An Introduction To Human Resources Management

Concept and meaning of HRM

Human Resource Management is the process of managing human resources working in any organization to achieve organizational objectives or goals. It is concerned with the human resources of an organization.

Human resources are the people who are ready, willing and able to contribute to organizational objectives. Human resources of an organization include all employees engaged in various jobs at different levels. Human resource management is about managing people of an organization. It is concerned with the management of human energy and competencies. It aims at achieving organizational objectives through productive contribution of people. It hires Motivation:right people for right job at right time. It creates harmony between the objectives of the organization and the objectives of the individual.

According to Deconzo & Robbins, "Human resource management is a process consisting of the acquisition, development, motivation and maintenance of human resource."

Characteristics and Features of HRM

1. Management of an individual: HRM is concerned with people dimension of management. Hence, it manages different people such as - workers/labors, supervisors, managers, departmental heads, and other related top managers too. Therefore, human resource management is defined as the management of human resource and their commitment to work. It will have an influence on recruitment, selection, training and development, performance evaluation, reward management, etc. of employees, for instance, human resource department supplies required manpower to work with new machines.
2. Continuous process: HRM is not a one-shot affair, rather it is an ongoing process of managing people and their competencies. It is continued until the dissolution of an organization. All the processes involved in HRM should run continuously. The activities are performed at present as well as in the future.
3. Dynamic: The principles and practices of human resource management should not be rigid, they should be dynamic instead. It means HRM is a dynamic function whereby the procedures and practices are influenced by environmental factors. So plans and procedures, working styles, and skills should be recycled and revised as per the internal and external changes in the environment. Employees should gain updated knowledge and ability to work in the changing environmental changes.
4. Pervasive/Universal function: Human resource management is a universal function in the sense that it is applicable in all types of organizations. The principles and practices are applied irrespective of size, nature, scope, and purpose of the organization. HRM is useful for small, big governmental, nongovernmental, profit-seeking, service providing and any other type of organization because the need of human resource is inevitable for any type of the organization.
5. Strategic approach: HRM is taken as a strategic approach for organizational development. It helps to mobilize human resource in the organization in order to achieve the stated goals and objectives strategically. All the activities of management are arranged in such a way that they are interconnected with efficient and utilization of human resources according to change in organizational strategy.
   
6. Mutually oriented: Usually there is a goal difference between the organizational goal and individual goal. An employee wants to satisfy his/her individual goal first. But managers want to accomplish the organizational goal before something else. Hence, HRM practices and principles help in integrating individual and organizational goal into a framework. As a result of which, employees are motivated towards a higher level of work performance for achievement of organizational goal.
7. Future Oriented: Human resource management is a future-oriented behavior in the sense that it helps in assessing human resources required for the future. It helps in determining future goals and objectives of the organization. And it employs the people to get the jobs done in the future period of time.
   

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Components of Human Resource Management

Human resource management is a process consisting of different components or elements. Mainly HRM consistents four basic components i.e. acquisition, development, motivation, and maintenance of human resources. They are necessary for achieving organizational goals and objectives. These four basic functions of human resource management are explained below:

1. Acquisition: Acquisition function is concerned with recruitment and selection of manpower requirement for a company. It ensures that the company has the right number of people at the right place, and at the right time who are capable to complete the work required. It is the starting point of the human resource management function. The acquisition is primarily concerned with planning, recruitment, selection, and socialization of employees. It selects and socializes the competent employees who have adopted the organization's culture.
2. Development: Development phase begins after the socialization of newly appointed employees in an organization. It is concerned with imparting knowledge and skills to perform the task property. Moreover, it is an attempt to improve employee's performance by imparting knowledge, changing attitudes and improving skills, which can be done through teaching, coaching, classroom courses, assignments, professional programs and so forth. The ultimate goal of employee development is of course to enhance the future performance of the organization by the efficient employees. The development of employees is not only for newly appointed employees, but it can also be applied for existing employees to develop them according to change in the internal and external environment.
3. Motivation: Only training and development do not inspire employees to do better work. For this, they should be motivated which induces and inspires them to perform well in actual work floor. Motivation includes job specification, performance evaluation, reward and punishment, work performance, compensation management, discipline and so on. It is important for better work performance because high performance depends on both ability and motivation.
4. Maintenance: It is last but not the least component of human resource management. It is concerned with the process of retaining the employees in the organization. This contributes towards keeping those employees who can do extremely better for the organization. It creates a friendly and harmonious environment for those who are high performers, and make them remain in the same organization for a longer period of time. The organization should provide additional facilities, safe working conditions, friendly work environment, and satisfactory labor relations for this. If these activities are performed in the right manner, we can expect to have capable and competent employees in the organization. These employees are committed to the organizational objective and are satisfied with their jobs.
   

