INTRODUCTION TO HRM

-By Dr.Sweta Mishra

Meaning of HRM

 Human Resource Management (HRM), as the name suggests,

manages and nurtures the most significant resource of an organization,
i.e. Human Beings.
 It is an integrated set of processes, practices, programs, and systems
in an organization that focuses on the effective deployment and
development of its employees.
 It is an operation in companies designed to maximize employee
performance in order to meet the employer's strategic goals and
objectives.
 HR departments in organizations typically undertake a number of
activities, including employee benefits design, employee recruitment,
training and development, performance appraisal, and rewarding (e.g.,
managing pay and benefit systems). HR also concerns itself with
organizational change and industrial relations, that is, the balancing of
organizational practices with requirements arising from collective
bargaining and from governmental laws.

Few Definitions

 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.”-
Edwin Flippo.
 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 ensuring that they continue to maintain their
commitment to the organization is essential to achieve organizational
objectives. This is true, regardless of the type of organization –
government, business, education, health or social action”.
 “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”- The National Institute
of Personal Management .

Objectives of HRM
 To help the organization to attain its goals effectively and efficiently
by providing competent and motivated employees.
 To utilize the available human resources effectively.
 To increase to the fullest the employee’s job satisfaction and self-
actualization.
 To develop and maintain the quality of work life (QWL) which makes
employment in the organization a desirable personal and social
situation.
 To help maintain ethical policies and behaviour inside and outside the
organization.
 To establish and maintain cordial relations between employees and
management.
 To reconcile individual/group goals with organizational goals.

Scope of HRM

I.Control
 Human Resource Audit: An HR audit is a systematic method of investigating
the HR department’s practices, policies, and procedures. It helps identify gaps in
HR practice areas, and HR can prioritize these gaps by identifying ways to
improve.
 Human Resource Accounting: Human Resource Accounting is the
measurement of the cost and value of people to the organization. It involves
measuring costs incurred by the organizations to recruit, select, hire, train and
develop employees and judge their economic value to the organization.
 Human Resource Information System: HRIS stands for human resources
information system, a software solution that helps companies manage and
automate core HR processes and support benefits administration, time and
attendance, payroll, and other workflows, as well as the storage of employee data,
such as personal, demographic, and compensation information.

II.Maintenance
 Remuneration: It's a formal way to refer to payment for work or other services.
 Motivation: In the context of an organization, motivation implies encouraging
and urging the employees to perform to the best of their capabilities so as to
achieve the desired goals of the organization.
 Health and Safety: A set of rules intended to protect people from illness or
injury caused by their work
 Social Security: Social security means protection from discrimination, insecurity,
instability, and injustices. Social securities are certain considerations and benefits
accorded to individuals based on them belonging to a country.
 Industrial Relations: “Industrial Relations” refers to all types of relations
between employers and workers, be they at national, regional or company level;
and to all dealings with social and economic issues, such as wage setting, working
time and working conditions.
 Performance Appraisal: It refers to the regular review of an employee's job
performance and overall contribution to a company.

III. Acquisition
 Human Resource Planning: It is the process of carefully and scientifically
preparing a strategy to ensure the right people are available at the right time, in
the right place, and at the right cost for the organization.
 Recruitment: It is the process of actively seeking out, finding and hiring
candidates for a specific position or job.
 Selection: It is the process of choosing employees to fill specific jobs within an
organization.
 Placement: It refers to the process of connecting the selected person and the
employer in order to establish an ongoing employment relationship.

IV. Development
 Training: It refers to a system of educating employees within a company. It
includes various tools, instructions, and activities designed to improve employee
performance.
 Career Development: It is the support an organization provides to employee
professional growth, especially to employees' movement to a new position or
project within the organization.
 Organizational Development: It refers to the process that helps organizations
build their capacity to change and achieve greater effectiveness by developing,
improving, and reinforcing strategies, structures, and processes.
 Internal Mobility: Internal mobility is the movement of employees (both
vertically and horizontally) to new career and development opportunities within
the same company.

Functions of HRM
The functions performed by managers are common to all organizations. For the
convenience of study, the function performed by the resource management can
broadly be classified into two categories, viz.
 Managerial Functions
 Operative Functions
Managerial Functions of HRM
Planning:Planning is a predetermined course of actions. It is a process of
determining the organizational goals and formulation of policies and programmes for
achieving them. Thus planning is future oriented concerned with clearly charting out
the desired direction of business activities in future. Forecasting is one of the
important elements in the planning process. Other functions of managers depend on
planning function.

