Human Resource Management
Meaning
The function of staffing is concerned with the assessment of the managerial manpower requirements,
requirement and selection of managers, training and development of managers and the periodic
appraisal of the performance of the managers.
Definition
According to Koontz and O' Donnell "the managerial function of staffing involves manning the
organisation structure through proper and effective selection, appraisal and development of personnel
to fill the roles designated into the structure".
S. Benjamin has defined staffing as, "The process involved in identifying, assessing, placing, evaluating
and directing individuals at work".
Objectives of HRM
1. Organizational Objectives: HRM is a means to achieve efficiency and effectiveness. It serves
other functional areas, so as to help them to attain efficiency in their operations and attainment
of goals to attain efficiency. Acquiring right man for the right job at right time in right quantity,
developing through right kind of training, utilizing the selected workforce, and maintaining the
workforce are the organizational objectives of HRM. Succession planning is an important issue
to be taken up as a contemporary organizational objective.
2. Functional Objectives: HRM performs so many functions for other departments. However, it
must see that the facilitation should not cost more than the benefit rendered.
3. Personal Objectives: In today’s world there is shortage of requisite talent. Employees are
encouraged by competitive firms to change the jobs. HRM has the responsibility to acquire,
develop, utilize, and maintain employees. This would be possible only when the HRM helps
employees to achieve their personal goals to get their commitment. Creating work-life balance
for the employees is a personal objective.
4. Societal Objectives: HRM must see that the legal, ethical, and social environmental issues are
properly attended to. Equal opportunity and equal pay for equal work are the legal issues not to
be violated. To take care of farmers (whose land has been acquired for the factory) and tribal’s
(who are displaced by industries and mining companies) are the ethical issues.
Importance of HRM
Human resources are the valuable assets of the corporate bodies. They are their strength. To face the
new challenges on the fronts of knowledge, technology and changing trends in global economy needs
effective human resource management. Significance of HRM can be seen in three contexts:
organisational, social and professional.
Organisation Significance: HRM is of vital importance to the individual organisation as a means for
achieving their objectives. It contributes to the achievement of organisational objectives in the following
ways:
1. Good human resource practice can help in attracting and retaining the best people in the
organisation.
2. Developing the necessary skills and right attitudes among the employees through training,
development, performance appraisal, etc.
3. Securing willing cooperation of employees through motivation, participation, grievance
handling, etc.
4. Effective utilisation of available human resources.
5. Ensuring that enterprise will have in future a team of competent and dedicated employees.
Social Significance: Social significance of HRM lies in the need satisfaction of personnel in the
organisation. Since these personnel are drawn from the society, their effectiveness contributes to the
welfare of the society. Society, as a whole, is the major beneficiary of good human resource practice.
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Employment opportunities multiply.
Eliminating waste of human resources through conservation of physical and mental health.
Scare talents are put to best use. Companies that pay and treat people well always race
ahead of others and deliver excellent results.
Professional Significance:
Professional significance of HRM lies in developing people and providing healthy environment for
effective utilisation of their capabilities. This can be done by:
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Developing people on continuous basis to meet challenge of their job.
Promoting team-work and team-spirit among employees.
Offering excellent growth opportunities to people who have the potential to rise.
Providing environment and incentives for developing and utilising creativity.
Functions of HRM
Some of the major functions of human resource management are as follows: 1. Managerial Functions 2.
Operative Functions 3. Advisory Functions.
Human Resource or Personnel Department is established in most of the organisations, under the charge
of an executive known as Human Resource/Personnel Manager. This department plays an important
role in the efficient management of human resources.
The personnel department gives assistance and provides service to all other departments on personnel
matters. Though personnel or human resource manager is a staff officer in relation to other
departments of the enterprise, he has a line authority to get orders executed within his department.
1. Managerial Functions: The Human Resource Manager is a part of the organisational management. So
he must perform the basic managerial functions of planning, organising, directing and controlling in
relation to his department.
There functions are briefly discussed below:
a) Planning: To get things done through the subordinates, a manager must plan ahead. Planning is
necessary to determine the goals of the organisation and lay down policies and procedures to
reach the goals. For a human resource manager, planning means the determination of
personnel programs that will contribute to the goals of the enterprise, i.e., anticipating
vacancies, planning job requirements, job descriptions and determination of the sources of
recruitment.
b) Organizing: Once the human resource manager has established objectives and developed plans
and programs to reach them, he must design and develop organisation structure to carry out
the various operations.
c) Directing: The plans are to be pure into effect by people. But how smoothly the plans are
implemented depends on the motivation of people. The direction function of the personnel
manager involves encouraging people to work willingly and effectively for the goals of the
enterprise.
d) Controlling: Controlling is concerned with the regulation of activities in accordance with the
plans, which in turn have been formulated on the basis of the objectives of the organisation.
