Department of Psychology

HB PY18020- HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Unit 1

Human Resource Management

Human resource management, or HRM, involves coordinating, managing, and

allocating human capital, or employees, in ways that move an organization’s
goals forward. HRM focuses on investing in employees, ensuring their safety,
and managing all aspects of staffing from hiring to compensation and
development.

HRM careers may specialize in compensation, training, or managing employees.

Most HRM professionals hold a bachelor’s degree and some go on to pursue a
master's degree. HRM professionals at all levels can also earn professional
certifications to help build knowledge and increase earning potential. HRM’s
goal is to build a company culture and carry out its mission and overall goals
through the management of employees.

Definition of Human Resource Management (HRM)

Human resource management is organizing, coordinating, and managing an

organization's current employees to carry out an organization’s mission, vision,
and goals. This includes recruiting, hiring, training, compensating, retaining, and
motivating employees.

HRM staff also develops and enforces policies and procedures that help ensure
employee safety. The HRM team manages adherence to federal and state laws
that may work to protect employees’ private information and ensure their
physical safety and mental and emotional well-being. Organizations of varying
sizes and industries rely on HRM to keep business running smoothly and
efficiently.

Purpose of Human Resource Management (HRM)

The methodology behind HRM recognizes the value employees bring to an

organization, also known as human capital. Investing in employees and
strategically supporting their needs can improve employee satisfaction and
employee motivation. Employees who are well trained, competent, valued, and
supported by their employers will likely have the skills and incentive necessary to
carry out the organization’s goals.

Let's look at the purpose behind HRM in more depth:

The importance of human resource management .The purpose of HRM practices

is to manage the people within a workplace to achieve the organization's mission
and reinforce the corporate culture. When people management is done
effectively, HR managers can help recruit new employees who have the skills to
further the company's goals. HR professionals also aid in the training and
professional development of employees to meet the organization's objectives.

A company is only as good as its employees, making HRM a crucial part of

maintaining or improving the health of the business. Additionally, HR managers
monitor the state of the job market to help the organization stay competitive. This
could include ensuring compensation and benefits are competitive, events are
planned to keep employees from burning out and job roles are adapted based on
the market.

Amazon is an example of a large company with multiple types of specialized HR

positions. The company's career website lists the following HR job titles:

• HR assistant.
• HR business partner.
• HR manager.
• Recruiter.
• Recruiting coordinator.
• Recruiting manager.
• Immigration specialist.
• Leave of absence and accommodation specialist.
• Compensation specialist or manager.
• Benefits specialist or manager.
• Talent management specialist or manager.
• Learning and development specialist or manager.
• HR technology or process project program manager.
• HR analytics specialist or manager.

Objectives of Human Resource Management

HRM can be broken down into the following four category objectives:
Societal objectives. These are measures put in place to respond to the ethical and
social needs or challenges of the company and its employees. This includes legal
issues such as equal opportunity and equal pay for equal work.
Organizational objectives. These are actions taken to ensure organizational
efficiency, including providing the appropriate training, hiring the right number
of employees for a given task and maintaining high employee retention rates.

Functional objectives. These are the guidelines used to keep HR functioning

properly within the organization. They include ensuring all HR resources are
allocated to their full potential.

Personal objectives. These are the resources used to support the personal goals
of each employee. They include opportunities for education and career
development, as well as maintaining employee satisfaction.

Key Objectives of HRM

While every organisation views HRM through the lens of its culture. Here are ten
main objectives that should be fulfilled by the HRM department.

1. Organisation Structure
Defining and implementing organisation structure is key to achieving
organisational goals. The HRM is required to align the org structure with business
functions and their delivery targets. The inappropriate org structure could result
in diminished staff morale impacting their performance and thereby scuttling the
organisational outcomes. On the other hand, a well-defined org structure leads to
an organisation that functions to its full potential.

