HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

UNIT – 1

INTRODUCTION & MEANING

NATURE
SCOPE
OBJECTIVES
FUNCTIONS
ROLE

INTRODUCTION & MEANING

Generally, HRM refers to the management of people in organizations. It comprises of the

activities, policies, and practices involved in obtaining, developing, utilizing, evaluating,
maintaining, and retaining the appropriate number and skill mix of employees to accomplish
the organization’s objectives. The goal of HRM is to maximize employees’ contributions in
order to achieve optimal productivity and effectiveness, while simultaneously attaining
individual objectives such as having a challenging job and obtaining recognition, and societal
objectives such as legal compliance and demonstrating social responsibility.

According to the Invancevich and Glueck, “HRM is concerned with the most effective use
of people to achieve organizational and individual goals. It is the way of managing people at
work, so that they give their best to the organization”.

According to Dessler (2008), “The policies and practices involved in carrying out the ‘people’
or human resource aspects of a management position, including recruiting, screening, training,
rewarding, and appraising comprises of HRM”.

In short Human Resource Management (HRM) can be defined as the art of procuring,
developing and maintaining competent workforce to achieve the goals of an organization in an
effective and efficient manner.
Nature of HRM:-

HRM is a management function that helps managers to recruit, select, train and develop
members for an organization. HRM is concerned with people’s dimension in organizations.
The following constitute the core of HRM
1. HRM Involves the Application of Management Functions and Principles. The functions
and principles are applied to acquiring, developing, maintaining and providing
remuneration to employees in organization.
2. Decision Relating to Employees must be Integrated. Decisions on different aspects of
employees must be consistent with other human resource (HR) decisions.
3. Decisions Made Influence the Effectiveness of an Organization. Effectiveness of an
organization will result in betterment of services to customers in the form of high-
quality products supplied at reasonable costs.
4. HRM Functions are not Confined to Business Establishments Only but applicable to
non-business organizations such as education, health care, recreation and like.
HRM refers to a set of programmes, functions and activities designed and carried out in order
to maximize both employee as well as organizational effectiveness.

Scope of HRM
The scope of HRM is indeed vast. All major activities in the working life of a worker – from
the time of his or her entry into an organization until he or she leaves the organizations comes
under the purview of HRM. The major HRM activities include HR planning, job analysis, job
design, employee hiring, employee and executive remuneration, employee motivation,
employee maintenance, industrial relations and prospects of HRM.
The scope of Human Resources Management extends to:
• All the decisions, strategies, factors, principles, operations, practices, functions,
activities and methods related to the management of people as employees in any type
of organization.
• All the dimensions related to people in their employment relationships, and all the
dynamics that flow from it.
 Human
Resource
Planning
Job Analysis
Industrial
Design
Relation

Motivation,
Welfare, Recruitment
Health & & Selection
Safety Scope of
HRM

Compensation
Orientation
Planning &
& Induction
Remuneration

Performance Training &

Appraisal Development

a) Human Resource Planning: Human resource planning is a process that identifies

current and future human resources needs for an organization to achieve its goals.
Human resource planning should serve as a link between human resource management
and the overall strategic plan of an organization. The objective of HR Planning is to
ensure that the organization has the right types of persons at the right time at the right
place. HR Planning forecast demand and supplies and identify sources of selection. HR
Planning develops strategies both long-term and short-term, to meet the man-power
requirement.
b) Job Analysis & Design: This is the task of laying down organization structure,
authority, relationship and responsibilities. Both jobs analysis and job design are
different things. Analysis of job includes the tasks, duties, qualifications, skills,
knowledge and responsibilities that are a part of a particular job. Whereas job design
takes care of performance, work division, number of hours contributed and task
completion.
c) Recruitment & Selection: This is the process of recruitment and selection of staff. This
involves matching people and their expectations with which the job specifications and
career path available within the organization. Recruitment is the process of finding
candidates for the vacant position and encouraging them to apply for it. Selection means
choosing the best candidate from the pool of applicants and offering them the job.
Recruitment is a positive process aimed at attracting more and more job seekers to apply.
d) Orientation & Induction: Induction is the process of introducing new employees to the
company, its culture, policies, and procedures. Orientation is the process of providing
 new employees with information about the company, its products, services, and the job
they will be performing. It might include, meetings with the line manager, any direct
reports, being shown around the building, and being given information about any health
and safety issues that are relevant.
e) Training & Development: This involves an organized attempt to find out training needs
of the individuals to meet the knowledge and skill which is needed not only to perform
current job but also to fulfil the future needs of the organization. Training and
development initiatives are educational activities within an organization that are
designed to improve the job performance of an individual or group. These programs
typically involve advancing a worker's knowledge and skill sets and instilling greater
motivation to enhance job performance.
f) Performance Appraisal: Performance appraisal is a systematic and periodic process of
measuring an individual's work performance against the established requirements of the
job. It's a subjective evaluation of the employee's strengths and weaknesses, relative
worth to the organization, and future development potential.
g) Compensation Planning and Remuneration: Compensation planning is essential for
all HR systems. It helps provide direct compensation for overtime, productivity, and
other related activities not directly related to job duties. In other words, compensation
planning allows employees to earn compensation for their work beyond their contracted
hours. It is a payment package designed to attract and retain employees. A basic
compensation package consists solely of a salary or wages. A more comprehensive
compensation package could include additional benefits such as bonuses, perks,
commission, health insurance, or retirement investments.
h) Motivation, Welfare, Health and Safety: It is one of the essential functions of a
manager in the workplace. Here, a manager needs to understand the requirement of
employees so as to motivate them properly. Labour welfare entails all those activities of
employer which are directed towards providing the employees with certain facilities in
services in addition to wages and salaries. Occupational health and safety is a cross-
disciplinary area concerned with protecting the safety, health and welfare of people
engaged in work or employment. The goal of all occupational health and safety
programs is to foster a safe work environment.
i) Industrial Relation: Industrial relations play a major role in human resource
management. It is an important function of HRM that focuses on maintaining good
relations between the company, its employees, and its business partners. It also deals
with employee rights and workplace issues like unionization, etc.

