Differences between hard and soft human resources management

The key difference between hard and soft human resources management is the way in which employees are considered part of your business. With soft human resources management, employees are considered a primary asset of your company, emphasising the importance of your employee’s career aspirations and emotional well-being. Soft human resources management involves creating business transparency, where your employees are able to discuss concerns with their management openly and confidently, fostering a two-way communication dynamic. This additional feedback you receive as their manager also means you can use this information to create further development opportunities for your employees, helping them to grow both personally and professionally. Hard human resources management on the other hand involves focusing on your business strategy over your employees, prioritising results and the reaching of targets. With this model, your employees are therefore treated as a means to an end, as a tool for achieving company aims. With a hard human resources management model, individual employees are more dispensable, which can result in a higher turnover rate. This is especially the case if employees cannot see a clear career path for themselves, or if the role is too highly pressurised. However, if you are looking to cut back on your overall costs, and a high turnover rate is less important in your industry, you may consider utilising aspects of this model.

How do I choose between hard and soft human resources management?

Soft human resources management can be a useful way to reduce staff turnover . This is because if your employees’ concerns are taken into consideration, and they are all treated like valuable assets of your business, then they are less likely to look elsewhere for a company culture that fits them better. This management style can involve investing more time and money in your staff, providing them with a degree of business transparency not found in traditional top-down business hierarchies. It also involves utilising a more horizontal, democratic approach to leadership. This could be through providing your employees with well-being classes, conflict management training, one-on-one mentoring or buddy schemes. This type of management style is useful to employers who are looking to improve their employee retention, have a small or medium-sized team, and have the time and money to invest in the career trajectory of their employees. In the long run, a soft human resources management style can keep your team happy and motivated, but you should ideally take into consideration whether your budget allows for a fully soft human resources management style. You should also ensure that you are still hitting company targets and that your employees remain motivated to achieve the best possible results. A soft human resources management style may also delay some of your decision-making processes if you are looking to fully take onboard the contributions of your team. You may find it is a good idea to nominate team leaders to put forward ideas from the group, in order to streamline this process.

Two-way communication and business transparency in soft human resources management

In order to implement a soft human resources management style, it is useful to get to grips with how two-way communication and business transparency work. Business transparency involves developing a relationship of trust between you and your employees, but also among your employees themselves. You can choose the degree to which you are transparent about your business operations and processes with your employees. You might consider sharing with them information on performance, business ethics and revenue.

Employees will most likely appreciate it if you are honest about your business values, and whether your business will be running into any difficulties in the near future. This way, your whole team can prepare for the changing nature of your industry and different scenarios as they arise. If your employees feel like they can trust their employer, you are more likely to be able to trust your employees. This becomes part of a two-way communication process between you and your employees, built on the foundation of trust. You can help foster two-way communication between you and your employees by doing the following:

• Arranging team meetings where employees can freely share their thoughts and opinions on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis;
• Creating opportunities for you and your employees to meet up after work to learn more about each other’s career aspirations on a more personal level;
• Implement suggestions from employees on team projects or on improving processes;
• Sharing the results of idea implementation with your employees.

Hard human resources management styles

You might choose to implement a hard human resources management style if you are managing a large team, where staff turnover is less important. If you have a large team, you might find this style more effective as it will help you to cut back on the overall costs. It also makes managing a larger team easier, as it means that your employees are primarily focused on meeting your business targets quickly without much consultation. Other features of a hard human resources management style include:

• Lower wages for employees;
• Keeping your appraisal system simple and foc1111111111111111111sing primarily on punishment and reward;
• Lack of business transparency;
• An inflexible, authoritarian leadership style.

However, it is worth considering that a hard human resources management style is less popular with employees, as they may feel that their working environment is highly pressurised and results-driven. This can make your recruitment costs more expensive, as you will be looking to frequently replace staff due to higher staff turnover. Therefore, if you are a company looking to achieve fast results while also keeping employees happy and on board, you may consider combining hard human resources management styles with a soft approach.

How to combine hard and soft human resources management styles

Hard and soft human resources management is on a sliding scale. Therefore, you can choose to implement aspects of both while running a business. Combining elements of hard and soft HR management styles can give the best of both worlds, if you are looking to save on expenses but also be conscientious about your employees’ well-being. Consider combining these two styles by:

• Setting high-pressure targets but helping your employees to achieve them via the right training opportunities;
• Listening to your employee’s concerns but also encouraging them to push themselves further in the role;
• Being flexible as a leader, combining an authoritative approach with a more democratic approach depending on the situation.

Whether a hard or soft human resources management style works for your business may change depending on your current budget or the size of your company. You may find that towards the end of projects or high-pressure campaigns, you might adapt to a harder HR management style to compensate for an increased workload. It is a good idea to take stock of where your business currently is when deciding which option is the best. Both hard and soft human resources management styles have their own strengths and weaknesses to consider before implementing them. It is a good idea to discuss these options with your human resources team first, to work out the best strategy while remaining on budget. You may find it more cost effective to use a combination of the two styles if you wish to remain within budget, while also keeping your employees both motivated and happy. Further reading: How to Communicate a Pay Raise Performance Improvement Plan How to Motivate Your Employees