Introduction and importance

Evolution of HRM
Difference between Personnel Management & HRM
Role of HR Manager
Duties, Responsibilities & Challenges of HR managers
Evaluating various HR functions
Basic Model of HR
DR

HRM: The process of acquiring, training, appraising, and compensating employees, and of
attending to their labour relations, health and safety, and fairness concerns. ‘Hard’(cost) and
‘Soft’(employee) form of HRM

The most effective contribution to competitive advantage probably comes from what is
called the ‘best fit’ approach to HRM. The three strategies that help an organisation achieve
competitive advantage are:
 Innovation—being the unique producer
 Quality—delivering high quality goods and services
 Cost leadership—leveraging on all possible means to save on cost.

NATURE OF HRM
HRM consists of people-related functions as hiring, training and development, performance
review, compensation, safety and health, welfare, industrial relations and the like. These are
typically, the functions of ‘Personnel Management’ and are administrative and supportive in
nature. Appropriately called ‘doables’, these activities are highly routinised and have been often
outsourced. More important function of HRM is the building of human capital. Human capital refers
to the stock of employee skills, knowledge and capabilities that may not show up in a balance sheet
but have significant impact on a firm’s performance. As stated earlier, human capital (also known as
‘deliverables’) lends competitive advantage
to a firm.

Evolution of HRM
Supporters of HRM claim that the field has grown from IR to PM to HRM to HCM, claiming that
HR manager now plays a strategic role in a firm unlike in the past when it was purely an administrative
function. But the term HRM itself is subject to heavy criticism. It has been pointed out that there
is a ‘brilliant ambiguity’ in the term HRM. It means whatever one chooses it to mean. Assuming that
the term HRM is accepted, it lacks the capacity to transform or replace deeply rooted models of IR
and PM.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HRM AND PM, HRD, IR

Essentially, HRD encompasses a range of organisational practices that focus on training, learning,
development and work place learning; career development and lifelong learning; organisational
development; and organisational knowledge and learning. HRD obviously falls under the umbrella of
HRM.
Industrial Relations Management (IRM) is yet another term which adds to the problem of semantics.
‘Industrial relations’, as the term implies, is merely concerned with employee grievances and their
settlement, unionisation, and the like. Obviously, IRM is one wing of HRM.

OBJECTIVES OF HRM
 Societal Objectives To be ethically and socially responsible to the needs and challenges of
the society while minimising the negative impact of such demands upon the organisation
 Organisational Objectives To recognise the role of HRM in bringing about organisational
effectiveness.
 Functional Objectives To maintain the department’s contribution at a level appropriate to the
organisation’s needs.
 Personal Objectives To assist employees in achieving their personal goals, at least insofar as
these goals enhance the individual’s contribution to the organisation.

HRM FUNCTIONS
Henry Mintzberg identified 10 roles (read functions) which managers play in organisations. A typical
manager, according to Mintzberg, acts as a monitor, disseminator, spokesperson, figure-head,
leader,liaison, entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator and negotiator. He classifies these
ten roles into three broad categories: first three together are called informational role, next three
constitute the interpersonal role, and the decisional role includes the remaining four. Eight key
HRM functions together with policies, programmes and practices have been identified, each
containing alternatives :
 lPlanning: Preparing forecasts of future HR needs in the light of an organisation’s
environment,
mission and objectives, strategies, and internal strengths and weaknesses, including its structure,
culture, technology and leadership.
 Staffing: Obtaining people with the appropriate skills, abilities, knowledge and experience to
fill
jobs in the work organisation. Key practices are human resource planning, job analysis, recruitment
and selection.
● Developing: Analysing learning requirements to ensure that employees possess the knowledge
and skills to perform satisfactorily in their jobs or to advance in the organisation. Performance
appraisal can identify employees’ key skills and ‘competencies’.
● Monitoring: The design and administration of reward systems. HR practices include job
evaluation,
performance appraisal, pay and benefits.
● Maintaining: The administration and monitoring of workplace safety, health, and welfare policies
to retain a competent workforce and comply with statutory standards and regulations.
● Managing relationships: Encompasses a range of employee involvement/participation schemes in
non-union or union work places. In a union environment this includes negotiating contracts and
administering the collective agreement.
● Managing change: This involves helping others to envision the future, communicating this vision,
setting clear expectations for performance and developing the capability to reorganize people
and reallocate other resources.
● Evaluating: Designing the procedures and processes that measure, evaluate and communicate
the value-added component of HR practices and the entire HR system to the organisation.

the HR functions are commonly distributed to three categories:

