
the services are offered to incumbent employees, the newly acquired skills could encourage
them to seek employment elsewhere.

6.3.8 Employment Contracts

For jobs that will be necessary for a finite period after the downsizing is implemented,
employment contracts are a good way of ensuring that the work gets done without
committing the organisation to an unnecessarily long employment relationship. At the time of
downsizing, the employee agrees to continue, via a contract, with the organisation for a
designated period or until the work is completed. As an incentive for such employees to
completely fulfil their agreements, firms often provide a bonus upon completion of a
contract.

6.3.9 Leaves of Absence

Another strategy is to offer leaves of absence at reduced or no pay with the understanding
that the employee will still have a job at the end of the absence. The purpose is to encourage
workers to leave the organisation, at least temporarily. The time could be spent in education,
travel, or pursuit of personal interests. Not surprisingly, companies that encourage
educational leaves of absence may do so in the expectation that the employee may seek other
employment after the additional schooling. In such cases employees resign voluntarily,
saving the company the unpleasant task of dismissing them.

6.3.10 Transfers
Transferring workers to other parts of the company that are not experiencing downsizing is a
way to reduce payroll without losing workers completely. Unfortunately, this strategy can
normally accommodate only a small proportion of the displaced workers and is dependent on
the staffing requirements of other business units.

6.3.11 Unpaid Time Off

The last category of alternatives is unpaid time off, where firms do not pay for vacation, sick,
or personal time. It is interesting to note that despite the many alternatives to downsizing,
reducing head count is still the pre-eminent strategy.

C3: Human Resource Management, Block 14 page 24 of 30

Activity
What alternative strategies are used in your country instead of downsizing? Write short notes
on each of them.

7 Toward an HR Philosophy
The basic assumptions you make about people comprise your philosophy of HR. According
to Dessler (2001, 692) questions such as, ‘Can they be trusted?’, ‘Do they dislike work?’,
‘Can they be creative?’, ‘Why do they act as they do?’ etc., are very relevant in this context.

7.1 The Need for a Philosophy

None of the various techniques you have learned throughout this course can be put to good
use without a unifying philosophy. Note that it is this philosophy and vision that helps guide
you in deciding the people to hire, the training to provide, and how to motivate people.

Dessler (2001) argues that for more and more employers, the essence of the difference
between personnel management and HRM is indeed a philosophical one; it revolves around
the latter’s emphasis on improving the employees’ quality of work life, which means that
finding out how employees can better satisfy their important personal needs by working in
the organisation. In practice, this means providing employees with fair and equitable
treatment, an opportunity for each employee to use his or her skills to the utmost and to self-
actualise, open and trusting communications, an opportunity to take an active role in making
important job-related decisions, adequate and fair compensation, and a safe and healthy work
environment.

Dessler (2001) observes that every personnel decision you make affects your employees’
quality of work life and commitment in some way. Thus, selection should emphasise placing
the right person on the right job, where the person can have a more satisfying, actualising
experience. The abundance of other personnel decisions will not be discussed here: suffice it
say that your personnel management system only qualifies as an HRM system when your
personnel actions fully satisfy not only your organisation’s staffing needs but also your
employees’ needs to grow and to self-actualise (Dessler, 2001).

Many employers translate an HRM philosophy such as the above into practices that win their
employees’ commitment. Examples of such commitment-building HRM practices follow,
thanks to Dessler (2001).

• Establish people-first values. You must be willing to commit to the idea that your
employees are your most important assets and that they can be trusted, treated with
respect, involved in making on-the-job decisions and encouraged to grow and reach
their full potential.

• Guarantee fair treatment. Establish a ‘super’ grievance procedure that guarantees

fair treatment of all employees in all grievance and disciplinary matters. Boost

C3: Human Resource Management, Block 14 page 25 of 30

 upward and downward communications. Institute multiple, formal, easy to use,
channels that employees can use to express concerns to get answers to matters that
affect them. Also use periodic opinion surveys such as survey-feedback-action and
use every opportunity to tell employees what’s going on in your organisation.

• Use value-based hiring. The time to start building commitment is before – not after
– employees are hired. In the screening process, start by clarifying your
organisation’s own values and ideology so that potential employees can see what
your organisation is like. Provide candid, realistic previews of what working at your
organisation will be like. A long, exhaustive screening process that requires some
‘sacrifice’ on the part of employees will be the starting point in building commitment.

• Provide for employee security. Establish appropriate programmes that ensure

employee security. Emphasise your commitment through statements such as ‘stable
employment and continual improvement of the well-being of our team members are
essential and can be obtained through the smooth, steady growth of our organisation.’

