Kateb University

Master of Business Administration

Department of Business
Administration

Subject: Strategic Human Resources

Management
Lecture: First
 Objective of the lecture: After
studying this chapter, students will be
1.able to learn;
Introduction to Human Resources
2. Definition to Human Resources
3. Nature of HRM
4. Objectives of HRM
5. Scope of HRM
6. Role of HR
7. Role of HR Manager
8. Importance of HRM
9. Challenges to HRM
10.Evolution of HRM
 Introduction to Human Resources
 Human: Homo-sapiens taken from Latin language – social
animals.
 Resource: Human, Physical, Financial, Technical,
Informational.
 Management: Function of planning, organizing, Leading
and controlling of organization resources to accomplish
goals efficiently and effectively.
 HRM is concerned with the human beings in an
organization. ―The management of man.
 Though it is a very important and challenging job because
of the dynamic nature of the employees .As no two people
are similar in nature – in every aspect of mental abilities,
tacticians, sentiments, and behaviors; they differ widely not
only individually but also as a group and are subjected to
many varied influences.
 People
3 are responsive, they feel, think and act therefore
 Definitions to Human Resources
 Managing the people of Organization.
 Managerial function that tries to match an
organization’s needs to the skills and abilities of
its employees so that the right person for the right
position should be selected.
 Human Resource Management can be defined as
―a strategic approach to acquiring, developing,
managing, motivating and gaining the
commitment of the organization‘s key resource.
 Human resource management is organizing,
coordinating, and managing employees within an
organization to accomplish its mission, vision, and
goals. This includes recruiting, hiring, training,
compensating,
4 retaining, and motivating
 Nature of Human Resources

5
 Nature of HRM
 Human resource management brings people
together in an organization. Why? To make
sure both individual and organization goals
are fulfilled! The following features
characterize the nature of human resource
management:
 Managerial Process: Human resource
management is a vital part of management
that includes planning, organizing, staffing,
directing, and controlling human resources
to achieve organizational success. It is a
managerial process that effectively utilizes
human
6
resources to attain organizational
 Nature of HRM
 Both Art and Science: Human resource
management is a mixture of both art and science. It
is an art as it deals with qualitative attributes like
creativity, knowledge, skills, and talent of the
personnel. In simple words, HRM is the art of getting
things done by others effectively. HRM is a science as
it requires different scientific techniques for activities
like recruitment, selection, training, and appraisal of
employees.
 Pervasive Force: Human resource management,
being an inherent part of an organization, is
pervasive in nature. It means that HRM is present in
different functional areas of management, like
finance, marketing, and production, in all commercial
and
7 non-commercial enterprises. Everyone in the
 Nature of HRM
 Improve Employee Relations: In order to build a
rewarding employee experience, you need to
understand what matters most to your people. Human
resource management is concerned with building
healthy relationships between employees at various
organizational levels. Every individual has different
needs, goals, and expectations. HRM deals with these
individual factors and motivates employees to reach
their maximum potential. Moreover, it creates an
organizational culture that fosters learning and
growth.
 People-Centred: The nature of human resource
management is people-centred and relevant in all
types of organizations. It is concerned with every
employee from the top to the bottom level. HRM value
8
people both as individuals and as a group.
 Nature of HRM
 Development-Oriented: The development of
the workforce in an organization is crucial to
the nature of human resource management. HR
managers use various tools to help employees
understand their strengths and unleash their
potential. Regular training programs can benefit
employees by improving their skills. Also,
monetary and non-monetary reinforcement can
help people stay motivated to perform better.
 Action Oriented: While human resource
management does follow the rules and policies,
its main focus is on action and results rather than
rules. A human resource manager stresses the
importance
9 of providing effective solutions for
 Nature of HRM
 Forward-Looking: Sustaining in the competitive
business environment requires organizations to plan
long-term strategies. HRM is a future-oriented
approach that evaluates the human resource
requirements and ensures the availability of required
personnel in the right place at the right time. With the
forward-looking nature of human resource
management, managers prepare employees by
motivation, training, and development to face current
and future challenges in the changing business
environment.
 Continuous Process: Human resource management
is not a ‘one-time’ function. Rather, it is a never-
ending process that must be performed continuously
to achieve organizational objectives effectively. It
10
involves a series of tasks, beginning with identifying
 Nature of HRM
 Basis of Other Functional Areas: HRM is the basis of
all other functional areas of management, such as
finance, production, and marketing. The effectiveness of
each of these departments depends on the effectiveness
of their human resource management.
 Interdisciplinary Function: Human resource
management is multidisciplinary in nature. HR managers
utilize knowledge and inputs from various disciplines
to manage the workforce effectively. The five major
disciplines in HRM include management,
communication, psychology, sociology, and
economics. In order to effectively manage human
resources, one must understand the contribution of all
these disciplines to HRM. If you want to land your dream
HRM job or get a promotion, check out our post-graduate
certificate
11 course in human resource management. The
 Objectives of HRM

