THE HUMAN RESOURCESFUNCTION

by

E. WIGHT BAKKE

INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIALRELATIONS LIBRARY

FEB 2039(I-,UNIVERSITY OF CALIFURNIA

_ BERKELEY

Yale Labor and Management Center

YALE UNIVERSITY

NEW HAVEN, CONN.

1958

THE HUMAN RESOURCES

FUNCTION

by

E. WIGHT BAKKE

Yale Labor and Management Center

YALE UNIVERSITY

NEW HAVEN, CONN.

1958

Copyright 1958 by Yale Labor and anagemt CenterPrinted in United Stats of America

PREFACE

The concept of the han resources functionhere set forth was developed as a foundation bothfor a practical program and for basic research inthis important area of organizational activity. Itis a result of a collaborative effort between theauthor, the personnel and plant managers, and thetop management of Thomas Industries, Inc., whosehome office is in Louisville, Kentucky. It repre-sents therefore a combination, and I trust, an in-tegration of operational and scientific interestsand objectives.

The practical operating needs and considera-tions were analyzed and systematized by the use ofa framework of concepts resulting from my researchin going organizations.* And that theoreticalframework was tested at each point by reference toits consistency with those practical needs and con-siderations sensed by the officers of the companyas they worked on the improvement of their humanresources policy and practices.

A prelimnary statement of this approach tothe human resources problem was published as a*qontribution to the Festskrift Edition of BedriftsOkonomen (Oslo) for Professor Rolf Waaler, Rektorof the Norwegian School of Economics and BusinessAdministration. The present statement was anaddress to the 1958 Annual Mbeting of the New YorkCity Chapter of the Industrial Relations ResearchAssociation.

* The most comprehensive of these studies was thatconducted in the Southern New England TelephoneCompany.

THE HUMAN RESOURCES FUNCTION

byE. Wight Bakke

No one can deny that there are a lot of differ-ences between 19th and 20th Century management prac-tices. If an industrial Rip Van Winkle were to wakeup today after a sleep of 100 years, one of thedifferences he would notice would be the use of suchphrases as 'human relations,'" "hman engineering,"'personnel approach." It would be clear that theuse of such terms reflected a greater attention tothe human factors in business and industrial activi-ty than was the case when he rolled over and went tosleep 100 years ago.

But he probably would be puzzled by the numberof caustic and sarcastic criticisms of this empha-sis, criticisms from labor leaders, managers, pro-fessors of administration, and a host of profession-al decriers of 'carrying things too far." As onewho was familiar with the fairly frequent disregardof human values by a large number of managers a hun-dred years ago, our Rip Van Winkle would be inclined,I suppose, to assum that any indication of increas-ing concern for people in the business and industrialworld was a good thing, some advance at least towarda more civilized life. I certainly would make thatassumption and am beginning to wonder if all thewarnings against, and outright denunciations of,thehuman relations approach indicated by such titlesas, TeLite and the Aborigines, Freud Go Home,

_, Silk Gloved Power, So-phisticated Union Bust , etc., are not the resultof a misunderstanding of what the kind of manage-ment which stresses human values is all about.

2uman Resources Function

Almost from the very beginning, at least afterthere were labels like "human relations and "thepersonnel approach" to take hold of, some folkshave been having a field day as critics. I have theimpression that it is becoming more popular nowadaysto join the 'they can't pull the wool over & eyes"school. Some of the criticiems are understandableenough if one adopts the particular critic's majorpremises. Take the reactions of certain tradeunion leaders, for instance. In their view, adthey say, in their experience, nagment generallyisn't interested in people but first of all con-cerned about production and profits. That's whyunions are necessary to watch out for the interestsof the people. Besides most Mgmnts would justas soon not have the unions around at best, andwould like to bust the union at worst. Well, ifyou start off from that preise, and ran across anymanagerial action which apparently does indicate agenuine interest by management in people beyondwhat they are forced to have because the union isaround, there are only a couple of possible epla-tions. Either that management has figured out asubtle way to make workers more willing to do whatmanagement wants them to do, or they are attempt-ing to bust the union by indirect methods, by show-ing the workers they don't need a union. I don'tsee any reason to deny the possibility that such asophisticated indirect approach is used by some em-ployers who accept unions as a penance for theirown and other manager'a sins, and accordingly wouldlike to reduce the amount of irritating managerialpractices that they believe led to unions in thefirst place and to their continued survival. Ifthat is the real managerial objective, they help tojustify the Trade Union leaders' suspicions.

