Two key theories of Human Resource Management

Two key theories of Human Resource Management

Introduction

Human Resource is one of the most important elements of an organization. All the processes, systems, methodologies and operations take place because of the employees. It is the employees that 'make it happen'. If the employees are not properly motivated and do not work efficiently then the organization cannot work properly. In this paper, we discuss two theories of motivation that are the most crucial towards human resource management.

Discussion

Theory X and Theory Y

One of the most important theories of Human Resource Management, the theory known as 'Theory X and Theory Y' was proposed by the famous human resource theorist, Douglas McGregor (Heathfield, 2012). He was an American psychologist who has greatly contributed in the field of human resources and management. Theory X and Theory Y are two famous theories created and developed by Douglas McGregor (1906 - 1964) at the MIT Sloan School of Management that explain how behavioral expectations developed individually, can influence the behavior of the community of individuals. These theories have been applied in management and human resource management since the sixties and used in the management of human resources, in the theories of organizations and organizational management. They describe two different attitudes of the motivation of the workforce. The formation and deterioration of trust relationships are realized in a typical mechanism of motivation and demotivation and this phenomenon is evident, for example, in the government of the relationship between businesses and the people who are employed.

Theory X

A considerable part of the theory and organizational practice is based on the assumption that people who work in the organization tend to (through characteristics of human nature) apply restrictive practices with respect to expectations of behavior expressed by the company. According to this approach people would work purely for obtaining remuneration and not only would minimize the effort for a given wage, but consciously highlight and exploit the "defects" of the organization just to give rise to opportunistic behavior (Heathfield,2012).

Furthermore, according to this approach, any phenomenon of spontaneous intake of responsibility would not be plausible. Such people would ignore any possibility of interpretation of the work as a duty. The organizational structure consistent with the hypothesis usually has an adverse effect on human nature because usually the behavior expected from this hypothesis is that: persons working in an organization consider themselves subject to a binding arrangement, and deprived of any delegation. This causes them to develop restrictive attitudes and become opportunistic (Smith, 2007). They express and display the inability to exercise judgment in the absence of delegation authority and necessarily demonstrate the failure to produce the ability to take complex responsibility.

Theory Y

Opposed to Theory X, Theory Y assumes that employees who tend to take responsibility spontaneously, have by nature, an attitude of loyalty and commitment, to be recognized within the company, meet the organizational objectives and do justice to the profession. The adoption of Theory Y is an essential condition for the realization of business arrangements that ...