Thus, controlling completes the cycle and leads back to planning. It involves the observation and
comparison of results with the standards and correction of deviations that may occur.
2. Operative Functions: The operative functions are those tasks or duties which are specifically entrusted
to the human resource or personnel department. These are concerned with employment, development,
compensation, integration and maintenance of personnel of the organisation.
The operative functions of human resource or personnel department are discussed below:
a) Employment: The first operative function of the human resource of personnel
department is the employment of proper kind and number of persons necessary to
achieve the objectives of the organisation. This involves recruitment, selection,
placement, etc. of the personnel.
b) Development: Training and development of personnel is a follow up of the employment
function. It is a duty of management to train each employee property to develop
technical skills for the job for which he has been employed and also to develop him for
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the higher jobs in the organisation. Proper development of personnel is necessary to
increase their skills in doing their jobs and in satisfying their growth need.
c) Compensation: This function is concerned with the determination of adequate and
equitable remuneration of the employees in the organisation of their contribution to
the organisational goals. The personnel can be compensated both in terms of monetary
as well as non-monetary rewards.
d) Maintenance (Working Conditions and Welfare): Merely appointment and training of
people is not sufficient; they must be provided with good working, conditions so that
they may like their work and workplace and maintain their efficiency. Working
conditions certainly influence the motivation and morale of the employees.
e) Motivation: Employees work in the organisation for the satisfaction of their needs. In
many of the cases, it is found that they do not contribute towards the organisational
goals as much as they can. This happens because employees are not adequately
motivated. The human resource manager helps the various departmental managers to
design a system of financial and non-financial rewards to motivate the employees.
f) Personnel Records: The human resource or personnel department maintains the records
of the employees working in the enterprise. It keeps full records of their training,
achievements, transfer, promotion, etc. It also preserves many other records relating to
the behaviour of personnel like absenteeism and labour turnover and the personnel
programs and policies of the organisation.
g) Industrial Relations: These days, the responsibility of maintaining good industrial
relations is mainly discharged by the human resource manager. The human resource
manager can help in collective bargaining, joint consultation and settlement of disputes,
if the need arises. This is because of the fact that he is in possession of full information
relating to personnel and has the working knowledge of various labour enactments.
h) Separation: Since the first function of human resource management is to procure the
employees, it is logical that the last should be the separation and return of that person
to society. Most people do not die on the job. The organisation is responsible for
meeting certain requirements of due process in separation, as well as assuring that the
returned person is in as good shape as possible. The personnel manager has to ensure
the release of retirement benefits to the retiring personnel in time.
Advisory Functions: Human resource manager has specialised education and training in
managing human resources. He is an expert in his area and so can give advice on matters
relating to human resources of the organisation.
HR Manager Duties and Responsibilities
1. Overall Responsibilities: Human resource managers have strategic and functional responsibilities
for all of the HR disciplines. A human resource manager has the expertise of an HR generalist
combined with general business and management skills.
2. Compensation and Benefits: Human resource managers provide guidance and direction to
compensation and benefits specialists. Within this discipline, human resources managers
develop strategic compensation plans, align performance management systems with
compensation structure and monitor negotiations for group health care benefits.
3. Training and Development: Employee training and development includes new hire orientation,
leadership training and professional development seminars and workshops. Human resource
managers oversee needs assessments to determine when training is necessary and the type of
training necessary to improve performance and productivity.
4. Employee Relations: Although the employee relations specialist is responsible for investigating
and resolving workplace issues, the human resource manager has ultimate responsibility for
preserving the employer-employee relationship through designing an effective employee
relations strategy. An effective employee relations strategy contains specific steps for ensuring
the overall well-being of employees.
5. Recruitment and Selection: Human resource managers develop strategic solutions to meet
workforce demands and labor force trends. An employment manager actually oversees the
recruitment and selection processes; however, an HR manager is primarily responsible for
decisions related to corporate branding as it relates to recruiting and retaining talented
employees.