The managers who like to take pot shots at theinterest in "human" relations are in many casesfolks who don't want to be considered "softies."They are not necessarily of the "hard-boiled - no

2

Human Resources Function

fooling around - discipline is good for you - you'vegot the stripes, tell 'em" school, although some ofthem at times talk suspiciously like one would ex-pect a fellow like that to talk. Their preiseshave something to do with 'the necessity of stickingto essentials," 'cutting out the frills," and 'get-ting down to the brass tacks of rznning a business.'The most conservative of these managerial criticsare concerned about the fallacies of a "be good tothe guy" approach. Their position is, "human rela-tions is allright, BUT." On occasion one will runacross the type of position revealed by the follow-ing comment, 'I don't want to have anything to dowith all this damned human relations nonsense. It'sabout time we learned that work is work. It's notmanagement's job to play nurse maid. Their job isto tell folks they hire what to do and how to do it,and when you've paid a fellow for the work he'sdone for you, that's that."

Then there are those in the camps of both man-agement and trade unions, as well as academic cir-cles, who base their criticism on moral premises.They resent the fact that a study and understandingof people can become a more sophisticated and power-ful instrument of manipulation and even exploita-tion, which, of course, is an entirely possible out-come.

There must be something pretty much off thebeam with a lot of human and personnel and indus-trial relations practices to arouse such criticismfrom both sides. And the question I want to raisehere is whether all this criticism is really rele-vant if we could agree on a common-sense idea ofwhat the human resources function in a business orindustrial operation really is. It is Just possi-ble that the trouble lies in the distorted percepm.tion people have of this kind of managerial activi-ty. In any case, the content of the managerialactivity they are talking about doesn't jibe with

3

4Hman Resources Function

the conception which I like to call the him irsources function of management and which I'd liketo discuss with you tonight.

You, who are practitioners, may find that con-ception impractical. I hope not, but I know you'llsay so, if you do. I approach the matter, ofcourse, not as a practitioner but as a student oforganization. I'm not a professional personnel orhuman relations man, nor do I teach subjects, or dospecific research which makes me an acceptable aem-ber of the academic fraternity of human relationspeople. But as a student of organisation, I'd liketo offer a comment or two about what I's going tocall the human resources function in organised ac-tivit. I would like to think that the wy of look-ing at this function I'm about to propose would re-duce some of the heat in arguments about whetherhuman relations "pays off," or is a "huanitarianfrill," or is an indirect union busting campaign,or is just a sophisticated power grab by the man-agerial elite.

Human Relations Not a New Function

The first thing that we ought to be clear onis that there is nothing new about the agerialfunction of dealing with people. Dealing withpeople, figuring out what makes them tick, arrangingconditions and rewards and punishments so that theytick better, maintaining and developing their capa-cities, has been a part - an important and not neg-lected part - of the managerial function from thefirst day that some men tried to direct the activi-ties of other men. Like other sub-functions ofmanagement, such as engineering, production, sales,finance, etc., it has been carved out of the gener-al managerial function, noti ii

To be sure, personnel and industrial relations

14

Human Resources Function

is one of the latest to be carved out from the gen-eral function of management and assigned to execu-tives whose titles reflect those functions. Forthat reason the nature of the function, its signifi-cance, purpose, and scope are not as well definedand understood as in the case of engineering, pro-duction, sales, etc. Those charged with responsi-bility for its conduct are therefore in some casesnot clear as to the framework of objectives, expec-tancies and requirements within which they operate.

