According to the Invancevich and Glueck, “HRM is concerned with the most

effective use of people to achieve organizational and individual goals. It is

the way of managing people at work, so that they give their best to the
organization”.

According to Dessler (2008) the policies and practices involved in carrying

out the “people” or human resource aspects of a management position,
including recruiting, screening, training, rewarding, and appraising
comprises of HRM.
Scope of Human Resource Management
These are given below:
1 Human Resource Planning

2 Design of the Organization and Job

3 Selection and Staffing

4 Training and Development

5 Organizational Development

6 Compensation and Benefits

7 Employee Assistance

8 Union/Labour Relations

9 Personnel Research and Information System

a) Human Resource Planning: The objective of HR Planning is to ensure
that the organization has the right types of persons at the right time at
the right place. It prepares human resources inventory with a view to
assess present and future needs, availability and possible shortages in
human resource. Thereupon, HR Planning forecast demand and supplies
and identify sources of selection. HR Planning develops strategies both
long-term and short-term, to meet the man-power requirement.

b) Design of Organization and Job: This is the task of laying down

organization structure, authority, relationship and responsibilities. This will
also mean definition of work contents for each position in the organization.
This is done by “job description”. Another important step is “Job
specification”. Job specification identifies the attributes of persons who will
be most suitable for each job which is defined by job description.
c) Selection and Staffing: This is the process of recruitment and
selection of staff. This involves matching people and their
expectations with which the job specifications and career path
available within the organization.

d) Training and Development: This involves an organized attempt to

find out training needs of the individuals to meet the knowledge and
skill which is needed not only to perform current job but also to fulfil
the future needs of the organization.

e) Organizational Development: This is an important aspect whereby

“Synergetic effect” is generated in an organization i.e. healthy
interpersonal and inter-group relationship within the organization.

f) Compensation and Benefits: This is the area of wages and salaries

administration where wages and compensations are fixed scientifically
to meet fairness and equity criteria. In addition labour welfare
measures are involved which include benefits and services.
g) Employee Assistance: Each employee is unique in character,
personality, expectation and temperament. By and large each one of
them faces problems everyday. Some are personal some are official. In
their case he or she remains worried. Such worries must be removed to
make him or her more productive and happy.

h) Union-Labour Relations: Healthy Industrial and Labour relations are

very important for enhancing peace and productivity in an organization.
This is one of the areas of HRM.

i) Personnel Research and Information System: Knowledge on behavioral

science and industrial psychology throws better insight into the workers
expectations, aspirations and behaviour. Advancement of technology of
product and production methods have created working environment which
are much different from the past
10 HR Functions

1. Human Resource Planning

HR's initial role focuses on the company's long-term requirements. How
many and what sort of employees does the company require? Knowing
this will influence all aspects of human resources management, including
recruiting, screening, performance evaluation, and training &
development.
Workforce planning and human resources planning are quite similar.
There is a lot of emphasis on the present and the future of the
organization.

2. Recruitment and Selection

The second HR function is to recruit and choose the best individuals for
the company. Attracting new employees often begins with developing an
employee brand. Being an appealing employer offers several benefits,
just as the reverse is true. The tobacco business is an excellent
illustration of the latter since it struggles to recruit talent owing to its
tarnished image.
3. Performance Management
Performance management is critical to ensure that employees are both
active and motivated at work. Supervision, defined objectives, and honest
feedback are all necessary components of effective performance
management.
The (bi)annual performance appraisal is one of the performance
management tools. It involves the employee being evaluated by his or her
boss. Additionally, 360-degree feedback systems are used to evaluate an
employee's performance by colleagues, supervisors, coworkers, and
occasionally even customers. Such tools may be quite beneficial for
delivering feedback.
.4 Career Planning
HR management is also responsible for providing workers with career
advice and development as part of its fourth function, which is
career planning. Employees are more likely to stay with a firm if they see
how their goals connect with the company's long-term vision. A strong
employer brand, better succession planning, and more productive
employees are all advantages for the company.
8 Administrative Responsibilities

HR's next function is administrative responsibility. Personnel policies and

procedures, as well as Human Resource Information Systems, are
examples of this. Personnel procedures address issues such as promotions,
resettlement, sanctions, performance improvement, sickness, regulations,
cultural and ethnic diversity, unwelcome intimacy, and bullying. Each of
these scenarios requires the development and implementation of policies
and processes to properly comply with the demands or overcome the
obstacles.

