Human Resources Management in
Canada
Fifteenth Canadian Edition
Chapter 1
The Strategic Role of Human
Resources Management
Copyright © 2023 Pearson Canada Inc.
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Learning Objectives
1.1 Define what human resources management (HRM) is
and analyze how it relates to the management process
and non-H R managers.
1.2 Explain how HRM has changed over time to include a
higher-level advisory role.
1.3 Identify tools to help make evidence-based HRM
decisions.
1.4 Describe professionalism and ethics in the HRM
function.
1.5 Discuss the internal and external environmental factors
affecting HRM policies and practices, and explain their
impact.
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Where Are We Now …
Ellipsis
The purpose of this chapter is to explain what HRM is, why it
is important and how HRM activities are part of every
manager’s job.
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Human Resources Management and
the Management Process (1 of 8)
What is an organization?
• A group consisting of people with formally assigned roles
who work together to achieve organization’s goals.
What do managers do?
• Managers accomplish organization’s goals by managing
the efforts of the organization’s people.
• Perform the management process of planning, organizing,
staffing, leading, and controlling.
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Human Resources Management and
the Management Process (2 of 8)
What is Human Resources Management (HRM)?
• Management of people/employees in organizations to
drive successful organizational performance and
achievement of organization’s strategic goals.
• Responsible for:
– Finding and hiring the best individuals available.
– Developing their talent.
– Creating a productive work environment.
– Continually building and monitoring the human assets.
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Human Resources Management and
the Management Process (3 of 8)
Figure 1.1 Linking Company-Wide and HR Strategies
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Human Resources Management and
the Management Process (4 of 8)
Strategy and Human Capital
• Strategic plan: How the company will match its internal
strengths and weaknesses with external opportunities and
threats to maintain a competitive position.
• Strategy: Course of action the company pursues to
achieve its strategic aims.
• Strategic management: The process of identifying and
executing the strategic plan by matching the company’s
capabilities with the demands of its environment.
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Human Resources Management and
the Management Process (5 of 8)
Strategy and Human Capital
• Human capital is the knowledge, education, training,
skills, and expertise of an organization’s workforce.
• HR practices contribute to development of embedded
knowledge of a firm’s culture, history, processes, and
context.
• High performance HR practices have a positive
relationship with productivity and financial performance.
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Human Resources Management and
the Management Process (6 of 8)
Why Is HR Management Important to All Managers?
• Mistakes managers don’t want to make:
– hire the wrong person for the job
– experience high turnover
– have employees work below performance
expectations
– waste time with useless interviews
– face discrimination lawsuits
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Human Resources Management and
the Management Process (7 of 8)
Why Is HR Management Important to All Managers?
• Mistakes managers don’t want to make (continued):
– be cited under occupational safety laws for unfair
practices
– have some employees think their salaries are unfair
relative to others in the organization
– allow a lack of training to undermine effectiveness
– commit any unfair labour practices
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Human Resources Management and
the Management Process (8 of 8)
Shared Responsibility for Talent Management
• Current trends point to HR and talent management
becoming an everyday part of doing business.
• Figure 1.2 HR Activities: HR Professionals and Senior
Managers:
– Highlights core job requirements found in non-H R
roles.
▪ Traditionally limited to HR department.
– Evidence that HR skills permeate throughout the
organization.
– All managers need basics of HR management skills.
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HRM: Past, Present, and Future (1 of 5)
Past: Brief History of HRM
• Historically any enterprise required attracting, selecting,
and training workers.
– Personnel tasks were part of every manager’s job.
• In later 1800s, labour problems began arising in postIndustrial Revolution factories.
• In the early 1900s, the first “hiring offices,” training
programs, and factory schools were set up by employers.
• Union laws in the 1930s expanded role of HR.
• Equity-oriented laws in the 1970s and 1980s made
employers more reliant of personnel management.
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HRM: Past, Present, and Future (2 of 5)
Past: Brief History of HRM
• Globalization in the 1980s made gaining competitive edge
through engaged employees increasingly important.
