Mind Map
About Human Resource Management
Personnel are an essential component to any company’s success. A human resource (HR) manager has roles and functions within an organization that are focused on working with people. Proper human resource management is essential for any organization as it identifies the type of workforce that will be engaged in work. Mankin and Garavan (2018) state that the primary objective of HR management (HRM) is to maximize the value that is created by people. This in return results in increased productivity of employees. Therefore, many employers are looking for ways to optimize the efficiency of their workforce through HRM. In addition, the HR manager can serve as a connection between an employer and employees (e.g., through unions). Furthermore, the government has many legislative regulations regarding workplace safety, employee benefits, and other issues that are conducted through the HR department. HRM is critical for an organization’s development and success because it determines the quality of employees that will be working for the establishment and is responsible for managing the relationship between the employer and the employed.
It can be argued that managing an organization is a challenge, regardless of its size. Due to this fact, it is more efficient to divide different functions between departments. Ackoff states that organizations are complex systems with various elements and each is influenced by one another (as cited in Jackson, Schuler, & Jiang, 2014). One of the functions is connected to finding and hiring people whose traits, knowledge, and skills would align with the establishment’s plans. Dessler (2013) defines HRM as “practices and policies you need to carry out and the personnel aspects of your management job, specifically, acquiring, training, appraising, rewarding, and providing a safe, ethical, and fair environment for your company’s employees” (p. 10). Therefore, managing the workforce in an organization is the primary objective of HRM. It includes a variety of tasks that need to be performed for an organization to have well-performing personnel.
The primary function of human resource management is “recruiting, hiring, training, appraising, and compensating employees” (Dessler, 2013, p.72). The HR manager is concerned with providing the organization with a workforce that can perform the given task. In addition, the manager decides how to evaluate the performance and what compensation strategies to choose. Proper compensation and benefits can help the company to hire a better-qualified workforce. Gutierrez-Gutierrez, Barrales-Molina, and Kaynak (2018) state that quality HRM practice leads to creating a “learning oriented company, integrating knowledge, and supporting successful new product development (NPD)” (p. 43). Therefore, the HR manager fulfills many critical tasks for the organization.
The quality of performance of HRM department affects other parts of the company directly. Bratton and Gold (2017) emphasize the importance of HR departments in organizations that have become especially evident since the 2008 crisis. Among the common issues, there were low wages, downsizing that companies had to go through, union’s relations with employees and others. In addition, Mankin and Garavan (2018) state that this led to a variety of discussions regarding the ethical role of HRM. This was due to the fact that in challenging times for the company, the HRM has to make difficult decisions regarding the personnel. It is an objective of HRM to act both ethically and with regards for the law. In addition, Storey (2015) argues that HRM has become a controversial topic in the recent years. One of the reasons is that the term suggests that people are assets in an organization, which can be upgraded and utilized when the costs need to be minimized. The described approach leaves out the factor of human relations, although the benefit of the organization and its productivity is an essential objective of HRM. Albrecht, Bakker, Gruman, Macey, and Saks (2015) state that there are key practices in HRM that are utilized to influence organizational engagement, organizational climate, job demand and resources, the physiological feeling of safety for the employees, their engagement at work, feeling of meaningfulness, and performance of the organization.
It can be argued that every company should have plans and objectives for its development and growth. HR’s input is essential to the company’s strategic planning as it focuses on aligning the workforce with the goals that the business has. The role of human resource management in an organization’s strategic plan is “formulating and executing human resource policies and practices that produce the employee competencies and behaviors the company needs” (Dessler, 2013, p. 72). The main focus should be on the skills and behaviors of the workforce that would benefit the company.
Based on the company’s strategy the HR manager creates the human resource strategy. Dessler (2013) suggests certain tools that can be helpful in strategy formulation. Those are strategy map (detailed overview of objectives and goals for each department), scorecard (assessment of financial and non-financial metrics) and digital dashboard (charts and graphs presented on a computer). However, the strategic HR management can help a company achieve its global goals. Mankin and Garavan (2018) state the importance of focus on global strategic plans in HRM. Many companies strive to enter international markets and expand their operations to the overseas countries. In this case, the focus is on “global capabilities, global mindset, global talent management, and on developing a global employer brand” (Mankin & Garavan, 2018, p. 4).
There are different strategies that a company can utilize to create a practical plan for operations and development. Purcell (2015) identifies three significant levels of company strategies that impact HRM’s decisions. Those are long-run goals (first-order), the structure of the organization (second-order), and functional (third order). The first two identify the basic structure and objectives of the company. The functional approach is the objective of HRM. They are determined by the context of the first two levels. Therefore, the HR manager should consider different aspects of the company’s strategy and based on it, create a plan for recruiting, training, and managing the employees.
Overall, the HR management is essential for any company’s proper functioning. An HR manager is responsible for several aspects of an establishment’s operations. Those are creating a plan that aligns with the company’s general strategy, aligning the recruiting policy with that plan, recruiting people for different positions, managing the relationships with the employees, and ensuring that the workspace is safe. Since the 2008 crisis, several other issues connected to ethics have arisen in the human resource management. Proper HRM policies ensure that the organization is hiring employees that can work for the benefit of the organization.
References
Albrecht, S. L., Bakker, A. B., Gruman, J. A., Macey, W. H., & Saks, A. M. (2015). Employee engagement, human resource management practices and competitive advantage. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness, 2(1), pp. 7‐ 35. Web.
Bratton, J., & Gold, J. (2017). Human resource management: Theory and practice (6th ed.). London, United Kingdom: Palgrave
Dessler, G. (2013). A framework for human resource management (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Gutierrez-Gutierrez, L. J., Barrales-Molina, V., & Kaynak, H. (2018). The role of human resource-related quality management practices in new product development. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 38, 43-66. Web.
Jackson, S. E., Schuler, R. S., & Jiang, K. (2014). An aspirational framework on strategic human resource management. The Academy of Management Annals, 8(1), 1–56. Web.
Mankin, D., & Garavan, T. (2018). Strategic human resource management (2nd ed.). Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
Purcell, J. (2015). The impact of corporate strategy on human resource management. In J. Storey (Ed.), New perspectives on human resource management (Routledge Revivals) (pp. 67–74). New York, NY: Routledge.
Storey, J. (2015). New perspective on human resource management (Routledge Revivals). New York, NY: Routledge.