HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

MEANING OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Human Resource Management (HRM) is a process of bringing people and organizations together so that the goals of each are met.  It is that part of the management process which is concerned with the management of human resources in an organization.  It tries to secure the best from people by winning their wholehearted cooperation.  In short, it may 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.

HRM is a strategic approach to the acquisition, motivation, development and management of the organisation’s human resources. It is a specialised field that attempts to devd .ng an appropriate corporate culture, and introducing programmes which reflect and support the core values of the enterprise and ensure its success.

HRM is proactive rather than reactive, i.e., always looking forward to what needs to be done and then doing it, rather than waiting to be told what to do about recruiting, paying or training people, or dealing with employee relations problems as they arise.

Broadly, there are three meanings attached to the concept of HRM.

In the first place, persons working in an organization are regarded as a valuable source, implying that there is a need to invest time and effort in their development.

Secondly, they are human resources which means that they have their own special characteristics and, therefore, cannot be treated like material resources. The approach focuses on the need to humanise organisational life and introduce human values in the organisation.

And thirdly, human resources do not merely focus on employees as individuals, but also on other social realities, units and processes in the organisation. These include the role or the job a person has in the organisation, the dydadic unit, (consisting of the person and his superior), the various teams in which people work, inter-team processes, and the entity of the total organisation.

The important assumptions of HRM are as follows:

1) The members of an organisation are reservoirs of untapped resources.

 2) There is scope for unlimited development of these resources.

3) It is more in the nature of self-development than development  thrust from outside.

 4) The organisation also undergoes development with the overall  benefits along with the development of its members.

5) The organisation further develops a culture in which utmost emphasis is placed on harmonious superior-subordinate relations, teamwork, collaboration among different groups of individuals, open communication, and above all, integration of the goals of the organisation with the needs of the employees.

6) Top management takes the initiative for HRM, formulates necessary plans and strategies, and creates an overall climate and support for its implementation.

COMPONENTS OF HRM

The following are the major components of HRM (Sarma, 1998).

 Human Resource Organisation:

Human resource organisation is concerned with achieving success by organisation design and development, motivation, the application of effective leadership, and the process of getting across the message about what the enterprise is setting out to do and how it proposes to do it. The fundamental objective of human resource organisation is to ensure that every aspect of the organisation, employment, motivation, and management of people is integrated with the strategic objectives of the business and contribute to the successful achievement of those objectives. The human resource organisation programme has to take account of cultural issues so that the desired corporate culture can be developed or reinforced. Moreover, organisational development programmes and interventions are needed to achieve better integration, improve teamwork, motivate human resource, develop proper leadership, facilitate communication system, manage conflict and change, and obtain commitment.

Human Resource Planning:

Human resource planning sets out to define how many people the organisation wants; the type of people the organisation needs at present and in the future, in terms of their expertise; and how they “fit” the corporate culture. It involves the forecasting of both the supply and demand for future labour. It provides the base for recruitment programmes and for human resource development plans.

 Human Resource Systems:

Human resource systems are the essential programmes needed to recruit, appraise, pay and look after the health, safety and well-being of the employees in the organisation. The main key programmes are:

a) Recruitment management: It is a process of obtaining the required human resource for an organisation.

 b) Information management: It is a method of ensuring that all policies and practices are to be well articulated and effectively communicated to the workforce.

 c) Training management: It is a system of identification of training needs, preparation of a training strategy, and an appropriate training system.

d) Performance management: It is a technique of appraising performance systematically against defined criteria, reviewing progress to date and assessing the potential for advancement. There are three main appraisal systems such as performance appraisal, potential appraisal, and performance coaching or counselling.

e) Reward management: It is a method to ensure that people are rewarded in accordance with their contribution.

f) Career management: It is a system of charting special career paths for the individual employees for advancement in the organisation.

g) Health and safety management: It is a system of maintaining a healthy and safe system of work in an organisation.

