HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

MODULE NO : 01

INTRODUCTION TO HRM

INTRODUCTION

Human resource is of paramount importance for the success of any organisation. It is a

source of strength and aid. Human resource is the wealth of an organisation which can help it in
achieving its goals. Human resource management is concerned with the human beings in an
organisation.

Human resource management is branch of management that deals with people at work.
HRM is the process which binds people with organisations and helps both people and
organisation to achieve each other’s goals. Various policies, processes and practices are designed
to help both employees and organisations to achieve their goals.

Human Resource Management is a process, which consists of four main activities,

namely, acquisition, development, motivation, as well as maintenance of human resources.

Scott, Clothier and Spriegel have defined Human Resource Management as that branch
of management which is responsible on a staff basis for concentrating on those aspects of
operations which are primarily concerned with the relationship of management to employees and
employees to employees and with the development of the individual and the group.

Human Resource Management is responsible for maintaining good human relations in the
organization. It is also concerned with development of individuals and achieving integration of
goals of the organization and those of the individuals.

French Wendell, defines —"Human resource management as the recruitment, selection,

development, utilization, compensation and motivation of human resources by the organization.”

According to Edwin B. Flippo, —"Human resource management is the planning,

organizing, directing and controlling of the procurement, development, resources to the end that
individual and societal objectives are accomplished.”

This definition reveals that human resource (HR) management is that aspect of
management, which deals with the planning, organizing, directing and controlling the personnel
functions of the enterprise. The purpose of these functions is to assist in the achievement of basic
organisational, individual and societal goals.

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NATURE OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT:
The emergence of human resource management can be attributed to the writings of the
human relation thinkers who attached great significance to the human factor.

Lawrence Appley remarked, ‘Management is personnel administration’. This view Is partially

true as management is concerned with the efficient and effective use of both human as well as
non-human resources.

The nature of the human resource management has been highlighted in its following features:
1. Integral part of the process of management:
Human resource management is embedded in the organisational structure of an enterprise
and is an integral part of the process of management itself. Human resource management
cannot be separated from the basic management function. This function is performed by all
the managers throughout the organisation rather than by the personnel department only.

2. Comprehensive as well as pervasive function:

The main function of human resource management is to manage people at work. It is a
comprehensive function which covers all types of people at all levels in the organisation. In
other words, it applies to workers, supervisors, officers, managers and any other type of
personnel in the organisation. and it is not confined to industry alone. Its equally useful and
necessary in government, armed forces, sports orgs., the like. It applies to all the functional
areas e.g. production, marketing, finance, research, recruitment, selection, development and
utilisation of people. Thus, personnel management is not only a staff function but a line
responsibility as well.

[Link] 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.

[Link] Centred:
Human resource management is a people-oriented function and is concerned with
employees. It is a process of finding out the optimum arrangement between individual, jobs,
organisations and environment. It is concerned with all categories of personnel from top to the
bottom of the organization. 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, (ji) Professionals (such as Chartered Accountant, Company
Secretary, Lawyer, etc.) and non- professional personnel.

[Link] Activities or Functions:

Human Resource Management involves several functions concerned with the
management of people at work. It includes manpower planning, employment, placement,

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 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
organizations.
[Link] Process:
Human Resource Management is not a one-shot function, rather it is a never-ending
exercise. It must be performed continuously if the organizational objectives are to be achieved
smoothly.
[Link] on Human Relations:
Human Resource Management is concerned with the motivation of human resources in
the organization. The human beings can‘t 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.

FUNCTIONS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT:

The main functions of human resource management are classified into two categories:

(a) Managerial Functions

Following are the managerial functions of Human Resources Management.

1. Planning: The planning function of human resource department pertains to the steps taken in
determining in advance personnel requirements, personnel programmes, policies etc. After
determining how many and what type of people are required, a personnel manager has to
devise ways and means to motivate them.

2. Organization : Under organization, the human resource manager has to organise the operative
functions by designing structure of relationship among jobs, personnel and physical factors in

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 such a way so as to have maximum contribution towards organizational objectives. In this way
a personnel manager performs following functions :
(a) preparation of task force;
(b) allocation of work to individuals;
(c) integration of the efforts of the task force;
(d) coordination of work of individual with that of the department.

