MBA: IInd

KMBN202: Human Resource Management

Dr. Bhavana Singh
Assistant Professor

KMBN202: Human Resource Management

 UNIT-I: Human Resource Management: Introduction, Nature,
Objectives & Scope

Introduction:

According to Flippo, “Human Resource /Personnel Management may be defined as the

planning, organising, directing, and controlling of the procurement, development,
compensation, integration and maintenance and separation of human resources to the end that
individual, organisational and societal objectives are accomplished”.

Human Resource Management is a management function concerned with hiring, motivating,

and maintaining workforce in an organization. Human resource management deals with issues
related to employees such as hiring, training, development, compensation, motivation,
communication, and administration. Human resource management ensures satisfaction of
employees and maximum contribution of employees to the achievement of organizational
objectives.

Definitions:

Edwin Flippo defines- Human Resource Management as “planning, organizing, directing,

controlling of procurement, development, compensation, integration, maintenance and
separation of human resources to the end that individual, organizational and social objectives
are achieved.”

The National Institute of Personal Management (NIPM) of India has defined human
resources as “that part of management which is concerned with people at work and with their
relationship within an enterprise. Its aim is to bring together and develop into an effective
organization of the men and women who make up enterprise and having regard for the well –
being of the individuals and of working groups, to enable them to make their best contribution
to its success”.

According to Decenzo and Robbins, “Human Resource Management is concerned with the
people dimension” in management. Since every organization is made up of people, acquiring
their services, developing their skills, motivating them to higher levels of performance and

KMBN202: Human Resource Management

ensuring that they continue to maintain their commitment to the organization is essential to
achieve organisational objectives. This is true, regardless of the type of organization –
government, business, education, health or social action”.

HRM Process

Nature of Human Resource Management (HRM)

Human resource management (HRM) is an inevitable part of every organisation. It is crucial

to have an in-depth knowledge of HRM to realise organisational goals and simultaneously
creating a happy and contented workforce. To get a better understanding of the nature of human
resource management, we must go through the following points:

1) Inherent Part of Management: Human resource management is inherent in the

process of management. This function is performed by all the managers throughout the
organisation rather that by the personnel department only. If a manager is to get the best
of his people, he must undertake the basic responsibility of selecting people who will
work under him.

KMBN202: Human Resource Management

2) Pervasive Function: Human Resource Management is a pervasive function of
management. It is performed by all managers at various levels in the organisation. It is
not a responsibility that a manager can leave completely to someone else. However, he
may secure advice and help in managing people from experts who have special
competence in personnel management and industrial relations.
3) Basic to all Functional Areas: Human Resource Management permeates all the
functional area of management such as production management, financial management,
and marketing management. That is every manager from top to bottom, working in any
department has to perform the personnel functions.
4) People Centered: Human Resource Management is people centered and is relevant in
all types of organisations. It is concerned with all categories of personnel from top to
the bottom of the organisation. The broad classification of personnel in an industrial
enterprise may be as follows: (i) Blue-collar workers (i.e. those working on machines
and engaged in loading, unloading etc.) and white-collar workers (i.e. clerical
employees), (ii) Managerial and non-managerial personnel, (iii) Professionals (such as
Chartered Accountant, Company Secretary, Lawyer, etc.) and non- professional
personnel.
5) Personnel Activities or Functions: Human Resource Management involves several
functions concerned with the management of people at work. It includes manpower
planning, employment, placement, training, appraisal and compensation of employees.
For the performance of these activities efficiently, a separate department known as
Personnel Department is created in most of the organisations.
6) Continuous Process: Human Resource Management is not a one shot function. It must
be performed continuously if the organisational objectives are to be achieved smoothly.
7) Based on Human Relations: Human Resource Management is concerned with the
motivation of human resources in the organisation. The human beings cannot be dealt
with like physical factors of production. Every person has different needs, perceptions
and expectations. The managers should give due attention to these factors. They require
human relations skills to deal with the people at work. Human relations skills are also
required in training performance appraisal, transfer and promotion of subordinates.

KMBN202: Human Resource Management

Objectives of Human Resource Management (HRM)

The primary aim of human resource management (HRM) is to meet the human capital
requirement of an organisation. Further, we will discuss four other vital objectives of HRM:

a) Societal Objectives: HRM is essential to comply with the laws of the society such as
labour law or reservation system. It is obligatory for any organisation to fulfil its ethical
and social responsibilities which can be done only through HRM.
b) Organisational Objectives: In an organisation, human resource management is not an
independent unit, but it is a department which aims at facilitating the other departments
of the organisation to function smoothly.
c) Functional Objectives: HRM ensures that every department is supplemented with the
employees possessing the required set of skills and talent, at the desired cost. It also
provides for the optimum utilisation of the human capital.
d) Personal Objectives: To ensure employee’s long-term association with the
organisation and to enhance employee’s commitment and contribution towards the
organisation, HRM helps the employees to reach their personal goals.

KMBN202: Human Resource Management

Scope of Human Resource Management

1. Personnel Aspect

(i) Human Resource Planning – It is the process by which the organization identifies the
number of jobs vacant. It is the first step of human resource management. HRP is a process
through which the company makes an assessment of the present manpower-the number of
people employed, number of post vacant, whether there is excess or shortage of staff and
prepares plans and policies to deal with them accordingly. It also estimates the future man
power requirement. It matches the supply and availability of manpower with the company’s
purpose and makes the best person available for the job.

