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Файл:Сравнение социальных моделей Европы. Социальная и трудовая политика в Европе. Учебно-методическое пособие
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outside the company, possibly because relatively few of them have
recognised qualifications, which makes it difficult to retrain them. In
other words, companies make use of some groups of their employees
more than others. They tend to retain and promote the most qualified
workers or those in whom they have invested most training resources.
The in-house promotion of executives seems to be more
pronounced in transnational companies than in national companies. But
this trend also applies to large service sector companies. They have
formal career structures and Human Resource Departments with
functions separate to those of the Personnel Department. This is
generally the pattern in large financial institutions and in public
administration, where trade unions play an important role in such
matters. However, in industry, workers' representative institutions have
less influence over promotion of middle to high technical professional
categories of workers. Promotion within this occupational group usually
takes place through individual selection mechanisms23 which take into
consideration formal professional qualifications and the specific
experience acquired while working for the company itself.
This strategy is used in practically all sectors of the economy, apart
from construction. The differences between sectors are explained more
by the size of the workforce. The greater the number of workers
employed, the greater the likelihood of the employer recruiting from
existing staff to fill technical positions. Meanwhile, small companies
place a greater emphasis on external recruitment. Companies
experiencing a more intense degree of change in work organisation rely
most on in-house promotion, irrespective of size.
In the case of skilled white and blue-collar workers, career
development and promotion is taken forward on a more individual and
selective basis (Miguélez et al. 1991). This is due to the fact that there
are only a small number of such workers. In industry, this applies to
maintenance personnel, operators of centralised and computerised
quality control systems and certain staff with specific medium-high
23
From a survey of Workers Commissions (CC.OO.) members (Rebollo, Martín Artiles, Miguélez
1993 : 81); the medium to high categories of technicians, administrative heads and officers wanted
trade union control over promotion. The absence of collective control and the rarity of any
negotiation on these issues is a source of dissatisfaction for members with higher levels of
professional qualification and training. The age group which most wants trade union control over
this issue is the over 40s. This fits in with the theory that the need social and symbolic recognition
increases with age.
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qualifications. However, in some cases, promotion is not possible
because of the unavailability of the required personnel in-house and
companies have to resort to external institutions such as vocational
training schools, or even appoint by selecting the most competent of
currently employed staff.
There are differences and nuances between industry and the service
sectors in the way they manage administrative workers. Employees in
the finance sector have better trade union organisation than those in
industry and this makes for different practices. Finance sector workers
are accustomed to putting pressure on their employer using company
committees and their trade unions to negotiate formal agreements
making promotion dependent on relevant training. In some cases, the
unions fight for recognition of the relevance of the "discreet" or
informal24 training acquired in the course of the performance of the job.
This criterion is generally called "seniority", a vague and diffuse concept
(in a certain way, it is also a synonym for informal qualification), but it
is often used as a criterion for promotion.
This does not happen in industry, where administrative workers are
not used to taking collective action. Training and promotion are subject
to markedly more individual and informal mechanisms, especially in
small and medium-sized companies.
Finally, vacancies for unskilled blue-collar workers tend to be
filled externally rather than in-house. But there is one aspect worth
noting about companies which have gone through profound changes in
work organisation. In these cases, in-house promotion is much more
likely, possibly due to the pressures from and negotiations with workers'
representatives and the protection afforded by the trade unions.
Recruitment and selection of the workforce
The criteria for recruitment, the selection of personnel and training
depends on the requirements of the position in question. Some studies
(Lope 1996; Martín Artiles and Rebollo, 1997) indicate that companies
tend to recruit both highly and poorly qualified staff, i.e. at both ends of
24
The term “discreet” was coined by Phillipe Meahut and Jacques Delcourt (1993) and aims to
emphasise the informal kind of training that goes on unnoticed at work; professional qualification to
do the job is not formally recognised if the worker has no formal professional certificate or title.
Despite this, informal training (learning by doing) is of crucial importance to companies and the
way in which competence at the job is acquired. See also Lope and Martín Artiles (1993).
92
the scale, especially in Latin countries like France, Italy and Spain
(Regini and Bahnmüller, 1997). In other words, there is demand for both
skilled and unskilled staff, which, when all is said and done, reflects the
dominant model of the division and organisation of work.