Organizing: Organizing is a process by which the structure and allocation of jobs

are determined. Thus organizing involves giving each subordinate a specific task
establishing departments, delegating authority to subordinates, establishing channels
of authority and communication, coordinating the work of subordinates, and so on.

Staffing: It is a process by which managers select, train, promote and retire their
subordinates This involves deciding what type of people should be hired, recruiting
prospective employees, selecting employees, setting performance standard,
compensating employees, evaluating performance, counseling employees, training
and developing employees.

Directing/Leading: Directing is the process of activating group efforts to achieve

the desired goals. It includes activities like getting subordinates to get the job done,
maintaining morale motivating subordinates etc. for achieving the goals of the
organization.

Controlling: It is the process of setting standards for performance, checking to see

how actual performance compares with these set standards, and taking corrective
actions as needed.

Operative Functions of HRM

The operative, also called, service functions are those which are relevant to specific
department. It relates to ensuring right people for right jobs at right times. These are
as follows:
Procurement: It involves procuring the right kind of people in appropriate number
to be placed in the organization. It consists of activities such as manpower planning,
recruitment, selection placement and induction or orientation of new employees.

Development: This function involves activities meant to improve the knowledge,

skills aptitudes and values of employees so as to enable them to perform their jobs in
a better manner in future. These functions may comprise training to employees,
executive training to develop managers, organization development to strike a better fit
between organizational climate/culture and employees.

Compensation: Compensation function involves determination of wages and

salaries matching with contribution made by employees to organizational goals. In
other words, this function ensures equitable and fair remuneration for employees in
the organization. It consists of activities such as job evaluation, wage and salary
administration, bonus, incentives, etc.

Maintenance: It is concerned with protecting and promoting employees while at

work. For this purpose various benefits such as housing, medical, educational,
transport facilities, etc. are provided to the employees. Several social security
measures such as provident fund, pension, gratuity, group insurance, etc. are also
arranged.
It is important to note that the managerial and operative functions of HRM are
performed in conjunction with each other in an organization, be large or small
organizations. Having discussed the scope and functions of HRM, now it seems
pertinent to delineate the HRM scenario in India.

Qualities of HR Manager
Sympathetic Attitude: A good personnel manager must have a humane approach to
human resource problems. Regardless of the problems faced by the employees, he
must have a sympathetic attitude while dealing with them.
Quick Decisions: He should display the ability to make quick decisions. Let’s assume
that there is a conflict between a superior and an employee in the organization. When
the HR manager tries to mediate and put an end to the conflict, he might have to make
some quick decisions. He should be mentally alert and therefore not get caught
unawares.
Patience: He should be extremely patient and not someone who loses his temper
easily. While dealing with employees, it is important to be a good listener, especially
when an employee is voicing his concerns. And good listening skills require a lot of
patience.
Further, since employees tend to talk to the HR manager about their problems, they
can get agitated and verbally abusive. In such situations, it is imperative that the HR
manager keeps his cool and controls the situation.
Integrity: Being the head of the personnel or human resource department, an HR
manager should display integrity. Honesty and frankness are the hallmarks of a good
human resource manager. At no time can the employees doubt the integrity of the
personnel manager.
Formal Authority: He should depend on his formal authority alone. In fact, an
effective HR manager earns his informal authority of influencing people through his
interpersonal skills.
Leadership: Good leadership skills are essential to guide the employees towards
achieving the organization’s objectives. He should also keep people motivated and
encourage them to use their skills for the overall good of the enterprise.
Social Responsibility: He should have a sense of social responsibility. Further, he
must encourage employees to discharge their social obligations to different segments
of society. After all, a good human resource manager isn’t only about the organization.
He also needs to look at the broader human resource element.
Good Communication Skills: Another essential quality of a human resource
manager is that he must possess good communication skills. In fact, since a major part
of his role involves interacting with employees, unions, and management, being a
good communicator is a must.

