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This document is intended to provide a brief overview of, and introduction to, human resources management (HRM) concepts.
Human Resources and the ‘Contract of Employment’
Human resources (HR) are the most important asset possessed by an organisation – its people. Without them, services cannot be delivered and organisations will not function. For that reason it is imperative that organisations understand the basic concepts of HRM in order to gain a competitive edge and to better manage their people.
HRM is concerned with managing the critical employer and employee relationship. For effective engagement of people in achieving the objectives of the organisation, the expectations of both employers and employees need to be managed. In reality, the
‘contract of employment’ is concerned with much more than pay and conditions of service, and includes:
What the Employer Expects

Performance

Results

Loyalty

Integrity

Service delivery
What the Employee Expects

Fair pay

Career growth

Promotion

Job satisfaction

Recognition

Fair treatment

Participation

Training
 Security
If either party feels the other is not delivering what is expected, then the relationship will not be effective and service delivery and performance will suffer.
Concept of Human Resources Management
HRM is the process of managing people in organisations in a structured and comprehensive manner. It covers all HR functions from entry to exit, e.g. recruiting, screening, interviewing, training, appraising, disciplining, rewarding, and developing the employee. In addition, many HRM decisions have possible legal or regulatory ramifications.
HRM is concerned with achieving integration of the strategic goals of the organisation and those of the individuals. As such it is not something that can be separated from the basic managerial function – it is a major component of the managerial function.
And so it is important that all managers have an understanding of the key concepts of HRM.
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Building Blocks of Human Resources Management .................................................................. 3
Policies and Organisation ........................................................................................................... 3
Establishment and Workforce Planning and Management ....................................................... 4
Performance Management and Workforce Development ........................................................ 4
Employer and Employee Responsibilities and Relations ........................................................... 5
Pay and Pensions ....................................................................................................................... 5
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The table below provides an overview of the elements which make up the HRM function in public service organisations.
Policies and
Organisation

HRM laws and rules for state public servants
 HRM policies governing terms and conditions of service and the contract of employment between the public
Establishment and
Workforce Planning and Management servant and the state

Professional central human resources management

Human resources records and statistics for management of public servants’ employment

Establishment planning, job design and grading

Workforce planning
Performance
Management and
Workforce
Development
 HR recruitment, posting, promotion and career guidance

Employee performance management system
 Workforce development policies to ensure that public servants have the necessary skills and capacity to carry out their duties

Workforce development management systems

A code of ethics or code of conduct to govern public Employer and
Employee
Responsibilities and
Relations
Pay and Pensions
 servants’ behaviour
A grievance procedure to provide public servants with a channel to express legitimate complaints

Welfare services are available to support public servants
 Pay and allowances

Payroll
 Pensions
Each of these is described in more detail below.
Public service HRM policies do not exist in a vacuum and must take account of the national legal framework as well as state-specific rules and directives that impact on the management of people in the workplace.
Within this regulatory framework it is then possible to develop a series of HRM policies governing the terms and conditions of service and the contract of employment between the public servant and the state.
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State governments need to determine the HRM model they wish to adopt, including the extent to which they wish to move towards best practice. For example, one of the cornerstone changes to the public service internationally over the last 20 years has been a move towards decentralisation, that is, delegating decision making and responsibilities to those on the ‘front line’. This puts the responsibility and decisions where they matter and the budget and accountability along with them. From an HR perspective, functional and operational aspects of people management remain a specialised central function, but decision-making moves to individual ministries, d0epartments and agencies (MDAs).
However, this is a long term goal of a mature professional HRM model and is not something that would take place without consistently demonstrated improvements in performance and a strengthening of accountability.
Finally, it should be noted that the successful implementation of all or any of the above is likely to be significantly compromised unless reliable HR records and statistics are made available to guide decision making and strategic planning. Without accurate and reliable data maintenance and reporting, compliance and target setting is nearly impossible.
Establishment planning, job design and grading enable the staffing needs of an organisation to be identified, specifically the required posts, jobs and skills. This is a prerequisite for all recruitment activities.
Workforce planning is the means by which the organisation’s human resources can be strategically developed to meet future performance requirements. It guides recruitment, career development and deployment decisions. It ensures the right people are in the right job, with the right skills, at the right time. Workforce planning is the formal process used to identify the workforce required to deliver governments’ strategies and mandates. It identifies the gaps between staff supply and demand and allows MDAs to plan the best ways to acquire, develop and maintain the talent and skills needed to deliver strategic goals.
Effective HR recruitment, posting, promotion and career guidance should all stem from the
Establishment and Workforce Plans.
Fully realised, performance management is a holistic process bringing together all of the elements that enable people to achieve individual and organisational objectives.
Performance management is concerned with setting objectives, providing civil servants with the knowledge, skills and resources to deliver the objectives, and measuring performance though appraisal. HR performance management therefore integrates aspects of
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organisational objective-setting, training and capacity building, and appraisal, as well as systems of incentives and discipline.
Performance management requires high quality human resource information systems to track and link all of these aspects of performance.
A code of ethics is a valuable tool in defining the behavioural standards expected of all public servants. However, without skilled HR practitioners who can reinforce those behaviours through coaching, monitoring and development of officers at all levels it is unlikely such aspirations will be realised.
A grievance policy and procedure allows officers to raise issues to their superior officers that fall outside the normal decision-making appeals process, e.g. harassment, victimisation, bullying, or discrimination. (As such, grievances are about improper behaviour and/or treatment, while appeals are about specific, unfair employment-related decisions.)
The introduction of welfare services to support public servants is vital in ensuring good employee relations. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the concept of ‘welfare’ should extend beyond monetary allowances and pay. This will also include enhanced employment protection, leave entitlement and other implied benefits of employment such as fair treatment, safe working environment, and reasonable workloads, etc.
A fair pay and allowances structure seems obvious, but what is considered ‘fair’ may be very subjective, and expectations need to be carefully managed to avoid disappointment.
Furthermore, in the public service, salary bands are not directly performance-linked, which fails to incentivise hardworking and strong performing officers. It may therefore lead to poor attitudes or low motivation. If this is the case then greater emphasis will need to be placed on other non-monetary forms of reward.
Payroll plays a major role in an organisation for several reasons. From an accounting perspective, payroll is crucial because payroll and payroll taxes considerably affect the net income of most organisations, and they are subject to laws and regulations. From an ethical viewpoint the Payroll Department is responsible for identifying and addressing payroll errors and irregularities. Similarly, good employee morale requires pay to be paid correctly and on time. However, the challenge for HR officers is that payroll cannot function effectively without up-to-date and reliable data pulled from the HR Management Information Systems
(HR MIS). This places a great responsibility on HR officers to ensure proactive and sound maintenance of the data contained in these systems.
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Finally, pensions are an important component of retirement security and also need to be effectively and transparently administered. For many officers, pension and job security is a key motive for joining the public service in the first place and so this must be carefully managed and the relevant rules and regulations explicitly stated.
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