Human Resource Frame

Prompt #1: What did you learn about organizations, and/or the behavior of individuals
within an organization? How do the ideas presented in Part Three (the Human
Resource Frame) of the B&D textbook enrich your understanding of the ways in which
organizations and the people working in them function?
The Human Resources frame provides a valuable lesson on the importance of the
individual employee within an organization. All too often, employees are thought of as
expendable assets to the organization where they can be easily replaced, are
undervalued, or even not needed at all. This mindset has provided short term gains for
some organizations, but more often has proved to be detrimental to an organizations
long term success. Markels and Murray (1996) reported that downsizing has too often
turned into dumbsizing: Many firms continue to make flawed decisionshasty,
across- the-board cutsthat come back to haunt, on the bottom line, in public relationships, in strained relationships with customers and suppliers, and in demoralized
employees (Bolman, 2013, pg.132).
An organization is only as good as the employees it has working for it. If employees are
happy and feel valued, they are going have a desire to work hard for the organization
and remain loyal. According to McGregors Theory Y, the essential task of
management is to arrange conditions so that people can achieve their own goals best
by directing efforts toward organizational rewards (Bolman, 2013, pg. 124). When
people have a sense of belonging and ownership in an organization, they will by nature
have more motivation to work hard and have more pride in their work.

Prompt #2: How can you apply the concepts that you have learned about in the
readings to your personal or organizational life? Be specific.
There are many concepts within this weeks reading that can be applied to all aspects of
life. The concept I found most applicable to my professional life is that of the Basic
Human Resource Strategies. The steps laid out by Bolman and Deal to accomplish this
strategy are Develop and Implement an HR Philosophy, Hire the Right People, Keep
Employees, Invest in the Employees, Empower the Employees, and Promote Diversity
(Bolman, 2013, pg.140). The underlying theme to all these steps is a focus on the
people. I want to implement this strategy in my professional life to enrich the lives of
those who work for me and provide opportunity for their growth. This concept is directly
related to the concept of servant leadership which I find very powerful. A manager who
invests in their employees will not only gain their respect but their loyalty and hard work
as well.

Prompt #3: List the reasons cited in the text (Chapter 7) as why managers persist in
pursuing less effective strategies than those obtained through high involvement, high
performance or high commitment management practices. How have you experienced
these organizational pressures in your own work life (please elaborate)?
According to Bolman and Deal, todays managers persist in pursing less effective
strategies than those obtained through high involvement, high performance or high
commitment management practices. This is because they fear losing control or
indulging workers, they believe that investing in people requires time and
persistence to yield a payoff, and they have a financial perspective that sees the
organization as simply a portfolio of financial assets (Bolman, 2013, pg.139).
I believe most of us who have been in the workforce for any length of time have
experienced these pressures to some degree. I once worked for a geotechnical firm
where the owner was solely focused on the bottom line. He cut every corner possible in
order to save a penny. I was only 18 years old when I worked for this company and had
no prior training or experience in this field. The owner spent a few hours training me on
soil classification and evaluation. He then sent me on a two week trip along the west
coast of the United States with a soil boring driller to collect and classify soil samples for
a large fiber optic project. As much as I would love to believe he did this because he
thought I was exceptionally gifted in this field, his motivation was the low hourly wage I
was being paid compared to a professional geologist. To make matters even worse, he
refused to pay the hourly employees time and a half for their overtime hours. I
eventually brought to his attention that according to the Fair Labor Standards Act, this
was against the law.

Prompt #4: As outlined by Bolman and Deal (Chapter 7), although every organization
with productive people management has its own unique approach, most of their
strategies can be captured in six general strategies. What are these six basic human
resource strategies? How have you experienced these general strategies in your own
work life (please elaborate)?
The six basic human resource strategies are Develop and Implement an HR
Philosophy, Hire the Right People, Keep Employees, Invest in the Employees, Empower
the Employees, and Promote Diversity (Bolman, 2013, pg.140).
I have definitely experienced these strategies in my work life. The organization I
currently work for strongly believes in the Human Resources frame and implements a
lot of these strategies. They believe that having the right group of people working for the
organization is the key to continued success. Keeping these valued employees is every
bit as important as finding them in the first place and they do this by providing career
advancement opportunities and encouraging continuing education. The owners have
also created a culture which fosters innovative communication and the understanding
that everyone has a voice that will be heard. The average tenure of the 25 employees at

this organization is 10 years. In this day and age that is quite an accomplishment and is
a direct result of the human resources philosophy they have implemented.