(ii) Job Analysis and Job Design – Job analysis is the systematic process for gathering,
documenting, and analyzing data about the work required for a job. Job analysis is the
procedure for identifying those duties or behaviour that define a job. An important task of
HRM is job analysis. It provides the basis for recruitment, training and development of staff.
Every job is analysed to identify the inherent requirement of the job – “what the job demands

KMBN202: Human Resource Management

of a worker”. Job analysis provides a detailed picture of the nature of job, the skill and abilities
required to perform the job, the duties and responsibilities of the worker required for the job.
This helps in the process of recruitment and selection, to appoint the appropriate person for the
job and also facilitates arranging training and development programme for the employees to
match their skill and abilities with the job requirement.

(iii) Job Evaluation: It forms the basis of wage and salary determination. Different jobs are
compared and evaluated to determine the relative importance of different jobs within the
organization. The jobs are compared, graded and ranked. Job evaluation determines how much
pay to be affixed to the particular job on the basis of their importance in the organisation
functioning. This helps to determine a fair wage and salary and to determine a rational pay
structure.

(iv) Recruitment and Selection – Recruitment is the process of preparing advertisements on

the basis of information collected from job analysis and publishing it in newspaper. Selection
is the process of choosing the best candidate among the candidates applied for the job. The
company on the basis of human resource planning and job analysis identifies the requirement
of personnel and explores different internal and external sources from where manpower can be
acquired. This process is called recruitment. The right person is selected and put to work. The
selection process involves steps like receiving applications, tests, interviews, medical
examination and final selection. Right selection and placement provides employee satisfaction
which improves their productivity and efficiency and benefits the organization.

(v) Orientation and Induction – Making the selected candidate informed about the
organization’s background, culture, values, and work ethics.

(vi) Training and Development – Training is provided to both new and existing employees
to improve their performance. Human resource management is concerned with arrangement of
training and development programme for the newly appointed staff as well as for existing
employees. This helps to enhance the qualitative and quantitative performance of the work
force. Training helps the employees to cope up with the changing technological and other
internal and external work situations. Training and development make employees excel in their
present post as well as make them competent for future higher job responsibilities.

KMBN202: Human Resource Management

(vii) Performance Appraisal – Human Resource Management does Performance check of
every employee. Promotions, transfers, incentives, and salary increments are decided based on
employee performance appraisal. It is a systematic method of evaluating the performance of
employees. This helps to assess the efficiency, strength and weakness of the employees. It is a
controlling process whereby the employees’ performance is matched with the standard level of
performance and remedial measures taken in case actual performance does not meet the
standard. It helps the management in their decision-making relating to promotion, pay hike that
may be rewarded if the employee meets standard or outperforms the standard. It also helps the
management to decide about the training and development needs for employees, who needs up
gradation and development of skill.

(viii) Compensation Planning and Remuneration – It is the job of Human Resource

Management to plan compensation and remunerate. Human resource management performs
the function of determining the pay structure for different employees on the basis of
qualification, efficiency, experience, nature of the job. It also determines rewards and
incentives to be paid for their contribution towards the organisation.

(ix) Motivation – Human Resource Management tries to keep employees motivated so that
employees put their maximum efforts in work. Motivation of employees is essential for
retention and sustenance of employees within the organisation. Motivation plays an important
role in management of personnel. It helps to improve productivity of personnel. There are
different ways by which employees may be encouraged. Recognition and reward for
performance, promotion, pay-hike, and other monetary and non-monetary rewards motivate
the employees.

2. Welfare Aspect – Human Resource Management have to follow certain health and safety
regulations for the benefit of employees. It deals with working conditions, and amenities like -
canteens, creches, rest and lunch rooms, housing, transport, medical assistance, education,
health and safety, recreation facilities, etc. Human resource management focuses on the welfare
of employees by providing canteen facilities, creches, rest and lunch rooms, housing, transport,
medical assistance, education, health and safety, medical care, sickness benefits, recreation
facilities. It aims at improving the quality of work life by providing a better environment worth
KMBN202: Human Resource Management
working, job security, flexible working hours, eliminating workplace hazards, which will have
a positive impact on the productivity and quality of work. Along with monetary benefits
provided to employees these non-monetary benefits improve the morale of the employees and
motivates them.

3. Industrial Relation Aspect – HRM works to maintain co-ordinal relation with the union
members to avoid strikes or lockouts to ensure smooth functioning of the organization. It also
covers - joint consultation, collective bargaining, grievance and disciplinary procedures, and
dispute settlement. Labour unrest, conflicts between the work groups and between workers and
management over issues like low wage, bad work environment are common problems that must
be handled carefully by establishing a balance between the worker’s interest and interest of the
organisation and management. Human resource management considers establishment and
maintenance of harmonious and cordial relation between employer and employees. This is
achieved through careful interactions with labour or employee unions, addressing their
grievances and settling the disputes effectively through negotiation, joint consultation,
collective bargaining, in order to maintain peace and harmony in the organization.

KMBN202: Human Resource Management