Objectives of Human Resource Management

Human resources management (HRM) seeks to achieve the greatest possible level of efficiency in
the performance of employees in the organization or institution.
The primary goals of human resource management are to ensure the availability of a competent
and willing workforce in the organization. The main objectives of HRM may include:
Organizational goals: The goals of the organization or institution may include the following:
 • Achieving effectiveness in the institution.
• Achieving balance and homogeneity.
• Ensure the stability of work.
• Developing and improving the skills of individual employees.
• Promoting employee affiliation with the organization.

Individual goals: Goals for individual employees may include:

• Providing new job opportunities.

• Establishing good and positive working conditions.
• Achieving fairness in the distribution of salaries.
• Supporting individuals’ progress and career development.
• Providing health insurance services.

Common goals between staff and management: The general objectives are to maintain the
continuous effective performance of the institution by relying on human resources.
Having common goals gives management and employees something to work together to achieve
success in their duties.
Sub-goals: Sub-goals are small steps towards achieving an overall goal. Sub-goals help to reach
the common goals and include the following:

• Promoting coordination between available jobs and the people who make up appropriate
human resources.
• Supporting development and qualification skills.
• Always applying performance appraisal.
• Studying the employees’ future career path.
 Socital Organizational Functional Personal
Objectives Objectives Objectives Objective
• Legal compliance • Human resource • Appraisal • Training and
• Benefits planning • Placement development
• Union- • Employee • Assessment • Appraisal
management relations • Placement
relations • Selection • Compensation
• Training and • Assessment
development
• Appraisal
• Placement

Need of Human Resource Management

Human resource management is needed to cut out any issues related to employees, and the
overall diverse workforce in order to have a streamlined process and make the right hiring
decisions.

According to several statistics, people typically quit their employment as a result of a bad work-
life balance, compensation worries, professional progression challenges, or job instability.
These scenarios make human resource management a necessary part of the organization.
1. Strategic Management: This is a critical part of every company and plays a
significant role in human resource management. HR managers oversee strategies to ensure
the company meets its business objectives while also making major contributions to
corporate decision-making to hire the right people. It helps to set goals better to achieve
greater heights and an organizations success.

2. Training & development: Employee development needs proper training and

upskilling as it will benefit the organization in achieving goals and objectives. Training in
soft-skills that are indirectly related to the position can be beneficial for the organization as
well. For instance, training employees in cybersecurity awareness can also have myriad
benefits for both the organization and the individual employee, no matter the industry
On the other hand, you can create tons of blogs, guides, and training material to help
develop your employees. Also, it helps the employee to contribute and grow as an
individual.

3. Employee Relations: One of the needs is to develop a great relationship between

the employees and the employer, which HRM takes care of. Also providing a positive work
environment aids motivation and higher productivity.

4. Conflict Management: In any organization, it is very common to have conflicts

and disputes, HRM plays a key role. Such as, to understand the issues and solve those
effectively without any bias and deliver employee satisfaction. Also, effective
communication needs to be practiced to solve these kinds of issues at a faster rate to reach
a solution and establish a healthy work culture.

5. Compliance: HR professionals ensure that the organization complies with all

employment laws and regulations, which helps in avoiding legal issues.

