Human Resource Management in the Arts, Essay Example

Human resource management is arguably one of the most important aspects of any business, since taking care of employees in a given institution helps to insure that that institution has the talent and human capital that it needs to be successful.  This is arguably especially relevant to the arts industry, which is incredibly competitive.  This paper will give a brief overview of the importance of human resource management in general and some of the basic concepts that it entails.  It will then go on to a discussion of how the arts industry has partnered with a variety of cultural institutions to develop academic training programs and hands-on experiential internships in arts management to prepare professionals who can meet the needs of this important sector of industry.  Lastly, it will take up the question of why having professionals who are highly skilled in HR management is especially important to the arts industry in the wake of the recent economic crisis.

Human Resource Management: Overview

Human resource managers help administer some of the most important day-to-day functions of the organizations they work for, and this can including recruiting and retention of staff, interviewing and hiring staff, and helping in strategic planning for the organization; arguably, one of the most important things that human resource managers do is to serve as a bridge between the organization and its staff (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 5).  HR managers try to gather together the best staff they can find and retain those employees once they have found them and it is also in their interest to keep the organization competitive and attractive to potential employees (Society for Human Resource Management, 1).  The role of the HR manager is incredibly important, because “organizations may replicate processes, materials, and structures of other successful organizations, but only the talent of an organization makes it unique and distinguishes it from all its competitors” (Society for Human Resource Management, 2).  Concepts in human resource management can include organizations development and change, organizational culture, management development, and human capital (Martin, 6), and the rest of this essay will touch on the ways that the arts industry has incorporated such concepts into their profession.

Education and Internships for Arts Management

The arts industry has certain acknowledged that important roles that managers – including human resource managers – play in various cultural institutions:

“Managers and administrative leaders of arts organizations provide a bridge between art, artist, and audiences. They combine the tools of business – management, marketing, financial accounting, operations, negotiation – with the tools of community building – fundraising, development, education, outreach, volunteerism – to make thriving and vital spaces for arts and culture (Bolz Center for Art Administration, 1).

Education in Arts Management. Straddling the worlds of business and community development can often be a complex process and people who attempt this need a solid educational background in order to be successful in arts management. One of the ways the arts industry has been able to develop the HR concepts discussed earlier in the world of the arts is through education and internships.  There are now many accredited institutions which offer degrees in arts management, including such leaders in the cultural and educational field as Boston University, the Carnegie-Mellon Institute, and Columbia College (Arts Management Network, 3).  These programs seek to train leaders in all aspects of art management, including human resources management for the arts industry.

Internships in Arts Management.  Instead of just education alone, leaders in the arts management field need hands-on experience in this complicated industry, and the DeVos Institute at the Kennedy Center seeks to do just that by sponsoring an internship program for aspiring art managers to give them real-life experience, including in many areas that would be of interest to one wanting to specialize in human resources: volunteer management, development, and institutional affairs, among many others. (Arts Management Network, 7).  The Kennedy Center, opened in 1971, and is one of the premier cultural institutions in America; under its umbrella is the National Symphony Orchestra, the Washington National Opera, and the Suzanna Farrell Ballet (Kennedy Center, 1) is in a perfect position to offer hands-on education  and has been a very influential force in arts management because of this program. Former interns have gone on to work in management positions in other leading cultural institutions, including the New York Philharmonic, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Carnegie Hall (Arts Management Network, 7).

The next session of the paper will discuss why educating arts managers and having a work force with training in the complex ideas and skills of human resource management is so important to the arts and some of its leading institutions, particularly in the wake of the recent economic crisis and subsequent recession.

HR Management in the Arts in an Economic Downturn

Since the start of the recent recession, arts institutions across the board – including symphonies and museums – have felt the pinch in regards to their budgets.  Many companies which, before the recession had funding to underwrite programs or directly donate to cultural organization, simply lacked the money to do so.  Many organizations, too, saw a decrease in membership or use of their facilities as people across the country attempted to tighten their belts to cope with the worsening economic situations they were facing.  The result was a monetary “perfect storm” which some organizations have weathered better than others. There have been many stories in the media in the past several years about such institutions who have gone through bankruptcy court or have had to close altogether or cut their budgets sharply due to economic woes.  In such situations, good human resource management skills can make an enormous difference in the continued life – and quality of life – of an arts institution, and there can also be a real and concrete economic benefit to the many employees who depend on such institutions for their livelihood.

