The Key Functions of Human Resource Management

Recruitment and Selection:- a part that an employee being hired or repositioned in a company. Recruitment can be defined as recognizing a position in an organization to employee someone in order fulfill the needs of it.

Selection is the step by step procedure to choose the right candidate that is suitable enough to fill the required position.

When doing these an organization should take care of some key questions in order to carry on with procedures.

1. What do we want from the position?
2. How can we attract the right candidate?
3. How can we identify the right candidate?
4. How can we know we got it right?
5. Who all should be involved in the process?

Redundancy: – an employee is given proper security when the company needs fewer amounts of resources or retirements. This is usually occurring when an organization does not require the position or the organization itself is going to shutdown.

Industrial and employee relations:-this is a major clause of organization status to be maintained in the industry. From the research done on this, it is widely accepted that if the employee has commitment on the organization due to attitude of organization towards its employees through considerable payment or over payment to motivate them. This is industrially called in several ways like the psychological contracts or by the loyalty of the employee to the organization. The interaction between the individuals is a major part in organizational performance and productivity.

Record keeping of personal data:-keeping details of each and every employee including their work history and present status. This helps the organization to decide and allot the employee to categorize to a specific segment for the ultimate utilization of the workforce. Proper allotment of the people with their skills and knowledge on an area gives excellent outcome in the overall performance.

Employee benefits and compensation:-the organization offers to the employee on situations. This is the security an organization gives to the employee for them to retain. Employees will be more confident to work with security of their job and other benefits that are available for them. This is sometimes goes competitive in order to retain talented and experienced employees to avoid them going to another companies.

Confidential advice to ‘internal customers’ about problems at work: – this allow the employee to have a communication with the organization in order to deal with the problems they are facing in the work place. The organization also enquire the welfares of the employees so that they should feel themselves that they are also on the eyes of the organization on considerations. Negligence is the most negative part of human dissatisfaction.

Carrier development of employees:- individual development of employee develops and organization. The organizations must be always prepared with the rapid change of the environment. So they always allow employees to attain as much knowledge as they can in order to develop the company performance and standards. This improves individual performance that is the backbone of the organizational overall performance. Organizations always conduct seminars and tests in order to maintain their position in the market.

Competency monitoring (mapping):- work efficiency rating of employees. Organizations always monitor the efficiency of the employees in order to understand the outcome of their productivity. This helps the organization to understand on which all segments they should improve in order to maintain its stability.

Time and motion study:- time and minimal motion gives more efficient and more productive organization. This technique is implemented in many of the organization for better productivity of organization. Time and motion study is how a work is to be done on a given period of time with reduced effective motion of work for attaining high efficiency outputs.

Performance appraisal: – this deals with the contribution of the employee to the organization. This is the process of obtaining, analyzing and recording of information of the employee in order to understand the contribution of each employee in an organization.

Trends and Influences of Human Resource Management

A business operation is mainly focused on the following major influences.

Demographics: – it can be defined as the characteristics of structure and size of population

e.g.: – age, work class.

Diversity: – it can be defined as the difference between the people in population

e.g.: – race, gender, sexual orientation. Disability, geographic origin

Skills and qualifications: – These are not only about knowledge of an individual, but also the ability of the individual in the organization as an employee.

e.g.: – .rewards, community investments.

Individual responses:- the employee attitudes of different geographical locations.

e.g.: – geographical spread, occupational structure, generational difference.

Framework:-creating a framework for human capital.

Structure: – this enhances individual developments and acquiring targets. Can be incorporate with human resource strategies.

Training: -this develops high level of work of individuals. Training gives more precise to the working environment and the employees get better knowledge and working attitudes with the environment they are coping with.

Strategic human resource management model [2]

From the above Human Resource model we understand that an environmental analysis should be initiated. Then the company has to take care of the mission and goals. This is depended by analyzing the strengths and culture of the organization. Then analyse the strategies adopted by the organization. Choose a number of Human Resource strategies like planning, attracting, placing, developing, evaluating, motivating, rewarding and maintaining human resources. This is done using Human Resource tactical plans and Human Resource systems and procedures.

Harvard map of Human Resource Management [3]

Harvard map (Beer’s map) outlines four areas of Human Resource Management

Human resource flows: – recruitment, selection, termination, promotion.

