Primary Influences on the Values, Beliefs and Opinions of the

6.2 The Impact of Human Resource Practitioners on the Process -

6.2.3 Primary Influences on the Values, Beliefs and Opinions of the

Values are at the core of an individual. They are enduring entities and change slowly, often in response to environmental demands and challenges to their core values. Understanding values can help to explain why people possess certain attitudes and how these are translated into particular behaviour. (Hollinshead, Nicholls and Tailby, 1999) Therefore, an understanding of the values, beliefs and opinions of Human Resource practitioners, will allow an insight into why they make the decisions that they do in the policy development process. It is important to discover how these values, beliefs and opinions may have changed and been affected over the years. This is because the practitioner exerts a great amount of influence on the development process and so it is important to understand where they are coming from;

what has influenced them and how have they changed as individuals. Changes in values, beliefs and opinions may often result in a shift in motives and behaviours by the significant actors of the policy development process. Understanding these elements will help to

understand why they make certain decisions in the process.

To understand values, beliefs and opinions, it is important to understand how they have been shaped and influenced in the past; where they have come from. The results of the study show that the values, beliefs and opinions of Human Resource practitioners are predominantly moulded by their background and the era that they grew up in. Hollinshead, Nicholls and Tailby (1999: 540) acknowledge that an individual's values are "established and reinforced through the early years of a person's life; they are significantly influenced by parents, social upbringing and wider social and cultural experience." Many of the practitioners in the study support this statement by saying that their families and life experiences have had the most vital impact on their values and beliefs. These values formed early on through interactions with family and their social situation are demonstrated and expressed in the work

environment in later life. Therefore, as Hollinshead et al (1999) note, considering the era in which an individual was raised, gives important insight into the dominant values, beliefs and opinions held by that individual. This in turn allows an understanding of how the practitioner will behave in the workplace, especially in the policy development process, and how their values, beliefs and opinions will impact on the decisions that they make.

The results of the study also show that the majority of practitioners do in fact undergo some degree of change to their values, beliefs and opinions, especially since being employed in the Human Resources profession. Immediately this indicates that practitioners may not remain constant in their decisions around policy development or even their outlook on certain issues.

This will have an important effect on the Human Resource policies and practices that they influence. In the South African situation, three main reasons for value change were cited - the changes to South African society with an eradication of discrimination and a greater acceptance of diversity; changes to management becoming more open and participative and changes to the management-employee relationship which has become more informal with an increase in trust and sharing of information. These are probably the most important reasons for change for practitioners as well as most members of top management.

The way that practitioners' values have changed cannot be generalised as each individual is unique, coming from their own background and experiences. They begin with their own set of values, beliefs and opinions which are affected and changed by different elements

impacting on them.

From the results of the study, the form of the change can be divided into four categories:

~

Become more practical in approach

~

Become more mature,

neutral and balanced

~

Become more aware of the importance of

perseverance and an increased belief in the ability of designated groups

~

Become more conservative in approach

It

should be noted that the last category came from an older, white male practitioner who has been through all the changes in South African society and within the organisation. However, he does not seem to have changed personally along with those changes and has instead become even more conservative in his approach to Human Resources, including policy development. This may pose a problem where this practitioner may never go beyond that which is required by the organisation in terms of policy and may not take into account the needs of employees in the organisation.

Identifying these changes to the values, beliefs and opinions of practitioners encourages an understanding of the way that these practitioners develop policies and the goals that they wish to achieve through the policies. For example, an awareness of the fact that a practitioner has become more conservative in his values, beliefs and opinions allows an understanding of why he does not allow any employee participation whatsoever in the policy development process.

On the other hand, an awareness of the fact that a practitioner has become more neutral and balanced in their values, beliefs and opinions allows an understanding of why he takes a more advisory approach in the process, allowing management and employees to make decisions on policy issues and content together.

Hollinshead et al (1999) suggest that the values of the most influential group in an

organisation, namely top management - and in the Human Resource policy development

process, Human Resource practitioners - shape organisations and impact on how the

organisation relates to the people it employs. Therefore, it is important to understand the

values, beliefs and opinions held by Human Resource practitioners; how these may have

changed over the years and what effect this may have had on their motives, attitudes and

decisions they make around policies and practices.

It

should be noted that changes to values

will only be applicable when looking at the effect of the practitioner's personal values and

beliefs on the process. If the practitioner is primarily guided by the values and beliefs of the

organisation, then the basis of and changes to their own personal values will be negligible.