• Technological advances in the 1980s and 1990s resulted
in outsourcing many operational HR activities.
• Today economic and demographic trends make finding,
hiring, and motivating employees more challenging.
– Role of HR department has evolved to that of helping
organizations achieve strategic objectives.
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HRM: Past, Present, and Future (3 of 5)
Present: The New HR Manager
• Defends HR plans in measurable terms.
• Understands strategic planning, marketing, production,
and finance.
• Formulates and Implements organizational changes.
• Drives employee engagement.
• Redesigns organizational structures and work processes.
• Serves as subject-matter expert or in-house consultant.
• Needs to have broad-based business knowledge and
skills.
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HRM: Past, Present, and Future (4 of 5)
Present: The New HR Manager
• Firms are changing how they organize the HR
function.
• New focus separates employees into segments such
as executives, technical employees, and rank-and-file.
• Other HR configurations in use today:
– Transactional HR teams
– Corporate HR teams
– Embedded HR teams
– Relationship managers or HR business partners
(HRBP)
– Centres of excellence (COE)
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HRM: Past, Present, and Future (5 of 5)
Future: What’s Next for the HR Manager
• Best practices include focusing on workforce growth,
using technology to evolve hiring practices, recognizing
novel employee expectations, determining how to brand
the organization to be the company of choice, establishing
ways to integrate employees, and figuring out how to
select recruits based on evolving job and company
requirements.
• Centralise new talent platforms.
• Post-Covid, determine best ways for employees place of
work, how to work and when to work.
• Manage diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
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Evidence-Based HRM (1 of 4)
Evidence-based HRM is making decisions based on
data, facts, analytics, scientific rigour, critical evaluation,
and critically-evaluated research/case studies.
• Using the best-available evidence in making HRM
proposals, decisions, practices and conclusions.
• Measuring the value and impact of human capital and
HRM practices:
– Use metrics (statistics) to measure activities and
results.
▪ Provide critical information that can be linked to
organizational outcomes such as productivity,
market share, and profits.
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Evidence-Based HRM (2 of 4)
Strategic HRM Tools
• Strategy map: A strategic planning tool that shows the
“big picture” of how each department’s performance
contributes to achieving the company’s overall strategic
goals.
• Balanced scorecard: Translates organization’s strategy
into a comprehensive set of performance measures.
– Financial measures tell results of actions already
taken.
– Operational measures drive future performance.
– Balance long-term and short-term actions related to
financial results, customers, business processes, and
human capital management.
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Evidence-Based HRM (3 of 4)
Strategic HRM Tools
• Digital dashboard presents managers with desktop
graphs and charts to create a computerized picture of how
the company is doing on all the metrics from the HR
scoreboard process.
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Evidence-Based HRM (4 of 4)
Figure 1.3 A Sample of a Digital Dashboard
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Growing Professionalism in HRM
(1 of 7)
Characteristics of a Profession
1. Common body of knowledge.
2. Benchmarked performance standards.
3. Representative professional association.
4. External perception as a profession.
5. Code of ethics.
6. Required training credentials for entry and career
mobility.
7. Ongoing skill development.
8. Maintenance of professional competence.
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Growing Professionalism in HRM
(2 of 7)
• Certification is the recognition for having met
specific professional standards.
• Professional HR designation in Canada is changing.
– Ontario has formed its own association.
– New designation in all other jurisdictions:
▪ Chartered Professional in Human Resources
(CPHR)
– Specialized designations recognize expertise in
benefits, recruitment, payroll, employee benefits,
management professionals and certified training
and development professionals.