To a certain extent, the organisation of work in the service sector
seems to follow traditional lines (McDonalised, to use Ritzer's term,
1996): rapid production based on automation and a reduction in unit
costs; the emphasis on saving time; the primacy of quantity over quality;
the standardisation of product and processes. As a result, the demand for
training and initial qualifications is low. So we find that in activities like
hotels, restaurants and commerce there are few demands for
qualifications. However, attitude and behaviour seem be of increasing
importance. Company psycho-technical offices, or their consultants,
place value on the physical presence, smartness, personal hygiene,
correct dress, pleasantness, capacity for verbal communication and selfcontrol of candidates. These factors are especially important for jobs
involving direct contact with the public, for commerce, sales and
marketing. In services directed at young people (like fast-food, tourism,
photocopying shops, etc.) companies recruit according to the degree of
pleasantness and "cheerfulness" with which applicants are able to
communicate and empathise with the client (Martín Artiles and Rebollo,
1997).
The demand for formal professional qualifications in industry
depends on the sector as well as the particular job. High technology
industries like electronics, chemicals, electricity and the graphic arts
tend to demand professional qualifications. In the more innovative
activities in technology and work organisation, there is a tendency to
replace older workers with few qualifications with young people
possessing formal professional qualifications, allegedly because young
people adapt better to new technology and can respond to the demand
for multi-skilled workers. But this is not always the only argument put
forward. Other considerations include the lower salaries paid to younger
workers, lower social contributions and flexibility offered by being able
to recruit in accordance with seasonal variations in production.
In brief, initial formal professional qualification is not the
determining factor in personnel recruitment and selection policies,
though such qualifications may well be necessary to compete on the
93
labour market. Professional training is not as important in obtaining a
job as it is for in-house promotion in companies. When it comes to
recruitment, the social networks of kinship, friendship and community
are perhaps more important than merit and formal qualifications. Social
networks allow companies to accelerate the process of searching,
selection and recruitment as well as reducing the costs incurred due to
labour mobility.
Training policies and the development of qualifications
at a company level
Training25 is another key aspect of personnel policies because of
the need to improve workers' professional knowledge and to integrate
them into the company. But training also seems to take place in response
to the demands of the two sides of industry when they are involved in
the technical-organisational restructuring of work and are in the process
of negotiating changes to the workforce to suit new circumstances.
Large service sector companies generally organise training
programmes. So do transnational companies which have a significant
volume of business and a high degree of technological innovation or
change in work organisation; a unionised workforce; or a personnel or
training department to promote this facet of workforce management.
Company training and retraining policies are not directed at all
workers; they are directed in a more selective way at groups which are
already skilled26, with a certain level of formal qualifications, and to
those sectors of the workforce who control production. We should note
25
However, training does not have the same importance in all companies. In any case, in
accordance with the information provided by research conducted by the Grup d'Estudis, QUIT
(1997) we can see there are four groups. The first includes public administration, education and
health where a more dynamic training process exists. A second group, which we could call
medium-high, is composed of the chemicals, transport, communications, finance and metal
mechanics industries. The third group is formed by commerce, hotels and other services where
training is noticeably less important. And, finally, comes the textiles, leather, clothing and
construction industries where there is a shortage of training.
26
Information provided by the available research shows that the general content of training is, in the
first place, informatics. Second comes training on new machinery. This kind of training is part of
the process of on the job learning. The third important area is languages, and is especially directed
at executives and technical and administrative staff. Next comes marketing techniques, which seem
to take the form of brief, pragmatic training. Courses are generally organised by the large
companies themselves and also by specialised external personnel (Sánchez, 1995:168).
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the strategic and exclusive character of training and promotion policies
in those large industrial and service sector companies which have
complex hierarchical structures and offer career development
opportunities. Access to these usually depends on individual
management decisions, so we can see that there are two sets of criteria.
With reference to the theory of internal markets (Dore, 1992), we can
distinguish between a core of qualified workers in secure employment
and well integrated into the organisation and a periphery composed of
the least qualified workers, in insecure jobs and managed in terms of
"free market discipline".
Case studies (Lope, 1996; Martin Artiles, Miguélez and Pastor,
1996; and Grup d'Estudis QUIT, 1997; among others) of training
expenditure in relation to salary levels show that training is mainly
aimed at the core employees who effectively control production. This
core is composed of three groups or segments.
The first group is composed of executives, technical personnel,
middle management and certain groups of highly qualified white and
blue-collar workers, with further or university education and who
exercise some degree of control over their work. This implies that the
companies tend to invest in groups with a certain level of formal
qualification, i.e. they train those who have already been trained. These
workers initially receive a formal induction introducing them to the socalled "company culture" i.e. the habits, style and customs of the
organisation. In addition, this group receives an important "discreet" or
informal training through workshops and meetings aimed at getting staff
to get to know each other and strengthen human interaction and group
cohesion. This programme is directed at creating a social relations
system that will help build a corporate identity and encourage a sense of
belonging to the management group. This practice is especially evident
in the transnationals, although it is not exclusive to them.
