Human Resource Management

Human Resource Management in its simplest definition means management of organizations

manpower or workforce or human resources.
Evolution of HRM
The evolution of the concept of Human Resource Management is presented below:
Period before industrial revolution The society was primarily an agriculture economy with
limited production. Number of specialized crafts was limited and was usually carried out within a
village or community with apprentices assisting the master craftsmen. Communication channel
were limited.
Period of industrial revolution (1750 to 1850) Industrial revolution marked the conversion of
economy from agriculture based to industry based. Modernization and increased means if
communication gave way to industrial setup. A department was set up to look into workers
wages, welfare and other related issues. This led to emergence of personnel management with
the major task as:

Workers wages and salaries

Workers record maintenance

Workers housing facilities and health care

An important event in industrial revolution was growth of Labour Union (1790) The works
working in the industries or factories were subjected to long working hours and very less wages.
With growing unrest , workers across the world started protest and this led to the establishment
of Labour unions. To deal with labour issues at one end and management at the other
Personnel Management department had to be capable of politics and diplomacy , thus the
industrial relation department emerged.
Post Industrial revolution The term Human resource Management saw a major evolution
after 1850. Various studies were released and many experiments were conducted during this
period which gave HRM altogether a new meaning and importance.
A brief overview of major theories release during this period is presented below
Frederick W. Taylor gave principles of scientific management (1857 o 1911) led to the evolution
of scientific human resource management approach which was involved in

Workers training

Maintaining wage uniformity

Focus on attaining better productivity.

Hawthorne studies, conducted by Elton Mayo & Fritz Roethlisberger (1927 to 1940).
Observations and findings of Hawthrone experiment shifted the focus of Human resource from
increasing workers productivity to increasing workers efficiency through greater work
satisfaction.
Douglas McGregor Theory X and Theory Y (1960) and Abraham Maslows Hierarchy of needs
( 1954) These studies and observations led to the transition from the administrative and
passive Personnel Management approach to a more dynamic Human Resource Management
approach which considered workers as a valuable resource.
As a result of these principles and studies , Human resource management became increasingly
line management function , linked to core business operations. Some of the major activities of
HR department are listed as1.Recruitment and selection of skilled workforce.
2.Motivation and employee benefits
3.Training and development of workforce
4.Performance related salaries and appraisals.

Strategic Human Resource Management Approach

With increase in technology and knowledge base industries and as a result of global competition
Human Resource Management is assuming more critical role today . Its major accomplishment
is aligning individual goals and objectives with corporate goals and objectives. Strategic HRM
focuses on actions that differentiate the organization from its competitors and aims to make long
term impact on the success of organization.

HR CHALLENGES
There are many challenges that Human Resource Management departments face. Here are
six important ones:

1.

Technology Managing technological advancements must be made in

conjunction with employees since these advancements must be inserted into daily
operations and are a means, rather than an end. Certainly, an understanding of the part
that technology plays in supporting human capital management is a main element of the
success of Human Resources. Training in technology improves the efficiency of
workers, and thereby increases profits. It also keeps employees abreast of new
developments which assist them in their particular positions.

2.

Recruitment and availability of skilled labor Human Resources must have

selection tests that match positions in the company; a method of search for important
communication skills and co-operative skills are also essential to a company's success.

3.

Retention and Succession Planning of employees Human Resources must

establish a strong rapport among employees so that the company's goals can be
reached through harmony and motivation in the work place. Fair treatment is essential
and justified promotion by means of better employee assessment is also requisite for
retention of good employees. Further, recognition of employees as assets is necessary
for the successful operation of a company, as well as planning for candidates to be
promoted and for succession of retiring employees is needed.

4.

Health and Welfare Provisions must be made for the care of employees. This
can be in the form of health benefits and sick days. Workshops and company picnics,
outings, holiday celebrations, etc. often boost morale.

5.

Workforce diversity As required by law, diversity in the workplace must be

maintained. Careful attention to equitable and harmonious arrangements in the
workplace will ensure the success of such diversity.

6.

Industrial and Employee Relations - Human Resources can assist in

maintaining a rapport within a company as well as between its own company and others
with whom it interacts in trade or otherwise. This may involve restructuring, outsourcing,
and retirement. New insights on how to improve productivity, reduce costs, intervention,
etc. are also essential components of good relations.
GLOBALIZATION
Diversity Recruitment
With the rise of globalization, companies of all sizes are now interacting with
customers and stakeholders from diverse cultures, languages and social
backgrounds. In response, many human resources managers seek to hire
employees from equally diverse backgrounds. Companies engaging in this diversity
recruitment recognize the value of having people on staff that their customers can
relate to, and they know that having a team of diverse people contributes to the
range of ideas and influences within the organization.
Push for Professional Development