But the point I am making is that all specificmanagerial functions such as engineering, production,finance, sales, etc., are covered in the 'generalfunction of management and, if not carved out andspecifically allocated to particular people,are stillthe responsibility of the general manager. That 'sthe first point in a comon sense approach to thisproblem. Human relations, industrial relations,personnel relations, are just new names for an as-pect of the geamanagerial function as old asmanagement itself.

To Manage-is to e Basic Resources

Now, if that is the case, then the activitiesconnected with such specific functions, includingthe human resources function, will be determined bythe character of management's traditional and con-tinuing job in connection with any and all of itsfunctions.

The general types of activity in any functionof management, whether it be production, sales, en-gineering, finance, or what you will, grows out ofthe fact that the general job of management is touse resources effectivel for an or izational ob-jective. Those resources are basically six in num-ber: money, materials (i.e., plant, equipment, rawmaterials), people, ideas, market, and, in some

5

Human Resources Function

cases, nature.

Wery managerwill recognize the nature of themanagerial fumotions associated with conducting suhactivities in relation to same of these resources.For instance,

are related primarily toThe functions of: the resources

Production, plant andproduct engineering, Materialsand some aspects ofindustrial engineering

Financing, budgeting,,etc.

Marketing, promotion,and some aspects of Marketpublic relations

Research, design,development engineer- Ideasing, etc.

Conservation Nature

The function which is related to the under-standing, maintenance, development, effective eployment, and integration of the potential in theresource Wpeople" I shall call simply the humanresources function. That name is used not just tobte different or to avoid confusion with preconcep-tions of what other terms like "personnel ini-tration," or "human relations or "human engineer-ing" or "industrial relations" mean, but purely andsimply because it describes more accurately thanany term I can think of the nature of this functionin relation to other managerial functions.

6

Human Resources Function

Neglect of attention to, or lack of successwith respect to the functions dealing with any oneof these six resources leads, in the long run, tothe failure of an organization to accomplish itsobjectives. For example, let us assume adequateknowledge, maintenance, development, utilization,and coordination of all the above resources relatedto money, materials, people, ideas, and nature, butnot to those related to the market. Is there muchdoubt as to the consequences for the whole organi-zation? Or let the weak function be that related tomoney (financing), or materials (production and en-gineering). One weak functional area weakens thewhole. The chain is no stronger than its weakestlink. It is just as dangerous for that weak link tobe related to attention to the resource, people asto the resources of money, materials or market.

The point of view expressed here is that "peo-ple" as an organizational resource is at leastequally important with the others, and that ignor-ance, neglect, waste, or poor handling of this re-source has the same consequences as ignorance, neg-lect, waste, or poor handling of money, materials,or market. The position taken is not that human re-sources require more, or better, or more costly at-tention than the others, but that they require equalattention of the same systematic and objective char-acter as that devoted to the other resources. Atten-tion to human resources is required not because man-agers are humanitarians, but because they are manag-ers. Just as attention to materials is required notbecause managers are materialists, but because theyare managers.

e sources

I said that the general managerial Job is tomanage these six resources effectively to attain anorganizational objective. What does that mean with

7

Human Resources Function

respect to each and every one of these resources ofney, materials, market, people, ideas, and nature?

It means:a. To know thoroughly, objectively,

and realistically the nature,potentialities, and limitationsin the resource, and the condi-tions of its employment.

b. To maintain and conserve thatquantity and quality of the re-source which is adequate to theorganization's needs.

c. To develop to the fullest possi-ble extent the potentialities inthe resource.

d. To employ or utilise effectivelythe resource to the opti de-gree in the organisation'sactivity and work.

e. To weave together the effortswith respect to each resourceso that an organised and inte-grated total result is obtained.

To understand, to maintain, todevelop, to employ or utilise,and to integrate these resourcesinto a working whole are thetasks of maaement which suggestthe 1 of activities manage-ment must on with respectto each of the resources.