Another kind of training given to the core is that relevant to
promotion and replacement programmes. This is long-term training,
carried out through so-called investment in human capital, in young
people who have a university qualification. This training is carried out
within large companies and through specialised institutions, preferably
universities and private institutes.
95
A second group is composed of middle management. This group
includes workshop managers; managers and executives in service
centres; and certain levels of intermediate managers and foremen of the
medium-sized and large industrial companies. In addition to the formal
induction, training of middle management is usually focused on styles of
leadership, communication, group dynamics, teamwork, quality control
and others. Perhaps it is a less continuous form of training, but it is also
linked to promotion opportunities. It is conducted partly through formal
classes and partly informally through on the job training.
The third core group is composed of professional technicians who
have benefited from technological innovation. Workers in this group
usually have technical qualifications in areas such as mechanics,
electricity, electronics and hydraulics. In general, these workers form
part of the maintenance teams in medium-sized and large innovative
companies. As indicated earlier, this is one of the groups of workers
who have most benefited from retraining. These three core groups tend
to receive continuous training (formal and informal) and constitute what
Kern and Schumann (1988) called "the winners", i.e. the workers who
are retrained as a result of technological innovation or through
modifications in the organisation of work. In some companies, these
retrained groups are members of trade unions and demand a greater role
for unions in determining training and in the renegotiation of
occupational categories and promotion.
Meanwhile, on the periphery, there is a large group of white and
blue-collar workers who have less formal or informal qualifications.
This group constitutes the majority of the workforce. The training they
receive is basically of the "discreet" or informal kind. Induction, training
and retraining takes place on the job. The latter kind of training takes
place when new technologies are introduced or changes occur in the way
work is organised. In any case, it is a kind of training which is not
formally recognised as such and does not result in the acquisition of new
qualifications. However, in some cases, technological innovation and
retraining results in a redefinition of job classifications and negotiations
with the trade unions with a view to a limited degree of promotion. In
any case, the concepts of "experience and seniority" - or what could be
understood as "practical training" - are of greater significance and
relevance as far as trade unions are concerned.
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In other words, the intervention of the social protagonists and their
criteria for taking action shows that training - including the policies
themselves - is not exclusively determined by technology. Training and
retraining is the outcome of a series of social pressures, the result of
negotiations and interaction between social groups and of tradition,
custom and the education system itself. Or, as pointed out by Homs and
Prieto (1991), training is not an isolated facet of a particular task; it is
the result of an organised social reaction.
Contracting out
Finally, another aspect of the organisational rationalisation of
companies and work is the contracting out of areas of work, the
decentralisation of part of production and the externalisation of service
and maintenance activities. So, to start with, contracting out has been a
way of externalising certain intensive labour tasks, for example the
provision of services to company personnel such as canteens, cleaning,
transport and security; and also maintenance, administration and
accounting. Contracting out is a way of reducing labour costs and
reinforcing labour discipline in order to make the workforce easier to
control. And, especially, to avoid the presence of workers'
representatives and trade unions on the premises.
Second, the decentralisation of production in the large industrial
companies has been tided by the search for the same flexibility
possessed by small companies. The basic idea is that the technology and
craft-based methods of small companies allow them to make short
production runs and adapt more easily to fluctuations in the market. In
addition, they are more able to adjust the numbers of workers according
to changes in production. They pay lower wages and the workforce is
less organised and more pliable because of the weakness or absence of
trade unions. These conditions allow greater flexibility in terms of
working time, overtime and workforce mobility. Moreover, small
companies are able to relate to community agendas and tap into the
network of social relations based on ethnicity, kinship, friendship and
community (see, among others, Becattini 1989; Jódar 1994; Martin
Artiles 1995).
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Summary and conclusions
1. There is no doubt that the most important innovation in industry
is the automation of production. Various studies show how automation
aims to cut labour costs, save time and reduce material and energy
inputs into the production process. Therefore, Taylorist organisational
objectives need not be dispensed with. They are alive and well, and sit
comfortably within the same conceptions of modern automation;
because, when all is said and done, they facilitate the control and
organisation of work.
