Human Resource Management Introduction

HRM is the function within an organization that focuses on recruitment, management, and providing direction for the people who work in the organization.

HRM is the managerial utilization of the efforts, knowledge, capabilities, and committed behaviors of people who contribute to an organization.
HRM is a strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organization's most valued asset – the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to its objectives.

Support the organization in achieving its objectives by developing and implementing HR strategies that are integrated with the business strategy.
Ensure that the organization has the talented, skilled, and engaged people it needs.
Create a positive employment relationship between management and employees and a climate of mutual trust.

HR is multidisciplinary, applying disciplines such as Economics, Psychology, and Sociology.

Welfare Officer: Concerned about the welfare of workers, particularly women, in response to harsh industrial conditions and trade union pressures.
Labour Manager: Handled absence, recruitment, dismissal, and queries over bonuses in big industries.
Personnel Manager: Integrated employment management and welfare work under the broad term 'personnel management'.

Personnel Management: Focuses on the work force and their relationship with the entity, emphasizing implementation of procedures.
HRM: Focuses on the most effective use of manpower to achieve organizational goals, emphasizing strategy and competitive pay and conditions.

An organization is made up of four resources: humans, materials, money, and machinery.
Humans make use of the other three resources.

Employees are the most important asset of the organization, and their quality and effectiveness determine the organization's success.

HR planning, recruitment, and selection, promotion, transfers, and dismissals.
Orientation, induction, training, and development, coaching, policy recommendation, organizational development, and job analysis.
Performance management, health and safety, collective bargaining, and managing relations.
Developing and designing systems or processes that facilitate organizational restructuring.

Planning: Determining goals and laying down policies and procedures to reach them.
Organising: Structuring work, grouping personnel activities, and assigning tasks.
Directing: Encouraging employees to work towards organizational goals.
Controlling: Observing and comparing results with standards and correcting deviations.
Staffing: Attracting, recruiting, and retaining talent within the organization.

General Role: Contributing to the organizational strategy, developing integrated HR strategies, and providing guidance on HR matters.
Service Delivery Role: Emphasizing transactional and day-to-day activities such as recruitment, training, and employment law matters.
Strategic Role: Contributing to the development of the business strategy by advising on how the business can achieve its goals using HR.
HR People as Innovators: Introducing new processes and procedures to improve organizational effectiveness.
Change Agent Role: Facilitating change by providing advice and support on its introduction and management.
HR Business Partners: Sharing responsibility with line management colleagues for the success of the enterprise and implementing the business strategy.

HR officers are part of the organizational management and must perform the basic managerial functions.

External factors such as the complexity of the external environment and influences that appear most pertinent must be recognized and addressed by HR officers.

Strategic HRM is an approach that defines how an organization's goals will be achieved through people by means of HR strategies and integrated HR policies and practices.
It is concerned with achieving a close fit or alignment between business and human resource strategy.

Generate strategic capabilities by ensuring the organization has skilled, committed, and well-motivated employees.
Integrate with the organizational strategy.
Provide a sense of direction in an often turbulent environment.

Cost differentiation strategy: provide great value at low cost, emphasizing on acquiring materials at low cost, streamlining processes, and minimizing wastes.
HR implications: jobs and departments are structured to maximize cross-training and knowledge sharing, compensation programs reward savings and cost savings, and employees are selected on the basis of cost-saving skills.
Product differentiation strategy: product/service is similar to competitors but incorporates a feature(s) that differentiates it.
HR implications: compensation systems reward creativity and innovation, employees need to be educated about product/service differentiating features, and marketing campaigns are created to promote special product features.
Customer intimacy strategy: strong personal relationship between provider of product/service and customer.
HR implications: recruit and select job candidates with strong customer service and customer relations skills, and emphasize versatility and adaptability in employees.
Customer/market focus strategy: unique target market characteristics.
HR implications: use market research to drive recruitment and selection, and employees need to have a strong understanding of the target market.

The framework for delivering HRM is provided by the HR architecture of an organization, which consists of HR systems, HR practices, and HR delivery models.
The delivery of HRM is the responsibility of line managers who put HR strategies and policies into practice.

Models help explain the role of HR in organizations and how the HR department operates.
Examples include Harvard's framework for HR management, which emphasizes the alignment of a competitive strategy and HR strategy.

HR function delivers through the provision of advice and services relating to human resource management.
HR tools include engagement, reward, development, foundational aspects like pay and recruitment.