2. Staffing
This important objective of HRM is directly related to the one above. Finding the
right resource for a role is imperative for successful business outcomes. Before
publishing job postings, shortlisting candidates and setting up interviews, the
HRM needs to work closely with the hiring managers to understand the role and
get a robust job description written. Another key aspect of hiring is to present the
organisation’s culture mindfully, be it in terms of inclusivity, flexibility or even
social causes. The young workforce is seemingly choosing their employers based
on these aspects.

3. Career Path
Defining and documenting career paths available within the organisation in
consultation with the business leadership team is another key objective of HRM.
The defined career paths need to be current and relevant. Well-defined career
paths allow employees to align their aspirations with opportunities available
within the organisation.

4. Learning and Development

The HRM also needs to facilitate the learning and development of employees so
that their chosen career goals are achieved. Succession planning within the
organisation becomes easy when the organisation has nurtured a pool of talent.
This will also help with the organisational objective of retaining talent. This
involves keeping abreast of industry trends so that the relevant training can be
arranged before it becomes an urgent need.

5. Performance Management
Providing a performance appraisal framework to enable meritocracy within the
organisation also comes under the purview of the HRM. The HRM is responsible
for all the four key stages of performance management, from planning to
monitoring to reviewing and rewarding. The entire performance management
process needs to be fair, accurate, efficient and above all, should form a basis for
improving performance.

6. Benefits and Compensation

Effectively utilising available budgets to hire talent and retain high performers is
another important objective. Industry trends on pay scales for various skills and
experiences applicable and relevant to the organisation are communicated to the
hiring managers by the HRM.

7. Rewards and Recognition

Timely recognition of the employee success and appropriately rewarding them
goes a long way in building a positive workplace atmosphere, another important
function.

8. Health, Safety and Overall Well-being of Employees

Ensuring a healthy workforce results in less downtime, quality outcomes and high
satisfaction levels. Increasingly, due to the recent COVID pandemic, employees
have been working from home impacting their both physical and mental health.
Organisations are focusing on providing the required help and support to
overcome these issues, with the help of the HR department.

9. Exit Management
Ensuring a smooth exit process that creates a positive experience for the leaving
employees is important for future engagements and goodwill and is an important
responsibility of the HRM.

The most essential HRM skills that professionals should possess include the
following:

Communication.
A high-level of verbal and written capabilities is required in most HRM jobs.
They also need to be able to easily build and maintain employee relations,
negotiate, and mediate certain matters.
Since their job responsibilities range from liaising with potential new hires and
onboarding to presenting complex HR data to stakeholders and managing HR
teams, HR managers also need to be extremely comfortable with and adept at
expressing themselves.

Recruitment and talent acquisition.

Tasks in this area include writing job descriptions, conducting interviews,
assessing candidates, negotiating offers and onboarding new employees. Talent
acquisition deals with the strategies, tactics and processes for identifying,
recruiting and retaining the human resources a company needs. It includes
developing, implementing and evaluating programs for sourcing, recruiting,
hiring and orienting talent.

Employee relations.
HR managers must have labour relations skills to address grievances and build
positive employee experiences. Employee relations concerns the building of
positive relationships and interactions among employers and employees, and at a
broader level helps foster a sense of community within an organization. This
could entail initiating transparent workplace communication or supporting the
emotional, physical and psychological health of employees. Ultimately, the goal
of employee relations is to create a positive relationship between employers and
employees that leads to an increase in employee retention, happiness and
productivity.

Compliance with legal requirements.

HR managers must be up to date with employment laws and regulations. legal
compliance is the act of a company adhering to laws and policies that are
pertinent to the sector within which they do business. Those laws can be
requirements that a company needs to attain before it can trade or carry out its
services, as well as ethical standards it should meet.
A large part of legal compliance is having a robust procedure in place to
monitor a business continually to ensure that it remains legally compliant. In
practice, this means that audits of departments repeatedly take place in addition
to the company staying up to date with any changes in the law which impact
them.

Conflict management and resolution.

