Consulting in human resource management

forestry, fishing) to manufacturing, and from manufacturing to services. In broad terms, the richest countries have the highest proportions of people in services and the lowest proportions in the primary sector. Within industrial sectors, technological change has led to the collapse of some industries or companies and the emergence of others, and to reductions in employment in some workplaces and expansion in others. More recently, we have seen the “fourth wave” (after primary industry, manufacturing and services): information technology. Inside organizations, technological change has had a major impact on the structure of jobs, on the way work is done and even on the shape of the organization. In the IT sector, for example, it is now possible for employees to work considerable distances away from their employer’s offices, in their own time, linked to their superiors by the telecommunications system. At the most practical level, the new technology enables an employer to address “personal” letters to each of a large number of employees. This vast range of effects of new technology, from very significant and global to very local, has had an inevitable and extensive impact on HRM.

Fifth, the increasing internationalization of economies, the development of multinational trading blocs and the growth of international organizations (profitor policy-based) have also had an impact on HRM. It is increasingly recognized that the management of people is more culture-bound and value-laden than any other area of management. Practices regarded as standard in one country or organization may be unthinkable in another environment (e.g. flexible working hours, open-plan offices, dining-rooms common to all staff irrespective of position and grade, direct access to top managers, or the use of confidential personnel files). Both personnel practitioners and management consultants have become more cautious and more selective in transferring personnel practices from one environment to another when dealing with people of different ethnic, social, cultural, religious and educational backgrounds. Sensitivity to this diversity has increased with the growth of international business, the advent of modern enterprises and organizations in developing countries, the expanding employment of foreign workers and managers, and improvements in management education.

We are living in an era in which the role of personnel and human resource management is being reassessed and enhanced, new demands are formulated and new approaches developed. This long-term change process creates many fresh opportunities for consultants. Both personnel specialists and general managers face increasingly complex human problems and find it difficult to keep informed about all conditions and factors to be considered in personnel decisions. In many cases they will appreciate help from an independent and objective human resource professional.

18.2 Policies, practices and the human resource audit

Consultancy in human resource management can take many forms, from the most comprehensive (the assessment of the labour force of a company that the

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client may be considering purchasing, or a total evaluation of the way in which the client’s employment practices contribute to overall corporate strategy) to the very limited (a single management seminar or advice on dealing with a difficult employee). This section deals with the comprehensive consultancy work, while subsequent sections deal with the subjects that may either form part of that work or stand alone.

In the early stages of an assignment the consultant and the client may agree that a thorough diagnosis of the human resource management function is a desirable starting-point and should be undertaken before deciding how to focus the consultant’s intervention. Often, there are existing organizational policies for dealing with the major elements of the personnel function – recruitment, staff development, promotion and transfer, salary increments, labour–manage- ment relations, and so on.

However, the consultant may find that the “policies” are often only pious hopes and good intentions. For a personnel policy to be worthy of the name, it should fulfil several criteria:

●it should be written and understandable, and should present a comprehensive coverage of the function;

●provision should be made for ensuring dissemination of important elements of policy to all the relevant sections of the organization;

●it should be soundly based, and consistent with public policy and current legislation;

●it should be internally consistent with the organization’s stated general objectives and policies;

●specific personnel policies (e.g. staffing, development and administration) should be mutually supportive;

●it should be established as a result of multilevel discussion and consultation throughout the organization, including consultations with employees’ representatives as appropriate.

The consultant may first attempt to appraise existing personnel policies and procedures by investigating, analysing and comparing policies with actual results obtained over a set period, by means of a systematic, in-depth audit. The major purpose of the audit is to provide information for and explanation of human resource management and development practices. To achieve this, information should be sought from all functions and levels throughout the organization.

The procedures for conducting the audit can vary considerably. Basically, they consist of obtaining information of a quantitative and qualitative nature from various records and reports, supplemented by interviews, questionnaires, surveys, informal discussions, and so on. Information may be obtained by means of a latitudinal study (e.g. a department-by-department assessment of safety records or absenteeism in which the percentage of lost time and other ratios are calculated on a comparative basis). Alternatively, a longitudinal study may be used in which a sample of individuals is examined in depth over time,

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Box 18.1 The human resource audit (data for the past 12 months)

in the light of the effects of the organization’s policies on their performance. Hard data should be sought. If possible, data (e.g. on turnover, absenteeism, grievances, accidents, etc.) should be compared with those available from other comparable organizations.

A recommended method for setting out a human resource audit is to list the organization’s policies in sequence, to write down the practices regularly employed by the organization and the results obtained from the study, and then to draw the appropriate conclusions and recommendations. An example is given in box 18.1. A list of personnel policies for audit purposes would include references to the full range of practices influencing the cost, capability and effectiveness of employees: organization; personnel planning; recruitment; selection; induction; transfers and promotions; performance assessment; training and development; communications; remuneration and allowances; job evaluation; fringe benefits; social and welfare benefits; safety and health; industrial relations; discipline; motivation; and administration.

A commonly used approach for obtaining information required by the audit, or by other interventions in human resource management and development, is the interview. Principles of interviewing were discussed in Chapter 8 and will not be repeated here. However, for the consultant working in HRM there is an additional, very significant element – confidentiality.

The consultant can expect to receive a good deal of information that must be held in confidence. The higher the level of trust engendered by consultants, the more they can expect to receive confidential or private data. Not all of the data may be related to the identified problem. New problems may surface that had not been anticipated during the entry phase. The consultant may have to go back to the client to renegotiate the problem and the focus of the consultation.

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