9. Industrial Relations

Additionally, human resources is responsible for maintaining and nurturing

ties with union workers and other communities, as well as their members.
Maintaining positive connections with unions can assist in identifying and
resolving possible disputes early, as well as being advantageous during
more hard financial times when redundancies or other steps may be
necessary.
•Managerial Process
Human resource management is a vital part of management that
includes planning, organising, staffing, directing, and controlling human
resources to achieve organisational success. It is a managerial process
that effectively utilises human resources to attain organisational goals
and objectives
.
•Both Art and Science

Human resource management is a mixture of both art and science. It is

an art as it deals with qualitative attributes like creativity, knowledge,
skills, and talent of the personnel. In simple words, HRM is the art of
getting things done by others effectively. HRM is a science as it requires
different scientific techniques for activities like recruitment, selection,
training, and appraisal of employees.

•Pervasive Force
Human resource management, being an inherent part of an
organisation, is pervasive in nature. It means that HRM is present in
different functional areas of management, like finance, marketing, and
production, in all commercial and non-commercial enterprises. Everyone
in the organisation, from the top to the lowest level, must perform HRM
•Improve Employee Relations
“In order to build a rewarding employee experience, you need to
understand what matters most to your people.” – Julie Bevacqua.

Human resource management is concerned with building healthy

relationships between employees at various organisational levels. Every
individual has different needs, goals, and expectations. HRM deals with
these individual factors and motivates employees to reach their maximum
potential. Moreover, it creates an organisational culture that fosters
learning and growth.

•People-Centred
The nature of human resource management is people-centred and relevant
in all types of organisations. It is concerned with every employee from the
top to the bottom level. HRM value people both as individuals and as a
group. Furthermore, it encourages people to develop their full potential
and fulfil individual and organisational goals.
•Development-Oriented
The development of the workforce in an organisation is crucial to
the nature of human resource management. HR managers use various
tools to help employees understand their strengths and unleash their
potential. Regular training programs can benefit employees by improving
their skills. Also, monetary and non-monetary reinforcement can help
people stay motivated to perform better.

•Action Oriented
While human resource management does follow the rules and policies, its
main focus is on action and results rather than rules. A human resource
manager stresses the importance of providing effective solutions for
employee problems, tensions, or controversies.

•Forward-Looking
Sustaining in the competitive business environment requires organisations
to plan long-term strategies. HRM is a future-oriented approach that
evaluates the human resource requirements and ensures the availability of
required personnel in the right place at the right time. With the forward-
looking nature of human resource management, managers prepare
employees by motivation, training, and development to face current and
future challenges in the changing business environment.
IMPORTANCE OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

1. Quality of work-life

Quality of work refers to the overall quality or productivity of employees at

their workplace. It tells about the employee’s impression of the physical
and psychological productivity of employees at the workplace.
The HR manager makes conscious efforts to maintain the quality of work
at the workplace as it is directly related to employee productivity. This can
be done by reducing the work-life stress and workload, providing rewards
and recognition as well as any other financial benefits if possible.

2. Meeting demand and supply gap for human resources

Besides maintaining the physical resources in an organization, an HR

manager ensures that appropriate human resources in an organization.
They are responsible for finding the right fit for the organization to ensure
high performance and productivity. This can be done through campus
placements and other recruitment drives whenever needed. Also,
unproductive employees can be laid off from the organization.
3. Training and overall development
Training and development are the continued efforts of any organization to
boost employee productivity and performance. Spending money on
training and development is an investment for an organization that will
generate good future returns. This investment not only benefits
employees but is also a major benefit for organizations in improving
productivity scale.
Training can be provided to new employees in the organization as well as
to old employees to boost their productivity. These training sessions teach
decision-making skills, leadership skills, building thought processes etc.

4. Employee motivation and retention

The major task of Human resource management is to build a sense of
belongingness in employees. It is essential to motivate each employee so
that they can work to their full potential. This can be done with the help of
employee recognition programs.
5. Building a healthy work culture
Healthy work culture plays an important part in any organization. The
workplace should be safe, comfortable and valued for employees. It is
needed to bring the best out of employees.
HR makes sure that the work culture is democratic and transparent.
Employees should be provided with the power to present their ideas and
point in the organization. This culture is found to be best for employees as
well as organizations. The more happy the employees are, the more will be
their productivity.

6. Employee wages and salaries

Appropriate compensation is necessary for employees so that they can feel
the job’s worth. Compensation may be in the form of wages, additional
benefits and perks or travel packages etc.
7 Maximizing profit and productivity
Human resource management helps to ensure how much personnel are
required in which department. It also ensures that enough opportunities
should be provided to existing employees of the organization for their
growth and career opportunities.
Such employees who work to achieve their personal growth are directly
related to the growth of the organization. Thereby minimizing the cost and
maximizing productivity.

8. Strategy Management
Human resource is an important aspect of any organization. HR managers
work on and manage all the strategies laid out by top management and
industry experts. It also takes part in the corporate decision and strategy
making for all the employees in achieving their goals or targets.

