HRM – Chapter 2

Changing Perspectives of Human Resource Management

 Evolution of Human Resource Management

Depending upon the culture and focus of the company and the degree of importance that the
position and function of the HRM head is viewed by the top management, the title may vary form
personnel officer, personnel manager, industrial relations officer, vice president (VP) or senior vice
president (SVP) for personnel administration or industrial relations (Corpuz, 2013).

As the business environment and the profit opportunities grew increasingly large,
organizations began to create specialized units to cope with their hiring needs. During the 1930’s
and the 1940’s, these units began to be gradually called personnel departments. Human resource
management emerged in the late 70’s as a reaction against the more functional approach embodied
in personnel management. The change was also accompanied by a fundamental shift in
management’s view of its employees. Employees were no longer viewed as a group of individuals
who needed to be closely supervised and managed, but rather as a collection of human resources to
be valued as a distinctive source of competitive advantage. An important product of this change is
management behavior that no longer treat employees as mere costs but assets. In the recent years,
however, human resources as assets have been assailed by management experts led by Thomas
Davenport in his 1999 book Human Capital. Davenport bristles that assets are passive – bought,
sold and replaced at the whim of their owners. Human capital refers to the attributes gained by a
worker through education and experience.

With all these changes, HRM becomes even more complex because of the need to go beyond the
borders which have become “borderless” because of technological innovations. All of these have
raised the issues of global competition, communication, outsourcing and downsizing which present
a number of challenges and opportunities for human resource management.

 Main Trends in the HR Profession

1. Human Resource and Information Technology (IT)

The advent of the computer age has greatly altered not only the availability of
information but also the manner in which it is identified and acquired. Information
technology deals with how information is accessed, gathered, analyzed and communicated.
Today, IT is used in almost all phases of the HR work. Organizations over the past years, as
reflected in the study conducted by Fortune Magazine, show that competitive advantage
will no longer be defined by better business processes but will be determined by the
quality of the workforce.
Some applications of Information Technology (IT) in HR

1. Use of job boards and other similar web-based recruitment (e-recruitment)

2. E-selection
3. Employment kiosk
4. E-learming
5. Electronic performance support system (EPSS)
6. Salary and payroll administration
7. Growth of social networking sites
8. Use of IT to foster customer involvement
9. Telecommuting/ Teleworking

2. Human Resource Information System (HRIS)

According to the book “Fundamentals of Human Resource Management by DeCenzo and

Robbins (2005), HRIS is a database system that keeps important information about employees in a
central and accessible location.

Some Benefits of HRIS

a. Salary and Payroll Administration

b. HR Training
c. Self-service Benefits Transactions

3. Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) in the Philippines and HR

Outsourcing is a proven tool that can help companies improve service and better manage
their operating costs and cash flow.

The business process outsourcing industry (BPO) is considered as one of the fastest
growing business sectors in the world including the Philippines. It is an economic force that
propels our country to be considered as one of the emerging global leaders in the BPO industry.
The strong demand for outsourcing services is predicted to employ more workers in finance and
accounting, customer support, human resource management, etc.

Considering there are major concerns of BPO, HR department needs to formulate strategies
to control its human resources for BPO. With regards to language proficiency, HR needs to design
training programs that would enhance the communication skills of prospective recruits who wish
to enter the field of BPO and increase sources of applicants for the job.