12
 Objectives of HRM
 The primary objective of human resource management is
to fulfill the human capital requirements of an
organization by placing personnel in the right position at
the right time. Moreover, it aims to achieve maximum
employee development and contribute to realizing
organizational goals. The four main objectives of
HRM include:
 Organizational Objectives: In an organization, HRM’s
objective is to maintain a competent workforce. How? By
planning, recruiting, selecting, training, and developing
the human resources for the organization's growth,
expansion, and survival.
 Another critical organizational objective of HRM includes
facilitating other departments and helping them function
smoothly. The action-oriented nature of human resource
management
13
assists an organization in achieving its
goals. As an HR manager, you should ensure the
 Objectives of HRM
 Functional Objectives: Human resource
management is responsible for coordination
within and among different functional
departments of the organization. It organizes
and allocates the resources to achieve business
objectives effectively.
 The objective of HRM is to provide every
functional department with employees who
possess the required set of skills and
knowledge. To fulfill this very nature of human
resource management, HR managers must
ensure the timely completion of functions by
the workforce. Moreover, it is important to
continuously
14
provide employees with
 Objectives of HRM
 Societal Objective: HRM is responsible for
ensuring compliance with society’s legal and
ethical standards at every level of the
organization. The activities of HRM should be
socially responsible and fulfill society’s needs,
demands, and challenges. Therefore, HR
managers must ensure that the available
resources are used for society’s benefit.
 To achieve this objective, HR managers develop
programs that meet employees’ psychological,
social, ethical, and economic needs. Some
examples of these programs include equal
opportunities, compensation and benefits, and
community
15 relations. By fulfilling the societal
 Objectives of HRM
 Personal Objectives: Employees’ long-term
association and commitment with an
organization depend on their ability to achieve
personal goals. Therefore, HRM stresses the
importance of fulfilling employees’ personal
objectives and increasing their contribution to
the organization.
 To prevent employee performance
deterioration, HR managers must help the
workforce create a work-life balance. They
should also be provided with adequate
training and feedback on their performance.
Why?
16 Because it helps employees identify
 Objectives of HRM
 Some other objectives of human
resource management include the
following:-
 Foster a Better Work Culture: Improving
employee relations is an inherent nature of
human resource management. One of the
most important aspects of employee relations
is their work environment. Effective HRM
requires developing strategies that promote a
better work culture. Some examples of
fostering a work culture include developing
and maintaining healthy relations between
team
17 members, empowering the employees,
 Objectives of HRM
 Adopt Tools for Team Integration: Effective team
coordination is one of the major objectives of human
resource management. Higher productivity is the result of
proper connections between employees in the
organization. How to achieve that, you ask? By ensuring
easy communication between individuals and groups at
various enterprise levels! Therefore, HR managers search
for tools or portals that improve data availability and
make integration smooth and easier.
 Increase Employee Engagement: While every
department in the company can and should implement
employee engagement programs, HRM is vital to
successful employee engagement measures. HR
managers organize events, activities, and celebrations
within the organization that not only helps in team
development and employee engagement but also foster
18
employee confidence. Moreover, boosting employee
 Scopes of HRM

