Chapter 1: Lesson 1 THE HUMAN RESOURCE SYSTEM

The Conceptual Framework of Strategic Human Resource HR philosophies, describing the overarching values and guiding
Management: An Introduction principles adopted in managing people; HR strategies, defining the
direction in which HRM intends to go;
What do you think is the most valued asset in an organization? HR policies, which are the guidelines defining how these values,
WHAT IS HUMAN RESOURCE? principles and strategies should be applied and implemented in
specific areas of HRM; HR processes, consisting of the formal
Human resource management is defined as a strategic and coherent procedures and methods used to put HR strategic plans and policies
approach to the management of an organization’s most valued assets into effect;
– the people working there, who individually and collectively contribute HR practices, consisting of the informal approaches used in
to the achievement of its objectives. managing people;
HR programs, which enable HR strategies, policies and practices to
❖ the process of employing people, training them, compensating be implemented according to plan.
them, developing policies relating to them, and developing
strategies to retain them. AIMS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
❖ Organizational Effectiveness - developing policies in such
GENERIC FUNCTIONS OF HRM areas of knowledge management, talent management, and
generally creating ‘a great place to work’.
SELECTION matching available human resource to jobs ❖ Human Capital Management - process of hiring the right
APPRAISAL performance management people, managing workforces effectively, and optimizing
REWARDS rewarding short and long-term achievements productivity.
DEVELOPMENT developing high quality employees through training ❖ Knowledge Management - any process or practive of
creating, acquiring, capturing, sharing and using knowledge,
THE HUMAN RESOURCE CYCLE wherever it resides, to enhance learning and performance in
organization.
SELECTION - APPRAISAL - REWARDS - PERFORMANCE ❖ Reward Management - aims to enhance the motivation, job
DEVELOPMENT engagement, and commitment by introducing policies and
processes that ensure that people are valued and rewarded
 for what they do and achieve and for the levels of skills and ➢ Commitment-orientated - the new HRM model is composed
competence they reach. of policies that promote mutuality – mutual goals, mutual
❖ Employee Relations - aims to create a climate in which influences, mutual respect, mutual rewards, mutual
productive and harmonious relationships can be maintained responsibility. The theory is that policies of mutuality will elicit
through partnerships between management and employees commitment which in turn yield both better economic
and their trade unions. performance and greater human development.
❖ Meeting Diverse Needs - HRM aims to develop and ➢ based on the belief that people should be treated as
implement policies that balance and adapt to the needs of its assets (human capital) - people should be regarded as
stakeholders and provide for the management of diverse assets rather than variable costs, in other words treated as
workforce, taking into account individual and group differences human capital. People and their collective skills, abilities and
in employment, personal needs, work style and aspirations experience, coupled with their ability to deploy these in the
and the provision of equal opportunities for all. interests of employing organization, are now recognized as
❖ Bridging the Gap between rhetoric and reality- overarching making a significant contribution to organizational success and
aim of HRM is to bridge the gap by making every attempt to as a constituting a significant source of competitive advantage
ensure that aspirations are translated into sustained and (Armstrong and Baron, 2022)
effective action. ➢ unitarist rather than pluralist - it is believed that employees
share the same interests as employers. This contrast with
CHARACTERISTICS OF HRM what could be regarded as the more realistic pluralist view,
The characteristics of the HRM concept are that it is: which says that all organizations contain a number of interest
➢ Diverse - there are no universal characteristics of HRM. Many groups and the interests of employers and employees do not
models exist and practices within different organizations are necessarily coincide.
diverse, often corresponding to the conceptual version ofHRM ➢ individualistic rather than collective, in its approach to
in only a few respects. employee relations - HRM is individualistic in that it
➢ strategic, with an emphasis on integration - most significant emphasizes the importance of maintaining links between the
feature of HRM is the importance attached to strategic organization and individual employees in preference to
integration, which flows from top management’s vision and operating through group and representative systems.
leadership, and which requires the full commitment of people ➢ a management-driven activity - HRM can be described as a
to it. central, senior management-driven strategic activity that is
 developed, owned and delivered by management as a whole
to promote the interests of their organization.
➢ focused on business values (or moral and social values) -
The concept of HRM has been largely based on a
management- and business-oriented philosophy. It is
concerned with the total interests of the organization.

RESERVATIONS ABOUT HRM

the morality of HRM