Human Resources

Basic Overview of Human Resource Management

Human Resource management is the management of people and its purpose is to get the best effort from the labor resource of the organization (Best , Langston , De Valence , 2003 ,

147 . The process involves hiring and retaining the best people for the job , and providing and maintaining an environment which would allow the people to give the best to the organization

Staffing is one of the most important functions of human resource management . Workforce planning is a sub-function of staffing and is the place where

the entire human resource function begins . Workforce planning is very important because inadequate workforce planning would lead to problems which would affect the entire human resource functions and may even adversely affect the company in consequence (Meyer , 2007 br

. 4 . The analysis of jobs and roles is one of the most important sub-functions of staffing . It provides the information required to produce job , role pros and training specifications . Job analysis concentrates on what holders are expected to do while role analysis looks at the part the people play in carrying out their jobs i .e . the broader aspects of behavior expected of particular role holders (Armstrong , 2003 ,

. 173-174

Recruitment is the process of attracting applicants who comply with the criteria of a position to be filled in a company . The purpose of recruitment is to invite a pool of job applicants in a relatively cost-effective manner , potentially qualified to do a job . Recruitment can be done from within an organization i .e . internal recruitment or outside the organization i .e . external recruitment (Meyer , Kristen 2005 ,

. 38 . Selection is the process of deciding who to employ from a list of applicants , such that the most suitably matched candidate is selected with respect to the job pro and organizational objectives Selection can be simplified by an effective process of recruitment (Meyer , 2007 ,

.8 . This includes a process of initially screening the applicants , which is done to determine if the short listed applicants meet the critical job applications and reduces the burden on the selection committee (Meyer , 2007 ,

.28

Outsourcing services and functions to non-employers is a standard procedure in many of the large organizations in present times . There are many advantages to outsourcing including cost saving , however this area is one of the most complicated in terms of manpower management . The reason for this is because of the limited understanding of many companies particularly the risks involved the effective management of these risks (Mclvor , 2005 ,

. 7

One of the most difficult decisions faced by Human Resource department is the emoluments to be paid to the employee . This is because the amount has to be within the company 's payment policy range , should not be discriminatory , and should be similar to what is the standard emolument level in the market for similar jobs , as well as should not lead to the employee getting de-motivated . Almost all the companies divide the emoluments into financial compensation and indirect benefits like retirement plans , family allowances etc . It is often seen that a well-rounded compensation package helps in keeping the morale of the employees high (Bratton , Gold , 2001 ,

. 238

Employee training in a company can range from simply showing the new employees where the facilities are in the building through basic skills job training to management development . Organizations offer training to their employees both in-house and by contracting with outside agencies and consultants to supply the training . In tandem with the training , the evaluation of the employees on the effectiveness of the training is just as important . Employee orientation is one of the most important parts of training and involves getting the employees of the company cognizant of the company objectives and standard (Sims , 2006 ,

. 239

In the recent times many organizations are becoming more active in career development programs as part of the HRD efforts . This is done as an attempt to increase the overall organizational performance , employee productivity , and also to attract , develop and retain the best employees within the organization . This is not only limited to career advancements and increase in compensation packages but also an increase in the number and level of skills possessed by the employees (Sims , 2006 ,

. 8 . One of the offshoots of career development programs is the leadership development among employees . In addition to providing formal training to the employees , the management also gives opportunities to people to use their leadership skills effectively on-the-job . This also helps in improving their performance implicitly (Sims , 2006 ,

. 361 . Development of management skills is yet another aspect of training . In contrast to leadership development , management development is more concerned with effectively utilizing the existing resources and getting the best results . Hence , management development training helps employees to efficiently perform their jobs (Sims , 2006 ,

. 7 . Personal development practice on the other hand provides the framework for individual learning . Encouragement of personal development plans by the HR helps in making the performance and growth continuous and increases the responsibility of the employees towards their work and the organization (Armstrong , 2003 ,

. 486

HR also performs monitoring activity within an organization to ensure that the employees follow the rules and regulations set by the company These rules and regulations are not only aimed towards achieving a uniform code for people , many of these also protect the employees and the company against risks and fatalities , and also protect information on behalf of the company . Usually the new employee orientation session covers all such regulations (Armstrong , 2003 ,

. 86 . The records of the employees is one of the most important asset present with the human resource department , as this is the basis for all the functions performed by the human resource department in the company . The information given by the employee should be both verified and protected against misuse , and should be easily accessible to the department employees when required (Armstrong , 2003 ,

. 60

In addition to protecting the information of the employees , the protection of the employees in the workplace is also a function of the HR department . The department should take appropriate measures to counter any disaster which might strike like electrical breakdowns , fire risks etc . In addition to this the employees should also be adequately insured (Armstrong , 2003 ,

. 200 . HR department should also ensure that the employees are working in a healthy work environment and are themselves in good health . Hence , they usually take measures to counter the increasing menace of alcohol and drugs abuse . Usually the HR people give confidential referrals to specialists dealing with such problems to the employees suffering from the afflictions , and also try to make sure that the other employees do not follow the suit

Employee assistance programs were introduced in United States at the start of the century mainly to counter the rising alcoholism among employees . Presently the assistance programs , which are managed by the human resource division provide a number of services which includes a confidential telephone line for personal emergencies , workshops to help employees who have to cope up with elderly relatives , marital breakdown or financial pressures , assistance in dealing with a work-related traumatic event such as a major fire or armed robbery , and finally referrals to specialists dealing with HIV , drugs and alcoholism (Stredwick , 2000 ,