(i) HR generalists who carry out generic activities like payroll, leave and benefits.
(ii) HR specialists who assume responsibility for areas like hiring, training and development,
compensation,
performance assessment and employee relations.
(iii) HR heads who head either functions across locations or head HR for a divisions within an
organisation.
These roles carry end-to-end responsibility for either that function or for that division.

the HR department in the overall set-up, and (ii) composition of the HR department itself. Status of
the HR department in the overall organisational structure depends on size of the firm, nature of
business, management-philosophy and global presence
The HR manager does create an infrastructure in the organisation that affects employees, customers,
line manager, and investors. When HR practices align with firm’s strategies, its goals are met and
sustained. The HR manager allows functional experts to help sustain organisational results. When he
or she functions effectively, the HR department becomes an example of how to bring specialist
expertise to business requirements. The HR manager values people and works to create both
competitive and compassionate organsations. When HR professionals develop competencies and play
appropriate roles, they become partners and players in business. The greatest contribution from HR
executives is that they build organisation capabilities. These organisation capabilities generate market
value through the intangibles they create. Capabilities that lead to intangible market value include
speed, talent, collaboration, accountability, shared mindset, learning and leadership. HR professionals
convert intangibles into tangibles by building organisation capabilities. Organisation capabilities are
the deliverables of HRM.

QUALITIES
i) Effective and committed leadership
(ii) Astute management of talent
(iii) Spotting and attracting talent
(iv) Setting high goals
(v) Coaching for performance
(vi) Strong review and reward systems
(vii) Building skills for the future
(viii) Building growth into every job

POLICIES, PRINCIPLES
A few specific personnel policies are:
 Policy of hiring people with due respect to factors like reservation, sex, marital status, and the
like.
 Policy on terms and conditions of employment—compensation policy and methods, hours of
work, overtime, promotion, transfer, lay-off, and the like.
 Policy with regard to medical assistance—sickness benefits, ESI and company medical
benefits.
 Policy regarding housing, transport, uniform and allowances.
 Policy regarding training and development—need for, methods of, and frequency of training
and development.
 Policy regarding industrial relations—trade-union recognition, collective bargaining,
grievance, procedure, participative management, and communication with workers.
If policy is a guide for managerial decisions and actions, principle is the fundamental truth
established by research, investigation and analysis.
1. Principle of individual development to offer full and equal opportunities to every employee to
realise his/her full potential.
2. Principle of scientific selection to select the right person for the right job.
3. Principle of free flow of communication to keep all channels of communication open and
encourage upward, downward, horizontal, formal and informal communication.
4. Principle of participation to associate employee representatives at every level of decision making.
5. Principle of fair remuneration to pay fair and equitable wages and salaries commensurating with
jobs.
6. Principle of incentive to recognise and reward good performance.
7. Principle of dignity of labour to treat every job and every job holder with dignity and respect.
8. Principle of labour management co-operation—to promote cordial industrial relations.
9. Principle of team spirit to promote co-operation and team spirit among employees.
10. Principle of contribution to national prosperity to provide a higher purpose of work to all
employees and to contribute to national prosperity.

LINE MANAGERS
line supervisors, line managers carry on certain specific human resource activities like:
● Placing right people in right places
● Treat people and organisations as resources that need investment to grow
● Advice on HR choices
● Offer on-the-job training to new hires and new operations for in-house people
● Interpret company policies and procedures.
● Ensuring safety and health to employees
● Act as people managers in small firms
The demarcation between HR professionals and line managers should be clear. All said and done,
line managers are the final decision makers and they are more accountable to the effectiveness of the
organisation. HR professionals should not delegate all their tasks to the line managers.

The five HR models

are:
The Fombrun :
The four functions are:
selection, appraisal,
development and rewards
The Harvard: comprise six critical components of HRM. The dimensions included in the model are:
stakeholders interests, situational factors, HRM policy choices, HR outcomes, long-term consequences and a
feedback loop through which the outputs flow directly into the organisation and the stakeholders

The Guest: HR manager has specific strategies to begin with, which demand certain practices and when
executed, will result in outcomes.

The Warwick : 5 ASPECTS:

 l Outer context (macro environmental forces)
 l Inner context (firm specific or micro environmental forces)
 l Business strategy content

 l HRM context

 l HRM content
The Warwick model takes cognisance of business strategy and HR practices

Dave Ulrich(MOST USED)

HRM-related Ethical Issues
◦ Workplace safety
◦ Security of employee records
◦ Employee theft
◦ Affirmative action
◦ Comparable work
◦ Employee privacy rights