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Objectives and Importance of HRM

Effective management of human resources is the key to organizational performance. Individual or group activity should be directed towards predetermined goals in order to achieve desired results. Organizational objectives and individual and social goals influence the objectives of human resource management. Organizations can improve their environment for success by making human resource planning, training, appraisal, compensation, and development, labor relations that are consistent with and support the organizational strategies. The  are various purposes of human resource management are as follows:

1. Effective utilization of resources: Human resource management ensures the effective utilization of resources. It teaches how to utilize human and nonhuman resources so that the objective can be achieved effectively.
2. Organizational structure: Organizational structure defines the working relationship between employees and management. It defines and assigns the task for each employee working in the organization. It also defines positions, rights and duties, accountability and responsibility, and other working relationships. The human resource management system provides the required information to the employees timely and accurately. Hence, human resource management helps to maintain the organizational structure.
3. Development of human resources: Human resource management provides a favorable environment for employees so that people working in organizations can work creatively. This ultimately helps them to develop their creativity, knowledge, ability, and skill. To develop potentiality of employees, human resource management organizes training and development campaigns, which provides an opportunity for employees to enhance their caliber to work.
4. Goal harmony: Human resource management bridges the gap between individual goal and organizational goal. If goal difference occurs, the employees will not be willing to perform well. Hence, a proper match between individual and organizational goal should be there in order to utilize organizational resources effectively and efficiently. It satisfies their personal needs and maintains high morale of employees thereby resulting in job satisfaction and commitment by matching between different goals.
5. Employee satisfaction: Human resource management provides a series of facilities and opportunities to employees for their career development. This leads to job satisfaction and commitment. When the employees are provided with every kind of facility and opportunity, they will be satisfied with their work performance.
6. Employee discipline and morale: Human resource management tries to promote employee discipline and morale through performance-based incentives. It creates a healthy and friendly working environment through appropriate work design and assignment of jobs.

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Functions of Human Resource Management

The HR department is meant for the management of people in order to achieve the organizational objective. It coordinates with other departments for the effective utilization of resources. This department performs a variety of functions ranging from managerial functions to operative functions. More specifically, the functions are ranged from the time of entry to the exit of an employee in the organization.

1. Managerial functions

The managerial function is concerned with the activities performed by top management in the organization. HR manager as a manager performs different activities ranging from planning to controlling. Some important managerial functions are as follows:

1. Planning: Planning functions determine the human resource requirement and changes in advance that will contribute to the organizational goals.
2. Organizing: Organizing function involved allocation of tasks among organizational members, identifies relationships and integrates its activities toward a common objective.
3. Directing: Directing or leading function is concerned with getting people to work. It is the process of influencing, communicating and motivating people for a higher level of performance.
4. Controlling: Controlling refers to a process of monitoring, comparing and correcting the performance of employees towards goal achievement. Various activities of the human resource management need to be verified in order to know that human resource functions are performed according to the predetermined standards and plans.

2. Operative functions

The operative functions of human resource management are related to specific activities such as acquisition, human resource development, compensation, human relations, etc. They can be explained as:

1. Acquisition: Acquisition means placing the right number of people at right time in the organization. It consists of the following activities:
   
   • Human Resource Planning: It is the process of predetermining future human resource requirements. Planning ensures organization that has the right number of qualified people in the right jobs at the right time.
   • Recruitment: It is the process of seeking and attracting prospective candidates for job vacancies. It stimulates people to apply for the job.
   • Selection: It involves choosing a qualified and right person from among the prospective candidates.
2. HR development: Without proper development of human resources, competencies of employees to handle the job is not possible.
   
   • Employee Training: New and existing employees need additional training and skill development to cope with the current job. Training can be on-the-job and off-the-job.
   • Management Development: It is concerned with the enhancement of executives' conceptual abilities.
3. Compensation: It is the process of providing equitable and fair remuneration to the employees.
   
   • Job evaluation: It is the process of determining the relative worth of jobs. It is concerned with identifying job evaluation techniques and determining the relative value of jobs in various categories.
   • Wages and salary administration: It is the process of developing a suitable wage and salary programs.
   • Social security measures: It involves providing compensation to those workers who happened in accidents, sickness, medical benefits, pension, etc.

3. Advisory functions

The advisory function is one of the important function of HR Manager. The HR manager is specialized and well capable of giving advice on matters related to human resources of the organization. The advisory functions can be explained under the different heading as follows:

1. Top management: HR manager advises the top executive in formulating and evaluating human resource programs, policies and procedures. He/she also gives advice to the top management for maintaining good human relations and high employee morale.
2. Department heads: HR manager also advise to other departmental heads on matters relating to human resource planning, job analysis, job design, recruitment and selection, placement, training, performance evaluation, etc.

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Personnel Management and Human Resource Management

Personal management is a traditional approach to managing people in the organization. It has a limited scope. It views labors as a tool, the behavior of which can be manipulated for the benefit of the organization and replaced when worn-out. Personnel management is primarily concerned with the administration of specific employees related functions such as hiring, training, wage setting and disciplinary actions. It assumes people as input in the production process. It is oriented towards strong control, direction, and discipline imposed on employees.

Human resource management refers to a modern approach to managing people and their strength in the organization. HRM views people as an important source or assets to be used for the benefit of an organization, employees, and society. It recognizes the value of people and gives the respect they deserve. It is a proper and systematic arrangement and handling of human resources through different motivational factors.

