Human Resource Management as Intervention in the Evolution of Human Resources

This paper discusses a new evolutionary approach to Human Resource Management (HRM ) and presents a development-oriented typology of HRM. It argues that Human Resources are continuously evolving in organizations and that HRM can and must intervene in the emergent evolution process in order to influence the speed and direction of the development. HRM can either enhance or hinder the dynamics of evo-lutionary change of the qualifications and motivations of the workforce. It may also influence the development path of the Human Resources . The paper stresses that organizations should implement either a flexi-bility or stability enhancing HRM-strategy, depending on the organiza-tional need for adaptation of the workforce to changing conditions for organizational problem solving. Developing a new typology, the paper combines the organizational need for adaptation and various HRM-strategies