The final illustration shows how the HR function itself is becoming a project management activity. This was the case of a London borough employing 10,000 staff with a long history of problems. The borough was being regenerated from a 'failing' council to an authority capable of tackling and solving the considerable problems of deprivation and under-achievement which had characterised the borough in the past. A new chief executive having been appointed, the entire management structure was overhauled, with a new directorate, new roles, an internal market for services, reduced bureaucracy and a new committee structure, so that decision making could occur closer to the people through neighbourhood committees. The new structure grouped services more according to value and customer point of contact. The executive directors were now responsible for corporate themes, and reporting to them were service directors, strategic core units and commissioning teams. This had reduced in-fighting over the budgets, removed corporate 'islands', improved co-ordination, given the executive board the broad remit of collectively managing the council and given strategic direction to the borough's activity. The old personnel function was therefore disbanded, and instead a strategic core unit was formed, with a separate trading arm.
The old structure had given HR a largely administrative role, allowing scapegoating by line management, who avoided responsibility. The personnel team had all reported to the centre, which was feared for its 'policing' role rather than being seen as a source of assistance. Under the new structure, the strategic core HR team aimed to move the organisation on, through the strategic themes. The trading unit operated by providing services which managers 'bought' (through internal pricing) as required. They had the option which they sometimes exercised of purchasing external services. HR standards had been developed (not detailed policies and procedures) which were a basic framework, and which provided a minimum standard. Line managers could buy any amount of service, as well as hot line advice. The service could be for any amount of time, eg one year in advance. The demand for the services was, therefore, variable. The strategic centre concentrated on new initiatives, and audited the 'trading' unit.
Both parts of the function were therefore concerned with the management of projects, and in a sense behaved like separate businesses, in internal consultancy mode. This replicates the approach now becoming more common in commercial organisations. The knowledge requirements shifted away from the HR function as guardian of the rules to a project-driven function with customers and agreed levels of service. Key knowledge requirements included those particular policies and techniques which would deliver business benefits. All these activities needed to fit into the overall people strategy, so HR staff were co-ordinators and 'influencers' rather than executives. Techniques and ideas had to be 'packaged' and sold to line management. There was constant evaluation of the HR function against organisational objectives under this structure. There are obvious risks and problems here - while there may be benefits in achieving greater line management accountability, producing a coherent HR approach is made more difficult, as is the day-byday management of the projects and the function. These difficulties call for new HR skills, for example, in entrepreneurship, marketing and consultancy.
The cases have been drawn from the public and private sector, from manufacturing and the service sector. No claim is made as to how representative they are, but they do illustrate how HRM knowledge derives from organisational concerns. Managers' normative perceptions and propaganda within organisations, their business needs, strategies and structures, and the all-embracing changes experienced seem to be the drivers which currently affect HRM knowledge. Such knowledge is likely to change in tune with the way organisational concerns change: new organisational facts of life require a new set of responses. For example, we are not here trying to establish whether or not the values adumbrated are in any sense 'correct'; disagreement about values could not be resolved by an appeal to an external arbitrator. What is significant is the extent to which senior managers are being more explicit about the values they wish the whole workforce to internalise. This serves the function of gaining compliance and acceptance of the managerial view=point, a task to which fIRM is always committed.