Duties and Responsibilities of HR Manager

1. Human Resource Planning: The role of human resources managers is to plan and
execute organizational objectives in collaboration with executives. It involves
identifying, preparing, and achieving business goals. It helps ensure an organization
has the right number of employees with the necessary skills to meet its goals. This
involves forecasting future staffing needs and ensuring that the recruitment and
training programs can meet these needs.
2. Recruitment & Hiring: Finding and hiring the right talent is a very complex
process. Modern HR departments do more than post job requirements in portals to fill
open positions. They develop strategic solutions to attract suitable candidates and
fulfill the demands of the business. HR managers must repeat the recruitment process
to fill open positions if they insist on not joining.
3. Job Analysis and Design: Human resource planning requires assigning the right
resources to the right project. And if the right person is not in the organization, HR
managers are responsible for designing the job analysis to hire them. The role of HR
manager in job analysis and design is to systematically study and determine the
responsibilities, duties, and qualifications required for a job, and to design roles that
align with organizational goals and employee satisfaction.
4. Promotions & Appraisals: The performance appraisal process aims to evaluate an
employee’s performance annually, enabling managers to assess their progress and
identify areas of improvement. To conduct effective appraisals, the HR team must
clearly understand each employee’s roles and responsibilities and evaluate employees
based on their strengths and assigned task performance.It is important that employees
are informed of the evaluation criteria and that the process is transparent. It is among
the key duties of HR manager to communicate expectations, goals, and measurement
standards to employees before appraisals.
5. Training and Development: The Human Resources department is responsible for
developing and administering training and development programs. Training and
development programs are designed to improve employees’ performance and help
them adapt to changes in the workplace. These programs can include on-the-job
training and online training.
6. Design Workplace Policies: HR manager roles and responsibilities include
designing workplace policies to reduce conflicts and legal issues and improve
employee productivity. These policies are designed to protect the interests of both
employees and employers alike. HR managers must comply with federal, state, and
local laws while designing workplace policies.
7. Performance Management: Performance management enables teams and
organizations to ensure that each member provides value to the business that is
proportional to their compensation. Using performance management involves HR
managers making workflow improvement suggestions, identifying problems, and
implementing productivity monitoring tools. Getting input from employees on how to
improve performance and implementing reward schemes and other tactics to boost
output are essential components mentioned in the HR manager job description.
8. Maintaining Work Culture: The duties and responsibilities of HR manager shape
and maintain organizational culture. Therefore, creating a positive impression of the
company from day one is essential so the new employees know what to expect.
Having an open-door policy is vital to help employees communicate their problems
freely. It helps improve employee satisfaction and retain talent. Additionally, consider
planning company events where employees can showcase their non-work-related
talents like singing, dancing, mimicry, etc. It enhances the overall brand image and
spreads positivity throughout the organization.
9. Resolve Conflict: Employees come from diverse backgrounds. And when people
with opposite opinions meet, the chances of conflict rise significantly. Whether the
issue is between two employees or an employee and the management, The role of HR
manager is to mediate conflict resolution. Depending on the type of conflict, HR
managers also hold the right to fire an employee.
10. Ensure the Health and Safety of Employees: Employees are an important asset
of the organization. Unless they are safe and healthy, they won’t be able to give their
best to the company. Thus, HR managers need to ensure the health and safety of
employees.
11. Rewards and Incentives: HR managers must reward employees based on their
performance. The biggest benefit of rewarding co-workers is that it creates a desire
for other employees to excel at their jobs in the hope of getting incentives. For
example, HR managers can design quarterly or monthly incentive programs to
identify and reward high-performing employees. Additionally, you can consider
giving the power to employees to choose the type of reward they want. For instance,
let them decide whether they want a bonus, flexible work times, leave, etc. It will
make them feel valued, increase job satisfaction, and boost productivity.
12. Employee Records Management: With numerous staff, HR departments must
maintain detailed records for each person. Well-organized employee records serve
many important purposes within a company. Performance, retention, absenteeism,
training needs, and compensation metrics can be compiled to guide policy
improvements.
13. Employee Retention Strategies: Setting the implementation of initiatives
targeted at raising employee engagement and satisfaction as a top priority is another
requirement. It basically means coming up with plans to increase retention rates.
14. Off-boarding Candidates: The departing employee must be encouraged to
document their knowledge and train their replacement. The HR management must be
on good terms with valuable employees. If the employee had a positive experience,
they would likely recommend the company to potential hires and customers even after
leaving.
The HR team must keep a talent pipeline that includes alumni who understand the
company culture and can make immediate contributions upon returning. Losing top
employees is inevitable, but it does not have to detrimentally impact the company. A
smooth transition can produce net benefits.

THANK YOU