INTRODUCTION TO HRM Human Resource Management

After studying this chapter, students should be able to understand the following:

Describe HRM Human Resource Management?
Explain why are we concerned about HRM Human Resource Management?
Discuss Road-map of HRM Human Resource Management

LESSON OVERVIEW Human Resource Management

This chapter introduces the students with the basic concepts of the human resource management (HRM).
During the lecture, we will be discussing the three main things, i.e. the introduction to HRM, the importance of HRM, and a brief discussion of the topics that will follow today’s lecture. A basic concept of management states that manager works in organizations. Organization has three basic
components, People, Purpose, and Structure. HRM is the study of activates regarding people working in an organization. It is a managerial function that tries to match an organization’s needs to the skills and abilities of its employees. Let’s see what is meant by the three key terms… human, resource, and management.

Human (Homo-sapiens – Social Animal)
Resources (Human, Physical, Financial, Technical, Informational etc)
Management (Function of Planning, Organizing, Leading & Controlling of organizational
resources to accomplish goals efficiently and effectively)

Functions of HRM
Basic functions that all managers perform: planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling. HR
management involves the policies and practices needed to carry out the staffing (or people) function of
management.
HRM department regardless of the organization’s size must perform the following human resource
management functions…

• Staffing (HR planning, recruitment, and selection)
• Human resource development
• Compensation and benefits
• Safety and health
• Employee and labor relations
• Records maintaining, etc.
• HR research (providing a HR information base, designing and implementing employee
communication system).
• Interrelationship of HR functions.

A. What is human resource management?

As we said that HRM is the management of people working in an organization, it is a subject related to
human. For simplicity, we can say that it is the management of humans or people. HRM is a managerial
function that tries to match an organization’s needs to the skills and abilities of its employees. Human
Resource Management is responsible for how people are managed in the organizations. It is responsible for
bringing people in organization helping them perform their work, compensating them for their work and
solving problems that arise.
Growing Importance of HRM Human Resource Management
The success of organizations increasingly depends on people-embodied know-how- the knowledge, skill,and abilities imbedded in an organization’s members. This knowledge base is the foundation of an
organization’ core competencies (integrated knowledge sets within an organization that distinguish it from
its competitors and deliver value to customers).
HRM plays important role in creating organizations and helping them survive. Our world is an
organizational world. We are surrounded by organizations and we participate in them as members,
employees, customers, and clients. Most of our life is spent in organization, and they supply the goods and
services on which we depend to live. Organizations on the other hand depend on people, and without people,
they would disappear.

Factors Contributing to the Growing Importance of HRM

a. Accommodation to workers’ needs
Workers are demanding that organizations accommodate their personal needs by instituting such programs
as flexible work schedules, parental leave, child-care and elder-care assistance, and job sharing. The human
resource department plays a central role in establishing and implementing policies designed to reduce the
friction between organizational demands and family responsibilities.
b. Increased complexity of the Manager’s job
Management has become an increasingly complex and demanding job for many reasons, including foreign
competition, new technology, expanding scientific information, and rapid change. Therefore, organizations
frequently ask human resource managers for assistance in making strategic business decisions and in matching
the distinctive competencies of the firm’s human resources to the mission of the organization.
Executives need assistance from the human resource department in matters of recruitment, performance
evaluation, compensation, and discipline.
c. Legislation and litigation
The enactment of state laws has contributed enormously to the proliferation and importance of human
resource functions. The record keeping and reporting requirements of the laws are so extensive that to
comply with them, many human resource departments must work countless hours and often must hire
additional staff.
Four areas that have been influenced most by legislation include equal employment, Compensation, safety,
and labor relations. An organization’s failure to comply with laws regulating these areas can result in
extremely costly back-pay awards, class action suits, and penalties.
d. Consistency
Human resource policies help to maintain consistency and equity within an organization. Consistency is
particularly important in compensation and promotion decisions. When managers make compensation
decisions without consulting the human resource department the salary structure tends to become very
uneven and unfair promotion decisions also may be handled unfairly when the HR department does not
coordinate the decision of individual manger.
e. Expertise
Now a days there exist sophisticated personnel activities that require special expertise. For example,
researchers have developed complex procedures for making employee-selection decisions; statistical
formulas that combine interviews, test scores, and application-blank information have replaced the
subjective interviews traditionally used in making selection decisions. Similarly, many organizations have
developed compensation systems with elaborate benefits packages to replace simple hourly pay or piece rate
incentive systems
f. Cost of Human Resource
Human resource activities have become increasingly important because of the high cost of personal
problem. The largest single expense in most organizations is labor cost, which is often considerably higher
than the necessary because of such problems as absenteeism tardiness and discrimination.