What I'm trying to stress here is that the gen-eral types of activities associated with finance,production, development engineering, sales, and per-sonnel and industrial relations are the same. They

8

Hman Resources Function

have an organizational similarity. They are in eachcase tasks related to (1) discovery and understand-ing, (2) the maintenance and development, (3) theutilization and employment, and (4) the integrationof the resources, money, materials, ideas, market,and people respectively. The difference in the spe-cific tasks grow out of the fact that a differentresource is dealt withnot in the general nature ofthe managerial function.

M s Rsources Tks

Now just to me this matter a bit clearer,let's classify some of the tasks normally-associat-ed with the human resources function into thesefour general types.

First, what are the tasks related to,

A. Discover- and Understandin of Human Resourcesand of the Forces and Factors which Condition

To obtain and have readily available accurateinformation about the skills and capacitiespossessed by people in the company.

To evaluate continuously the-abilities andperformance of employees and management atall levels, and have these evaluationsavailable whenever decisions relative topersonnel must be made.

To obtain and have available accurate in-formation about the reaction of employees,and management at all levels, to comparnpolicy and practice, about their needs anddemands, and to appraise the significanceof such human reactions and needs for thecompanyes operations.

9

1Hman Resources Function

To understand the way people react, andwhy, to attemptato motivate and disci-pline them; in other words, the psycho-logical conditions for the encouragementand assurance of productive and profita-ble work.

To maintain contact with, and understand-ing of, those who are key norm-setters foremployees, including magement, and, ifthere is a union, with the local, district,and national union leaders whose will anddisposition affect the results of collec-tive bargaining and the administration ofthe collective agreement.

To make studies relative to incentives,wages, hours, working conditions, fringebenefits in the industry and area andevaluate the compaEl8s position relativeto these.

To keep track of labor legislation, bothprotective and regulative, and its inter-pretation, and to appraise the consistencyof company practice with respect to this,both as to letter and spirit.

To keep abreast of local and nationalsocial welfare and labor trends, and tointerpret the significance of these trendsfor the companyD's operations.

To keep abreast of findings from outsideresearch and practical experience as tothe nature, potentialities, needs, andreaction tendencies of people of the sortemployed by the company at all levels.

Then there are tasks related to:

10

Huan Resources Function

B. intenance Develooet of Human Resources

To ascertain what the short run an longrun labor force requirements (numbers adskills) of the camWaq are.

To analyse available sources of labor sup-ply inside and outside the call in thelight of requirements for personnele.

To recruit, screen, and select candidatesfor positions in the coma .

To introduce &nd orient new employees.

To develop and administer procedures fortransfer, promotion, demotion, layoff,and discharge.

To develop and help to implement proce-dures for reduction of turnover, absentee-ism., tardiness, etc.

To organise ad ainister training anddevelopment programs for employees admanagement at all levels with the objec-tive not only of. improving present per-formance, but of providing a roster ofpotential candidates for positions withenlarging responsibilities. (Includesexecutive development both through inter-nal programs and external cooperationwith schools, colleges, and managementassociations. )

To set up and administer health and safetyprograms provided by the compan eitherunilaterally or by agreement with theunion.

To set up and administer those fringe

3.1

Human Resources Function

benefit programs established by thecompany, or jointly by company andunion, for the protection and securi-ty of, or service to the company'speople (in cooperation with the unionwhere the program is subject to collec-tive bargaining or the grievance pro-cedure.

Before we turn to the third type relative tothe employment and utilization of human resources,I wish you would fix your attention on one things Ihave not said who should perform the human resourcesfunction. I've just been saying there is such afunction that has to be performed. Particular partsof it may be amenable to performance by speciallyappointed personnel officers. Parts of it are per-formed in partnership with union officers. But youwill notice now that most of the following taskshave to be performed by- line officers of the com-pany. In other words I want to make it clear thatI am trying to define the human resources function,whoever2erfoL it.* I am not trying to define thepersonnel or industrial vice president's job, al-though when it comes to defining his job, the vari-ous aspects of the function will form the fra workfor naming the specific tasks he engages in. Butlet us continue with the third group of human re-sources activities, that is those tasks related to

C. The Effective Ea1 e of Human Resources

To plan, formulate, keep up-to-date, andimplement a human resources policy appro-priate to each level of managerial respon-sibility and authority.

