Human resource management.

Human resource management (HRM) is the strategic and coherent approach to the
management of an organization's most valued assets - the people working there who
individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the
business. The terms "human resource management" and "human resources" (HR)
have largely replaced the term "personnel management" as a description of the
processes involved in managing people in organizations.

Human Resource Management (HRM) is the function within an organization that

focuses on recruitment of, management of, and providing direction for the people
who work in the organization. Human Resource Management can also be performed
by line managers.

In simple words Human Resource Management is the organizational function that

deals with issues related to people such as compensation, hiring, performance
management, organization development, safety, wellness, benefits, employee
motivation, communication, administration, and training.

Importance of HR
 History of human resource management
They say that communication is the oldest existential phenomenon on earth. Well, if
that's the case then human resource management would get the second place in the
sibling hierarchy. In spite of being added as a subject in management courses fairly
late, HRM has been a concept that was utilized ever since human beings started
following an organized way of life. So shall we start digging up the history of human
resource management?

Some of human resource management's vital principles were used in prehistoric

times. Like, mechanisms being developed for selecting tribal leaders. Knowledge
was recorded and passed on to the next generation about safety, health, hunting,
and gathering. 1000 B.C to 2000 B.C saw the development of more advanced HR
functions. The Chinese are known to be the first to use employee screening
techniques, way back in 1115 B.C. And turns out it was not Donald Trump who
started "the apprentice" system. They were the Greek and Babylonian civilizations,
ages before the medieval times.

HRM has seen a lot of nick naming in its age. Since it was recognized as a separate
and important function, it has been called "personnel relations" then it evolved to
"industrial relations", then "employee relations" and then, finally, to "human
resources". I strongly believe, that human resources is the most apt name for it. It,
quintessentially, proves the importance of the human beings working in the
organization.

With the Industrial Revolution, came the conversion of the US economy from
agriculture-based to industry-based. This led them to require an extremely well-
organized structure. Further, this led them to recruit a lot of people. More so, the
industrial revolution brought in maddening amounts of immigration. Again, to create
employment for all the immigrants, recruitment and management of the recruited
individuals gained vitality. As such, there was a blaring need for Human Resource
Management.

Early human resource management, in general, followed a social welfare approach.

It aimed at helping immigrants in the process of adjusting to their jobs and to an
"American" life. The main aim behind these programs was to assist immigrants in
learning English and acquiring housing and medical care. Also, these techniques
used to promote supervisory training to ensure an increase in productivity.

With the advent of "labor unions" in the 1790's, the power in the hands of the
employees multiplied considerably and increased at a rapid pace by the 1800s and
furthermore in the 1900s. This led to the HR department being more capable of
politics and diplomacy. The two feats that were quintessential to the importance of
HR were; the fact that it was the HR department that got the management and the
labor unions to come on common grounds. They basically worked on getting the
management to see things from the labor perspective and grant them medical and
educational benefits. The other would be Frederick W. Taylor's (1856-1915)
Scientific Management. This book had tremendous impact on attaining better
productivity from low-level production workers.

B.F. Goodrich Company were the pioneers in designing a corporate employee

department to address the concerns of the employees in 1900. National Cash
Register followed suit in 1902 by forming a separate department to handle employee
grievances, record keeping, wage management and other employee-related
functions. Personnel Managers started seeing more sunshine since the Wagner's
Act (aka National Labor Relations Act) in 1935. There was a shift in focus from
worker's efficiency to efficiency through work satisfaction, thanks to the Hawthorne
studies around the 1930s to 1940s.

Between the 1960s and 1970s, the HRM movement gained further momentum due
to the passing of several acts like the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Civil Rights Act of
1964, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), and the
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. Now, the HR department was the apple
of the corporates' eyes because, the corporates placed a lot of importance on human
resource management to avoid plausible law suit.