3. Directing : Directing is concerned with initiation of organised action and stimulating the
people to work. The personnel manager directs the activities of people of the organization to
get its function performed properly. A personnel manager guides and motivates the staff of the
organization to follow the path laid down in advance.

4. Controlling : It provides basic data for establishing standards, makes job analysis and
performance appraisal, etc. All these techniques assist in effective control of the qualities, time
and efforts of workers.

(b) Operative Functions :

The following are the Operative Functions of Human Resource Management

1. Procurement of Personnel: It is concerned with the obtaining of the proper kind and number
of personnel necessary to accomplish organization goals. It deals specifically with such
subjects as the determination of manpower requirements, their recruitment, selecting,
placement and orientation, etc.

2. Development of Personnel : Development has to do with the increase through training, skill
that is necessary for proper job performance. In this process various techniques of training are
used to develop the employees. Framing a sound promotion policy, determination of the basis
of promotion and making performance appraisal are the elements of personnel development
function.

3. Compensation to Personnel : Compensation means determination of adequate and equitable

remuneration of personnel for their contribution to organization objectives. To determine the
monetary compensation for various jobs is one of the most difficult and important function of
the personnel management. A number of decisions are taken into the function, viz., job-
evaluation, remuneration, policy, inventive and premium plans, bonus policy and
copartnership, etc. It also assists the organization for adopting the suitable wages and salaries,
policy and payment of wages and salaries in right time,

4. Maintaining Good Industrial Relation : Human Resource Management covers a wide field. It
is intended to reduce strifies, promote industrial peace, provide fair deal to workers and
establish industrial democracy. It the personnel manager is unable to make harmonious
relations between management and labour industrial unrest will take place and millions of
man-days will be lost. If labour management relations are not good the moral and physical
condition of the employee will suffer, and it will be a loss to an organization vis-a-visa nation.

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 Hence, the personnel manager must create harmonious relations with the help of sufficient
communication system and co-partnership.

5. Record Keeping : In record-keeping the personnel manager collects and maintains

information concerned with the staff of the organization. It is essential for every organization
because it assists the management in decision making such as in promotions.

6. Personnel Planning and Evaluation : Under this system different type of activities are
evaluated such as evaluation of performance, personnel policy of an organization and its
practices, personnel audit, morale, survey and performance appraisal, etc.

EVOLUTION OF HRM

Human Resource Management (HRM) is relatively a very recent term considered for
managing human resources in an organisation. HRM is still evolving to become an amalgam of
organisational behaviour, personnel management, industrial relations and labour legislation.

The term “human resource management” is of recent origin. In its modern connotation, it came to
be used mainly from the 1980s onwards. During ancient times and for a long period in the
medieval era, production of goods was done mainly by skilled artisans and craftsmen. They
themselves owned the tools and instruments, produced articles and sold these in the market.

As such, the question of employer-employee or master-servant relationship did not arise in their
cases. They managed their affairs themselves and with the help of the family members. However,
many effluent craftsmen also employed apprentices and certain categories of hired labourers.
There existed a very close relationship between the master craftsmen and the apprentices, and they
themselves took care of the problems facing the apprentices and their family members.

Evolution of Human Resource Management – From 19th Century till Recent Times: Different Eras
of Human Resource Management.

From industrial revolution era to the present era, various stages to development of management of
human resource practices may be classified as follows:

1. Industrial revolution era— 19th century

2. Trade union movement era — close to the 19th century

3. Social responsibility era — beginning of the 20th century

4. Scientific management era— 1900-1920s

5. Human relations era— 1930s-1950s

6. Behavioural science era— 1950s-1960s

7. Systems and contingency approach era – 1960 onwards

8. Human resource management era — 1980 onwards

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 Main features of these eras and the type of practices related to managing human
resources are as follows:

1. Industrial Revolution Era:

The systematic development of HRM started with industrial revolution that started during
1850s in Western Europe and USA. The industrial revolution consisted, essentially, the
development of machinery, the use of mechanical energy in production processes, and
consequently the emergence of the concept of factory with large number of workforce working
together.
The factory system replaced the old cottage system. Industrial revolution brought out a
number of changes like centralized work locations with large number of workers working
together, mechanized production process, migration of workers from their place of origin, and
indirect contact between factory owners and workers.

In order to manage people in the factory system of industrial revolution, three systems of
HRM were developed- recruitment of workers, training for workers, and control of workers.
However, the basic philosophy of managing workers revolved around ‘master-servant
relationship’.