Conflict is inevitable in any workplace, and it can arise from a variety of sources,
such as differences in personality, communication styles, or goals. While some
level of conflict can be healthy for organizations, too much of it can negatively
impact employee morale, productivity, and ultimately, the bottom line. As such,
it is critical for companies to have a solid conflict resolution process in place, and
Human Resources (HR) plays a vital role in mediating and resolving workplace
disputes. Mediation capabilities help HR managers resolve conflicts and other
difficult situations.

Performance management.
Managers must set performance standards and help employees develop skills to
achieve them. An ongoing, continuous process of communicating and clarifying
job responsibilities, priorities, performance expectations, and development
planning that optimize an individual's performance and aligns with organizational
strategic goals.

Strategic thinking.
HR manager jobs require high-level thinking, such as aligning HR strategies with
the company's goals. Strategic Thinking is a solid foundation of most successes in
the modern business; it is also relevant to Strategic Human Resources
Management. Most innovations are not born from one great idea; they are shaped
over time, and they are critically assessed. The high-performance businesses do
not focus on every single detail of its operations; they have a strategic direction,
and they employ intensively both strategic thinking and planning.
HR Analytics.
Data analysis skills help analyse workforce metrics and provide insights for
decision-making. HR analytics, also referred to as people analytics, workforce
analytics, or talent analytics, involves gathering together, analyzing, and
reporting HR data. It enables your organization to measure the impact of a range
of HR metrics on overall business performance and make decisions based on
data. In other words, HR analytics is a data-driven approach toward Human
Resources Management.

Adaptability.
HR managers must be able to deal with changing workplace and societal issues
on an ongoing basis. Adaptable HR is a way of working that enables HR to thrive
in a world of constant change while creating a competitive advantage for the
business. There are three main levers HR can use to build greater certainty in the
talent landscape. These are design, experience and governance.

Ethics and confidentiality.

These skills require knowledge of confidentiality and privacy requirements, as
well as general and industry-specific ethical standards. Various organisations
have a large amount of sensitive and crucial information that demands protection.
The HR department or manager plays a very vital role in safeguarding both the
organisation’s and its employees’ confidential information. This information may
include personal details, managerial information, medical records, salary details,
performance evaluations, and more, all of which are intended to remain strictly
confidential.

Conclusion

Human Resource Management has a broad scope that encompasses various

functions and responsibilities within an organization. From recruitment and
selection to training and development, performance management to employee
relations, and legal compliance to crisis management, HRM plays a vital role
in shaping the success and well-being of both the employees and the
organization. By recognizing the significance of HRM and its diverse
functions, organizations can create an environment that nurtures talent, drives
productivity, and promotes sustainable growth.

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 Department of Psychology
HB PY18020- HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Unit 1

Role of Human Resource Manager

HR manager is a guide, philosopher, friend, path-finder, path identifier, problem

solver, competence maker of the human resource. Ulrich (1997) has developed a
model of multiple roles for HR professionals who focus ranges from long-term
strategic to short-term operational, and activities range from managing processes
(HR tools and systems) to managing people. Whatever the role HR manager
plays, it helps growth and development of the people at work and organization as
well.

Role of HR manager is discussed in brief as under:

1. Advisory Role:

One of the major roles of HR manager is, to advise the top management in the
matter relating to management and development of human resource, in order to
achieve organizational objects. Looking to the company’s vision, mission and
long range planning, HR Manager advises the higher management to formulate
appropriate HR policies, procedures which may create a change in the minds of
the workers’ to help the transformational process of dynamism.

2. Pro-Acting Role:

HR manager ascertains the probable areas of conflict and differences between

workers and management, identifies the factors that may create problems in
future, forecasts the extent, quantum of loss that may occur and the department
may suffer loss and takes remedial measures beforehand by way of developing
organizational culture, climate, introducing system, mechanism, and does not
leave any room to crop up problems, grievances.

3. Welfare Role:

HR executive looks to the welfare aspect of the employee’s viz., canteen, creche,
rest-room, hospital, transportation, housing accommodation, school, etc. His one
of the principal roles is to provide welfare facilities to the employees for their
betterment and well-being.
4. Developmental Role:

Development of workers for attaining company goals is made by the HR manager

through improvement of knowledge, skill, abilities, aptitude, attitude, value,
beliefs etc.

