Building integrated HRM systems. (human resources management)

Building Integrated HRM Systems

Our organizations face external and internal pressures: recurring resource restraints, stiff international competition, a changing workforce, and rapid technological change. Many organizations suffer from low employee motivation, unnecessary management layers, outdated work practices, and in-effective use of information technology. How can we help our organizations address their inefficiencies and handle present challenges?

To improve productivity in the past two decades we increased our corporate training activities and introduced employee involvement primarily through quality circles. While we improved shop-level and work-group operations and increased employee morale, these achievements are insufficient to make our organizations competitive.

More than ever, we must follow the lead of top corporations that are improving the management of their human resources through large-scale changes in corporate culture, management styles, and personnel management practices. For example, when a Brunswick Corporation division was facing its probable demise due to poor-quality products and high costs, it dropped its authoritarian management style. Instead, top management met with employees in small groups to explain the situation and obtain their ideas. Management didn't threaten, cajole, or use motivational gimmicks but simply asked employees what they needed in order to do their jobs better. By providing for its employees' needs the division's achieved a turn-around in quality and productivity.

Toward human resource

management

The kind of solution Brunswick found necessary calls for a shift away from traditional …