Role of HR managers
• Recruitment: One of the major responsibilities of a HR manager is to recruit
personnel. The success of an organisation largely depends on the workforce employed,
so it is essential that the right people are hired for the right role.
• Learning and development: Learning is a continuous process and essential to enhance
employees’ productivity. HR managers are responsible for the orientation and induction
of new employees, as well as the professional development of existing employees. They
are responsible for strategizing development programmes. Furthermore, they must have
the ability to identify and analyse the areas that employees need training for.
 • Building employee relations: Effective employee relations go a long way in boosting
productivity and contributes significantly to an organisation’s success. Employee
relations strategies are implemented to ensure that an organisation caters to the overall
well-being of employees.
• Compensation and benefits: A major component of a HR manager’s job role is
handling compensation and benefits. They are responsible for devising compensation
strategies, performance management systems and compensation structures, as well as
negotiating pay and benefit packages with potential employees.

Importance of HR managers in organisations

• Strategy management: This is an important aspect of any organisation and plays a
vital role in human resource management. HR managers manage strategies to ensure
the organisation reaches its business goals, as well as contributing significantly to the
corporate decision-making process, which includes assessments for current employees
and predictions for future ones based on business demands.
• Benefits analysis: HR managers work towards reducing costs, such as with recruitment
and retention. HR professionals are trained to conduct efficient negotiations with
potential and existing employees, as well as being well-versed with employee benefits
that are likely to attract quality candidates and retaining the existing workforce.
• Training and development: Since HR managers contribute significantly to training
and development programmes, they also play a pivotal role in strengthening employer-
employee relationships. This contributes to the growth of employees within the
company, hence enhancing employee satisfaction and productivity.
• Interactivity within employees: HR managers are responsible for conducting
activities, events and celebrations in the organisation which gives way to team building
opportunities. Moreover, it enhances interactivity within employees and instils a sense
of trust and respect among peers.
• Conflict management: The department to go to when any kind of professional conflict
arises between employees is HR. They ensure that issues and conflicts are resolved
effectively, approaching the problem with an unbiased attitude and encouraging
effective communication to reach a solution. In addition, they help employees
understand various ways of developing effective work relationships and the importance
of not letting personal judgement affect their behaviour.
• Establishing a healthy work culture: A healthy work culture is pivotal in bringing
out the best in employees. HR managers contribute significantly in setting up a healthy
and friendly work culture, which further translates into better productivity among
employees.
• Compliance: HR professionals work towards making the organisation compliant with
employment laws, as well as maintaining records of hiring processes and applicants’
log.
The Importance of Human Resources Management
Human resources management is considered one of the important administrative departments
in various bodies and business organizations, and its importance is summarized according to
the following points:
✓ HRM provides human resources with various and appropriate qualifications by relying
on the best management that contributes to the development of production in quality
and quantity.
✓ HRM provides all the tools and means for individual employees by preparing a set of
training programs, and providing wages and incentives that support the best
performance and increase the productivity rate.
✓ HRM enhances coordination among the various administrative units and the tasks of
individual employees by activating the role of discussion with the executive
management, as it is concerned with activities related to all individuals.
✓ HRM helps to discover problems and difficulties related to individuals, which
negatively affect the effectiveness of the organization, and it also helps managers to
manage employee issues and solve them through advice and guidance.
✓ HRM provides support to executive directors in order to achieve the goals of the
organization.
✓ HRM contributes to the study of all organizational and effectiveness competencies and
indicators used in measuring the efficiency of performance, the rates of accidents that
affect the work, and other indicators and averages.
 ✓ HRM provides an appropriate organizational climate for work, by motivating
employees, which will positively affect their job satisfaction, and thus increase
productivity.
✓ HRM pays attention to achieving the organization’s strategic objectives, by making use
of the competencies present in it.
✓ HRM helps in training employees and achieving their job stability, as well as wages
and salaries, to ensure increased productivity.
✓ HRM helps save high costs on the organization, which employees may incur if they are
suspended from work, or if they are not granted promotions or bonuses.
✓ HRM helps achieve belonging to the human element, by setting up a fair system of
wages, incentives, and taking care of human relations in the organization.
✓ HRM helps achieve the highest possible productivity through qualitative and
quantitative planning of the human resources needed by the organization.
✓ HRM helps maintain work ethics, paying attention to behavioural policies, and opening
the field for communication between management and workers.

Personnel Management vs Human Resource Management

The main difference between Personnel Management and Human Resource Management lies
in their scope and orientation. While the scope of personnel management is limited and has an
inverted approach, wherein workers are viewed as tool. Here the behavior of the worker can be
manipulated as per the core competencies of the organization and are replaced when they are
worn-out.
On the other hand, human resource management has a wider scope and considers employees
as the asset to the organization. It promotes mutuality in terms of goals, responsibility, reward
etc. that will help in enhancing the economic performance and high level of human resource
development.