Prompt #5: Throughout your progression in the Organizational Leadership program,

you have had a number of courses that include content complementary to the human
resource frame perhaps more connections here than with any other frame (in your
various leadership courses and courses like OGL 220 Behavioral Dynamics in
Organizations, or BIS 343 Social Processes). Please highlight what you would consider
to be two of the most important things (ideas, concepts, theories, models, processes,
skills, etc.) that you have learned in previous coursework that you can relate to the
Human Resource frame. Briefly discuss each key learning, the course where you
learned it, and its connection with the Human Resource frame.
In OGL30: Theory and Practice of Leadership, I learned what may be one of the most
valuable concepts to me personally. Servant leadership is a form of leadership where
the leader put the needs of their subordinates and organization above their own. A
servant leader will advocate for his employees and earn their trust and respect though
the focus and attention given to the individual goals and needs. This is directly related to
the human resources frame in that this leadership style is focused on the employees
and is very similar to McGregors Theory Y.
Another powerful concept I found to be very important is that of the
Extroversion/Introversion spectrum that was discussed in BIS 360: Integrated Worker. I
directly relate to this concept as I would consider myself to be more on the introverted
side of the spectrum. Though most would never guess this, it is very draining for me to
be in an extroverted situation for long periods. I am able to adapt to these situations
well, it just takes a lot of energy. In understating this concept I am better able to relate to
the different employees I may manage and be able to encourage the strengths that I
have come to know from both sides of this spectrum. This concept relates to the Human
resources frame in that having a well rounded understanding of personalities will enable
me to help each individual rise to their full potential by embracing their strengths.

Frame or Reframe an Organization from a Human Resource Perspective

Prompt #6: How do the Human Resource aspects discussed work in an organization
with which you are (or have been) affiliated? What sorts of personnel policies and
management strategies are espoused theories versus those in use? (This is about the
concept/frame not an HR department.)
The organization I currently work for does a great job implementing many of the aspects
discussed in the human resources frame. The owners do a great job in promoting a
culture of open conversation and including the employees in some of the decisions

making of the organization. There are many company sponsored functions that are held
as a way to recognize the hard work and dedication of the employees. I personally feel
very valued by the ownership and know that they support me in my career growth as
well.
An example of a personnel policy that is in use is each employees health insurance
premium is covered by the company. This is not very common practice and saves each
employee a lot of money. A management strategy theory that the company embraces is
that of each individual employee owning their projects. This promotes leadership in the
employees as well as taking on responsibility. The management tends to fall short on
this theory at times, as the owner of the organization has a tendency to want to have his
hand is all projects and has a hard time relinquishing control.

Prompt #7: How does morale or other human resource issues affect outcomes in your
place of employment (for customers, employees, stockholders, surrounding community
and/or any other stake-holders). Describe enough of a situation concretely to provide
context and use concepts from the readings in your response. If you dont think there
are healthy or unhealthy aspects in your organization relating to the human resource
perspective going on, think again more carefully and perhaps revisit the readings to
broaden your definition and understanding.
Morale has a huge impact on the outcomes in my place of employment. The efficiency
of our day to day operations is directly impacted by the employees moral. If the
employees are not happy in their work environment they are more than likely not going
to perform at their highest level. On the contrary, if the employees have a high moral
they will be motivated to work hard for the organization and produce high quality
deliverables. This directly affects our customers and stakeholders in that the tight
deadlines they set will not be met and quality of deliverable they receive will be subpar if
the employee moral is low. Morale can be directly linked to the management style of the
organization. According to Bolman and Deal, of the three types of leadership, autocratic,
laissez-faire, and democratic, the most affective is democratic (Bolman, 2013, pg.172). I
believe the moral of the employees at my place of employment is high due to the fact
that the management style definitely in on the democratic side of the spectrum. This
high morale is a big factor in the ongoing success of the organization.