The overlap of general management & HR management
To date in this series of management articles we have looked at the POCM approach to management. If you are an avid reader of this section you will already be indoctrinated with this POCM term and will understand that it represents Planning, Organisation, Control and Motivation. The key ingredients of every management role, which, if applied regularly and consistently by those responsible for the work of others, will contribute dramatically to the achievement of objectives and business success.
All managers, supervisors, team leaders, etc, constantly run through the POCM steps. This can be a conscious and systematic effort, but it can also be a spontaneous reactionary response to changes in the work/business environment. It may involve major applications of these four key management activities during the course of annual budgeting or following any broader planning definitions with the organisation.
Every manager breaks down the general activities into a myriad of lesser (but equally important) phases, actions, objectives etc, and assembles the resources (or gets help in doing so) and then activates the new phase or plan. The POC piece, therefore, varies from manager to manager as the case may be. The M or motivational activity may also be subtly different but should not have the same level of variations. This is rather obvious. After all the same principles of motivation must surely be applied equitably and fairly by each and every person who has any responsibility for the work of others within any company. While this seems logical and rational it does not always happen like this and senior managers must be aware of the application of all motivational policies to ensure that those responsible understand the rationale and are compliant with the core principles.
The Human Resource Manager, in most companies, is the main leader of such thinking and for the policies, practices and procedures which are expected to be applied by all others in the company. However, in smaller companies which do not have a dedicated HR function, the senior manager would be well advised to consider motivation and to define appropriate standards. So motivation, while in the domain of HR Management, must also be fully integrated into all other management thinking and activities.
This interesting overlap of the motivation (M) piece of POCM between all managers and a Human Resource Manager in a company should be identified to all those responsible for the work of others. The motivation of all those involved in the business is a complex and difficult objective which all managers have a responsibility for understanding and for contributing to. For further details on motivation review the two previous articles in this series (Motivation: Part 1 and Motivation: Part 2).
The Human Resource Manager fits into the range of POCM management users, but applies POCM to a different set of criteria than, say, the Production Manager. The latter has the primary objective of producing a product within standards of quality and costs and must pursue his or her own version of POCM to that end.
The Human Resource Manager, on the other hand, is responsible for creating the policies, practices and procedures which must address the motivational aspects of POCM and this responsibility extends to ensuring a company-wide application. This approach must reflect the company’s objectives as defined in the overall business plan.
Unfortunately, many managers demotivate their staff and colleagues, often by accident rather than by design, when, in fact, they are required to motivate so as to achieve co-operation from all and to achieve their department’s objectives in particular. This could be due to a lack of understanding of the concept or because the manager him/herself might not be as motivated as he/she should be.
A clear set of policies, practices, procedures and principles which arises from the Human Resource Management considerations should be used as a guide for all other managers to help and support them to address their individual requirement of motivation within their particular, and very different, POCM responsibilities.
In companies which have no formal HR Management expertise, it is essential that all the managers, and in particular the Chief Executive, has some understanding of this management concept and also of the HR Management values which must be integrated.
Management = POCM
