Human Resource Administration

Human Resource Administration

1.0 Introduction

Human resource management is defined by many functions among them being identifying the staffing needs in a firm, strategies to apply in meeting the needs which varies from using independent contractors to employees, selecting and instructing employees who are up to the standards of a company, and making sure that the organization and processes match the strategies of the given firm.  Human resource administration (HRA) is a new field that was in practice since 1950’s. It is described as the activities that are carried out in management of persons in a company (Taylor, 1967).

Three movements that have influenced the HRA include the human relations, behavioral science and scientific management. The scientific management movement was proposed by Frederick Winslow Taylor between the early 1900 and 1920. The theory focuses on the aspect that the best way to be efficient in production is to perfect the methods used by employees. The leader should emphasize on the company’s needs and not of an individual employee, hence the theory was criticized that it undermined the workers needs and yet it is meant to benefit them.

2.0 History of Human Resource administration

The human relations movement was proposed by Mary Parker Follett between the 1920’s and 1930’s. Its focus was on the human aspect in an organization; market industries suffer from ‘loss of empathy and community feeling’ hence workers tend to fulfill this by seeking social satisfaction in their work place. It proposed that employees ought to be involved in decision making and that their needs ought to be catered for as well. It further explains that the employer should be a facilitator of activities and not as controller, because this enhances communication between an organization and its employees. The human relation theory is applicable to education because schools require much labor. Work done in groups is important since in other organizations, for instance schools, there is limited supervision- the number of supervisors is relatively lower to that of employees(Marshall,1998).

Behavioral science movement was formulated by Cheste Barnard between the 1940’s and 1950’s. It emphasized balance between the human relations movement and the scientific management movement. It focuses on creating balance between an organization and individual needs, achieving efficiency and effectiveness in productivity. There should be a better way of interaction between the formal and the informal organizations.

Besides the above named theories, other factors influencing the HRA include population growth, for instance increase in number of schools require an increase in the teaching staff and non-teaching staff, forming a union for the teachers and having a single mission, and policy formation, regulation that governs running of an organization, labor trends in the market, the rate of professionalism, accountability demand and education reform(http://www.enotes.com/business-finance-encyclopedia/behavioral-science-movement

L, 2009).

3.0 Comparison

The role of a human resource administrator is to attract, retain, motivate, and develop employees to achieve the organization’s goals. The processes of personnel include: job analysis and design, human resource planning, recruitment and selection, designing and development of working strategies, ensuring that the employer capacity is not limiting, and collective negotiations. A personnel administrator on the other hand is in charge of the staff in an organization rather than a line administrator. The personnel’s office usually is more than 200 employees (1500 or more students); the personnel must balance between the employer and employee interests. In large organizations, there are large personnel offices hence collective bargaining is achieved through specialists for instance, staff development, and employee relation and affirmative action (http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:HHLMrSX2FAcJ:www.actransit.org/pdf/job_classes/job_class_77.pdf+human+resource+administrator&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2, n.d).

4.0 Conclusion

Many are proposing education reform where there is emphasis on revising the school governance trend and the form of leadership. There should be an illustration on how jobs are designed, and how leadership is shared. The relationship between human resource relationships and the education sector should develop effective relations, incorporate collective bargaining and shared governance. There should be effective employee performance with compensation ad benefits to the employers.

References:

Behavioral Science Movement (2009); Retrieved on 2nd February 2009 from: http://www.enotes.com/business-finance-encyclopedia/behavioral-science-movementl

Human Resources Administrator (n.d); Retrieved on 2nd February 2009 from: http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:HHLMrSX2FAcJ:www.actransit.org/pdf/job_classes/job_class_77.pdf+human+resource+administrator&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2

Marshall, G., (1998); Human Relations Movement. Retrieved on 2nd February 2009 from: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O88-HumanRelationsMovement.html

Taylor, F. W. (1967); The Principles of Scientific Management.Retreived on 2nd February 2009 from: http://www.ibiblio.org/eldritch/fwt/ti.html