• Assess the rewards package. Build a pay plan that encourages employees to think of
themselves as partners.

• Actualise employees. High commitment organisations engage in actualising

practices that aim to ensure that all employees have every opportunity to use all their
skills and gifts at work and become all they can be. Commit to actualising, front-load
new employees’ jobs with challenge, enrich workers’ jobs and empower them, and
institute comprehensive promotion-from-within/career progress programmes.

Practices such as those above serve a dual role in organisations. According to Dessler (2001),
firstly, they create a work environment that helps ensure that employees can use their
aptitudes and skills to the fullest and satisfy their important personal needs by working in the
organisation. Secondly, they can help an employer win the commitment of its employees by
creating a situation in which the employees’ and employer’s goals become one.

7.2 Auditing the HR Function

Designing an HR system is not enough. Effectively implementing it is another. Although
there are several ways (some involving the extensive use of accounting and statistical
techniques) of assessing how an organisation’s HR department is actually doing, let us look
at a less rigorous, but still effective approach.

The HR Review: Dessler (2001) presents a process that aims at tapping top managers’
opinions regarding how effective HR has been. Such a review contains two parts: what
should be and what is.

The question ‘what should be’ refers to the HRM department’s broad aims and involves two
things. First, it should start with a broad philosophy or vision statement. Second, this broad
vision gets more focus with an HRM mission statement. This describes what the mission of
the HR department should be.

C3: Human Resource Management, Block 14 page 26 of 30

Next the HR review’s focus shifts to an evaluation of ‘what is.’ This, ideally, consists of six
steps. Issues to be addressed are:

1. What are the HR functions? Division heads give their opinion about what they think
HR’s function should be. All aspects of HR would be commented upon. The
important point here is to crystallise what HR and its main clients believe are HR’s
functions.

2. How important are these functions? The participants then rate each of these functions
on a ten-point scale of importance ranging from low (1-3) to medium (4-7) to high (8-
10). This provides an estimate of how important each of the identified HRM
functions are in the views of HRM executives and of their clients (like division
mangers).

3. How well is each of the functions performed? Next have the same participants
evaluate how well each of these HR functions is actually being performed.

4. What needs improvement? The next step is to determine which of the functions rated
most important are not being well performed. The discussions at this stage will help
identify the HR functions in which the department has to improve its performance.
They should help to pinpoint specific problems that contributed to the low
performance ratings and help provide recommendations or improving performance.

5. How effectively does the corporate HR function use resources? This step consists of
checks to determine whether the HR budget is being allocated and spent in a way that
is consistent with the functions HR should be stressing.

6. How can HR become most effective? This final step is aimed at allowing you one
last, broader view of the areas that need improvement and how they should be
improved.

Activity
Write a short essay not exceeding 500 words on the HR philosophy of the public sector in
your country. Compare it with most prevalent HR philosophy/philosophies in the private
sector companies.

8 Summary
The problem of sexual harassment in the workplace is one that requires an active response on
the part of the organisational managers. Legal interventions have cautioned organisations to
define and communicate policies on sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is defined as
harassment on the basis of sex that has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with a
person’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work
environment.

C3: Human Resource Management, Block 14 page 27 of 30

There are three forms of sexual harassment: Quid Pro Quo – exchange of sexual favours for
job benefits, hostile environment created by supervisor – to create an offensive working
environment and hostile environment created by co-workers or non-employees.

An employer has to fulfil its duty to prevent or remedy sexual harassment. Further, all written
sexual harassment policies need to contain certain information. Employers can take steps to
minimise liability if a sexual harassment claim is filed against the organisation. The
individual who believes he or she has been sexually harassed can also take several steps to
eliminate the problem.

Many governments provide laws that eliminate discrimination, though courts have had to
defined what that means when they have interpreted the laws.

There are two ways in which equal opportunities issues are located within the HRM debate.
The first relates to concerns about human capital, while the second link between HRM and
equal opportunities, in contrast, emphasises the importance of social justice.

Promoting equal opportunities is first and foremost a social duty for an employer, although
economic benefits may subsequently flow from this.

In the framework there are two major factors: commitment and focus. Commitment can be
either shallow or deep whilst the focus could be either broad or narrow.

Organisational Development (OD) is a method that is aimed at changing the attitudes, values,
and beliefs of employees so that the employees themselves can identify and implement the
technical changes such as reorganisations, redesigned facilities, and the like that are required,
usually with the aid of an outside change agent or consultant.

