INSTITUTE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE — 21–23 OCTOBER 1987
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb055130 |
| Date | 01 April 1988 |
| Published date | 01 April 1988 |
| Pages | 30-32 |
| Author | Philip Parker |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
INSTITUTE
OF
PERSONNEL
MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE
-
21-23 OCTOBER
1987
by Philip Parker
Manchester School of Management, UMIST
The annual IPM conference at Harrogate, attended by 2,000 personnel practitioners, debated a wide variety
of current issues. But, if an underlying theme could be identified, it was the development of the occupation
in the 1980s away from a central preoccupation with "industrial relations" towards the currently fashionable
notion of "human resource management". Many of the conference seminars explicitly reflected this theme:
the sessions included "Human Resource Development", "Developing a Culture of Achievement" and "Employee
Participation", for example. Throughout its deliberations, the conference was concerned with the professional
status of personnel management, emphasising its techniques and practices, and their importance for
organisational performance.
A key question about this shift in occupational focus, especially to students of employee relations, is its
implication for trade unions. Several sessions considered this theme, with trade union officials as guest speakers.
One of them examined the topic of "Commitment through Employee Relations" and was among the most
interesting of the conference in bringing together speakers from a range of backgrounds.
ER
10,4
1988
30
Geoff Armstrong (formerly
of BL
Cars
and
currently
Personnel Director
of
Metal Box) provided an employers'
perspective:
the
"adversarial, conflict-based, class-based
ideologies"
of the
post-war period were outmoded
and
unsustainable
in the
context
of a
highly competitive
global market. The demise
of
collectivism, as expressed
in trade unionism, and the rise
of
direct communications,
emphasising
the
individual employee,
was not
a matter
of
the
power pendulum swinging back towards
management Returning
to the old
adversarial IR
was
simply
not an
option.
It
would only mean firms going
out
of
business Employers were
not
seeking
de-
recognition The trade unions still had
a
role
in
handling
employees' interests
in
complex technical matters
(eg
the law, health and safety, and pensions) and in collective
bargaining over
pay and
conditions
But
they
had to
behave
so as not to be a
barrier
to
competitiveness
The
new
Chairman
of
ACAS, Douglas Smith, provided
an independent overview
of
changing workplace
relations. He identified
a
number
of
1980s trends. With
the collapse
of
employment
in
staple industries
and
consequent decline
in
membership, unions have sought
to organise
in new
areas, notably services. There
was
a growing number
of
recognition claims
in
ACAS arising
from these efforts where only
a
small proportion
of a
workforce
was
unionised. Where recognition
was
granted,
it
usually took
the
form
of a
single-union
agreement, and
in
multi-union environments, employers
were pressing
for
joint bargaining arrangements.
The
structure
of
unions was changing, placing greater weight
on workplace representatives, a development stemming
from
the
poor state
of
union finances
and the
consequent decline
in the
number
of
full-time officers
(FTOs). Outwardly,
the
system
of
collective bargaining
was stable.
But
national bargaining
was
becoming less
prescriptive
and a
growing proportion
of the
remuneration package was
not
subject
to
bargaining
at
all.
The corollary
of
union weakness was a newly found
confidence
in
British management. Even so, they could
not command performance and commitment,
and
this
had led
to
the development
of
what he called "employee-
directed personnel policies"
(a
concept closely aligned
with "HRM" and "the new IR"). These were not primarily
concerned with undermining unions and they co-existed
with collective bargaining
One area
of
particular concern
was
communications
systems. They needed
to be
rapid and open
in
order
to
deliver information affecting individual employees
and
continually monitored
so
that management was aware
of what employees wanted
to
know. Employers often
suffered under
the
delusion that their employees were
well informed when they were not. Training was another
key area
It
was self-interest
for
employers
to
pursue
it
seriously
and by so
developing employees they would
strengthen relationships
It was too
early
to
judge
the
effects
of the
Finance Act's provisions
on
profit-related
pay,
but
Douglas Smith detected considerable scepticism
that
it
would protect the community against job loss.
To
work, such schemes would have
to be
clear
and
consistent. This meant that management would have
to
analyse deeply questions like: would
a
down-turn
in
profits
be
manageable under such
a
scheme? and
how
persuasive could they be in their choice
of
profit centres?
In later questions,
he
dealt with
the
issue
of the
role
of
the FTO
in
modern Britain.
It
was prudent management
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