So by the end of the 1970s, HRM had taken over the world! Almost all big and
medium scale industries had a department to manage their recruitment, employee
relations, record-keeping, salaries and wages, etc. Towards the 1980s, the
importance of HR continued to intumesce for several reasons like increase in skilled
labor, training, regulation compliance, dismissal, etc. The HR managers were the
ones who did the hiring and the firing.

In today's date, HR has the same importance as the other departments, in some
corporates, it has more. With the constant increase in education, technology and
frequent fluctuations in economic status and structures, I believe, HR is the oldest,
most mature and yet, the most efficient of all management styles.

Managerial Functions of HRM

1. Planning: Plan and research about wage trends, labor market conditions, union
demands and other personnel benefits. Forecasting manpower needs etc.
2. Organizing: Organizing manpower and material resources by creating authorities
and
responsibilities for the achievement of organizational goals and objectives.
3. Staffing: Recruitment & Selection
4. Directing: Issuance of orders and instructions, providing guidance and motivation
of
employees to follow the path laid-down.
5. Controlling: Regulating personnel activities and policies according to plans.
Observations and comparisons of deviations

Operational Functions of HRM

1. Procurement: Planning, Recruitment and Selection, Induction and

Placement
2. Development: Training, Development, Career planning and counseling.
3. Compensation: Wage and Salary determination and administration
4. Integration: Integration of human resources with organization.
5. Maintenance: Sustaining and improving working conditions, retentions,
employee communication
6. Separations: Managing separations caused by resignations, terminations,
lay offs, death, medical sickness etc.

HR CERTIFICATION

The field of human resources is an exciting career choice option for any business
professional to pursue; however, it does require a certain level of specialized training
in human capital management and employment law. Generally, the minimum
education required to pursue a position in human resources is a certificate level
credential which can be obtained in a variety of ways. The human resource
certificate demonstrates a baseline general knowledge in human resource topics and
is best suited for entry level human resource work.

The human resources certification training may include courses that cover recruiting
practices, employment laws, employee management and general hr strategy.

The human resources certificate provides a broad range of learning for anyone
considering a career in human resources or for managers who want to better
manage employees. In some cases, the certification may help with obtaining
continuing education credits that will eventually lead to an advanced degree in
human resource management and even greater employment options. A human
resources certificate is a good choice for anyone who is in an entry level human
resource, personnel or recruiting role.

HR AND TECHNOLOGY
When the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) recently asked its
Special Expertise Panel on Technology and HR Management to report on
technology trends in the sector, its overall conclusion was unsurprising – IT is being
leveraged by HR to benefit almost every aspect of its day-to-day operations. With
HR technology constantly improving and costs continuing to decline in many
instances, it is inevitable that implementation of these applications will continue to
rise.

But the devil is in the details. As HR – by its very nature the ‘human’ element of any
organization – becomes more automated, is it losing its very essence? Increasing
concerns over labor and knowledge shortages, as well as compliance requirements
such as Sarbanes-Oxley, have pushed firms to examine HR management more
closely than ever before. And in turn HR departments have increasingly turned to
their CIOs to tackle strategic issues such as performance management, compliance-
oriented training and succession planning. But is there a danger that HR will leave its
‘human’ element behind as it relies on the aid of technology?

One particular area that has been highlighted is the increasing deployment of self-
service components built into HR technology systems. “Employee self-service is
giving employees access to details about their payroll and pension information from
any web-based location along with the ability to change information,” explains Steve
Joyce, HR practice leader at The Hackett Group. “Self-service for job-related
functions allows employees to see what jobs are on offer and can be extended to
external applicants who can identify open positions and send in their CV online. The
CVs are then forwarded to a centralized pool for the recruiters to evaluate.”

Elsewhere, software is being deployed to manage areas such as internal mobility,

appraisal management, succession planning, package review and personal
development. E-recruitment and performance management software are also
helping to dramatically improve HR’s ability to carry out effective people relationship
management (PRM), and improve their organization’s employer brand. “PRM allows
organizations to form one-to-one relationships with potential and current employees,
enabling companies to better attract, develop and retain the right people and realize
their full potential,” suggests Patrice Barbedette, Founder of Jobpartners. “With such
solutions, organizations are able to treat their candidates and employees as they
would treat their customers. It also enables them to move away from subjective
people management to objective and efficient people management to the great
benefit of the employee/candidate.”

STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Strategic human resource management is designed to help companies best meet

the needs of their employees while promoting company goals. Human resource
management deals with any aspects of a business that affects employees, such as
hiring and firing, pay, benefits, training, and administration. Human resources may
also provide work incentives, safety procedure information, and sick or vacation
days.

Strategic human resource management is the proactive management of people. It

requires thinking ahead, and planning ways for a company to better meet the needs
of its employees, and for the employees to better meet the needs of the company.
This can affect the way things are done at a business site, improving everything from
hiring practices and employee training programs to assessment techniques and
discipline.

Companies who work hard to meet the needs of their employees can cultivate a
work atmosphere conducive to productivity. Human resource management is the
best way to achieve this. Being able to plan for the needs of employees by thinking
ahead can help to improve the rate of skilled employees who chose to remain
working for a company. Improving the employee retention rate can reduce the
money companies spend on finding and training new employees.

When creating a human resources plan, it is important to consider employees may

want or need and what the company can reasonably supply. A larger company can
usually afford training and benefit programs that smaller companies cannot afford to
offer. This does not mean that a smaller company should not engage in strategic
human resource management. Providing specialized on-site training, even if
provided by senior members of the company, and offering one-on-one assessment
and coaching sessions, can help employees reach peak performance rates.

An important aspect of strategic human resource management is employee

development. This process begins when a company is recruiting and interviewing
prospective employees. Improved interviewing techniques can help to weed out
applicants that may not be a good match for the company.
After being hired on, a strong training and mentoring program can help a new
member of the staff get up to speed on company policies and any current or ongoing
projects they will be working on. To help employees perform at their best, a company
can follow up with continual training programs, coaching, and regular assessment.
Investing in the development of its employees can allow a company to turn out more
consistent products.

Strategic management process

Strategic management is a field that deals with the major intended and emergent
initiatives taken by general managers on behalf of owners, involving utilization of
resources, to enhance the performance of firms in their external environments. It
entails specifying the organization's mission, vision and objectives, developing
policies and plans, often in terms of projects and programs, which are designed to
achieve these objectives, and then allocating resources to implement the policies
and plans, projects and programs. A balanced scorecard is often used to evaluate
the overall performance of the business and its progress towards objectives. Recent
studies and leading management theorists have advocated that strategy needs to
start with stakeholders expectations and use a modified balanced scorecard which
includes all stakeholders.

Strategic management is a level of managerial activity under setting goals and over
Tactics. Strategic management provides overall direction to the enterprise and is
closely related to the field of Organization Studies. In the field of business
administration it is useful to talk about "strategic alignment" between the organization
and its environment or "strategic consistency". According to Arieu (2007), "there is
strategic consistency when the actions of an organization are consistent with the
expectations of management, and these in turn are with the market and the context."
Strategic management includes not only the management team but can also include
the Board of Directors and other stakeholders of the organization. It depends on the
organizational structure.

HR AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

In today's highly competitive world a key question facing virtually every organization is,
"What will be the human resource strategies of the effective company in the highly
competitive 21st century?" A Worldwide Human Resources Study The study reinforces the
growing view that the management of human resources is as important to organizational
competitiveness as are the traditional areas of technology, marketing strategy, and financial
prowess. It gives meaning to the acknowledgment in virtually every shareholder report that,
"our employees are our most important asset.
There are three basic resources that can provide competitive
advantages:
1. Physical capital resources include the firm’s plant, equipment, and finance
2. Organizational capital resources include the firm’s infrastructure, planning,
controlling, coordinating, and HR systems
3. Human capital resources include the skills, judgment, and intelligence of the
firm’s employees