5. Mediator’s Role:

HR manager works as a link personality between trade unions and top

management in order to eliminate the differences of opinions cropped up in
process of settlement of disputes.

6. Social Upliftment Role:

Organization is part and parcel of the society. As a societal member it has ethical
and moral obligation to contribute to the society for its growth and development
by way of taking necessary measures like creating and improving infrastructure,
spreading learning institutions, providing medical facilities, generating
employment opportunities.

7. Counsellor’s Role:

Because of illiteracy and ignorance workers cannot take decision in their personal
problems and they need advice to sort out such problems, viz. education of
children, medical treatment, marital matter, family problems, etc. HR manager, as
he comes close to the workers because of his nature of work, develops
understanding between them and advises, guides the workers in right direction.

8. Spokesperson Role:

HR executive works as a spokesperson of the company especially, in the matter

of depicting organization health, condition, strength etc. to the employees while
negotiating for settlement of industrial disputes. He also acts as a representative
of the workers when they are non-unionized/unorganized and cannot represent
their case properly to the top management. Under such circumstances HR
manager places their grievances, problems, demand to the top management for
settlement/redressal.

9. Motivator’s Role:
One of the functions of HR manager is to motivate the employees to achieve their
own goals, as well as organizational goals HR manager performs such role by
way of introducing reward schemes. HR manager’s role of establishing mutual
understanding, mutual confidence and mutual trust helps to motivate the
employees to excel in the level of their performance.

Conclusion

Human Resource Management has a broad scope that encompasses various

functions and responsibilities within an organization. From recruitment and
selection to training and development, performance management to employee
relations, and legal compliance to crisis management, HRM plays a vital role
in shaping the success and well-being of both the employees and the
organization. By recognizing the significance of HRM and its diverse
functions, organizations can create an environment that nurtures talent, drives
productivity, and promotes sustainable growth.

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 Department of Psychology
HB PY18020- HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Unit 1

Background
There is a growing consensus that the key to superior corporate performance
lies within the milieu of the human elements of an organization. Without doubt,
human beings, more than any other set of resources, determine the success or
failure of organizations. For instance, in any private or government, profit or
not-for-profit establishment, it is people that set the agenda, objectives and
strategies; they create, design, produce and deliver the goods and services and
control their quality; they procure, allocate and distribute financial resources;
and, they market and sell the end products or services of the organization. So
central is the role of people that it can safely be argued that they are the most
influential and responsible resources for the efficiency and effectiveness of an
organization (Milkovich & Boudreau, 2004). At the societal level, it is people
who are equally responsible for policy-making and implementation, program
and project design and implementation, as well as other socio-economic
activities required for the smooth running of societies and systems.
Indeed, human resources (HR) have no credible or perfect substitutes, as it is
difficult to comprehend any other resource or element that can match the
abilities, talents, skills and motivation of people to deliver on organizational
requirements To begin with, the typically traditional approaches and tools for
managing the human content of the organization have become inadequate,
moribund and even inappropriate in today’s business environment.
The changing nature of work, owing largely to: the rapid development in
technology; productivity concerns of investors and other corporate stakeholders;
stricter government regulation and enforcement; a shift from
An Overview of Human Resource Management Framework
Human resource management (HRM) is that part of the management process
that specializes in the management of people in work organizations .It consists
of a series of decisions that concern employees and employers. By determining
who works for a firm, human resource management impacts significantly on
organizational performance, which is often measured by profitability or cost-
efficiency, product or service quality and delivery, and customer satisfaction.
Where human resource management practices are effective, employees and
customers tend to be more satisfied and the organization becomes more
productive.

