Exploring the implications of allocation of function for human resource management in the Royal Navy

Abstract

Automation changes the allocation of function between machines and people and there can be many concerns about the effects on individual human performance. However, these changes also have wider consequences because the number of people in the system may be reduced and the skills they require may be different with consequential impact upon manning, recruitment and training policies. These wider implications are rarely considered in a systematic manner when a new technical system is being developed. This paper presents a method for the assessment of these wider implications during the system development process. This method has been developed and demonstrated in a Royal Navy context to explore the impact of automation in a new class of warships on the manning of the warship and on human resource planning in the Navy. The paper describes the method and the results of applying it in the naval context. The method utilizes the approach of organisational requirements definition for information technology systems (ORDIT) to determine the responsibilities within the planned socio-technical system and a scenario-based workshop approach for establishing the implications and options at each stage of the analysis. The results demonstrate that it is possible to trace the implications of a technical change of this kind for a major organization but that it is a multi-stage and multi-layered process. There are within the process many options with different implications which reveals where the organization has leverage to plan for the future.