To formulate long and short range goalsand plans for development and improve-ment in personnel and industrial relations,indicating schedules for implementation,

12

M.n Resources Fuation

and the budget, manpower, facilities,etc. required.

To analyze and define Jobs and organisework and work assimts in such a waythat a m m number of people's abili-ties are discovered, developed, andeffectively employed. (The founationfor hun retions practice.)

To provide wise assignment of people, toprovide leadership, supision,9 and con-trol for their work.

To arrange incentives to, and rewards forwork so that the greatest possible motiva-tion to productive work is provided allparticipants, and to evaluate the effec-tiveness of such incentives and rewards.(Includes wage and salary admnistration.)

To provide for Just discipline and correc-tion of mistakes.

To settle satisfactorily the grievancesand complaints that arise at all levels

in the course of-work and relations atwork.

To provide opportunities for upwardcanuunications, for contribution of factsand ideas essential to adequate planning,and for making suggestions about moreeffective work, improvement of morale,elimination of waste, reduction of lostmotion and conflict, better cooperation,etc.

To carry through union-management rela-tions (including negotiation and adminis-tration of the collective agreement) in

133

1Han Resources Function

a way advantageous to all concerned, com-pany, workers, union, and the public.

To keep track of, appraise, and evaluateperiodically the effectiveness of the im-plementation of this policy, these mea-sures, and to report such evaluation in anannual report to the President and officersof the company.

To ascertain, make known to top management,and control the cost of the human resourcesprogram and its results to the company.

Finally we may consider those tasks related to

D. I gfation of Human Resources with Other Re-sources

To assist in the establishment of integrat-ing goals and standards for operations ofthe company as a whole.

To assist in the establishment and keepingin continuous operation of effective mutualcommunications between people at differentlevels, people concerned with differentfunctions.

To contribute to major decision-making inall areas of company operations an under-standing of the human factors and needsaffecting, and affected by, these decisionsand operations. (For instance, in caseof major technological, methodological,organizational, product, or locationalchanges.) In other words, to representthe human resources interest both in de-cision king, operations, and evaluationof results.

3.4

Huan Resources Function

To keep maement people who performother managerial functions (production,sales, engineering, etc.) informed onpolicy and practice in the personnel andindustrial relations area, and to helpthem interpret the relevance of thesepolicies and practices for their activi-ties and responsibilities.

To participate on behalf of the companyin all intra- and inter- cman, associa-tional, commnity, and govermental rela-tionships where the human resources func-tion and interest is a major concern orissues

lWsconce tin of the Human Resources Function

Anyone who is ailiar with the literature ofpersonnel, industrial, and hman relations will re-cognise many of the specific tasks named as thoseincluded undor listings of the functions of a per-sonnel or industrial relations administrator. Isthen this description of the human resources func-tion Just given merely an arbitrary regrouping ofthe personnel administrator's tasks? Does the pre-sent organization of these items have any signifi-cance or value which the traditional grouping ofpersonnel tasks does not have?

Allow me to draw several conclusions from theforegoing discussion which I trust will indicatesuch significance and value.

If one defines the human resources function inthat way, there are certain commonly held ideasabout the function which are obviously misconcep-tions. If anyone tried to set up and carry out ahuman resources function with these misconceptionsas a foundation, he might easily do something which

15

Human Resources Ftnction

would lead to the criticism mentioned at the beginn-ing. Consider some of these misconceptions.

1. That this human relations businesshas standards of its own by whichit should be measured, separate anddistinct from the other functionsof management.

2. That such functions are the most re-@ cently added luxury gadgets whichcan be afforded when times are goodbut are expendable in case of abusiness slowdown.

3.* That the major concern of personnelwork is to make the employees happyand keep them satisfied.

-4. That the function is a sort of "wel-fare" work, designed to compatefolks for the unpleasant and dis-agreeable nature of work and forhaving to work for someone else.