2. Trade Union Movement Era:

Shortly after the emergence of factory system, workers started to organize themselves
based on their common interests to form workers’ associations which were subsequently known as
trade unions.
The basic objectives of these associations were to safeguard interest of their members and
to sort out their problems which arose primarily because of employment of child labour, long
hours of work, and poor working conditions.
Later, other aspects of work such as economic problems and wages, employee benefits
and services, etc. also became issues.
These trade unions started such weapons as strikes, slowdowns, walkouts, boycotts,
etc., for the acceptance of their demands.
These activities of the trade unions forced owners and managers to adopt employee
grievance handling systems, arbitration as a means of resolving conflicts between
owners/managers and workers, disciplinary practice, expansion of employee benefit programmes,
holiday and vacation time, clear definition of job duties, job rights through seniority, and
installation of rational and defensible wage structures.

3. Social Responsibility Era:

In the first decade of 20th century, some factory owners started adopting a more
humanistic and paternalistic approach towards workers. Paternalistic approach to labour
management is based on the philosophy that labour is just like a child and owner is just like a
father and the owner should take care of his labour just like a father takes care of his children.
Those industrialists who adopted paternalistic approach offered a number of concessions
and facilities to labour force like reduced number of work hours, improved facilities at workplace,
model villages to workers, etc. All these practices led to the development of social welfare aspect
of labour management.

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4. Scientific Management Era:
Around the beginning of 20th century, Taylor started to find out ‘one best way of doing
thing’ based on time and motion studies. On the basis of his experiments, he was able to increase
workers’ productivity considerably and wrote many papers based on these experiments and a book
on scientific management.
The main principles of scientific management are:
(i) Replacing rule of thumb with science,
(ii) harmony, not conflict,
(iii) cooperation, not individualism, and
(iv) development of each and every person.
Scientific management techniques relevant to management of workers are- functional
foremanship, standardization and simplification of work, and differential piece wage system.

5. Human Relations Era:

Around 1920s, management researchers gave a close look at the human factor at work
and the variables that affected people’s behaviour. Before that, Hugo Munsterberg wrote a book on
‘Psychology and Industrial Efficiency’ which suggested the use of psychology in the field of
personnel testing, interviewing, attitude measurement, learning, etc.
This brief period was termed as ‘Industrial Psychology Era’. In 1924, a group of
professors from Harvard Business School, USA, began an enquiry into the human aspects of work
and working conditions at Hawthorne plant of Western Electric Company, Chicago.

They conducted researches from 1924 to 1932 and arrived at the conclusions that
productivity of workers depended on-
(i) social factors at the workplace,
(ii) group formation and group influence,
(iii) nature of leadership and supervision, and
(iv) communication.

They concluded that in order to have better productivity, management should take care of
human relations besides the physical conditions at the workplace.

6. Behavioural Science Era:

In contrast to human relations which assume that happy workers are productive
workers, the behavioural scientists have been goal and efficiency- oriented and consider
understanding of human behaviour to be the major means to that end. They have tried several
sophisticated research methods to understand the nature of work and the people in the work
environment.

Major conclusions of the contributions made by behaviouralists are as follows:

i. People do not dislike work. In fact, job itself is a source of motivation and satisfaction to
employees.
ii. Most people can exercise a great deal of self-direction and self-control and generate more
creativity than required in their current job. Therefore, their untapped potential remains unutilized.

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iii. Managers’ basic job is to use untapped human potential in the organization.
iv. Work satisfaction may improve as a ‘by-product’ of subordinates making full use of their
potential.
Behavioural science era led to the development of two-way communication, participation
of employees in decision making, joint goal-setting, group dynamics, management development,
and management of change in the organization.

7. Human Resource Management Era:

However, as the time passed and the complexity of managing human resources in large
business organizations increased, the scope of industrial relations department was extended to
cover supervisory staff and subsequently managerial personnel. Industrial relations department was
named as personnel department.
With the increasing competition for market share, competition for resources including
human talents, and increased knowledge in the field of managing human resources, people were
not treated merely as physiological beings but socio-psychological beings as a prime source of
organizational effectiveness and large organizations changed the nomenclature of their personnel
department to human resource ‘department to reflect the contemporary view.

