Human Resource Management Iu
Gwenda Arguin
Human resource management (HRM) is the strategic and coherent approach to the effective and efficient management of people in a company or organization such that they help their business gain a competitive advantage. It is designed to maximize employee performance in service of an employer's strategic objectives.[1][need quotation to verify] Human resource management is primarily concerned with the management of people within organizations, focusing on policies and systems.[2] HR departments are responsible for overseeing employee-benefits design, employee recruitment, training and development, performance appraisal, and reward management, such as managing pay and employee benefits systems.[3] HR also concerns itself with organizational change and industrial relations, or the balancing of organizational practices with requirements arising from collective bargaining and governmental laws.[4][need quotation to verify]
The overall purpose of human resources (HR) is to ensure that the organization can achieve success through people.[5] HR professionals manage the human capital of an organization and focus on implementing policies and processes. They can specialize in finding, recruiting, selecting, training, and developing employees, as well as maintaining employee relations or benefits. Training and development professionals ensure that employees are trained and have continuous development. This is done through training programs, performance evaluations, and reward programs. Employee relations deals with the concerns of employees when policies are broken, such as in cases involving harassment or discrimination. Managing employee benefits includes developing compensation structures, parental leave programs, discounts, and other benefits. On the other side of the field are HR generalists or business partners. These HR professionals could work in all areas or be labour relations representatives working with unionized employees.
HR is a product of the human relations movement of the early 20th century when researchers began documenting ways of creating business value through the strategic management of the workforce.[6] It was initially dominated by transactional work, such as payroll and benefits administration, but due to globalization, company consolidation, technological advances, and further research, HR as of 2015[update] focuses on strategic initiatives like mergers and acquisitions, talent management, succession planning, industrial and labor relations, and diversity and inclusion. In the current[update] global work environment, most companies focus on lowering employee turnover and on retaining the talent and knowledge held by their workforce.[7] New hiring not only entails a high cost but also increases the risk of a new employee not being able to replace the position of the previous employee adequately. HR departments strive to offer benefits that appeal to workers, thus reducing the risk of losing employee commitment and psychological ownership.
In the Soviet Union, Stalin's use of patronage exercised through the "HR Department" equivalent in the Bolshevik Party, its Orgburo, demonstrated the effectiveness and influence of human-resource policies and practices,[18][19]and Stalin himself acknowledged the importance of the human resource,[20]exemplified in his mass deployment of it, as in the five-year plans and in the Gulag system.
During the latter half of the 20th century,[where?] union membership declined significantly,[21]while workforce-management specialists continued to expand their influence within organizations.[citation needed] In US, the phrase "industrial and labor relations" came into use to refer specifically to issues concerning collective representation, and many[quantify] companies began referring to the proto-HR profession as "personnel administration".[citation needed][22]Many current HR practices originated with the needs of companies in the 1950s to develop and retain talent.[23]
"Human capital management" (HCM[24]) is sometimes used synonymously with "HR", although "human capital" typically refers to a narrower view of human resources; i.e. the knowledge the individuals embody and can contribute to an organization. Other terms sometimes used to describe the HRM field include "organizational management", "manpower management", "talent management", "personnel management", "workforce management", and simply "people management".
Several popular media productions have depicted human resource management in operation. The U.S. television series The Office, HR representative Toby Flenderson is sometimes portrayed as a nag because he constantly reminds coworkers of company policies and government regulations.[25]Long-running American comic strip Dilbert frequently portrays sadistic HR policies through the character Catbert, the "evil director of human resources".[26] An HR manager is the title character in the 2010 Israeli film The Human Resources Manager, while an HR intern is the protagonist in 1999 French film Ressources humaines. The main character in the BBC sitcom dinnerladies, Philippa, is an HR manager. The protagonist of the Mexican telenovela Maana es para siempre is a director of human resources. Up In the Air is centered on corporate "downsizer" Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) and his travels. As the film progresses, HR is portrayed as a data-driven function that deals with people as metrics, which can lead to absurd outcomes for real people.
At the macro level, HR is in charge of overseeing organizational leadership and culture. HR also ensures compliance with employment and labor laws and often oversees employee health, safety, and security. Labor laws may vary from one jurisdiction to the next. In a workplace administered by the federal government, HR managers may need to be familiar with certain crucial federal laws, in order to protect both their company and its employees. In the United States of America, important federal laws and regulations include:
An important responsibility of HR is to ensure that a company complies with all laws and regulations, thus protecting the company from legal liability.[28] In circumstances where employees exercise their legal authorization to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement, HR will typically also serve as the company's primary liaison with employee representatives (usually a labor union). Consequently, the HR industry lobbies governmental agencies (e.g., in the United States, the United States Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board) to advance its priorities.
In startup companies, trained professionals may perform HR duties. In larger companies, an entire functional group is typically dedicated to the discipline, with staff specializing in various HR tasks and functional leadership engaging in strategic decision-making across the business. To train practitioners for the profession, institutions of higher education, professional associations, and companies have established programs of study dedicated explicitly to the duties of the function. Academic and practitioner organizations may produce field-specific publications. HR is also a field of research study that is popular within the fields of management and industrial/organizational psychology, with research articles appearing in a number of academic journals, including those mentioned later in this article.
One of the frequent challenges of HRM is dealing with the notion of unitarism (seeing a company as a cohesive whole, in which both employers and employees should work together for a common good) and securing a long-term partnership of employees and employers with common interests.[31]
There are half a million HR practitioners in the United States and millions more worldwide.[32] The Chief HR Officer or HR Director is the highest ranking HR executive in most companies. He or she typically reports directly to the chief executive officer and works with the Board of Directors on CEO succession.[33][34]
Within companies, HR positions generally fall into one of two categories: generalist and specialist. Generalists support employees directly with their questions, grievances, and work on a range of projects within the organization. They "may handle all aspects of human resources work, and thus require an extensive range of knowledge. The responsibilities of human resources generalists can vary widely, depending on their employer's needs." Specialists, conversely, work in a specific HR function. Some practitioners will spend an entire career as either a generalist or a specialist while others will obtain experiences from each and choose a path later. The position of HR manager has been chosen as one of the best jobs in the US, with a #4 ranking by CNN Money in 2006 and a #20 ranking by the same organization in 2009, due to its pay, personal satisfaction, job security, future growth, and benefit to society.[35][36]
Human resource consulting is a related career path where individuals may work as advisers to companies and complete tasks outsourced from companies. In 2007, there were 950 HR consultancies globally, constituting a US$18.4 billion market. The top five revenue generating firms were Mercer, Ernst & Young, Deloitte, Watson Wyatt (now part of Towers Watson), Aon (now merged with Hewitt), and PwC consulting.[37] For 2010, HR consulting was ranked the #43 best job in America by CNN Money.[38]
Some individuals with PhDs in HR and related fields, such as industrial and organizational psychology and management, are professors who teach HR principles at colleges and universities. They are most often found in Colleges of Business in departments of HR or Management. Many professors conduct research on topics that fall within the HR domain, such as financial compensation, recruitment, and training.
Technology has a significant impact on HR practices. Utilizing technology makes information more accessible within organizations, eliminates time doing administrative tasks, allows businesses to function globally, and cuts costs.[39] Information technology has improved HR practices in the following areas:
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