The framework for the management of human resources consists of five main
activity areas that operate in an overlapping continuum:
Planning
Planning as the first and basic activity of HRM captures all actions involving
the gathering of data and information from both the organization’s internal and
external environments. Proper human resource planning helps reduce to the
barest minimum the uncertainties of environmental threats, while also helping
the organization take advantage of emerging opportunities.
Staffing
The Staffing activities draw directly from the results of planning, as they
necessarily comprise actions geared towards ensuring adequacy of the quality
and numbers of people. It is about attracting and retaining the right number and
skills that should help in the achievement of organizational objectives
Compensation
Compensation includes all forms of financial returns, tangible services and
benefits an employee gets rewarded with in return for the services he renders as
part of his covenant with the organization. This pervasive and sensitive activity
centres on the amount of pay an employee should receive for the work done.
Managers here are typically confronted with the dilemma of making pay
decisions based on either the nature of work; the ability, knowledge, skills and
experience of the employee or the financial condition of the organization .
Employee Training and development
Employee training and development includes training, upgrading, re-tooling and
skills-optimization activities that are carried out with a view to enhancing
employees’ performance, and therefore the productivity of the workforce.
Training and development usually come in the form of orientation, skills
training and executive development.
Employee relations.
The employee relations activities comprise a set of actions and programs aimed
at facilitating commitment, loyalty, a sense of belongingness and cooperation on
the part of employees. By ensuring employee protection, safety and health,
transparency, equity and fairness (particularly in compensation, training and
development, and discipline), cooperation and assistance, communication
(constant update of policies and other information) and creating a generally
good-place-to-work-in, an HR manager helps in raising employees’ perception
of the organization’s value and importance in the achievement of their
individual goals.
Conclusion
It is evaluated and identified about a number of new human resource
management approaches and practices. It is argued that where these measures
are applied, significant improvements in the capabilities of the workforce of
organizations can be expected. These improvements result in better performance
by the organizations, expressed as an index of their profitability, innovation,
productivity and growth. The challenge for human resource managers lies in
how quickly they can move away from the stereotype of being administrators of
compensation, gatekeepers and watchdogs of conditions of employment to that
of leadership in helping organizational members develop their capabilities.

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 Department of Psychology
HB PY18020- HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Unit 1
Introduction

Strategic HRM is defined as the process of aligning and linking all HR

systems, processes, procedures and initiatives with the strategic objectives of
the organisation. It is an approach to achieve competitive advantage through
strategic deployment of a highly committed and capable HR using array of
cultural, structural and HR techniques.

Features of SHRM:

One Point Solution:

When organisations reshuffle the management style and initiate changes in

their business vision, goals and targets, require their staff to be fully
accountable for the results, initiate change in their corporate culture to value
top performers, propose to bring dramatic shift and change in their structure,
SHRM is viewed as one point solution to transform every organisation into
through programmes to win the hearts and minds of the employees.

Managerial Tool:

SHRM is a tool that enhances the organisational effectiveness and

competitive advantage. It transforms the way HR functions through
creativity and innovation. E-HRM is one approach to SHRM. It takes the
conventional HR organisation to next level of excellence. It integrates HR
into a business context, defines new growth opportunities, brings in the
cultural transformation and aligns the employee’s vision to that of the
organisation.

Proactive in Nature:

SHRM involves handling employees of an organisation in a proactive way.

It includes all the HR processes and also involves working with employees
in a collaborative manner with each other. It boosts employee retention,
improves quality of work experience, maximises the mutual benefit of
employment for both the employer and employee. SHRM teams work
around the clock to make sure that everything is in order and everyone in the
organisation is hap

Unlocks the Human Potential:

SHRM unlocks the human potential with a focus on balancing human

resource strategy with business strategy, and managing talent to maximise
performance. It recognises the strategic role and impact of human resources.
SHRM assumes importance considering the challenges of managing talent
globally and locally, best practices for implementing performance
management, impact of social media, the changing meaning of work, the
impact of Gen Y on the workplace and many other contemporary challenges.

Wide Scope:

The scope of SHRM is much beyond HRM that primarily deals with every
aspect of a business that affects employees, such as – manpower planning
recruitment and selection, induction, training and development, performance
management and appraisal, promotion or removal, employee retention,
compensation management, safety management, grievance redressal,
management of unions, negotiation and personnel administration.

