Human_Resource_Management_Policies_Designed_for_the_Industrial_Age_Are_Not_Appropriate_for_Work_in_the_Knowledge_Age.

Human resource (HR) policies are systems of codified decisions, established by an organization, to support administrative personnel functions, performance management, employee relations and resource planning. They can help an organization demonstrate, both internally and externally, that it meets requirements for diversity, ethics and training as well as its commitments in relation to regulation and corporate governance. Contradiction between the industrial age and knowledge age: Work performed in factories by machines is being replaced by work in offices or at computer terminals. And instead of working with things, people increasingly work with ideas and concepts. Information and knowledge have replaced manufacturing as the source of most new jobs. 1. From Restricted Markets to Globalization Our old local regional vision is giving way to a new global economic order and business vision. The new demand is thinks globally and acts locally. We are also used to dealing with restricted or concentrated markets. We need to become accustomed to dealing with business from a new global perspective. 2. From Bureaucracy to Adhocracy The rigid organizational hierarchy with its monolithic chain of command is giving way to integrated team networks based on autonomy and flexibility. Rigid departmentalization is being replaced by flexible organizational structures that change rapidly. 3. From Stability to Change Static, permanent organizations designed for a stable and predictable world are giving way to flexible, adaptive organizations more suited for a new world of change and transformation. Emphasis on permanence, tradition and the past is giving way to creativity and innovation. 4. From Command to Orientation The traditional hierarchical notion of authority based on vertical imposition of orders and instructions is giving place to democratic leadership based on the organization's mission and vision. Blind, reactive obedience is giving place to spontaneous, proactive collaboration, and employee commitment. 5. From Muscular to Mental Work In the past, people were considered to be merely workers, an old concept that associated people with things. Now people are considered purveyors of activities and knowledge whose most important contributions are their intelligence and individual talents. 6. From Solitary to Collective Activity The old emphasis on individual efficiency is being replaced by group synergy. We are used to individualized, isolated work; we need to change to high-performance teamwork. 7. From Specialization to Multitasking The traditional division of labor with its consequent fragmentation of activity is evolving toward more varied and integrated work. Compartmentalization is changing to a systematic holistic vision, unified rather than separate. 8. From a Focus on Products and Services to a Customer Orientation In the past, the product or service was the most important element. Now, the customer to whom this product or service is targeted has become fundamental. 9. From Followers of Orders to Entrepreneurs The old concept that people are hired workers is being supplanted by a new concept that rewards internal entrepreneurship. In the past, performance evaluation emphasized things like absenteeism, punctuality, and personal discipline. Now, it focuses on vision, goals and results, and especially on personal contributions to organizational objectives. 10. From Human Resources to Business Partners In the past, human resources were considered passive agents of the company. Now, employees are considered active and proactive agents of the business they manage together. In the past, workers were considered an organizational resource. Now, they manage the company's organizational resources. They can no longer be considered only as objects. 11. From Agents to Leaders We have been used to bosses who give orders to subordinates based on their linear hierarchical authority. Now we need to become accustomed to working with leaders who move, motivate and stimulate workers - leaders who are communicators and visionaries. 12. From Financial to Intellectual Capital Emphasis on money as the most important organizational resource is shifting to employees’ knowledge as the unlimited and fundamental input for business success. There are a number of contrasting features categorized into another four main clusters: A. Values and technology The industrial age emphasized ‘formal rationality’ – rule, technique and the elimination of subjectivity. Contrast this with the new knowledge age: it depends on tapping the tacit and often highly subjective insights, intuitions, and hunches of individual employees. B. Management role Managers in the industrial age were, above all, ‘bosses’: they gave orders, they were held responsible, and they were expected to know what had to be done and how to do it. Now, the knowledge and know-how in workers’ heads has to be extracted and shared and made more explicit. Instead of ‘boss’, the managers become ‘coach’. C. Organizational form Many experimental forms have emerged in the knowledge age but fundamentally the shift has been from a hierarchical, bureaucratic form to a more distributed form where boundaries both internal and external are broken down and where information flows are increasingly lateral rather than just vertical. D. New human resource management practices The changes to organizational structures, to management roles and to values and technologies have consequences in themselves for people management. The central principle is contained in the concept of ‘empowerment’. In conclusion, under the rapid development of the economy, it is definitely right that ‘Human resource management policies designed for the industrial age are not appropriate for work in the knowledge age.’