Reward system:- pay, motivation, promotion, recognition

Employee influence:- influence of responsibility, power, authority

Work system: – the way in which people is arranged and defined to work in an organization.

The above walk towards the four C’s of Human Resource policies which are

Commitment:- an employee must deliver at its best for the organization

Congruence: – how suitable the employee is for the organization

Competence: – how competent the employee to attain target for achieving organizational goals

Cost effectiveness: – is it economically feasible for the organization to maintain the employee and position.

Key elements of Human Resource [4]

The crucial elements of Human Resource are

Resource plan:- this contains all the Human Resource resources involved in a company. It contains which all human resources used in what all ways and how it is implemented.

Resource breakdown structure:- this is how the Human Resource differentiate according to their function. This gives a detail about how the human resource work on each segment and on each levels like corporate, operational and functional levels.

Responsibility assignment matrix:-here the Human Resource is assigned specific tasks to get responsibility in each branch of function. In this each function has its own responsibility, what all things to do for each individuals and how should it be done

Resource over allocation: – this is the over allocation of Human Resource in order to do more work than in normal time. This is very expensive and needs over times. This is not a usual function. It is done when the company has limited resources and has to utilize well on critical stages in order to maintain and achieve its target on demand. Many organization use this in different ways according to the mode of function and facilities that provide to the employee and also the functional structure of the organization.

Resource histogram: – this is the graphical representation of over allocated resources and makes it easy for the managers to allocate resources. This diagram gives a detail of which all resources is allocated and on what tasks and make the managers to decide the allocation frequency and requirement of each tasks in order to reallocate or schedule the resources.

Resource dependency:-if a task is dependent a particular resource. In some instances resources are purely dependent to each other. If one of the resource is allocated the whole function will end up.

Resource leveling: – this is the redistribution of Human Resource to avoid imbalance. This is done for improving the distribution of Human Resources to necessary tasks in order to maintain the equilibrium of the functions. This is by identifying the unnecessary over allocations to the task which has highly scarce of human resources.

Critics on human resource management

Critics argue that Human Resource Management does not have theoretical framework. Even with this the efficiency of Human Resource Management still has a very important role in organization development.

Task 2

Introduction

Human Resource Planning can be defined as the organizational strategies developed in order to match the size and skills of the workforce for the organizational needs. Human Resource Planning assists the organization to recruit, retain and optimize needs for meeting the business objectives and response to its environmental change. This may include man power forecasting and ensuring that the supply meets the demand. This requires training and retraining strategies.

Human Resource Planning-contemporary approach

This can be defined as the one which belongs to the world of ideas rather than action which has the potential to unsettle and can disrupt established thinking and hence practice.

e.g.:- ideas of our own that are not yet fulfilled.

This is mainly based upon two ways of sources

Post-modernism:-it highlights the significance of discourse which in turn explained as a set of images, representations, meanings, metaphors, stories etc that can create a series of events.

New science:-it derives from the new developments in natural sciences that challenges some of the key assumptions

Human Resource Planning-traditional approach

The main concern of traditional Human Resource Planning is concerned with balancing of supply to demand. There are a number of key features in traditional approach

Investigation and Analysis:- this stage is not explicit u all models, but arguably those responsible for human resource planning need to know something about the current situation in order to assess the extent to which it is likely to alter or be affected by future development

Internal labour market:- this deals with turnover, profiles skills audits

External labour market:- this deals with quality, availability, sources, prices, variation of demands

Corporate capability:- this is concerned with performance, productivity, structure, technology, skill change, rewards, promotions

Corporate strategy:- this is about growth, opportunities, key objectives, work methods, improvement plans

Forecasting: – this is regarding supply, demand and qualitative and quantitative imbalance of Human Resources., future plans

Planning: – this consists of working patterns, organization structure and development, rewards, recruitment and selection, managing diversity performance management, training and development, employment relations.

Implementation and control: – this concerns about using HR techniques, utilizing technology, reviewing polices and practices.

Advantages of Human Resource Planning

Setting strategic directions:-this is to direct Human Resource Planning according to company needs and objectives

Designing human resource management system: – structure Human Resource according to the directed strategy according the structure and flexibility of the organization

Planning the total workforce:- align the workforce for Human Resource Planning to implement according to the strategy adopted to achieve the goals of the organization.