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Growing Professionalism in HRM
(3 of 7)
Table 1.1 HR Associations by Province and Designation
Jurisdiction
HR Association
Designation
Link
British Columbia and
Yukon
Chartered Professionals in Human
Resources of British Columbia and
Yukon (CPHR BC & Yukon)
CPHR
www.cphrbc.ca
Alberta, Nunavut, and
Northwest Territories
Chartered Professionals in Human
Resources of Alberta (CPHR
Alberta)
CPHR
www.cphrab.ca
Saskatchewan
Chartered Professionals in Human
Resources Saskatchewan (CPHR
Saskatchewan)
CPHR
www.cphrsk.ca
Manitoba
Chartered Professionals in Human
Resources Manitoba (CPHR
Manitoba)
CPHR
www.cphrmb.ca
CPHR
www.cphrnb.ca
New Brunswick
Chartered Professionals in Human
Resources New Brunswick (CPHR
New Brunswick)
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Growing Professionalism in HRM
(4 of 7)
Table 1.1 HR Associations by Province and Designation
Jurisdiction
HR Association
Designation
Link
Nova Scotia
Chartered Professional in Human
Resources Nova Scotia
(CPHR Nova Scotia)
CPHR
https://cphrns.ca/
Prince Edward Island
Chartered Professionals in Human
Resources of Prince Edward
Island Association (CPHR PEI)
CPHR
www.cphrpei.ca/
Newfoundland and
Labrador
The Chartered Professionals in
Human Resources Newfoundland
and Labrador (CPHR NL)
CPHR
www.cphrnl.ca
Quebec
L’Ordre des Conseillers en
Ressources Humaines Agréés
CPHR
www.ordrecrha.org
Human Resources Professionals
Association (HRPA)
CHRP, CHRL,
CHRE
www.hrpa.ca/
Ontario
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Growing Professionalism in HRM
(5 of 7)
Ethics
• The principles of conduct governing an individual or group.
• For HR professionals abiding by code of ethics is a requirement
to maintain professional status.
• Organizational code of ethics provides a guide.
• Ethical issues in Canadian organizations today:
– Security of information.
– Employee and client privacy.
– Environmental issues.
– Governance.
– Conflict of interest.
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Growing Professionalism in HRM
(6 of 7)
Ethics
• Failure of ethics programs:
– Lack of leadership.
– Inadequate training.
• Positive outcomes of ethics programs:
– Increased confidence among stakeholders.
– Greater client, customer and employee loyalty.
– Decreased vulnerability to crime.
– Reduced losses to internal theft.
– Increased public trust.
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Growing Professionalism in HRM
(7 of 7)
Ethics
• Social responsibility is the balancing organizational
commitments to investors, employees, customers, other
businesses, and the communities in which the firm
operates.
• Mountain Equipment Co-op’s (MEC) social responsibility
perspective:
– Examine every aspect of a product’s life cycle.
– Consider resources that go into making and shipping
products.
– Aim for satisfaction of employees and customers.
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Environmental Influences on HRM
(1 of 14)
Table 1.2 External and Internal Environmental Influences on
HRM
External
Labour market issues: Changes to the workforce composition, including protected
groups (visible/ethnic minorities, women, Indigenous Peoples, people with disabilities),
generational differences (traditionalists, baby boomers, Gen X, Gen Y, and Gen Z), and
contingent workers
Economic conditions: Affect supply and demand for products, impacting quantity and
quality of employees required, and ability to pay/give benefits
Technology: Controlling data and privacy
Government: Abiding by provincial and national standards
Globalization: Managing the workforce in an intense, hypercompetitive global economy
Environment: Managing sustainability and corporate social responsibility
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Environmental Influences on HRM
(2 of 14)
Table 1.2 External and Internal Environmental Influences on
HRM
Internal
Organizational culture: Values, beliefs, and norms of organizational members
Organizational climate: The atmosphere’s impact on employee motivation,
job performance, and productivity
Management practices: Organizational structure and employee
empowerment
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Environmental Influences on HRM
(3 of 14)
External Environmental Influences
Labour Market Issues: Workforce Composition
• Increasing workforce diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)
– Canada’s workforce is one of the most diverse in the world.
– Includes demographic factors, values and cultural norms.
– In Canada there are four protected employee groups:
visible and ethnic minorities, women, Indigenous Peoples,
and persons with disabilities.
