Understanding Human Resource HR Management – Nature, Scope, Objectives and Function

What is human resources? Human resources are multi-dimensional in nature. It is the total knowledge, creative ability, talent, skill and aptitude of the workforce of an organization. It is also defined as the values, belief systems, attitude and approach of the individuals working in the organization and the sum total of their acquired knowledge, abilities and skills, based on their talent and aptitude.

From the national point of view, human resources may be defined as the skills, talents, aptitudes, knowledge, and creative ability of the entire population. From an organizational point of view, they represent the ability, skills and acquired knowledge of all employees of an organization.

What is Human Resource Management?

Human resource management is today recognized as an integral part of management. It is by definition concerned with the management of the human resources of an organization. The objective of human resource management is fostering better relationships in the organization between the employees and the management as well as through the development, application and evaluation of procedures, policies and programs for the realization of the critical goals and objectives of the organization.

Human resource management is essentially about getting better results for the organization through the systematic collaboration of the people involved. Human resource management is a part of the management itself and yet distinct by nature as it directly related to the employees at work and the nature of their ties to the organization as a whole.

Human resource management helps an individual employee maximize their individual potential and further their development and improves the working relationship between an employer and their employee. Proper human resource management involves modelling human resources while taking into cognizance the physical resources of the organization. Human resource management is ultimately about the development, compensation, motivation and utilization of human resources by the organization as a whole.

Evolution of Human Resource Management

Human resource management is a relatively recent concept. It was in early 20th century that one saw a new desire for improving organizational efficiency though the careful and systematic design of work. The mid part of the 20th century saw the focus shift to employee productivity for the greater good of the organization. Since then, there has been a strong emphasis on improving the quality of working life, ensuring better participation of the workforce in the management of the organization and the emergence of a new concept called total quality management. The three phases of human resource management may be described as welfare, development and empowerment.

Major Influencing Factors behind Human Resource Management

Human Resource Management was influenced by the following critical factors.

The number of employees

Increasing desires and expectations of the work force

Rapid changes in technology

Massive lifestyle changes

A change in the composition of the workforce

Demand for new skills in the industry

Environmental challenges

Creating lean organizations

Downsizing of the workforce

Culture of the organization

Need for up-to-date Employment News

Human Resource Management: Nature

What’s the nature of human resource management? Human resource management (HRM) is essentially about bringing people and organizations together and making sure that the goals of each are fulfilled. It is characterized by the following features.

HRM is strongly focused on results, and not necessarily on rules

HRM is a part of every organization and is all pervasive by nature.

HRM focuses on encouraging employees to put their best feet forward for the betterment of the organization, i.e., to do their best for the company.

HRM is all about putting people to work, both as a part of a group and as individuals.

HRM is about helping employees achieve their true potential.

HRM is about assigning the right people to the right jobs, so as to get the best possible outcome for the organization as a whole.

HRM helps an organization reach its goals and meet its objectives and does so by creating better motivated and competent employees.

HRM helps to build and maintain excellent relationships between the various people working at different levels in the organization.

HRM is essentially a multi-disciplinary activity. It utilizes the full extent of the knowledge that is available to the organization and draws precious inputs from economics, psychology and other disciplines.

HRM helps to keep employees informed and delivers the latest employment news.

Human Resources Management: Scope

The scope of human resource management can be divided into three different aspects – the personnel aspect, the welfare aspect and the industrial relations aspect.

Personnel Aspect – Personnel aspect of human resource management relates to the selection, remuneration, training and development, recruitment, manpower planning, Employment News, placement, promotion, transfer, layoff and retrenchment, incentives, productivity and so on.

Welfare Aspect – Welfare aspect of human resource management relates to the working conditions and amenities at the organization such as canteens, restrooms, lunch rooms, health and safety, babysitting for the children of the employees, housing, education, medical assistance, transport, recreation facilities, and so on.

Industrial relations Aspect– The industrial relations aspect of human resource management relates to the management of the relationship between the union and the management, holding joint consultations, grievance and disciplinary procedures, collective bargaining, settlement of worker disputes, and so on.

Human Resource Management: Objectives

Human resource management has the following important objectives.

#1: To ensure respect for all employees of the organization. To identify the needs of various workers and employees and to solve them satisfactorily

#2: To help the organization reach its goals and achieve its objectives.

#3: To provide for the maximum development of human resources

#4: Effective use of the human resources available to the organization.

#5: Matching the goals and objectives of the individuals with those of the organization.

#6: To achieve as well as to maintain an excellent morale among the workers and employees.

#7: To make sure that the best trained and highly motivated individuals join the organization as employees.

#8: To ensure that job satisfaction remains high among all employees.

#9: To maintain and develop a better quality of life at work for all employees.

#10: To make sure that the organization and its employees are socially as well as ethically responsive to the needs of the poor and the underprivileged of the society.

#11: To maximize the potential of each employee and to enhance their capabilities to perform their job.

#12: To make sure that the employees are equipped with all the tools and resources they need to perform their jobs more effectively for the betterment of the organization.

#13: To build a sense of team work, team spirit and collaboration within the organization.

#14: To keep the employees up-to-date with what’s happening at the organization and to distribute the latest employment news to those who need it.

Human Resource Management – Function

What’s the function of human resource management?

Function #1: To implement policies and procedures that take into consideration the core values of the organization as well as the labour legislation, the prevailing laws and regulations. This relates to monitoring the organizational behaviour, while includes roles such as time keeping, ensuring work ethic, acting against absenteeism and so on.

Function #2: To establish proper rules and guidelines to protect, serve and control the employees of the organization. It is impossible for the management to micromanage everything that happens in the organization and to guide each employee individually about their duties and responsibilities, or to oversee them when there are tens of thousands of employees in the organization. That’s why one of the main functions of human resources management is to create rules and guidelines for the employees to make sure that the organization runs smoothly and works as a single, synchronized and cohesive unit.

Function #3: To make sure that the organization always acts according to the law in its dealing with each employee. To make sure that all decisions taken by the organization are taken in accordance with the prevailing labour regulations as well as the regulations on health and safety.

Function #4: To create a systematic and methodical process for the recruitment and selection of employees for various roles in the organization. Finding the right employees for each role based on an analysis of their individual personality traits, aptitude and skill. To make sure that the employees find a work environment that makes them happy and productive and brings out the best in them for the betterment of the organization.

Function #5: To plan and organize performance management strategies for the organization as a whole. To monitor the performance of all employees of the organization and to keep track of the skill development requirements for the entire organization.

Function #6: To handle the training and education of the employees. To make sure that problematic issues related to redundancy and stagnation are kept to a minimum. To make sure that the employees are well informed about the state of the organization as well as the industry and to deliver the most up-to-date employment news.