Having said this, we should immediately add that, from the mid1980s onwards, we have witnessed the modernisation of work
organisation and the introduction of methods which modify the rigid
principles of specialisation, unified control, hierarchy, standard methods
and individualisation of work and production that characterised the
classic model of work organisation. These days, there is a tendency to
reduce the number of scales in the management hierarchy. There is also
a tendency to replace individual job classifications with more collective
criteria indicating joint responsibility. It is hoped that this will change
the role of the workforce, provide a way of mobilising human
intelligence and be the key to adapting technical systems to the
turbulence of markets and the corresponding variations of demand. In
other words, classic organisation has softened its image: the symbol of
the meshed gear which has historically represented the Taylorist ideal
now tends to be complemented by a more holistic approach based on the
humanisation of certain aspects of work. However, these new
organisational experiences are generally isolated; limited to certain
sections, departments and workshops; and surrounded by or coexisting
with old forms of work organisation.
So the changes in work organisation have not been so radical and
drastic as a certain kind of fashionable literature would lead us to
believe. These limitations become clearer when you look at how things
are organised in practice. Case studies show that new forms of work
organisation are sometimes aimed at specific objectives in relation to the
management of the workforce: such as mobilising certain intellectual
capacities, increasing motivation and involvement of employees in the
work, improving the flow of communication, achieving a greater control
over hitches in production and attaining quality objectives. It is certain
98
that this kind of modern management is different to traditional
Taylorism. But this does not necessarily mean its substitution. At times,
it is only a partial complement to Taylorism. At other times, it does not
even question the very essence of the technical division of labour, nor
the separate functions of departments, nor does it enrich the content of
work. The principles of division between the conception and
implementation of work, rationalism, efficiency and order continue to be
full of life and in good health.
2.However, employee involvement and motivation seem to be key
concepts in the reorganisation of work. This is associated with making
the role of the workforce more dynamic and substituting the extrinsic
Taylorist carrot-and-stick method of motivation with the intrinsic
motivation method which depends on more democratic and participatory
self-control. However, the empirical evidence leads us to stress that the
practices of direct employee participation are limited, both in terms of
countries and the number of companies. The cultural context and a
higher degree of collaboration between school and company have a
bearing on the development of a "cooperation" culture, as can be seen in
Germany where it seems that the organisation of work is less
hierarchical. The greater social inequalities, the weaker institutional
strength of the trade unions and the greater distance between school and
company in the Latin countries have contributed to the development of a
less co-operative and participatory culture that is not so favourable to
improving motivation, involvement in work and direct participation. In
other words, we should not forget that the degree of technical division of
labour also depends on the surroundings, on the cultural and social
context, as has been observed by Maurice, Sellier and Silvestre (1987).
3.Furthermore, organisational rationalisation and the restructuring
of work has been characterised by the dualisation of the management of
the workforce. So direct employee participation seems to be a selective
practice within companies and limited to the core of qualified and
strategic workers, i.e. to the groups of workers whom it is in the interests
of management to motivate and encourage as a way of ensuring
management control of production. On rare occasions, direct
participation and involvement extends to the whole workforce, because,
apart from anything else, the organisation of work is not the same in
every workplace.
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The dualisation of the management of the workforce has a double
objective: integration and exclusion. Participation and involvement play
an important role in the integration and identification of individuals or
certain groups with company values and objectives. Management
literature constantly refers to the "company culture" to emphasise the
existence of a "company social system" with a universe of shared values
that form a collective identity. The company aims to make this the
ideological basis on which the co-operation of the core trained workers
who are valued for their important role in the organisation depends.
Exclusion is nothing other than the management of the workforce
in terms of the discipline of the market. This discipline is reserved for
the less qualified workers engaged in tasks over which no strategic
control is necessary. The recruitment of temporary workers (especially
in Spain), externalisation and contracting out reinforce the mechanisms
of power that guarantee order and discipline within the company. The
selective and exclusive nature of human resource policies are
definitively important in contributing to the segmentation of the
workforce, to the dualisation of labour management and to the
distinction between insiders and outsiders.
4.In the light of the empirical evidence, we ought to once again ask
ourselves about whether there really is a crisis in Taylorism. In the most
important literature of the last decade, we repeatedly find the recurrent
(and simplified) dualisation of, for example, rigidity and flexibility;
elasticity and adaptability; organisation of large-scale production and the
production of small batches; specialised machinery and versatile
machinery; the strict definition of job duties and autonomous,
participatory work; the lack of training under Taylorism and postTaylorist professional retraining; vertical integration and the
decentralisation of production; large companies and small companies;
standardised products and differentiated products; legal-institutional
regulation and deregulation of labour markets.
We agree with other authors, such as Sayers and Walker (1994),
who indicate the advantages of this dualism: it allows rapid
identification of any differences generated by organisational
transformations. However, it has to be said that extreme dualist
simplification can obscure much more complex processes, when trends
are treated as though they are consolidated realities. Moreover, the
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