The Right Blend to Organisational Success: Traditional HR vs. Scientific HR﻿

November 28, 201911:26 am433 views
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“Data is a fact, not the truth. You might find that candidate A is better than B from the data written in his resume. But it does not close the chance that B is more suitable for your organisation.” This implies that HR should not merely rely on data but should also find the truth. To do that, the HR team should understand the meaning of being traditional and scientific.

Traditional HR  

No one can ignore the fact that human resources has been key to organisational development, given that an industry’s performance is very much related to its human resources system. Staffing, payroll, feedback, appraisal, and training are many of traditional HR management typical responsibilities. 

Carmeli and Schaubroeck presented that traditional HRM put most of the attention on the recruitment of the right individuals based on position demands and make candidate’s abilities equal to the requirements of positions. It is very much about the current need for human resources through two major functions, namely recruitment and training.

Further, Carmeli and Schaubroeck stated that it is the managerial perception to realise human capital in terms of an individual‘s educational background, skill levels and work experience. Therefore, it may be seen as a common concentration to recruit people in traditional HRM. From the perspective of organisational performance, employee training offers more contributions to the achievement of organisational performance goals. Thus, the qualification and skills of employees seem to be adequate when they are consistent with the requirements of current tasks. 

In conclusion, when a firm enters a professionally managed stage which requires more strategic thinking for long-term development, traditional HRM seems to have little help to aid a firm to achieve the goals. Many researchers who studied traditional ways of HRM have paid their attention more to a strategic perspective. They argue that HRM should put its concerns not only to the typical functions held by traditional HRM activities but also to be a consensus of organisational strategy implementation.

See also: Are You a Servant Leader or Traditional Leader?

Scientific HR 

Compared to traditional HR management, scientific HR management puts more attention on the organisational level within a company to achieve organisational goals with the help of HR technology and automation. Generally, scientific HR refers to human resource practitioners who rely heavily on automation and employment metrics. 

Different from traditional HRM that lays down rigid job description with many grades and a fixed promotion policy based on seniority and performance appraisal ratings, scientific HRM has relatively fewer grades and ranks with broadly defined job responsibilities. Thus, it provides much scope for applying creativity and initiative and plenty of career path with skills, talent, and commitment the key drivers of career advancement, implying that scientific strategic approach is an utmost strategy with a high demand for career development today. 

Key takeaways  

Modern business recognises the importance of human resource management playing a strategic role with the helped of data-centric in order to not miss the target. Contemporary HR management tends to focus on aligning their people strategy with business goals. 

However, it is common for HR management to struggle with finding the time to focus on strategic functions. Since HR managers often have to deal with many administrative and risk mitigation tasks that require significant time and resources, they often take precedence over strategic activities. 

HR management will continue to evolve with changes in the market and with modern business practice. While HR has moved into a direction to be more scientific HR management, it should be noted that human resources are urged to manage the workforce with a traditional approach because traditionally, HR can connect and build a better relationship with employees and other stakeholders. 

Read also: ﻿How to Become Better Scientific Human Resources Executives