The Philadelphia and Louisville Symphony Orchestras.  The recent recession in this country hit a number of cultural/artistic entities hard, and symphony orchestras all around the country were no exception.  2009, in particular, was a particularly bad year, as five major symphony orchestras around American, strapped for cash and often terribly in debt, filed for bankruptcy. This is where effective human resource management, concerned as it is with issues of trade unions and/or employee representation, can come into play.  The Philadelphia Orchestra, unable to negotiate with its musicians, went into bankruptcy in 2008 and emerged from the bankruptcy courts two years later. It came out with an approved turnaround plan, but one which included cuts to the pay and pension of its musicians.  (Grannis, 1). The orchestra did not have to shut down entirely, but its continued existence did come at the cost of worker benefits and wages and this might have been avoided with better HR management.

In contrast, the Louisville Symphony Orchestra also went into bankruptcy, but employed a different human resource management strategy: it took an entire season off and gave itself time to negotiate with its workers, and when it began those negotiations, the management decided not to try to cut the pay of their musicians.  “If you reduce the wages of your workers, you then suddenly have two things,” explained Robert Birman, its CEO, “You have a dissatisfied worker base and you become uncompetitive in terms of hiring to replace them if they retire or move away.  (Grannis, 1).  The situation with these two orchestras provide an excellent example of applied HR management in the world of the arts, and of how this application can affect the daily workings of cultural groups. It also shows the real human impact that good HR management can have on artists, and how important parts of employee benefits like wages and pensions can be affected by it.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Other concepts in human resource management – the hiring and firing of employees and staff utilization – were very much at issue when the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York’s premiere museum, had to downsize due to reduction in its endowment, attendance, and membership in the wake of the fiscal crisis.  In 2009, it closed 15 of its 23 satellite stores and began budget-cutting strategies like a hiring freeze, the curtailing of staff travel and entertainment expenses, and the reduction in use of temporary employees (Vogel, 1).

The museum went on to eliminate 74 jobs on top of the 53 they had eliminated the year before and made across-the-board budget cuts which effected all 2,500 of the museum’s staff members, from curators and administrators to security workers and janitors, but through careful human resource management, the museum strove to have these cuts make as little a ripple as possible in the day to day museum operations.  When speaking of this human resource difficulty, museum director Thomas P. Campbell stated:

“Because the Museum is so large and complex an organization, whose staff possess skill sets crucial to maintaining its buildings and collections successfully, such a contraction requires a deliberate and delicate process, which museum management, while acknowledging the urgent need for reductions, is committed to undertaking with greatest care.” (Kennedy, 1).

The statement by Campbell is a perfect example of a human resources management challenge, and speaks to the need the arts world has for good HR management.  This would be particularly true for an institution like the Metropolitan, which is a large employer and which is an important American cultural symbol as well. The good HR skills that would be needed to affect change in the museum could mean a difference between visitors to the Met having or not having a satisfying cultural experience, and this in turn could have a large impact on the museum’s overall reputation.

Conclusion

Human resource management is one of the most import aspects of a business, since the quality of any business – whether it is industrial or in the arts – depends upon the quality of the employees it both attracts and retains, and upon the way in which those employees’ talents are utilized.  While HR management is complex in any industry, it can be particularly complicated in the arena of the arts, where management can often require a knowledge of both the workings of a business and artistic knowledge or appreciation.  To meet the need for people educated in the specific area of arts management, many degree programs from top universities are available and internships from top cultural institutions like the Kennedy Center’s DeVos Institute for Arts Management, give hands-on experience to people to aspire to join this particular field of management.

HR skills in the arts are particularly important in the wake of the recent financial crisis and recession, when even established artistic institutions like the Philadelphia or Louisville Symphony Orchestra or New York’s Metropolitan Museum are having to face serious challenges to their continued existence and solvency.  Institutions like these are of incalculable cultural value to our nation, and the role that sound and effective HR management can play in assuring that these important parts of our American cultural heritage continue to thrive for the next generation to enjoy and learn from.

Works Cited

About the Kennedy Center.  Kennedy Center Website.  2014. Web. 30 March 2014

Arts Administration.  The Bolz Center for Arts Administration.  2014. Web. 30 March 2014.

Careers in Resource Management.  Society for Human Resource Management.  2012. Web. 30 March 2014.

Grannis, E.  Orchestra Fights Hard Times Through Bankruptcy, Seeking New Model. Bloomberg News Online. 2012. Web. 30 March 2014.

Human Resource Management. Occupational Outlook Handbook of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor.  2012. Web. 30 March 2014.

Internships: Hands-On Experience for Aspiring Art Managers at the Devos Institute. Arts Management Network. 2014.  Web. 30 March 2014.

Kennedy, R.  74 Are Laid off at Met Museum; More May Follow.  The New York Times online. 2009 Web. 30 March 2014

Martin, J.  Key Concepts in Human Resource Management.  New York: Sage Publications. 0. 2010 Print.

Vogel, C.  Met Museum to Close Shops, Freeze Hiring.  Art Beat Blog. New York Times online. 2010 Web. 30 March 2014.