A further effect of globalization on HR management is a push for professional

development. Professional development is concerned with providing employees
opportunities to achieve their career-related goals. Some organizations provide
resources for their employees to earn a university degree, others send their
employees to conferences or networking events and training days. Professional
development is important to globalization because it creates a win-win situation. The
employees feel as though the organization is concerned with providing a range of
skills and competencies for their employees. Likewise, the organization benefits from
the added skills and connections that the employees who take advantage of
professional development programs acquire.
Greater Emphasis on Training
Similar to professional development, a greater emphasis on training has resulted
because of globalization in human resources management. Training, however, tends
to be focused on the needs and professional competencies of groups of employees
within the organization. The company might, for instance, host language classes to
give its call center staff an edge in telephone sales. It might also teach its employees
how to use a new global software platform. This emphasis on training seeks to give
the company a competitive edge in the global marketplace by honing the employees'
diversity emphasis.

Conclusion
Human resource management should take a new approach in this new
environment brought about by globalization. People should not be seen as a
cost to the organization but as a valuable assert which should be trained and
developed to get the best out of them.
MOTIVATION
Motivation is an employee's intrinsic enthusiasm about and drive to accomplish activities
related to work. Motivation is that internal drive that causes an individual to decide to
take action.

An individual's motivation is influenced by biological, intellectual, social and emotional

factors. As such, motivation is a complex, not easily defined, intrinsic driving force that
can also be influenced by external factors.

Every employee has activities, events, people, and goals in his or her life that he or she
finds motivating. So, motivation about some aspect of life exists in each person's
consciousness and actions

Factors to Encourage Motivation

These are some of the factors that are present in a work environment that many
employees find motivating.

Management and leadership actions that empower employees,

Transparent and regular communication about factors important to employees,

Treating employees with respect,

Providing regular employee recognition,

Feedback and coaching from managers and leaders,

Above industry-average benefits and compensation,

Providing employee perks and company activities, and

Positively managing employees within a success framework of goals,

measurements, and clear expectations.

EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT
Employee empowerment is giving employees a certain degree of autonomy and
responsibility for decision-making regarding their specific organizational tasks. It allows
decisions to be made at the lower levels of an organization where employees have a
unique view of the issues and problems facing the organization at a certain level.
1.

Demonstrate That You Value People

2. Share Leadership Vision
3. Share Goals and Direction
4. Trust People
5. Provide Information for Decision Making

6. Delegate Authority and Impact Opportunities, Not Just More Work

7. Provide Frequent Feedback
8. Solve Problems: Don't Pinpoint Problem People
9. Listen to Learn and Ask Questions to Provide Guidance
10. Help Employees Feel Rewarded and Recognized for Empowered Behavior.

DIVERSE WORK FORCE

Workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between people in an
organization.

Benefits of Workplace Diversity

An organizations success and competitiveness depends upon its ability to embrace
diversity and realize the benefits. When organizations actively assess their handling of
workplace diversity issues, develop and implement diversity plans, multiple benefits are
reported such as:
Increased adaptability
Organizations employing a diverse workforce can supply a greater variety of solutions to
problems in service, sourcing, and allocation of resources. Employees from diverse
backgrounds bring individual talents and experiences in suggesting ideas that are
flexible in adapting to fluctuating markets and customer demands.
Broader service range
A diverse collection of skills and experiences (e.g. languages, cultural understanding)
allows a company to provide service to customers on a global basis.
Variety of viewpoints
A diverse workforce that feels comfortable communicating varying points of view
provides a larger pool of ideas and experiences. The organization can draw from that
pool to meet business strategy needs and the needs of customers more effectively.
More effective execution

Companies that encourage diversity in the workplace inspire all of their employees to
perform to their highest ability. Company-wide strategies can then be executed;
resulting in higher productivity, profit, and return on investment.

Challenges of Diversity in the Workplace

Taking full advantage of the benefits of diversity in the workplace is not without its
challenges. Some of those challenges are:
Communication - Perceptual, cultural and language barriers need to be overcome for
diversity programs to succeed. Ineffective communication of key objectives results in
confusion, lack of teamwork, and low morale.
Resistance to change - There are always employees who will refuse to accept the fact
that the social and cultural makeup of their workplace is changing. The weve always
done it this way mentality silences new ideas and inhibits progress.
Implementation of diversity in the workplace policies - This can be the overriding
challenge to all diversity advocates. Armed with the results of employee assessments
and research data, they must build and implement a customized strategy to maximize
the effects of diversity in the workplace for their particular organization.
Successful Management of Diversity in the Workplace - Diversity training alone is
not sufficient for your organizations diversity management plan. A strategy must be
created and implemented to create a culture of diversity that permeates every
department and function of the organization

RETRENCHMENT
Retrenchment is one potential strategy that firms can use to try to turn themselves around
when they are losing profitability. Retrenchment involves cutting back on a firm's activity.it
can mean reducing the level of staffing in the company by laying people off or it can mean

getting the firm out of some particular markets in order to concentrate on the firm's core
competencies

Diff B/W Recruitment & Selection

Basis

Recruitment

Selection

Meaning

It is an activity of establishing contact between

employers and applicants.