19
 Scopes of HRM
 The scope of Human Resource Management is
extremely wide, However, for the sake of
convenience and developing an understanding
of the subject, it is elaborated as follows.
 Human resources planning: Human Resource
Planning refers to a process by which
the company tries to find the number of jobs
vacancy in which a particular department and
The number of staff required with the necessary
qualification and experience
 Job analysis design: Another important area
of Human Resource Management
is job analysis. Job analysis gives detailed
20
information about the job description and
 Scopes of HRM
 Recruitment and selection: Based on information
collected from job analysis the company
prepares advertisements and publishes them in the
newspapers, Employment sites, etc. This
is recruitment. A number of applications are
gathered after the advertisement is
published, interviews are conducted and the right
employee is selected for the right post and right
time thus recruitment and selection are yet another
important areas of Human Resource Management.
 Orientation and induction: Once the employees
have been selected an induction or orientation
program is conducted. The employees are informed
about companies’ backgrounds, products, different
subsidiaries’
21 organizational culture and values, and
 Scopes of HRM
 Training and development: Every employee
goes into a training program which helps him
to put up a better performance on the job. The
training program is also conducted for existing
staff that have a lot of experience. This is
called refresher training. Training and
development is one area where the company
spends a huge amount.
 Performance appraisal: Once the employee
has put on the job performance appraisal is
conducted that is the Human Resources
department checks the performance of the
employee.
22 Which helps appraise future
 Scopes of HRM
 Compensation planning and remuneration: There
are various rules regarding compensation and other
benefits. It is the job of the Human Resources
department to look into remuneration and
compensation planning.
 Motivation, welfare, health, and safety:
Motivation becomes important to sustain the number of
employees in the company. It is the job of the Human
Resources department to look into the different
methods of motivating & encourage the employee.
Apart from this certain health and safety regulations
have to be followed for the benefit of the employees.
 Industrial relations: Another important area of
Human Resource Management is maintaining co-ordinal
relations with the union members. with employer-
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employee, and employee- employee This will help the
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Role of HR
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 Role of HR
 Human Resources Management plays the most crucial
role in the management of an organization. The role of
HRM is to plan, develop and administer policies and
programs designed to make optimum utilization of the
organization‘s human resources. It is that part of
management which is concerned with the people at
work and their relationship within enterprises.
According to R.L Mathis and J. H. Jackson (2010)
several roles can be fulfilled by HR management. The
nature and extent of these roles depend on both what
upper management wants HR management to do and
what competencies the HR staff have demonstrated.
Three roles are typically identified for HR.
 Administrative Role
 Operational
25 Role
 Role of HR
 Administrative Role of HR: The
administrative role of HR management is
concerned with the administration and record
keeping including essential legal paperwork and
policy implementation. Earlier it was a tedious
job but with the advancement of technology the
record keeping is becoming easy and huge data
can be easily stored.
 Operational and Employee Advocate Role
for HR: HR managers manage most HR
activities in concern with the strategies and
operations that have been determined by
management and serves as employee
―champion‖
26
for employee issues and
 Role of HR
 As they act as the voice for employee in front of
the management specifying employees issues and
concerns, and spend considerable time on HR
―crisis management,‖ dealing with employee
problems that are both work-related and non
work-related. Employee advocacy helps to ensure
fair and equitable treatment.
 The operational role requires HR professionals to
co-operate with various departmental and
operating managers and supervisors in order to
identify and implement needed programs and
policies in the organization.
 Strategic Role of HR: The administrative role (of
record
27 keeping) traditionally was the major or
 Role of HR
 But with the changing scenario, a broader
transformation in HR is needed so that
significantly less HR time and fewer HR staffs
are used just for clerical work. Differences
between the operational and strategic roles
exist in a number of HR areas. The strategic HR
role means that HR professionals are required to
be more proactive in taking care of business
realities and focusing on future business needs,
such as strategic planning, compensation
strategies, the performance of HR and
measuring its results. However, in some
organizations, HR often does not play a key role
in
28 formulating the strategies for the
 Role of HR Manager

Conscience
Role

Controller Counselor
Role Role

HR
Manager
Role
Mediator
Agent Role Role

Problem Spokespers
Solver Role on Role

29
 Role of HR Manager
 Human Resources Manager plays a vital role in the
modem organization. He plays various strategic
roles at different levels in the organization. Some of
the common roles of the HR manager include:
 The Conscience Role: The conscience role is that
of a role of moral teacher or guru who reminds the
management of its morals and obligations which
they have towards their employees.
 The Counselor Role : HR manager act as a
counselor for the employees who are not satisfied
with the present job approach, beside that
employees are facing various other problems like
marital, health, etc for that also the HR Manager
counsels and consults the employees and offers
30
suggestions to solve/overcome the problems.
 Role of HR Manager
 The Mediator Role: As a mediator, the
HR manager plays the role of a peace-
maker and settles the disputes between
employees and the management.
 The Spokesman Role: HR manager act
as a spokesman for or representative of
the company as well as for the employees.
 The Problem-solver Role: He also acts
as a problem solver and solves the issues
related to the human resources
management and overall long range
organizational
31 planning.
 Role of HR Manager
 The Change Agent Role: He acts as a
change agent and brings changes in
various existing programmes so as to
keep the organization and employees
update as according to the current
scenario.
 As a Controller Role: Nevertheless, it
is still true that effective HR executives
advise on policies, help managers in
implementing their programmes and
provide
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services, exercise monitoring
 Importance of HRM

