A Handbook of Personnel Management Practice [antikvár]

Foreword Since the third edition of this handbook was published in 1988, we have moved from the hard-nosed and greedy 1980s to the softer and more socially conscious '90s. Much has happened in the world of personnel management during this period. It has become recognized at last that the personnel function can make a major contribution to bottom-line performance, especially if it is built into the fabric of the business. This means that the personnel director is, or should be, a business partner, sharing responsibility with his or her fellow board members for the success of the organization. The debate on human resource management versus personnel management has largely died down. HRM is more an attitude of mind than a totally different system. Its concepts have always been applied by effective personnel departments. It is, however, still a useful term for an approach to personnel management which emphasizes the need for strategic thinking, for treating people as the key resource, and for developing 'mutuality' by concentrating on increasing commitment and identification with the organization through communications and involvement. The last three years have seen a greater emphasis on competences, total quality management, decentralized collective bargaining and harmonization of terms and conditions. There has been pressure for greater flexibility on all aspects of human resource management, organization and job design. This has involved the creation of 'flexible' firms which rely on a core of key staff who are multiskilled, who work flexible hours, and whose efforts are supplemented by part-timers, temporary staff and subcontracted workers. Another important development has been the increased importance attached to teamwork in all its forms to enable people in flatter and more flexible organizations to operate more effectively together in dealing with the challenge of change. 23