(h) Discipline management: It is a system of administering discipline to foster positive employee behaviour that will promote organisational objectives.

i) Culture management: It is a system of thinking and behaving shaped by the values, attitudes, rituals and sanctions in an organisation.

Human Resource Development (HRD):

Lippit (1978) points out that HRD as a system depends on:

(a) the work itself which generates a higher degree of responsibility for the employees;

(b) the individual’s personal and professional growth;

 (c) the improved quality output as a result of increased responsibility; and

 (d) the organisation as an open system. Focus on all these aspects is what HRD all about.

Rao (1985) defines HRD as “a process by which the employees of an organisation are helped, in a continuous planned way to:

(a) acquire or sharpen capabilities required to perform various tasks and functions associated with their present or expected future roles;

 (b) develop their general enabling capabilities as individuals so that they are able to discover and exploit their own inner potentials for their own and/or organisational development purposes; and

 (c) develop an organisational culture where superior-subordinate relationship, team-work, and collaboration among different subunits are strong and contribute to the organisational health, dynamism and pride of employees.”

Human Resource Relationships:

Human resource relationships deal with the handling of employees individually and collectively asmembers of trade unions or staff associations. Their main aim is to increase co-operation and trust and to involve employees actively in the company’s affairs. It also deals with problem-solving techniques, particularly to solve problems relating to disciplinary cases and grievances. There are two sides to a dispute in most organisations: the management and the workers. There is a gap and the means have to be found to bridge that gap. Whether or not unions exist, it is highly desirable for the management to develop methods of dealing with employees collectively.

Human Resource Utilisation:

 According to Peters and Watennan, to achieve productivity through people, it is very essential to “treat them as adults, treat them as partners, treat them with dignity, and treat them with respect.” These fundamental human relations values provide the base for productivity management programmes, which use techniques such as method study to improve efficiency. Both managers and workers must be persuaded somehow to realise that they have a common interest in increasing output.

The following actions are required to improve the use of human resources: (a) conduct a productivity drive; (b) improve manpower budgeting and control techniques; (c) introduce work measurement; (d) use appropriate payment method by results; bonus and profit-sharing schemes; (e) improve motivation; (f) involve employees in improvement programmes; (g) introduce new technology; (h) negotiate appropriate productivity agreements; and (i) introduce training programmes based on an analysis of productivity needs.

Human Resource Accounting (HRA):

 HRA means accounting for people as the organisational resource. It is the measurement of the cost and value of people to organisations and involves measuring the costs incurred on recruiting, selecting, hiring, training and developing employees and judging their economic value to the organisation. HRA can be very useful in managerial decision-making. For instance, whether it is recruitment and selection or replacement of an employee, HRA can provide an estimate of the cost involved in the process.

Human Resource Audit:

 The purpose of a human resource audit is to assess the effectiveness of the human resource function and to ensure regulatory compliance. Human resource audit is a vast subject and covers many delicate aspects of human and organisational interactions

Human resource development is a strategic and coherent approached to the development of an organization’s most valued assets – the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of its objectives for sustainable competitive advantage.

Core Elements of HRM

It is necessary to identify the core elements of HRM in order to understand the activities of HRM clearly.  The five core elements are:

 People: Organizations mean people who staff and manage Organizations. Organizational performances depend upon the performance of people in the Organization. Specific to retail the people management are more complicated in view of long hours of working ( Though effectively its is 8 Hours, In retail people are expected to be in the store for 10 to 11 hours with 2.5 hours of breaks in between).

Management: HRM involves application of management functions and principles for acquisitioning, developing, maintaining and remunerating employees in Organizations.

 Integration and Consistency: Decisions related to people must be integrated and consistent, in order to achieve Organizational effectiveness in the long run.

 Influence: Decisions must influence the effectiveness of Organization in providing quality products and services to customers and in achieving Organizational goals.