Even the American Society for Personnel Administration, the largest professional
association in the field of human resource management, changed its name to the Society for
Human Resource Management in 1990. At the academic level, similar pattern was followed
and the title of personnel management course was changed to human resource management.
Since then, the expression is gradually replacing the hackneyed term ‘personnel management’.

HR MANAGER
Basically the job of HR manager is the management of HR. HR generally act in an
advisory capacity, providing information offering suggestions, counseling and assisting all the
line managers in the organization and is not responsible for the end result. However within his
own department, the HR manager perform a line function by directing the activities of his
subordinates and in service areas like canteen etc.

the role of HR manager in the organization can be explained as follows:

1. advisory role:
The HR department has functional relationship with other departments or managers in
the total organization. as the specialist, the HR manager advises the head of the department
functional departments on the various aspects of human resource management for example
manpower planning, recruitment, selection, training appraisal compensation etc.

2. Counseling role:
the HR manager play the role of counselor with the employees also. He discusses the
various problems of employees relating to work, canteen career, their supervisors, colleagues,
health, family, financials, social etc and suggest them means to minimize and overcome those
problems.

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3. role of a change agent:
HR manager work as a change agent regarding HR areas. To be an effective consultant
he should be familiar with the needs and changing environment of the business.
[Link] role:
The HR manager often act as a mediator in the organization whenever there is a friction
between two employees, two groups of employees, superiors and subordinates and employees
and management, the history manager has to act as a mediator so as to maintain industrial
harmony.
[Link] role:
The HR manager act as a representative of the organization so as to give an overall
picture of the organizational operations to the employees particularly in case of industrial
disputes or grievance redressal similarly he act as employees representative in representing their
problems to the management particularly in concern with trade union are not there.
[Link] role:
The HR manager play is fire fighting role of grievance handling, settlement of disputes,
and link disciplinary case, collective bargaining, joint consultation, interpretation and
implementation of various law related to labor, contacting lawyers regarding court cases, filing
suits in labour force, industrial tribunals, civil courts and the like.

[Link] role:

under section 49 of the factories act, a welfare officer has to be appointed in specific
factories. HR manager is expected to be the welfare officer of the company. As the welfare
officer, he provide and maintain canteen, hospitals, creatures, educational institutions, clubs
libraries convince facilities for our cooperative credits societies customer stores etc.

[Link] role:

The HR manager assist the line manager in effective implementation of HR policies and
programs. His advice and services is essential for monitoring and controlling the process. As an
arm of top management, the HR manager ensures that the HR policies and procedures approved
and adopted by the management are being consistently carried out in all the departments.

[Link] relation role:

The HR manager is supposed to be an expert in human relations. He is expected to

improve productivity by fulfilling the economic social and psychological needs and aspiration of
employees. HR manager also has to meet the challenges of the fast-changing post industrial
society.

Thus in actual practice HR manager is found handling jobs of various kinds.

OR

Role/status of HR manager and competencies of HR manager:

Human Resource Manager is People-Centric, i.e. She/he deals with human problems.

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 1. Formulates policies related to remuneration, transfer, promotion, appraisal, welfare
activities, Personnel records, working environment.

2. Advisor to the top management for the issues pertaining to HR Policies, labour laws,
procedural guidelines etc.

3. Relationship manager-An important link between trade unions and top management.

4. Representative of top management and spokesperson of workers.

5. Mediator between:

a) Supervisor and subordinate

b) Employees

c) Management and employees

6. Leader, as well as a counsellor to the workers, provided them guidance and advice.

[Link] officer, manages the provisions of creches, canteen, transport, medical excursions.

COMPETENCIES OF HR MANAGER:
1. Effective Communication: HR Professionals must have impeccable communication
skills. When the job is to deal with people, it becomes paramount for any HR
professional to have strong communication skills. Effective communication helps HR
managers to handle employee grievances empathically and also manage any internal
conflicts effectively.

2. Relationship-Building: Building relationship between the HR group and other

department is one of the critical components to bring business together. This helps in
maximizing the potential of the organization and its success. Relationships in the
workplace often need a great deal of care and communication.

3. Adaptability Skills: The world of business is changing every day and is not possible
too comfortable but adapt yourself with the changing times. These will allow HR
managers to rethink their current company policies and also curate new ones that are
more relevant and effective. For fostering a healthy work environment, HR professionals
must come up with new tactics to keep the employees engaged and actively invest
themselves in finding way to retain them.