9. Establishing corporate image

Every organization must have a good brand image in the industry. HRM
plays an important role in building the brand image of an organization in
front of external and internal stakeholders. Moreover, employees would be
more willing to work for an organization which possesses a good image in
the market.
Zimyo HR software helps organizations to automate their HR processes.
Role of HR manager is discussed in brief as under:

1. Advisory Role: One of the major roles of HR manager is, to advise

the top management in the matter relating to management and
development of human resource, in order to achieve organizational
objects. Looking to the company’s vision, mission and long range
planning, HR executive advises the higher management to formulate
appropriate HR policies, procedures which may create a perceptible
change in the minds of the workers’ to help the transformational
process of dynamism.

2. 2. Pro-Acting Role: HR manager ascertains the probable areas of

conflict and differences between workers and management,
identifies the factors that may create problems in future, forecasts
the extent, quantum of loss that may occur and the department may
suffer loss and takes remedial measures beforehand by way of
developing organizational culture, climate, introducing system,
mechanism, and does not leave any room to crop up problems,
grievances.

3. 3. Welfare Role: HR executive looks to the welfare aspect of the

employee’s viz., canteen, creche, rest-room, hospital, transportation,
housing accommodation, school, etc. His one of the principal roles is
to provide welfare facilities to the employees for their betterment
4. Developmental Role: Development of workers for attaining company goals
is made by the HR manager through improvement of knowledge, skill,
abilities, aptitude, attitude, value, beliefs etc. A dynamic organization needs
dynamic employees and transformation of employee’s mind-set to the
process of dynamism is possible only when all the potential areas for growth
and development are reinforced. HR manager takes all possible measures for
growth and development of employees through formulation of HR policies in
the matter of training, career planning and development, counselling etc.

5. Mediator’s Role: HR manager works as a link personality between trade

unions and top management in order to eliminate the differences of opinions
cropped up in process of settlement of disputes. He takes initiative to sort
out problems through collective bargaining/ bipartite negotiation process.
6. Social Upliftment Role: Organization is part and parcel of the society. As
a societal member it has ethical and moral obligation to contribute to the
society for its growth and development by way of taking necessary
measures like creating and improving infrastructure, spreading learning
institutions, providing medical facilities, generating employment
opportunities. HR executive plays a vital role to give a proper shape in the
formulation of suitable HR policies for the people in the society.

7. Counsellor’s Role: Because of illiteracy and ignorance workers cannot

take decision in their personal problems and they need advice to sort out
such problems, viz. education of children, medical treatment, marital
matter, family problems, etc. HR manager, as he comes close to the
workers because of his nature of work, develops understanding between
them and advises, guides the workers in right direction
.
8. Spokesperson Role: HR executive works as a spokesperson of the
company especially, in the matter of depicting organization health,
condition, strength etc. to the employees while negotiating for settlement of
industrial disputes. He also acts as a representative of the workers when
they are nonunionized/unorganized and cannot represent their case properly
to the top management. Under such circumstances HR manager places their
grievances, problems, demand to the top management for
settlement/redressal.

9. Motivator’s Role: One of the functions of HR manager is to motivate the

employees to achieve their own goals, as well as organizational goals HR
manager performs such role by way of introducing reward schemes. HR
manager’s role of establishing mutual understanding, mutual confidence
and mutual trust helps to motivate the employees to excel in the level of
their performance.
10. Procurer’s Role:
HR manager helps to procure the right number and right kind of people at the
right time, to enable the company to run smoothly, effectively and efficiently
and to achieve its goals. He facilitates formulation of a dynamic recruitment
policy, designs and develops Test/Interview techniques, selection process,
suiting individuals and organization requirement in order to find out the right
persons for the required jobs. He makes a systematic, problem free
procurement exercise when workers express happiness, satisfaction and a
state of contentment.

11. Change Agent Role: In changing scenario, workers are required to change
their attitudes, belief, perceptible state, values to meet organization needs,
requirement and expectation. In the age of stiff competition organization can
survive and develop only if the workers are adaptive to change requirement. It
is the HR executive who through establishment of sound human relation
convinces the workers about the necessity of changing attitude, values to
accept change role, as reinforced by introduction of OD programme, TQM
concept, quality circle etc.
12. Maintenance Role: HR manager plays a pivotal role to retain the
dynamic, excellent, highly skilled workers by providing attractive
compensation package, introducing reward management, career planning
and development, welfare, fringe benefits and social security schemes.
Suitable policies are formulated, programmes are designed, necessary
measures are taken to implement schemes for growth and development of
employees, with and through the active efforts of the HR manager.

13. Disputes Prevention Role: HR manager takes remedial measures-

curative and prophylactic to redress and prevent grievances, disputes in
order to bring harmony and peace in an organization through introducing,
grievance handling machinery, collective bargaining process, rational
approaches to discipline management, quality of working life, participative
concept and the like.