Generating the required human resource:-if the plan needs more human resource it has to be acquired. This can be executing overtimes, reallocate adequate human resources to specified tasks,

Investing in human resource development and performance:-this increases the efficiency and effectiveness of Human Resource. Employee hiring on temporary or permanent contact with the effectiveness of performance in order to cope up with the organizational needs.

Disadvantages of Human Resource Planning

It is expensive and time consuming: – the organization cannot concentrate more on human resource planning as it may be more interested to invest on it goal than in planning more time and money.

It needs specialized consultant may be outside the organization:- organizations has to seek the help of specialized personal or organization of human resource planning in order to do it in the right manner.

Organization may not be always ready to some opportunities before it comes into scene and to allocate resources according to Human Resource Planning.

Supply of labour in labour markets

The number of people willing to work in different industries is referred to as supply of labour.

Key factors affecting the supply of labour

Barrier of entry:- It is the limitation allotted to the industry to restrict the labour supply in order to maintain the level of salary and to allow the salary to go higher. This is usually done by giving some entry criteria like minimum requirements, qualifications, experience etc.

Overtime:- payments for overtime, payment criteria, schedules of overtime, availability of resources for the overtime.

Competitive wages: – This inspires people to come to the industry with good wages and other allowances given on an industry. This make the employees feel more secured and confident in their working sector.

Substitute industries: – The number of substitute industries gives competitive wages depends upon the supply of labour in the market. If there is a scarcity of eligible employees then the salary competition will be higher otherwise the salary will go low as the industry will look only for cheaper labour.

Monetary characteristics: – Some jobs are attracted by the level of risk included on it. Like air force pilots, where they are much be interested to be so dedicated for that job.

Migration of labour: – The free movement of people in different regions gives more supply of labour. The use of trade blocs are the exact example for this. People can able to move freely from one country to another without any restrictions for free trade and globalization. This will make available of the human resource available to another part of the world.

Motivation

It can be defined as a temporary driving force that is being initiated for some behaviour to achieve some goal. It can be affected by various factors like instincts, driving forces, arousal expected outcome.

Instinct: – This is an inborn behaviour which has its own tendencies

Driving forces: – This is the influences of the needs of an individual that motivates them.

Arousals: – This is the process on increasing our drives. As a normal human being we should optimize our drives.

Expected outcomes: – The influence of some expecting rewards for the work will motivate an individual to achieve the goals.

Theories of motivation

There are different theories that are developed for motivation like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Hertzberg’s two factor theory.

Hierarchy theory of needs

Abraham Maslow developed the needs of motivation of human beings at different levels

Physiological Needs

This is the basic need for a human to survive. If this is not satisfied then they will be motivated to satisfy them.

e.g: – air, water, sleep

Safety Needs

When the basic level is satisfied then one will take care of the security of living.

e.g.: – job security, life insurance, living in a safe area.

Social Needs

When the lower levels are satisfied then the higher level of needs are on interest to the people. This includes interaction between the individuals.

e.g.: – friends, love and belongings

Esteem

When an individual have the sense of belonging, he may feel to get important to the society. It can be in internal or external.

e.g.: – self respect, reputation, achievement

Self actualization

This is the peak level in the hierarchy of needs. This is level of one’s quest to know own potential. The people who achieve this level are usually leaders and innovators.

e.g.: – wisdom, truth, justice

Herzberg’s two factor theory

Fredrick Herzberg focused on the attitude of the employee that can motivate them. There are two factor namely motivation and hygiene factors that depends on the employee’s motivation. He is explaining that employee’s motivation have three stages namely satisfaction, no satisfaction, no dissatisfaction and dissatisfaction. This deviates two factor theory from the traditional view.

Satisfaction is when an employee is satisfied in its workplace. No dissatisfaction when an employee is not dissatisfied but is not satisfied with its workplace. In this level employee work in an equilibrium level with no extra output. The third one is dissatisfaction where the employee is extremely not happy.

Motivation

• Hygiene
• Company policies
• Way of supervision
• Relations with others
• Personal life
• Rate of pay
• Job security
• Working environment
• Achievement
• Career advancement
• Social growth
• Personal growth
• Job interest
• Recognition
• Responsibility

Conclusion

HRM and HRP are mainly based on the people with in and around the organization. The more effective HRP gives a clear vision about the future and well directed instruction for organization. The effectiveness of each step in HRP depends upon the organizational structure and factors that affect the organization.