4. Technological Skills: With the whole world going increasing digital, HR managers need
the ability to adapt to new technology. Technological skills give HR Professional an edge
while managing his/her duties. For example: Social media tools help them posting job
opening online and reach out to more potential candidates. And at the same talent
acquisition Software(ATS) makes their jobs incredibly easier while recruiting and hiring.
Therefore, it is very critical for HR Professionals to have good digital skills.

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 5. Keep Learning: ‘Learning is a never-ending process’. The same holds for any HR
professionals. The work culture of today’s organizations demands better management,
support, growth and development. Deepening of knowledge in the HRM field and
applying new HR trends will always help to become the front runner.

6. Critical Thinking: Linder Elder, a prominent scholar, describes critical thinking as ‘self-
guided, self-disciplined, thinking which attempts to reason at the highest level of quality
in a fair-minded way. Critical thinking helps to bring a rational perspective and help HR
professionals to deal with a difficult situation with ease. Either it is conflict resolutions or
addressing an issue with the employees. And it helps to reconstruct or put forward views
and ideas that work best for the work environment.

7. Interpersonal Skills: interpersonal skills are the soft skills that hold great value to HR
professionals. These skills include active listening, verbal and non-verbal
communication, social awareness, self management, accountability and so on.

HUMAN RESOURCE POLICIES:

A policy is a predetermined course of action established to guide the performance of
work towards accepted objectives. It is a type of a standing plan that serve to guide subordinates
in the execution of their tasks.

HR Policies are statements of human resource objectives of an organisation and provide a broad
framework within which decisions on human resource matters can be made without reference of
higher authorities.

Human resource policies lay down the criteria for decision making in the field of human
resource management.

These policies define the intentions of the organisation in the area of human resource
management.

According to Yoder, “Human resource or labour or industrial relations policy provides

guidelines for a wide variety of employment relationship in the organisation. These guidelines
identify the oganisations intentions in recruitment, selection, promotion, development,
compensation, motivation and otherwise leading and directing people in the working
organisation. Human resource policies serve as a road map for managers.”

According to Calhoon, “Human resource policies constitute guides to actions. They furnish the
general standards or bases on which decisions are reached. Their genesis lies in an organisations
values, philosophy, concepts and principles.”

Need and Importance of Human Resource Policies:

 Clear thinking: the actual process of writing down a human resource policy helps to
clarify management thinking.

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 Uniformity and consistency of Administration: Well-established policies ensure
uniform and consistent treatment of all employees throughout the organisation.
 Continuity and stability: written policies are a means of transmitting the company’s
heritage from one generation of executives to another.
 Sense of security: Written human resource policies provide advance information and
predictable decisions on human resource matters.
 Delegation of authority: They help a manager to delegate authority.
 Orientation and training: Written human resource policies can be used as guides for
orientation and training of new employees.
 Teamwork and loyalty :
 Better control:
 Prompt decision-making:

1. Code of Conduct and Ethical Standard:

Establish guidelines for employee behaviour, professionalism, and ethical practices
within the organisation.
2. Equal Employment Opportunity and Anti-Discrimination Policies:
Ensure equal opportunities for all employees and prohibit discrimination based on
factors such as gender, religion, caste, disability, or age. Implement policies that promote
diversity and inclusion in recruitment, promotion, and compensation practices.
3. Leave and Attendance Policies:
Define various types of leaves, including annual leave,sick leave, maternity/paternity
leave, and public holidays, as per statutory requirements. Establish procedures for
requesting and granting leaves, maintaining attendance records, and addressing leave-
related queries.
4. Employee Grievance and Redressal Procedures:
Establish a fair and transparent mechanism for employees to report grievances and
concerns without fear of retaliation. Outline procedures for investigating and addressing
employee grievances promptly and impartially.
5. Performance Management and Appraisal Policies:
Define the performance management process, including goal-setting, performance
evaluation, feedback, and development plans. Outline the criteria and methodologies for
conducting fair and objective performance appraisals.
6. Sexual Harassment Prevention Policy:
Comply with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention
Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013. Establish policies and procedures to prevent,
address, and redress incidents of sexual harassment at the workplace.
7. Employee Health and Safety Policies:
Ensure compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act and relevant
regulations. Establish guidelines for workplace safety, accident reporting, emergency
procedures, and measures to promote employee well-being.

