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Human resource management involves developing and administering programs that are designed to increase the effectiveness of an organization or business. It includes the entire spectrum of creating, managing, and cultivating the employer-employee relationship. For most organizations, agencies, and businesses, the human resources department is responsible for:.
Addressing current employee concerns: Unlike company managers who oversee the day-to-day work of employees, HR departments deal with employee concerns such as benefits, pay, employee investments, pension plans, and training. Their work may also include settling conflicts between employees or between employees and their managers. The human resource management team recruits potential employees, oversees the hiring process background checks, drug testing, etc.
Managing the employee separation process: The HR management team must complete a specific set of tasks if an employee quits, is fired, or is laid off. Paperwork must be completed to ensure that the process was completed legally. Severance pay may be offered or negotiated, benefits must be settled, and access to company resources must be severed via the collection of keys, badges, computers, or sensitive materials from the employee. Effective HR teams encourage company employees to do their best, which contributes to the overall success of the company.
Their work often involves rewarding employees for good performance and creating a positive work environment. Human resource management involves both strategic and comprehensive approaches to managing people, as well as workplace culture and environment. Instead, members of a human resource management team are more focused on adding value to the strategic utilization of employees and ensuring that employee programs are impacting the business in positive and measurable ways. Performance measurements are very important both for the organization and the individual, for they are the primary data used in determining salary increases, promotions, and, in the case of workers who perform unsatisfactorily, dismissal.
Reward systems are typically managed by HR areas as well. This aspect of human resource management is very important, for it is the mechanism by which organizations provide their workers with rewards for past achievements and incentives for high performance in the future. It is also the mechanism by which organizations address problems within their work force, through institution of disciplinary measures.
Aligning the work force with company goals, stated Gubman, "requires offering workers an employment relationship that motivates them to take ownership of the business plan. Employee development and training is another vital responsibility of HR personnel. HR is responsible for researching an organization's training needs, and for initiating and evaluating employee development programs designed to address those needs.
These training programs can range from orientation programs, which are designed to acclimate new hires to the company, to ambitious education programs intended to familiarize workers with a new software system. In the realm of performance appraisal, HRM professionals must devise uniform appraisal standards, develop review techniques, train managers to administer the appraisals, and then evaluate and follow up on the effectiveness of performance reviews.
They must also tie the appraisal process into compensation and incentive strategies, and work to ensure that federal regulations are observed. Responsibilities associated with training and development activities, meanwhile, include the determination, design, execution, and analysis of educational programs.
The HRM professional should be aware of the fundamentals of learning and motivation, and must carefully design and monitor training and development programs that benefit the overall organization as well as the individual. The importance of this aspect of a business's operation can hardly be overstated.
Research has shown specific benefits that a small business receives from training and developing its workers, including: Meaningful contributions to business processes are increasingly recognized as within the purview of active human resource management practices. Of course, human resource managers have always contributed to overall business processes in certain respects-;by disseminating guidelines for and monitoring employee behavior, for instance, or ensuring that the organization is obeying worker-related regulatory guidelines.
Now, increasing numbers of businesses are incorporating human resource managers into other business processes as well. But as Johnston noted, the changing character of business structures and the marketplace are making it increasingly necessary for business owners and executives to pay greater attention to the human resource aspects of operation: In some cases, completely new work relationships have developed; telecommuting, permanent part-time roles and outsourcing major non-strategic functions are becoming more frequent.
In recent years, several business trends have had a significant impact on the broad field of HRM. Chief among them was new technologies.
These new technologies, particularly in the areas of electronic communication and information dissemination and retrieval, have dramatically altered the business landscape. Satellite communications, computers and networking systems, fax machines, and other devices have all facilitated change in the ways in which businesses interact with each other and their workers. Telecommuting, for instance, has become a very popular option for many workers, and HRM professionals have had to develop new guidelines for this emerging subset of employees. Changes in organizational structure have also influenced the changing face of human resource management.
Continued erosion in manufacturing industries in the United States and other nations, coupled with the rise in service industries in those countries, have changed the workplace, as has the decline in union representation in many industries these two trends, in fact, are commonly viewed as interrelated. In addition, organizational philosophies have undergone change. Many companies have scrapped or adjusted their traditional, hierarchical organizational structures in favor of flatter management structures. HRM experts note that this shift in responsibility brought with it a need to reassess job descriptions, appraisal systems, and other elements of personnel management.