5. That the only. people who are thefocus of the personnel efforts arethe non-supervisory hourly or weeklypaid employees. It is somethingcarried out .1 management for theworkers.

6. That the job of dealing with the"human problems" of the company'soperations is primarily one for thepersonnel and industrial relationsdepartment and its staff.

7. That in a human relations program itis frequently necessary to choose be-tween putting the interests of the

16

Human Resources Function

comp ny or the interests of thepeople first, whether to be pro-duction or worker centered.

Correction of These_isconcetioneConsider how these misconceptions fare when we

look at them in the light of the approach we havetaken.

1. In the first place it should be clear thatthis human resources function occupies no positionof special privilege. It is going to have to meetthe same standards as all other functions of manage-ment. What are those standards? There are condi-tions that are absolutely essential for even minimumperformance of a company producing goods and servicesfor a profit.

a. That the function with respect tovry resource be conducted so that

the organisation operates in theblack, certainly in the long run,and as far in the black as its leader-ship and ownership demand as a condi-tion of their continued participation.

b. That the resource (whether it be money,materials, market, ideas, or people)continues to yield at least the mini-mum contribution required to achievethe above result. (In the case ofpeople this means motivated to con-tinue to offer at least the minimumeffort required to achieve the aboveresult.")

But there are additional conditions applicableto the management of each and every basic resourceif optill results are to be obtained. Among these

17

Human Resources Function

can be named the following:

a. That the possibilities and potentialin the resource not be wasted, thatall possibilities and potential arediscovered, understood, maintained,developed, utilized, and integratedeffectively.

b. That the company's operations withrespect to each resource jibe withthe values and ethical standardswhich people essential to the com-pany's success believe are import-ant. (Reference is made to suchpeople, both inside and outside thecompany.)

c. That participation in the work of theorganization in dealing with eachresource, offers a real challengeto the abilities and skills of everyperson involved, whatever his posi-tion.

d. That the essential goals and poli-cies which the leaders set up arepointed toward the future and takerealistic account of the tendenciesof the times which, although incertain cases unwelcome, are factorsthat must be dealt with.

e. That all practices connected withthe function shall reduce disad-vantageous, and encourage advan-tageous, action toward the companyfrom people and organizations out-side, as well as inside the com-pany.

l8

Han ResOurCes Function

2. In the second place, the approach takenhere should demonstrate that the activities associ-ated with "human relations, "human engineering,"'personnel administration,' are not recently addedgadgets or luxury items which can be afforded onlyif the 'really important functions of sales, pro-duction, engineering, and financing are operatingmootbly and profitably. They are necessarilycarried out as soon as an organization begins tooperate and have been carried out in some mannerin any organization ever set up. A glance over thetasks named will indicate that no one of them is asuperfluous item. Each one of these tasks is nec-essarily performed by someone in a comp . The per-formance may be adequate or inadequate. But someeffort in the area of each of these tasks must be

de, or some result of previous effort accepted asa basis for further action. The question is notwhether each task shall be carried out - but howadequately and efectively it will be carried out.From the point of interest of the chief executivewho must necessarily ae decisions, initiateand control operations utilizing all the coa'sresources, the need for informed a capable judg-sent and action about the human resources is asgreat as the need for informed and capable judgmentand action about the material, financial, and mar-ket resources. One is tempted to add, 'even great-er," for the human resources must be utilized in theunderstanding, maintenance, development, utilization,and integration of all the others.

3. The chief and central concern of the humanresources function is not personal happiness butproductive work, and the cooperative relations ofpeople work, and the providing of the possibilityof using and developing a maximum part of everyonelsabilities and capacities in that productive work.The implied responsibility of management in thisarea is not to make people who are employed by thecompanr "happy.' Their responsibility is to know,

19

2Han Resources Function

maintain, and develop the people available, and pro-vide organized work arrangements that will make pos-sible the ma m possible employment of the quali-ties and skills people possess. The main objective,in other words, is productive work and the maximumopportunity for all the company's people to utilizeto the fullest possible extent all the skills theyhave relevant to making that work more productive.It is my conviction that personal happiness, as wellas company effectiveness, is promoted by this ap-proach to the human resources function. But that isa by-product, not the chief objective of effort.