33
 Importance of HRM
 Fulfill the Human Resource
Requirement: Human resource
management fills in the gap between the
vacancies in the organization and the
suitable candidates for such positions.
 Employee Retention: HRM not only
functions to acquire the manpower but also
concentrates on the maintenance and
retention of the human capital.
 Enhance the Quality of Work Life: It
focuses on the continuous enhancement of
the
34 job facilities, hence improving the
 Importance of HRM
 Redressing Grievance and Conflict: HRM
addresses the problems among employees or with
the management since it is essential for any
organization to resolve its internal conflicts and
grievances to ensure a sound and co-operative work
environment.
 Achieving Organizational Goals: To reach the set
objectives and targets on time, it is necessary to
direct the employee’s efforts towards the
organizational goals. All this is possible only through
the practice of human resource management.
 Long-term Existence in the Market: As we all
know that employees are the inevitable part of any
organization, therefore to survive in the
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competition, it is imperative that the organization
 Importance of HRM
 Developing Team Spirit and
Feeling of Belongingness: It brings
together the different employees as a
team to accomplish the goals of the
organization. HRM also make the
employees feel valuable to the
organization.
 Employee Satisfaction and
Welfare: HRM works for the welfare,
safety and security of the organization.
It36 is majorly concerned about the level
 Challenges of HRM

37
 Challenges of HRM
 Growing Employee Expectations: With the
learning of new skills and better qualification, the
employee’s expectations keep on increasing, and
at times it is difficult for managers to meet such
high expectations.
 Growing Size of Workforce: With the growth of
any organization, the workload increases and the
number of employees also multiply. This leads to
the excessive workload on the human resource
manager and the HR team.
 The emergence of New Technology: The
technological advancement has though simplified
the business process but has emerged as a
challenge
38 in front of the managers to either
 Challenges of HRM
 Internal Politics: Sometimes, the human
resource manager has to face situations
where employees either mislead or influence
other employees to restrict them from
performing their task if the problem pertains
the organization may experience employee
turnover or resignations.
 Human Psychology: HRM somehow deals
with human psychology and its impact on
the business which is a complex system and
unlike the problems related to other physical
resources and assets, have no particular
solution.
39
 Challenges of HRM
 Changes in Law and Regulations: To
safeguards the interest of employees,
government bring in specific rules and
regulations which have to be followed by
organizations. At times, it is difficult for
the HR manager to adhere to such laws.
 Maintenance of Human Relations: A
human resource manager not only acts as
a mediator between the management
and the employees but also tries to
maintain a cordial relationship among the
two,
40 which requires a lot of tactics and
 Evolution of HRM
 The history of Human Resource Management
(HRM) reflects the evolution of the workplace
and the changing attitudes towards labor,
management, and organizational behavior.
Here’s a brief overview:
 Pre-20th Century: Early Labor Practices
 Industrial Revolution (late 18th - early 19th
century): The shift from agrarian economies to
industrialized ones led to the need for organized
labor. Factories emerged, and with them, the
need for managing large groups of workers.
 Labor Unions: Workers began to organize for
better
41
wages, hours, and conditions, leading to
 Evolution of HRM
 Early 20th Century: Scientific Management
 Frederick Taylor (1911): Introduced "Scientific
Management," emphasizing efficiency and
productivity through time studies and task
specialization.
 Welfare Work: Employers started to implement
welfare programs to improve worker satisfaction
and reduce turnover.
 Mid-20th Century: The Rise of Personnel
Management
 World War II: The war effort highlighted the
importance of effective personnel management to
handle workforce needs.
 Post-War
42 Era: The focus shifted towards personnel
 Evolution of HRM
 Late 20th Century: Transition to Human
Resource Management
 As organizations grew more complex, the
role of HR expanded beyond administrative
functions to strategic partnership. The term
"Human Resource Management" gained
prominence.
 Behavioral Science Movement: Influenced by
psychologists like Abraham Maslow and
Douglas McGregor, organizations began
focusing on employee motivation, job
satisfaction, and organizational culture.
43
 Evolution of HRM
 21st Century: Strategic HRM
 Globalization and Technology: The rise of the
internet and globalization transformed HR
practices. Organizations began to adopt more
strategic approaches to HRM, aligning HR
practices with business goals.
 Diversity and Inclusion: There is a greater
emphasis on creating diverse workplaces and
promoting inclusive cultures.
 Data-Driven HR: The use of analytics in HR has
become prevalent, allowing organizations to
make informed decisions regarding talent
management
44
and workforce planning.
End of First Chapter

Thank you

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