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 8. IT and Data Security Policies:
Define guidelines for the appropriate use of company IT resources, including
internet access, email, and software usage. Ensure data security and confidentiality by
outlining protocols for data protection, information sharing, and data privacy compliance.

“A good Human resource policy should be clear, objective oriented, long lasting, flexible,
written, consistent, just and fair and reasonable.”

HRM V/S Personnel management:

Emerging challenges of HRM and HRM issues in indian organisations.

The organisations today realise that human resource is the most valuable asset and
are adopting policies like competence building, job rotation, performance linked pay,
empowerment, etc., which promote the overall development of the human resources. Greater
stress is also being given in the field of employee welfare and social security with increased
post-retirement benefits like health insurance, provident fund, pension, etc.

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 Social, economical, technological conditions are changing. These changes are already
affecting business and will have an even greater impact in future. Human behaviour is also
complex.

1. Managing Workforce Diversity:

An important challenge that human resource managers face involves workforce

diversity, i.e., the increasing heterogeneity of organisations with the inclusion of
employees from different groups such as women, physically disabled persons, retired
defence personnel, backward classes, ethnic groups, etc.

Whereas globalisation focuses on differences between personnel from different

countries, workforce diversity addresses differences among people within the same
country.

2. Meeting Aspirations of Employees:

There has been a rise in the proportion of employees in today’s industries who
belong to the younger generations whose aspirations are different from those of the
earlier generations. Today’s workers are more careers oriented and are clear about the
lifestyle they want to lead. Considerable changes have been noted in the career
orientation of the employees.

They are becoming more aware of their higher level needs and this awareness
would intensify further among the future employees. The managers would be required
to evolve appropriate techniques to satisfy the higher level needs of the employees
and develop suitable plans for their career advancement.

3. Empowerment of Employees:

There has been a general change in the profile of workforce in industrial and
other organisations. The organisations in future will get better qualified and career
oriented young employees. The proportion of professional and technical employees will
also increase as compared to the blue collared employees.

Empowerment involves giving the employees more information and control

over how they perform their jobs. Various techniques of empowerment range from
participation in decision-making to the use of self-managed teams. In future,
organisations will follow team structures which will pave the way for empowerment of
lower levels.

Empowerment would be all the more necessary to speed up the process of

decision-making, make use of environmental opportunities and to serve the customers
and society better.

4. Management of Human Relations:

Management of human relations in the future will be more complicated than it

is today. “Many of the new generation of employees will be more difficult to motivate

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 than their predecessors. This will in part be the result of a change in value system
coupled with rising educational levels.

Money will no longer be the sole motivating force for majority of the workers.
Non-financial incentives will also play an important role in motivating the workforce. In
short, human resources will be treated as assets which will appear in the Balance Sheets
of business organisations in future.

5. Dynamic Personnel Policies and Programs:

The Human Resource Manager of tomorrow will not only look after personnel
functions, but will also be involved in human resource policies and programs for the
entire organisation. Similarly, human resource management is not merely going to be an
exclusive job of the HR Manager, but every executive in the organisation would be made
responsible for the effective management of people in his unit.

Thus, management of human resource will receive greater attention of all

managers from top to bottom. The human resource manager would play a key role in the
formulation of personnel policies, programs, plans and strategies of the organisation.
Every HR program will have to be properly planned and directed by the human resource
manager in consultation with the line and functional managers.

6. Building Responsive Organisation:

The Human Resource Manager will have to contribute tremendously to the

building up of responsive organisation. Creating adaptive customer-oriented
organisation would require soliciting employees’ commitment and self-control and
encouraging empowerment of employees.

Instead of imposing himself as the traditional boss, the future manager will
have to think of himself as a ‘team-leader’, ‘internal consultant’ and ‘change facilitator’.

7. Building Core Competence and Creating Competitive Advantage:

The human resource manager has a great role to play in developing core
competence by the firms. A core competence is a unique and unimitable strength of an
organisation which may be in the form of human resources, marketing capability, or
technological capability. If the business is organised on the basis of core competence, it
is likely to generate competitive advantage.

In fact, organisation of business around core competence implies leveraging the

limited resources of the firm. It needs creative, courageous and dynamic leadership
having faith in the organisation’s human resources.

