Introduction to Human Resource Management

Editor's Notes

1. Teamwork, interpersonal communication, report writing and problem solving
2. Edwin B Flippo is the earliest to have written a book on Principles of Personnel management
3. Story - Following the Industrial revolution, the pioneering work was done by Peter Drucker and Douglas McGregor in 1950s and that laid the foundation for the formal discipline of HRM. Drucker in his book ‘Principles of Management’ says an effective management must direct the vision and efforts of all the managers towards a common goal. This goal oriented leadership is fundamental to HRM. Mc Gregor advocated Management By Objectives(MBO) as a strategy for managing people which affects the entire business. Both together paved the way for HRM philosophy that HR policies and programmes must be built into the strategic objectives and business plans and involve everyone in achieving the objectives and plans.
4. Story – The behavioral science movement came into prominence in 1960s. Founded by Maslow who presented the human needs pyramid, placing self-actualization on the top of the pyramid. The pyramid had physiological needs at the bottom, safety needs, love/belonging, self esteem and self-actualization
5. Story – The most influential member of behavioral science movement was Herzberg whose theory advocated job enrichment as a means to increase organizational effectiveness. His school of thought was if job is challenging people will be motivated to perform it well. This made a useful contribution to HRM. Then came the Organization Development movement in 60s and 70s. The OD specialists attempted to change the attitude, values and behavioral patterns of the individual and work groups to promote greater cooperation among organization members.
6. Personnel management is the traditional approach to management of employees. In today’s scenario where organization’s are complex HRM is the strategic term that helps to curb the employee turnover. Personnel management is mostly related to dealing with repetitive problem such as troubleshooting employee grievances and concerns. Personnel Management is also referred as ‘Employee Relations’ or ‘Personnel Administration’ Labor relations deals with management of employee relations with respect to the union and its representative Together Personnel Management and Labor Relations is termed as Industrial Relations. HRM is related with problems that are non-repetitive and come because of strategic changes in the organization. PM is taking care of employee satisfaction, and their benefits and comfort but HRM is more concerned with achieving goals and mission.
7. HRD the integrated use of training, organization and career development efforts to improve individual, group and organization effectiveness. HR is proactive than reactive e.g. always looking forward for what needs to be done than waiting to be told what to be done for recruitment, training people and dealing with employee relation problem as they arise.
8. Organization culture refers to the historical context within which a situation occurs Organizational climate is the current situation of the organization, what are the linkages between the employees Values is what is important to you Integration of work towards the common purpose
9. What is meant by Management ? Management is referred to as allocating organization’s resources (human and economic – machinery, material, money, technology) by planning, organizing, directing and controlling for producing outputs (goods and services) as per organization’s objectives. Here management is all about human resources. The HR manager must perform the basic functions of management POSDCORB (an acronym) planning, organizing, staffing, directing, controlling, reporting and budgeting the work of those who are entrusted to perform operative functions.
10. Planning is a predetermined course of action. Planning involves the ability to think, analyze and then come to decisions. E.g. The task to forecast the manpower requirement in relation to change in business needs (e.g. difference in production) .
11. Look at the table showing Manpower budget of Jindal Steel Works.
12. After the course of action has been listed, an organization has to be established to carry it out. An organization structure is a must to carry out business operations. A famous quote says Organization is the wedding of authority and responsibility. It consists of assigning specific functions to designated persons with authority and hold them accountable to management for the results obtained. The design of organization structure depends on the organization’s philosophy, delegation and decentralization processes.
13. The HRM has to coordinate the task of developing and reviewing policies, training programmes, employee benefits, HR practices, employee safety.
14. Controlling is the act of checking, regulating and verifying whether everything occurs in conformity with the plans adopted and principles established.
15. Recruitment management – The process of getting the right people on board Communication – The method of ensuring all policies and practices are well articulated and communicated to the employees Training management – System of identification of training needs, preparing a training strategy and putting a training system in place. Performance management – Appraise the performance against the defined goals, review the progress from time to time and assess the potential for advancement. The three main systems are performance appraisal, potential appraisal and performance coaching. Rewards – To ensure people are rewarded for their contribution Careers management – System of charting specific career path for individuals to advance them within the organization Health and safety – in order to maintain healthy and safe system of working Discipline management – How to administer discipline to foster positive employee behavior at work Culture management – System of thinking and behaving shaped by the values, attitudes of the organization.