Human resources is used to describe both the people who work for a work of employees, HR departments deal with employee concerns such as benefits, pay, . Ready to pursue a career in human resources? Read on to HomeĀ» Human ResourcesĀ» An HR Job Description Deals with a Valuable Resource: People.
A third change factor has been accelerating market globalization. This phenomenon has served to increase competition for both customers and jobs. The latter development enabled some businesses to demand higher performances from their employees while holding the line on compensation.
Other factors that have changed the nature of HRM in recent years include new management and operational theories like Total Quality Management TQM , rapidly changing demographics, and changes in health insurance and federal and state employment legislation. A small business's human resource management needs are not of the same size or complexity of those of a large firm.
Nonetheless, even a business that carries only two or three employees faces important personnel management issues. Indeed, the stakes are very high in the world of small business when it comes to employee recruitment and management. No business wants an employee who is lazy or incompetent or dishonest. But a small business with a work force of half a dozen people will be hurt far more by such an employee than will a company with a work force that numbers in the hundreds or thousands.
Nonetheless, "most small business employers have no formal training in how to make hiring decisions," noted Jill A. Rossiter in Human Resources: Mastering Your Small Business. All they know is that they need help in the form of a 'good' sales manager, a 'good' secretary, a 'good' welder, and so on. And they know they need someone they can work with, who is willing to put in the time to learn the business and do the job.
It sounds simple, but it isn't. Before hiring a new employee, the small business owner should weigh several considerations. The first step the small business owner should take when pondering an expansion of employee payroll is to honestly assess the status of the organization itself. Are current employees being utilized appropriately? Are current production methods effective?
Can the needs of the business be met through an arrangement with an outside contractor or some other means? Are you, as the owner, spending your time appropriately? As Rossiter noted, "any personnel change should be considered an opportunity for rethinking your organizational structure. Small businesses also need to match the talents of prospective employees with the company's needs. Efforts to manage this can be accomplished in a much more effective fashion if the small business owner devotes energy to defining the job and actively taking part in the recruitment process.
But the human resource management task does not end with the creation of a detailed job description and the selection of a suitable employee.
Indeed, the hiring process marks the beginning of HRM for the small business owner. Small business consultants strongly urge even the most modest of business enterprises to implement and document policies regarding human resource issues. To hold problems to a minimum, specific personnel policies should be established as early as possible. These become useful guides in all areas: In any case, a carefully considered employee handbook or personnel manual can be an invaluable tool in ensuring that the small business owner and his or her employees are on the same page.
Moreover, a written record can lend a small business some protection in the event that its management or operating procedures are questioned in the legal arena. Some small business owners also need to consider training and other development needs in managing their enterprise's employees. The need for such educational supplements can range dramatically. A bakery owner, for instance, may not need to devote much of his resources to employee training, but a firm that provides electrical wiring services to commercial clients may need to implement a system of continuing education for its workers in order to remain viable.
Perhaps the paramount principle is a simple recognition that human resources are the most important assets of an organization; a business cannot be successful without effectively managing this resource. The responsibilities of a human resource manager fall into three major areas: PEOs offer complete HR department support. These training programs can range from orientation programs, which are designed to acclimate new hires to the company, to ambitious education programs intended to familiarize workers with a new software system. Satellite communications, computers and networking systems, fax machines, and other devices have all facilitated change in the ways in which businesses interact with each other and their workers. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development , based in England , is the oldest professional HR association, with its predecessor institution being founded in The following are examples of types of human resources managers:
Finally, the small business owner needs to establish and maintain a productive working atmosphere for his or her work force. Employees are far more likely to be productive assets to your company if they feel that they are treated fairly. The small business owner who clearly communicates personal expectations and company goals, provides adequate compensation, offers meaningful opportunities for career advancement, anticipates work force training and developmental needs, and provides meaningful feedback to his or her employees is far more likely to be successful than the owner who is neglectful in any of these areas.
Kogan Page Limited, Managing the Knowledge Culture.