– They have face lower pay on average, occupational
segregation higher rates of unemployment, concentration in
low status jobs with little positional for career growth.
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Environmental Influences on HRM
(4 of 14)
External Environmental Influences
Labour Market Issues: Generational Differences
• See Table 1.3 for a description of the 5 generations in the
workplace.
• Values and beliefs are shared within each of the 5
generations which impact their approach to work and
working life.
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Environmental Influences on HRM
(5 of 14)
External Environmental Influences
Labour Market Issues: Non-standard or Contingent
Workers
• Workers who do not have regular full-time employment
status.
• Used by companies to provide flexible, on-demand labour
without the same guarantees for continued employment,
development or benefits.
• Direct employment types: full-time, part-time, on call or in
limited-term roles.
• Contract work types: direct contracting, subcontracting
and gig workers.
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Environmental Influences on HRM
(6 of 14)
External Environmental Influences
Economic Conditions
• Affect supply and demand.
• Employment levels fluctuate with economy.
• Productivity improvement is essential for long-term
success.
– Ratio of outputs (goods and services) to inputs
(people, capital, energy, and materials).
• Decline of the primary, secondary sectors but growth of
tertiary (service) sectors.
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Environmental Influences on HRM
(7 of 14)
External Environmental Influences
Technology
• Digital technologies are driving transfer of functionality
from HR professionals to automation.
– Mobile applications – monitor employee location.
– Gaming – used in training applications.
– Cloud computing – provide real-time feedback.
– Data analytics – applied to problem solving.
– Talent analytics – analyze traits of ideal candidates.
• Increasing use of social media tools to recruit new
employees.
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Environmental Influences on HRM
(8 of 14)
External Environmental Influences
Technology
• Affects the nature of jobs.
– Dispersed workforce.
▪ Work anywhere.
– Line between work and family time is blurred.
– Concerns about data control, accuracy, right to privacy
and ethics.
– Monitoring of employee speed, accuracy, efficiency,
email, voicemail, phone conversations, computer use.
– Video surveillance of employee behaviour.
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Environmental Influences on HRM
(9 of 14)
External Environmental Influences
Government
• Impact of laws on employer-employee relationship.
– Complicated by federal and ten provincial jurisdictions.
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Environmental Influences on HRM
(10 of 14)
External Environmental Influences
Globalization
• Globalization is the emergence of a single global market.
– Sustainability
– Increasing intensity of competition.
– Human resources are a source of competitive
advantage.
– HR professionals must become familiar with
employment legislation in other countries.
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Environmental Influences on HRM
(11 of 14)
External Environmental Influences
Environmental Concerns
• Environmental concerns are motivating behaviour of
employees.
– Sustainability
– Climate change
– Global warming
– Pollution
– Carbon footprints
– Extinction of wildlife
– Ecosystem fragility
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Environmental Influences on HRM
(12 of 14)
Internal Environmental Influences
Organizational Culture
• Organizational culture is the core values, beliefs, and
assumptions that are widely shared by members of an
organization.
• Conveyed through mission statement, stories, symbols and
ceremonies.
– Communicates what organization believes in and stands
for.
– Provides sense of direction and expected behaviour.
– Creates a sense of identity and consistency.
– Fosters employee loyalty and commitment.
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Environmental Influences on HRM
(13 of 14)
Internal Environmental Influences
Organizational Climate
• Organizational climate is the atmosphere or “internal
weather”, and its impact on employee motivation, job
satisfaction, performance, productivity, and loyalty.
– Examples: friendly or unfriendly, open or secretive,
rigid of flexible, innovative or stagnant.
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Environmental Influences on HRM
(14 of 14)
Internal Environmental Influences
Management Practices
• Flat structures, cross-functional teams, improved
communication.
• Empowerment provides workers with skills and authority
to make decisions that would traditionally be made by
managers.
• Two-way communication.
• Open-door policies.
• Management by “walking around”.
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