OD efforts include survey feedback, sensitivity training and team building. All OD activities
share a focus on improving the effectiveness of an organisation’s self-diagnosis and problem-
solving abilities, rather than solving any particular organisational problem. They include
diagnostic activities, team building activities, intergroup activities, survey feedback
activities, education and training activities, technostructural or structural activities, process
consultation activities, grid organisation development activities, third-party peacemaking
activities, coaching and counselling activities, life-and career-planning activities, planning
and goal-setting activities, and strategic management activities.

An important characteristic of any OD intervention is that it should follow diagnosis. A

manager’s perception of a problem is not a sufficient reason to implement a technique such
as behaviour modelling. The collection of diagnostic data is considered to be part of OD’s
orientation toward action research. Action research involves seven main steps.

OD techniques could be classified on the basis of the target area they are intended to affect.
There are three major target areas: (1) individual (2) group (3) organisational.

As change is inevitable, every manager needs a clear understanding of how to manage

change effectively. People are the key to successful change. It is the people that will finally
determine the fate of the organisation. It is the entire organisation that should be involved in a
change.

C3: Human Resource Management, Block 14 page 28 of 30

People usually resist change. If management is to overcome any reactions due to change
being resisted by the employees, the management must understand why people often resist
change. Some reasons are general and arise in most change efforts while others relate to the
specific nature of a particular change. General reasons are: Inertia, Timing, Surprise, and
Peer pressure. Change-specific reasons for resistance are: Self-interest, Misunderstanding,
and Different assessments.

Motivating people to change often requires three basic stages: unfreezing, moving to institute
the change and refreezing.

Changes could only be brought about with the cooperation of the people involved. Several
effective approaches to managing resistance and enlisting cooperation are: Education and
communication, Participation and involvement, Facilitation and support, Negotiation and
rewards, Manipulation and cooptation, and Coercion. Successful change requires managers
to lead it.

Attempting to become leaner and more competitive, business organisations have adopted
downsizing as the prevalent strategy during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Downsizing,
which implies reducing the workforce through forced measures, was once considered a last-
breath effort of a failing organisation, especially a company.

Downsizing is a set of activities designed to make an organisation more efficient, productive,

and/or competitive through the planned elimination of positions or jobs.

An organisation can rid itself of excess employees through a variety of methods, some of
which allow employees to leave voluntarily or through systematic elimination. Voluntary
eliminations are typically efforts on the part of the company to make resignation or
retirement desirable for existing workers through financial incentives.

Because the costs of eliminating employees are so significant in terms of financial

expenditure, morale, productivity, reputation, and adaptability, companies may pursue other
methods of reducing expenses while retaining existing employees. These are: Pay cuts, Pay
freezes, Reduced hours, Job sharing, Talent pools, Hiring freezes, Outplacement services,
Employment contracts, Leaves of absence, Transfers, and Unpaid time off.

The basic assumptions you make about people comprise your philosophy of HR. Every
personnel decision you make affects your employees’ quality of work life and commitment in
some way. Many employers translate an HRM philosophy such as the above into practices
that win their employees’ commitment. Some of the commitment-building HRM practices
are: Establishing people-first values, Guaranteeing fair treatment, Using value-based hiring,
Providing for employee security, Assessing the rewards package, and Actualising employees.

After designing an HR system, managers must aim for effective implementation.

C3: Human Resource Management, Block 14 page 29 of 30

9 References and Further Reading
Bateman, Thomas S. & Snell, Scott A. 1999. Management: building competitive advantage.
4th Ed. Boston: Irwin McGraw-Hill.

Beckhard, R. 1969. Organization development: strategies and models. Reading, MA:

Addison - Wesley Publishing.

Dessler, Gary 2001. Human resource management 7th Ed. New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India.

Doherty, T. L. & Horne, T. 2002. Managing public services: implementing changes – a

thoughtful approach. London: Routledge.

Ferris, Gerald R. & Buckley, M. R. 1996. Human resources management: perspectives,

context, functions, and outcomes. 3rd Ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Goss, David 1994. Principles of human resources management. London: Routledge.

Heneman III, H.G., Schwab D.P., Fossum, J.A. & Dyer, L.D. 2000. Personnel / human
resource management.4th ed. Reprint New Delhi: Universal Book Stall.

Ivancevich, J.M. 1998. Human resource management 7th ed. Boston: Irwin McGraw-Hill.

Nair, N.G., & Nair, L. 1999. Personnel management and industrial relations. New Delhi: S.
Chand & Co. Ltd.

C3: Human Resource Management, Block 14 page 30 of 30