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What is HRM
Human resource management (HRM or HR) is the strategic approach to the effective management of people in a company or organisation such that they help their business gain a competitive advantage. It is designed to maximise employee performance in the service of an employer's strategic objectives. Human resource management is primarily concerned with the management of people within organisations, focusing on policies and systems. HR departments are responsible for overseeing employee-benefits design, employee recruitment, training and development, performance appraisal, and reward management, such as managing pay and benefit systems. HR also concerns itself with organisational change and industrial relations, or the balancing of organisational practices with requirements arising from collective bargaining and governmental laws
Foss and Lyngsie (2011) give the following reasons for engaging in HRM practices: first, to assign duties to employees and teams; second, to develop and publicise incentives for knowledge sharing, individual achievements, and benefit-sharing; third, as a medium for intra-organisation information sharing about practices like job rotation and knowledge sharing; fourth, to generate internal and external training opportunities for employees; and last, to carry out retention, recruitment, and promotion policies to fulfil the organisation’s HR needs. The last two of these tasks are considered part of conventional HRM practice, whereas the first three are more modern HRM roles.
Purpose of HRM
The overall purpose of human resources (HR) is to ensure that the organisation is able to achieve success through people. HR professionals manage the human capital of an organisation and focus on implementing policies and processes. They can specialise in finding, recruiting, training, and developing employees, as well as maintaining employee relations or benefits. Training and development professionals ensure that employees are trained and have continuous development. This is done through training programs, performance evaluations, and reward programs. Employee relations deals with the concerns of employees when policies are broken, such as cases involving harassment or discrimination. Managing employee benefits includes developing compensation structures, parental leave programs, discounts, and other benefits for employees. On the other side of the field are HR generalists or business partners. These HR professionals could work in all areas or be labour relations representatives working with unionised employees.
Principles of HRM
Business consultants note that modern human resource management is guided by several overriding principles. Perhaps the paramount principle is a simple recognition that human resources are the most important assets of an organisation; a business cannot be successful without effectively managing this resource. Another important principle, articulated by Michael Armstrong in his book A Handbook of Human Resource Management, is that business success "is most likely to be achieved if the personnel policies and procedures of the enterprise are closely linked with, and make a major contribution to, the achievement of corporate objectives and strategic plans." A third guiding principle, similar in scope, holds that it is the HR's responsibility to find, secure, guide, and develop employees whose talents and desires are compatible with the operating needs and future goals of the company. Other HRM factors that shape corporate culture-; whether by encouraging integration and cooperation across the company, instituting quantitative performance measurements, or taking some other action-; are also commonly cited as key components in business success. HRM summarised Armstrong, "is a strategic approach to the acquisition, motivation, development and management of the organization's human resources. It is devoted to shaping an appropriate corporate culture, and introducing programs which reflect and support the core values of the enterprise and ensure its success."
The Changing Role of the HR Function
Of all the support functions, the HRM (Human Resource Management) function is a critical component of any organisation. Apart from finance, which serves as the lifeblood of the organisational support functions, the HRM function more than any other support function has the task of ensuring that the organisational policies and procedures are implemented and any grievances of the employees are taken care of. For instance, it is common for the HRM function in many organisations to combine hiring, training, providing assistance during appraisals, mentoring employees, and deciding on pay structures and grades. This means that the HRM function has its task cut out wherein it has to take care of the “people” side of the organisational processes.
Change in Conception from Reactive to Proactive
Many people think of the HR manager as someone who attends to complaints from employees, appears at the time of appraisals, and generally is useful only when there is a genuine need for him or her. This is the classic old-world thinking wherein HR managers were confined to these activities alone. However, times have changed and in recent decades, the HR function has emerged as a key function in itself wherein the HR professionals are proactive and preemptive in nature. What this means is that HR managers anticipate the crises and preempt them from happening instead of waiting for the crisis to appear and then resolve it.