. 358 . The increase in workplace violence has also made the organization develop policies for countering the workplace violence . To provide a safe working environment to employees against such events is also the function of the human resource management department

Diagnostic model of human resource management

Achieving HRM goals and objectives is affected by a series of interrelated factors . The components of a diagnostic model of a HRM system constitutes of the following eight parameters : focus , domain external pressure , internal pressure , organizational type , methodology people , and data and knowledge sources (Kent , 1996 ,

. 154

The focus denotes the organizational goals which the HR department must always keep in mind while doing any task . Even the personnel selection should be compliant with the organizational goals (Kent , 1996 ,

. 154 This is especially true for international firms , which operate in cross-cultural environment and are expected to follow same standards the world over . Domain denotes the appropriate functional activity or the exact tasks which should be done under the focus . For smaller organizations , the domains are limited , while larger organizations whether domestic or international , work across many different domains The remaining six components given above are related to how to achieve these two activities (Kent , 1996 ,

. 154

External pressures obviously are the factors that affect a firm 's HR from outside its boundaries . Some of the external pressures can be union procedures and requirements , legal regulations , composition of labor force , geographic location of an organization , society , customers and economic conditions (Kent , 1996 ,

. 154 . For larger and international organizations , the factors are even more including the conditions of neighboring nations , the different cultures in various countries etc . For instance , an extremely unstable condition in the nearby country means a greater influx of labors into the domestic market , which may have both positive and negative consequences

Internal pressures are the factors existing internal to the HRM . The factors might be firm 's goal or mission , policies , corporate structure , nature of task , workgroup and management style of upper managers (Kent , 1996 ,

. 154 . Another major factor which might affect the HRM is the personal and payroll databases which are maintained by the HR department (Kent , 1996 ,

. 154 . Such internal pressures determine the interaction levels of the HR with the other departments While in smaller companies it is not such a problem , the larger companies as it is have a very complex organizational structure , and any lax in the interaction might affect the HRM processes adversely

Organizational type can be considered as an internal factor , though it is taken as a separate parameter because it shapes the way the HR department interacts from the very start . Methodology too affects the HRM processes . A well planned methodology is very beneficial , however getting bogged down by unnecessary processes which slows down the entire systems is a very realistic consequence especially for large organizations . People are always the factors influencing all the parts of an organization and HRM is no different . The type of people within the department , as well as the type of people existing in various other departments directly affects the interaction and coordination with the other groups . Finally data and knowledge sources are fast becoming an advantage and threat due to the technological advancements , and HRM should be cognizant will them if it wishes to be effective in its performance

The figure 1 , below shows a diagnostic model of human resource management . The diagram gives the interactions between the various processes of the human resource management and how they affect the decision . The factors themselves are very complicated and may vary from company to company . The diagram is just a framework to get an idea of how the various parameters interact with each other and affect the HR decision making process . The model shown below was set forth by Ivancevich in 2004 Figure -1 Diagnostic Model of Human Resource management

(Thornton , Rupp , 2006 ,

. 271

Works Cited

Armstrong M (2003 , A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice , Published : Kogan Page , London

Best R , Langston CA , De Valence G (2003 , Workplace Strategies and Facilities

Management , Published : Elsevier , Massachusetts

Bratton J , Gold J (2001 , Human Resource Management : Theory and Practice

Roultedge , New York

Kent A (1996 , Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science Published : CRC

Press , New York

Mclvor R (2007 , The Outsourcing Process : Strategies of Evaluation and Management , Published : Cambridge University Press , New York

Meyer M (2007 , Human Resource Management : Recruitment and Selection

Published : New Africa Books , South Africa

Meyer M , Kristen M (2005 , Introduction to Human Resource management

Published : New Africa Books , South Africa

Sims RR (2006 , Human resource Management : Contemporary Issues Challenges

and Opportunities , Personnel Management - United States

Stredwick J (2000 , An Introduction to Human Resource Management Published

Elsevier , Massachusetts

Thornton GC , Rupp DE (2006 , Assessment Centers in Human Resource Management

Strategies for Prediction , Diagnosis and Development , Published Roultedge , New York

PAGE

Human Resource Management PAGE 8

Competitive , high Quality Services (s

Competitive , high Quality Product (s

Socially Responsible and Ethical Practice

Desirable End Results

Focus of Each Process is on People and Results

Human Resources Process

Diagnose

Prescribe

Implement

Evaluate

Diagnose

Prescribe

Implement

Evaluate

Maintaining and Protecting Human Resources

Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining

Safety Health and Wellness

Evaluation

Concerned about people and results

Developing Human Resources

Training and Development

Career Planning

Discipline

Concerned about people and results

Rewarding Human Resources

Performance Evaluation

Compensation

Job Analysis and Design

Concerned about people and results

Acquiring Human Resources

Equal Employment Opportunity

HR Planning

Job analysis and Design

Recruitment Domestic and International

Selection Domestic and International

Concerned about people and results

Internal Environment Influences

Strategy

Goals

Organizational Culture

Nature of the Task

Work Group

Leader style and Experience

External Environment Influences

Government requirements regulations , and laws

The union

Economic Conditions /domestic and International

Competitiveness

Composition of labor force

Location of the Organization ...