It is a process of picking up more

competent and suitable employees.

Objective

It encourages large number of Candidates for

a job.

It attempts at rejecting unsuitable

candidates.

Process

It is a simple process.

It is a complicated process.

Hurdles

The candidates have not to cross over many

hurdles.

Many hurdles have to be crossed.

Approach

It is a positive approach.

It is a negative approach.

Sequence

It proceeds selection.

It follows recruitment.

Economy

It is an economical method.

It is an expensive method.

Time
Consuming

Less time is required.

More time is required.

Channels of Recruitment

1. Internal Recruitment - is a recruitment which takes place within the concern or

organization. Internal sources of recruitment are readily available to an
organization.
1. Transfers
2. Promotions (through Internal Job Postings)
3. Re-employment of ex-employees - Re-employment of ex-employees is one
of the internal sources of recruitment in which employees can be invited and
appointed to fill vacancies in the concern. There are situations when exemployees provide unsolicited applications also.
2.External Recruitment - External sources of recruitment have to be solicited from
outside the organization. External sources are external to a concern. But it involves
lot of time and money.
a. Employment at Factory Level - This a source of external recruitment in which
the applications for vacancies are presented on bulletin boards outside the
Factory or at the Gate. This kind of recruitment is applicable generally where
factory workers are to be appointed. There are people who keep on soliciting
jobs from one place to another. These applicants are called as unsolicited
applicants. These types of workers apply on their own for their job. For this kind
of recruitment workers have a tendency to shift from one factory to another and
therefore they are called as badli workers.
b. Advertisement - It is an external source which has got an important place in
recruitment procedure. The biggest advantage of advertisement is that it covers a
wide area of market and scattered applicants can get information from
advertisements. Medium used is Newspapers and Television.
c. Employment Exchanges - There are certain Employment exchanges which are
run by government. Most of the government undertakings and concerns employ
people through such exchanges. Now-a-days recruitment in government
agencies has become compulsory through employment exchange.
d. Employment Agencies - There are certain professional organizations which
look towards recruitment and employment of people, i.e. these private agencies
run by private individuals supply required manpower to needy concerns.
e. Educational Institutions - There are certain professional Institutions which
serves as an external source for recruiting fresh graduates from these institutes.
This kind of recruitment done through such educational institutions, is called as
Campus Recruitment. They have special recruitment cells which helps in
providing jobs to fresh candidates.

PROCESS OF RECRUITMENT
o

Identify vacancy

Prepare job description and person specification

Advertising the vacancy

Managing the response

Short-listing

Arrange interviews

Conducting interview and decision making

Constraints and Challenges

In actual practice, it is always not easy to find and select a suitable candidate for a job opening. The
recruiters choice of a communication medium (e.g. advertising in a trade journal read by the prospective
candidate) may not be appropriate. Some of the bright candidates may begin to view the vacancy as not
in line with their current expectations (e.g. challenging work, excellent rewards, flexible schedules and so
on). The most suitable ones may not have been motivated to apply due to several other constraints.

Poor image: If the image of a firm is perceived to be low (due to factors such as operating in a
declining industry, earning a bad name because of environmental pollution, poor quality products,
nepotism, insider trading allegations against promoters etc.), the likelihood of attracting a large number of
qualified applicants is reduced.

Unattractive job: If the job to be filled is not very attractive, most prospective candidates may turn
indifferent and may not even apply. This is especially true in case of jobs that are dull, boring, anxiety
producing, devoid of career growth opportunities and generally do not reward performance in a proper
way. (e.g., jobs in departmental undertakings such as Railways, Post and Telegraphs, public sector banks
and Insurance companies failing to attract talent from premier management institutes.)

Conservative internal policies: A policy of filling vacancies through internal promotions based on
seniority, experience, job knowledge etc. may often come in the way of searching for qualified hands in
the broader job market in an unbiased way. Likewise, in firms where powerful unions exist, managers may
be compelled to pick up candidates with questionable merit, based on issues such as caste, race,
religion, region, nepotism, friendship etc.

Limited budgetary support : Recruiting efforts require money. Sometimes because of limited
resources, organizations may not like to carry on the recruiting efforts for long periods of time. This can,
ultimately, constrain a recruiters efforts to attract the best person for the job.

Restrictive policies of government : Governmental policies often come in the way of recruiting
people as per the rules for company or on the basis of merit/seniority, etc. For example, reservations for
special groups (such as scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, backward classes, physically handicapped
and disabled persons, ex-servicemen, etc.) have to be observed as per Constitutional provisions while
filling up vacancies in government corporations, departmental undertakings, local bodies, quasigovernment organizations, etc.