8. Outsourcing HRM Functions:

These days, many organisations are outsourcing routine HRM functions so as to

focus on strategic HR issues that affect corporate performance and shareholder value.
The HRM functions which are of routine type and can be safely outsourced include
recruitment, selection, compensation, job evaluation, training, etc. Outsourcing of such
functions would enable the management pay greater attention to core business activities.

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 The term ‘outsourcing’ means getting some service from external service
providers or agencies rather than performing it within the organisation. This practice is
called Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). The basic feature of BPO is that companies
hire out on contract those services or tasks which fall outside the area of their ‘core
competence’.

For example, a business enterprise may outsource employment of personnel,

training of personnel and payroll accounting to a specialised service provider, often
called a BPO film.

Workforce Diversity
An important challenge that human resource managers face involves
workforce diversity, i.e., the increasing heterogeneity of organisations with the inclusion
of employees from different groups such as women, physically disabled persons, retired
defence personnel, backward classes, ethnic groups, etc.

Whereas globalisation focuses on differences between personnel from different

countries, workforce diversity addresses differences among people within the same
country.

According to Moorhead and Griffin, “Workforce diversity is concerned with

the similarities and differences in such characteristics as age, gender, ethnic heritage,
physical abilities and disabilities, race and sexual orientation, among the employees of
organizations.

The managers will be required to shift their approach from treating each group of
workers alike to recognizing differences among them and following such policies so as
to encourage creativity, improve productivity, reduce labour turnover and avoid any of
discrimination.

For instance, more and more women have been joining the organisations in
India and women executives have also been occupying important positions at the middle
and top levels in the organisations. This in itself is a challenge for organisations as,
traditionally, the Indian society has been male dominated.

Workforce diversity has significant implications for the management. The

managers will be required to shift their approach from treating each group of workers
alike to recognizing differences among them and following such policies so as to
encourage creativity, improve productivity, reduce labour turnover and avoid any sort of
discrimination.

When workforce diversity is managed properly, there would be better

communication, better human relations and congenial work culture in the organisation.

HUMAN RESOURCE INFORMATION SYSTEM

A software solution that maintains, manages and processes detailed employee
information and human resource- related policies and procedures. (HRM+ Information
System).

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 It includes, names, addresses, national IDs or Social Security numbers, visa or
work permit information and information about dependents.

In most cases, an HR information system provides sensitive information like

worker ‘s age, gender and address, and also provide an employee ‘s workplace
information, such as their title, pay scale and department, employee data management,
benefits administration, time and attendance record, reporting and analytics, employee
self-service etc.

Data Sources:

 Recruiting (Application tracking system, Applied CV)

 Demographic data ( Employee ID, name, gender, DOB, residence, Dept)

 Performance Management(Performance rating, reviews)

 Learning Management ( Training and development)

 Job Architecture( Position, duties, responsibilities etc)

 Compensation and benefits(Basic Pay, TA, DA, etc)

 Succession planning (Leadership data)

 Exit Interview ( reasons, Helps in reducing employee turnover)

Importance of HRIS
 Managing Ample of HR data

 Improved mentoring and control over human resources

 Improved decision making

 Anytime and anywhere access

 Reduce Labour cost in maintaining records

 Reduce errors in data

Emerging trends in human resource management (HRM):

1. Hybrid work models

Hybrid work models are becoming increasingly popular, as they offer the best of both
worlds: the flexibility and convenience of remote work, with the collaboration and social
interaction of an office setting. HRM professionals are tasked with developing and implementing
hybrid work policies and procedures that support employee productivity and well-being.

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2. Global expansion

Many businesses are expanding their operations into new global markets, which presents
unique challenges for HRM professionals. For example, HR must develop and implement global
recruitment and onboarding processes, as well as ensure that employees are compliant with local
laws and regulations.

3. Employee experience

Employee experience (EX) is becoming a top priority for many organizations. EX

encompasses everything from the employee journey to the overall work environment. HRM
professionals are tasked with creating a positive and engaging EX for all employees.

4. Data-driven decision-making

HR is increasingly using data to make informed decisions about talent acquisition,

retention, and development. HR professionals are using people analytics tools to track employee
performance, identify trends, and develop data-driven strategies to improve the workforce.

5. Artificial intelligence (AI)

AI is being used to automate and streamline many HR tasks, such as screening resumes,
scheduling interviews, and providing employee training. AI is also being used to develop new
HR solutions, such as AI-powered chatbots that can answer employee questions and provide
support.

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