B. Why are we concerned with HRM Human Resource Management?

1. Helps you get results – through others.
Different managerial techniques help mangers to direct the performance of employees in desirable direction
in order to achieve the organizational objectives. Through the efforts of others working in an organization,
managers get things done that require effective human resource management.

2. Helps you avoid common personnel mistakes
Qualified HR mangers utilize organization resources in such a way that helps to avoid common personnel
mistakes like the following…
a. Hiring the wrong person for the job
b. Experiencing high turnover
c. Finding employees not doing their best
d. Having your company taken to court because of your discriminatory actions
e. Having your company cited under federal occupational safety laws for unsafe practices
f. Allowing a lack of training to undermine your department’s effectiveness
g. Committing any unfair labor practices

3. Helps you to gain Competitive Advantage
Among all the resources possessed by the organizations it is only Manpower or the Human resources that
create the real difference. Because all organizations can have the same technology, they can possess same
type of financial resources, same sort of raw material can be used to produce the goods and services but the
organizational source that can really create the difference is work force of the organization. Therefore they
are the main sources of innovation creativity in the organizations that can be used as a competitive
advantage. In today’s competitive environment,
these are the people which can create competitive
advantageous for the organizations.
The world around us is changing. No longer can we
consider our share of the “good Life” given. If we
are to maintain some semblance of that life, we as
individual, as organizations, as society will have to
fight actively for it an increasingly competitive
global environment. If organizations are able to
mange its work force efficiently/effectively this will
be beneficial for all stakeholders (Organization,
Employees and Society).

Challenges/Issues of Managing Human Resources in the present era

Following are the main issues that are faced by the mangers to manage the workforce of today’s
organization for achievement of objectives.

a. To Attract People
People will be interested to join any organization if it is providing them quality working environment,
attractive benefit and opportunities to excel in future. Keeping in view the opportunities in the market, the
first issues will be to attract good people for your organization.
b. To Develop People
Development is related to provide the opportunities for training and development to match the skills to job
in particular areas. It requires careful need assessment for training and selecting effective training methods
and tools. After attracting/selecting, Continuous development of workforce of the organization leads
towards development of the organization. So that they will start playing their important role in the
organization.

c. To Motivate
Motivation means to influence performance of others and to redirect the efforts in desirable direction by
using different motivational tools that can help in fulfilling the mission of organization. Third important
issues/concern will be to keep your workforce motivated so that they should keep on delivering effectively.
d. To Keep Talented People
This is related to retention of workforce in organization and to take steps that can prevent undesirable
detachments of talented and motivated workers from the organization.

C. Discussion on the road-map of HRM Human Resource Management

For the convenience and attainment of our course objectives, we divide our course into 42 modules. Each
module includes information for you to acquire and understand, issues for you to consider, and skills for
you to develop.

Road Map of the Course Human Resource Management

The list of topics, which we call the ‘road map’ of this course, is given below…

1. Introduction
2. Basic concepts of management and its relationships with HRM
3. Components of an organization
4. Concepts of people working together
5. Individual vs. Group behavior and Teams
6. History of HRM Human Resource Management
7. New trends at workplace with changing environment
8. Workforce diversity, pros and cons
9. Functions of HRM Human Resource Management
10. Relationship between HR specialist and line managers
11. Legal and ethical issues in HRM Human Resource Management
12. Human resource planning (HRP)Human resource information system (HRIS)
14. Job analysis
15. Job analysis continued Job analysis outcomes.
16. Recruitment
17. Source of recruitment
18. Selection
19. Selection Tests
20. Selection process, continued
21. Socialization
22. Training & development
23. Maximizing learning
24. Career management
25. Performance Performance Appraisal
27. Job evaluation and pricing
28. Compensation system
29. Benefits
30. Role of money in performance of employee
31. MotivationOccupation health and safety
33. Stress management
34. Communication in organization
35. Trade union
36. Conflict and Negotiation
37. Power & politics
38. Discipline
39. HR auditing

40. HR control process
41. Leadership
42. Leadership in organization
43. Employee separation
44. International dimension of HRM Human Resource Management
45. Conclusion & Review.

Key Terms Human Resource Management

Human Resource Management The staffing functions of the management process. Or the policies and
practices needed to carry out the “people” or human resource aspects of a
management position, including recruiting, screening, training, rewarding,
and appraising etc.
Manager Individuals in an organization who direct the activities of others. Member
of the organization performing the management function
Motivation: Motivation means to influence performance of others and to redirect the
efforts in desirable direction by using different motivational tools that can
help in fulfilling the mission of organization
Organization A systematic arrangement of people to accomplish some specific purpose.
Competitive Advantage Any factor that allows an organization to differentiate its product or
service from those of its competitors to increase market share.
Stakeholders All individuals and groups that are directly or indirectly affected by an
organization’s decisions