Automation:

E-HRM or HR technologies simplify the implementation of SHRM in every

organisation irrespective of its nature and size. Improved interviewing
techniques, strong training and mentoring program continual training
programs, coaching, and regular assessments are a few areas of focus in
SHRM. Investing in the development of its employees can allow a company
to turn out more consistent results.

Outcomes:

SHRM improves the employee retention rate and reduces the money spent
on finding and training new employees. It focuses on providing specialised
on-site training, and offers one-on-one assessment and coaching sessions,
helps employees reach peak performance rates.

Conclusion

Thus Strategic human resource management (SHRM) is concerned with the

contributions human resource strategies make to organizational effectiveness,
and the ways in which these contributions are achieved.
 Department of Psychology
HB PY18020- HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Unit 1

Evaluation and Difference between the Traditional and Strategic HR

Modern HR:-

HR managers in modern HRM are focused on developing a long-term plan.

When they’re looking to fill a position, for example, they consider the
company’s projected future development and long-term goals. In modern
HRM most of the functions are managed in a different way.

In current HRM, the majority of functions and labor are performed by

various tools and software. In a nutshell, technology has progressed in
modern HRM.

Traditional HR:

The HR professional in a traditional HR management job does not have

nearly as many software and tools to save time. Instead of
teaching employees about their responsibilities or how to handle their
employment, HR believes that their managers would go over their work with
them and that the employee will learn on the job.

They aim to handle employee problems, manage labor relations, and keep
their workers happy in general.

Technology was used less frequently in conventional HR. They try to resolve
employee issues, manage labor relations, and keep their employees satisfied
in general. In traditional HR, there was less usage of technology.

Differences:–

The three modern HR approaches that today’s leading firms use include
empathizing with employees, focusing on data, and allowing analysis to drive
strategy.
Even though change and transformation are difficult to achieve, some simple
tools and platforms can assist you in taking your practice to the next level.
Many tools and software are available in modern HRM to assist HR in their
daily activities. As a result, HR tasks become simple and convenient.

Many tools and technologies are now available to help HR professionals

reduce their workload. ADP, BambooHR, Zoho recruit, Paylocity, HRone,
HR mantra, Gusto HR, APS HR core solution, Zoomshift, Fresh team,
Onepoint HCM, Zenifits, Eecruiterbox, Kronos workforce central, and many
others are among the tools and technologies available.

However, these types of tools and software are not available in traditional
HRM, therefore the burden was higher at the time. However, one
consequence of modern HRM is that as a result of these tools and software,
HRM employment has been lost as humans have been replaced by these
software and tools.

Human resource management has been greatly influenced by technological

advancements. HR has undergone a transformation as a result of
technological advancements. Human resource management becomes more
methodical, accurate, and dynamic as a result of technological advancements.
Using tools and technologies incorrectly can have a negative impact on an
organization’s structure.

When employees have discipline issues or cause difficulty, traditional HR

steps in. It does not affect the escalation of the issues.

Strategic HR is proactive. Traditional HR would notify employees when they

crossed the line if a company wished to establish a zero-tolerance policy on
sexual harassment or discrimination. Strategic HR informs employees about
unacceptable behavior from the outset; the employee handbook and training
seminars inform employees about how to behave, or not behave. This can
save the company money in the long term by lowering the number of
complaints.

Traditional HR sees itself as doing the same thing with the same tools or
Software year after year with the same technique. The only thing that
changes over the period is the employees’ looks. However, technology has
had a significant impact on modern HRM; tools and software make a
significant difference while performing various HR tasks.

As a result of digital transformation, the way firms hire and manage

personnel has changed. As technology has matured, the HR role has grown to
include end-to-end talent management duties. There was a time when HR
professionals had to do everything by hand, including hiring, firing, and
payroll but now there are many technologies that can accomplish everything
with one click.

Conclusion

There are two sides to a coin, just as there are two sides to traditional and
modern HRM. Modern HRM has a higher impact because it allows for the
automation of most tasks. However, the downside of modern HRM is that it
has resulted in the reduction of jobs due to the use of advanced tools and
software.

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