 Applicability: HRM principles are applicable to business as well as non business Organizations like education, health, recreation, etc

HRD PHILOSOPHY

The main HRD beliefs are as follows:

 l Employees are valued assets. The fundamental belief underpinning HRD is that sustainable completive advantage is achieved through people. They should therefore be regarded not as variable costs but as valued assets in which to invest, thus adding to their inherent value.

 l Strategy and culture are important. Organizational effectiveness can be increased significantly by paying close attention to the development of integrated significantly by paying close attention to the development of integrated business and human resource strategies and by shaping the culture of the organization. A longer-term perspective in managing people and in developing an appropriate corporate culture is seen as important. Every aspect of employee management must be integrated with business management and reinforce and desired company culture.

l Emphasis on commitment rather than on compliance. The optimum consistent and coherent policies which promote commitment to the organization and unleash the latent creativity and energies of the people who work there, thus leading to enhanced performance

l Emphasis on the key role of line management. HRD is owned by line managers who alone have the responsibility for managing their staff. The role of the HR (personal) function

AIMS OF HRD

The aims of HRD are derived directly from the philosophical statements given above. These aims can be summarized as follows:

 l To enable management to achieve organizational objectives through its workforce.

 l To utilize people to their full capacity and potential.

l To foster commitment  from individuals to the success of the company through a quality orientation in their performance and that of the whole organization.

 l To integrate human resource policies with business plans and reinforce an appropriate culture or, as necessary, reshape an inappropriate  culture.

 l To develop a coherent set of personnel and employment policies  which jointly reinforce the organization’s strategies for matching resources to business needs and for improving performance.

 l To establish an environment in which the latent creativity and energy of employees will be unleashed.

 l To create conditions in which innovation, team working and total quality can flourish.

 l To enable the company to make the best use of development in information technology and integrated approaches to manufacturing such as just-in-time, cellular manufacturing and flexible manufacturing systems.

 l To encourage willingness to operate flexibility in the interests of the ‘adaptive organization’ and the pursuit of excellence.

l To maintain a healthy and safe working environment.

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES

The most characteristic features of HRD are that:

l It is the top-management drive activity;

 l The performance and delivery of HRD is the prime responsibility of line managers;

 l It emphasizes the need for strategic fit – the integration of business and personnel strategies;

 l It involves the adaptation of a comprehensive and coherent approach to employment policies and practices;

 l Importance is attached to strong cultures and values;

l It places emphasis on the attitudinal and behavioral characteristics of employees;

Employee relations are individual rather than collective, high trust rather than low trust;

 l Organizations are decentralized with flexible roles for staff and more emphasis on teamwork; and

 l Reward are differentiated according to performance, competence or skill.

HRD ACTIVITIES

The key of HRD activities are described below:

l HRD strategy: Formulating strategies which set clear directions for long-term development management and provide the basis for building a coherent approach to personnel management.

l Organization: Helping with the restructuring of organizations and the redesign of jobs to fit projected changes in product or systems development, technologies, decentralization and ownership.

 l Culture management: Using knowledge of the factors which influence commitment to change and devising programmes and methods of introducing change accordingly.

l Managing commitment: Introducing communication, participation and performance management systems and implementing educational programmes designed to increase identification with the company’s mission and values and to develop behaviour and attitudes which support their achievement.

 l Flexibility: Developing and implanting flexibility strategies to make the best use of human resources and enable people to learn and apply a wider range of skill.

l Teamworking: Enhancing the ability of people to work well together and making the best use to the increased motivation achieved by being part of an autonomous work group.

l Quality management: Assisting with the introduction of total quality management approaches through education and training processes, and involving people in quality  improvement programmes.

l Resourcing: Matching human resources to the changing requirements of the organization.

l Performance management: Introducing systems which clarify objectives at all levels in the organization and measures performance against those objectives in order to agree improvement and development plans.

l Human resource planning and management: Investing in the training and development of all levels of the workforce and realizing  those training programmes to the need of the organization and individuals to improve performance and extend their knowledge base.

 l Reward management: Using the reward management system to define performance expectations and reward people according to their contribution.

 l Employee relations: Developing a cooperative climate of employee relation which allows direct communication to employees but, where appropriate, recognizes the role unions play  in a pluralist organization.