Difference Between Personnel Management and Human Resource Management

Personnel Management	Human Resource Management
It is the traditional approach of managing the people in the organization.	It is modern approach of managing the people in the organization.
It assumes people as input for achieving the desired output.	It assumes people as an important and valuable resources for achieving the desired output.
It maintains rules, principles and legal provision in managing the peoplr for the achievement of organizational objectives.	It makes effort primarily to satisfy the human needs of the people at work which motivates them to make their best contribution for the achievement of organisational objectives.
It is a routine function of management.	It is a strategic function of management
Job design is based on division of work.	Job design is based on team work.
Under Personnel management less training and development opportunities are provided to the employees.	Under human resource management more training and development opportunities are provided to the employees.
It is concerned with Personnel manager	It is concerned with all managers of diffrent departments from bottom to top.
Decisions are made by top management.	Decisions are made participating all types of employee in the organization.

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Human Resource Outcomes

The organizational outcomes of HRM can be explained as follows:

1. Quality of Work Life: Quality of work life refers to the quality of relationships between employees and the total working environment of the organization. In other words, the quality of work life is the extent to which members of the organization are able to satisfy personal needs through the organizational process. Thus, the quality of work life concentrates on creating of working environment that is suitable and gives satisfaction to the workers. The human resources experts have given the following procedures and policies that make the work less routine and more rewarding for the employee.
   
   • Autonomous/Freedom: It deals with the amount of freedom that employees can exercise in their job. It involves employees participation in decision-making to provide control over what they do. Employees may set their own work schedule.
   • Recognition: It involves being valued by others in the company. An employee's contribution to the contribution to the organization is noticed and appreciated.
   • Belongingness: It refers to a part of the organization. An individual who belongs to an organization is one who shares the organization's values and is regarded as being a valuable part of the firm.
   • Intrinsic reward: Process and development refers to the internal reward available from organizational challenge and accomplishment. This is the internal reward available from the job.
   • Extrinsic reward: External rewards are usually in the form of salary and benefits but include the promotion and the status.
2. Productivity: Productivity means an efficient relationship between input and output. In other words, it is the amount of work that is being produced in terms of how much and how well. It concerns the ratio of input and output within a time period with due consideration for quality. Increase in productivity depends on various factors such as capital investment, innovation, learning, and the motivation to work. Productivity is the many factors, they are explained as follows:
   
   • Capital investment: It includes the best possible machines available that will help to improve the efficiency of the workers. The concept behind it is to provide the latest technologically advanced equipment that will help the workers to increase productivity.
   • Innovation: It is the process for generating and implementing new and creative ideas. Development of new productivity or cost-saving idea can be an example of innovation.
   • Learning: Learning helps employees to improve skills and knowledge to be effective and efficient in their work. Training is important for learning new skills.
   • Motivation: Increase in motivation leads to increased in productivity. Motivation persuades employees to work efficiently and it results in increased in both production and productivity.
3. Readiness for change: Organizations need change in order to adjust with changing environment. In fact, the growth, profitability, and survival of an organization depend on its response to changing the environment. The internal and external environmental factors affect the purpose and output of the organization. The burning challenge is to operate the organization smoothly despite many environmental obstacles. From an organizational perspective, employees must initiate change to remain competitive. However, some organizations and employees want to resist change due to the following reasons:
   
   • Habit: Employees resist the change due to old work habits.
   • Security: Employees may fear from job security. Changes may be challenging for them.
   • Fear of unknown: Employees prefer old ways of doing work and fear about new ways.
   • Misunderstanding: Misunderstanding comes when employees do not understand the purpose of change.
   • Poor communication Employees may not be properly communicated about change. It is the responsibility of management to communicate the forthcoming changed to the employees.

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Also Read: Human Resource Management System

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Challenges of HRM

Human resource management is operated in a dynamic environment, so it has to deal with internal and external change in the environmental forces; hence, the change may create opportunities as well as threats for the organization. The main issue behind human resource management challenges is the emerging trends in the organizational environment and concepts to encounter such issue to achieve organizational objectives. The various challenges of HRM are as follows:

1. Globalization: Globalization refers to the process through which the organization enters the global market. Globalization of market increases international competition. It brings challenges to HRM since international organizations enter the domestic market creates threats to the small domestic organizations since they cannot compete with them.
2. Technical advance: There is a huge revolution in technology in a few decades which bring challenges for HRM. If the organization is able to update with the change in technology than it can increase its productivity and will be able to capture a large share of the market. But if it is unable to adopt changes in technology then its competitors may take over its market shares. The main difficulty for HRM is the rapid change in technology. Since the latest technology can be expensive so the organization cannot update the latest technology.
3. Management of HR: Human relation is one of the most crucial aspects of HRM. If it is not managed properly, people feel monotonous in the work. These days the politicization in the organization has created a great challenge in managing human relations between employees and managers.
4. Workforce diversity: Along with globalization, human resource also globalized. The globalization of human resource brings challenges to the HRM due to a diverse workforce. If the organization is unable to create appropriate plan and policies according to global trends for the diversified human resources then it will be difficult for the survival of the organization.