4. Included in the function are not merelywelfare activities and those designed to comp nsatepeople for the disadvantages of work, not merelyspecialized "personnel" and "labor relations" func-tions, but the human resources as t of work-in 1eaio ip between people in compan. Thehuman resources function goes far beyond welfare ac-tivities designed to compensate people for frustra-tions they feel in working for others. It has to dowith the organization of work itself, and of rela-tionships at work. The chief objective is not tocompensate people for the monotony, unpleasantness,or burdens of work, but, in one sense, to reduce theneed for such compensation by improving the workprocess, work associations, and work opportunitiesthemselves.

5. The pepe who are to be understood, main-tained, developed, employed, and integrated includeevery person in the organization at all levels, notjust the hourly or weekly paid employees. Thehuman resources function is not to be identifiedsolely with something called "employee relations,"meaning those things which management, or the unionfor that matter, does to, for, or with the "employ-ees," as "employee" is customarily defined. Thehuman resources of a company consist of !ev personparticipating in the company's activities, up to and

20

man Resources Function

including the chief executive. The discovery, under-standing, maintenance, development, employment, andintegration of all people and their work at alllevels is the human resources function.

6. The tasks in the human resources functioncarried on by employees of the company are necessari-ly performed by all in the coman who supervise thework of others, not just by people labelled withpersonnel or labor relations titles. Indeed, theprimary relation of the latter staff people to theline people is that of planning, advising, assisting,and coordinating. It will be noted that I made noindication in this discussion of who should beassigned the tasks. It would, of course, appearreasonable, in view of the importance of the func-tion, that a senior officer of the company, occupy-ing a status equivalent to heads of engineering andproduction (materials), finance (money), and sales,(market), should be charged with leadership and re-port to the same executive officer as these otherswhose major responsibility involves knowledge, main-tenance, development, and utilization of any othermajor resource.

But the problem of assignment of tasks is thesubject for another discussion. At this point thereis advantage in leaving the matter with the clearimpression that the task is too big for any one manor department, and, since it is concerned with theorganization of work, relationships at work, andfacilities for work, that the ultimate decisions asto policy and practice, and the implementation ofthese decisions must be carried through by those re-sponsible for the directing of that work, that is,by line officials. If a special officer is assignedto guide and oversee the company's human resourcesfunction, he must work through these line people.He must advise, encourage, motivate, and developthem.

21

2n Resources Function

Any person primarily responsible for under-standing, maintaining, developing, and utilisingeffectively the company's human resources must con-sider himself an advisor to, a teacher of, and anassistant for those who direct the productive workwhich it is the company's mission to accomplish.

When there is a union in the company, it mustalso be realised that line management carries outits basic human resources functions within a frame-work of expectancies, controls, and other activitiesof the union. It is possible for some managementsto look on the hun resources activity of the Uniosas cooperation. Others consider it competitive. Butwhatever it is labelled, it is clear that the union,as well as the human resources officers in manage-ment, are participants with line management in carry-ing out the human resources function.

7. The focus of concern for all human re-sources effort must be the simultaneous achievementof the central and essential interests of the com-pany and its-people. The end in-view is always todevelop an approach to the relation of the companyand its people such that the attainment of the ob-jectives of each through the relationshipis notinc2E omiblewith the attainment ofh o ectisesof the other. This does not mean thatthey havethe same goals. Note that well. What I said wasthat the attainment of the objectives of each shouldnot be incompatible with the attainment of the ob-jectives of the other.

8. A function of these dimensions and signifi-cance, and calling for cooperative effort fromallline supervision in every department, must haveclear and unequivocal IpMUa et ut and beguided by top management policy. And because theunion is involved at many points, it must have ac-ceptance also from the union to be most effective.

22

FHunn Resources Function

Conclusion

We've ranged over a lot of territory and it istime to sumnarise briefly the main points de.

W purpose has been to describe the human re-sources function as something which, like the fin-ance, production, engineering, sales functions, growsout of or zatigl necesi, not the personalwhims, humanitarianism or Machievelian schemes ofmanagement.

I have classified the tasks related to thatfunction as those related to the understanding, main-tenance, development, employment, and integration ofone of the basic resources of a ccmpa~y- its people.And I want to stress that one can classify the tasksin the sales function, the finance function, theproduction and engineering function as those relatedto the understanding, maintenance and development,employment, and integration of the particular re-sources they dea with, namely, market, money, andmaterials respectively.

When these tasks were so classified, severalthings became clear about this human resources func-tion:

1. The human resources function has no special pri-vileges; it must.face the same tests of organisatiousefulness and effectiveness as any other function.

2. It is not a recently added gadget or luxury, buta function that has to be covered from the very be-ginning of an organization. It is carved out of thegeneral managerial function, not put into it.

3. Its objective is not to make people happy., but toachieve productive work and arrange for the maximumopportunity for expression of the full range of

23

24Human Resources Function

people's abilities and capacities in that produc-tive work.

4. Its activities are not designed to Anthepeople for the frustrations, inevitably associatedwith work and working for others, but to organizethat work and relations at work so that the needfor such compensation is diminished.

5. The people it seeks to understand, maintain,and develop, employ, and integrate are not Just theworkers but every one in the company, including thepresident.

6. The tasks in the function are necessarily per-formed basically by those who supervise the workof others with the help and assistance, each in itsown way, of the huma resources officers on the onehand and (if the workers are organized) the unionon the other.

7. The aim of a human resources policy and practiceis not to make the interests of the company and theinterests and goals of its people identical. It isto arrange work and relations of work so that theachievement of the goals and interests of each shallnot be incompatible with the attainment of the goalsand interests of the other.

It has not been my purpose in setting forth thisconcept of the human resources function and its im-plications to eliminate criticism of the "personnelapproach," or 'human relations" programs. I wouldn'tdo that if I could, because that critical activity isgood for all concerned. But I would hope that thisway of looking at the problem would make it possiblefor those with responsibility for developing thisaspect of organisational effort and their critics tofocus more clearly on the essential issues, and there-fore to profit more from their relationship with oneanother.

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BONDS OF ORGANIZATION, by E. WIGHT BAKKEHarper & Brothers, $4.00

THE UNION CHALLENGE TO MANAGEMENT CONTROLby NEIL W. CHAMBERLAINHarper & Brothers, $4.50

MUTUAL SURVIVAL, THE GOAL OF UNIONS AND MANAGEMENTby E. WIGHT BAKKE, Harper & Brothers, $1.50

JOB HORIZONS, A study of Job Satisfactions and Labor Mobilityby LLOYD G. REYNOLDS and JOSEPH SHISTER, $2.25

WORKERS WANTED, A study of Employers' Hiring Practicesby E. WM. NOLAND and E. WIGHT BAKKE

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STEELTOWN, by CHARLES R. WALKERHarper & Brothers, $4.50

THE STRUCTURE OF LABOR MARKETS, by LLOYD G. REYNOLDSHarper & Brothers, $3.50

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND STRIKES, by NEIL W. CHAMBERLAINHarper & Brothers, $4.00

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP, An Appraisal of a Manager in Action,by CHIus ARGYRIS

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THE IMPACT OF STRIKES, Their Economic and Social Costs,by NEIL W. CHAMBERLAIN and JANE METZGER SCHILLING

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PERSONALITY AND ORGANIZATION: The Conflict between System andthe Individual, by CHRIS ARGYRIS

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INTERIM REPORTSMANAGEMENT IN MOTION, by NEIL W. CHAMBERLAIN, $2.00

ORGANIZATION OF A BANK: A Study of the Nature of Organization andThe Fusion Process, by CHRIS ARGYRiS, $2.50

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