Human Resource

Management

Sessions 1 & 2
 Real-world Role of HR during a Crisis
Learning Points
 HR plays a strategic role in
retention, well-being, and digital Infosys
readiness.  No layoffs during COVID-19 despite global
 HRM can be proactive to preserve uncertainty
both morale and business  Rapid shift to remote work for over 95% of
continuity. the workforce using digital infrastructure
 HRM can reshape the future of work  HR deployed regular employee wellness
by combining technology, trust, and check-ins, launched mental health
talent management. support, and extended insurance
coverage.
Swiggy & OYO
TCS
 Swiggy gave laid-off employees 3 to
 Moved over 450,000 employees to
6 months’ salary, continued
remote work within weeks of
insurance, and offered career
lockdown
transition help
 Announced the “25x25” model:
 OYO created a voluntary exit
only 25% of employees need to
program with reskilling support.
work offline by 2025
 HR focused on data security,
performance monitoring, and
virtual engagement programs.
Accenture India
 Ensured no job losses during the
early pandemic phase
 Launched mental health programs,
caregiver support, and flexible Zomato
leave policies  Laid off ~13% of its staff due to a
 Used digital HR tools (e.g., chatbot- pandemic-induced business drop
based support) to resolve  HR offered health insurance for
employee concerns quickly.
laid-off employees until end of
year.
 Provided outplacement support
and generous severance,
communicated the decision
transparently and empathetically. 2
 Management Process

Planning (establishing goals

& standards, developing rules & Leading (motivating,
procedures, forecasting) maintaining morale)

Organizing (setting up Controlling (setting

departments, assigning tasks, standards, comparing, taking
delegating authority) corrective actions)

Staffing (hiring, setting

performance standards,
compensating, L&D,
evaluating performance)

Which of these is related to HRM?

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 What is Human Resource?
Human Resource
• The collection of people and their work characteristics
• Distinct and unique to an organization
 A source of competitive advantage (a set of unique features of a company/product
perceived by the target market as significant and superior to the competition)
• HRM is a subset of the study of management that focuses on how to attract, hire, train,
motivate, and maintain employees.

HRM is concerned with

• Ensuring the best use of human resources [WHAT?]
• For fulfilling organizational and individual goals [WHY?]
• Through policies and practices [HOW?]
• Specialized Expertise: In areas like recruitment, training, compensation, and employee
relations, to advise and support other departments.
• Policy Implementation: While HR may develop policies, the line managers implement
and enforce those policies within their teams.
• Strategic Partnership: HR also works with top management to develop and implement
strategies related to the workforce, ensuring that the organization's human capital is
aligned with its overall goals.
• HRBP: An HR professional who can handle everything from hiring and benefits to
compliance and employee relations, the face of HR before employees.
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 Personnel Management:
the immediate ancestor of
HRM
 A set of functions (R&S,
training, pay, performance
management, promotions,
and motivation) performed
by the PD
 Personnel Manager: A
middle or senior-level
manager with no say in
strategic decisions

Evolution of HRM
 An American invention,
practiced in non-unionized
companies
 Based on the notion that
people management can be HRM
a source of sustainable  Deals with personnel functions that are planned &
competitive advantage implemented with the overall strategies of the
 Effective HRM can lower company
employee turnover and  Handled by a senior executive, sits on the BOD, &
increase productivity & participates in strategic decision making
financial performance  Unlike PM, plays a crucial role in the management of
organizational culture

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 Line authority: The right to
give orders, creates a
superior-subordinate
relationship
Staff authority: The right to
advise, creates an advisory
relationship, supportive role

Support Activities Primary Activities

Firm infrastructure Operations
HRM Marketing & sales
Technology development Logistics
Procurement HRM as a Style
 Hard HRM
HRM Practices  Reflects ‘utilitarian instrumentalism’
 Increase employees’  Policies that stress a cost-minimization strategy (focus on
knowledge, skills, and leanness in production, the use of labour as a resource)
abilities (KSAs)  Degrading view of humans
 Motivate employees to  Soft HRM
leverage their KSAs for the  Reflects ‘developmental humanism’
firm’s benefit  An employee is integrated into a work process that
 Empower employees to do so values trust, commitment, and communication
 An employee is a valued asset, a source of CA through
HRM as Strategy
 Underlines HRM’s viability their commitment, adaptability, and high quality
 HRM plays a role in the direction  Both may be used at different times &/or for different
and planning of organizations types of employees
 Integration of HRM with the
strategic goals of an organization
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 The HR Life Cycle
The continuous process of
01 integrated HR activities

Integrates both the HR strategy

02 creation and execution with the
employee life cycle

Starts with business strategy,

03 which is translated into HR
strategy

Includes both the vertical and

04 horizontal integration of HR
activities

Vertical integration: Integration of HR

activities with HR strategy, and of HR
05 strategy with the business strategy.
Horizontal integration: Integration of HR
activities with each other (e.g., HPWS)

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 Contd.
• The starting point for any HR activity
• Commonly used frameworks: SWOT analysis, Porter’s Five
Business Strategy Forces analysis
• Translates to several strategic priorities, which are then
translated into the HR strategy

• Similar tools are used to define the strategy and strategic

HR Strategy priorities for HR.
• Must align with the business strategy

• The organizational strategy and HR strategy then need to be

translated into an organization designed for success.
Organizational Design • Take the organizational mission, goals, and competitive
strategies, based on that define organizational design criteria to
draw the actual design.
• Job design: Creating jobs that help to achieve organizational
objectives while being motivational for the individual employee.
• Involves job analysis, a competency analysis, and job
(re)designing
Job and Team Design
• Team design: Enables the different functions (or units) as they
are defined in the organizational design to function well.
• Circles back to the successful completion of the organizational
strategy. 8
 Contd.
• Revolves around forecasting employee demand and supply.
• Demand: Influenced by the organizational strategy, investments
in technology, and the quantity and composition of labour
required
HR Planning • Supply: Influenced by the internal and external supply, retention
capacity, and current employees
• An action plan is established (active recruiting, internal
movements, reskilling, automation, a hiring stop, early
retirement and severance packages)

• Culture starts with a clear vision of what the company will be

“one day”
• Culture is the operational execution that helps to achieve that
Vision and Culture vision.
• Cultural values can shape a company, must be reinforced
constantly, a framework that managers can use to talk to those
who deviate

• Starting point of the employee life cycle

Recruitment & • Attracting talent and selecting the best
Selection • Common themes: employer branding, selection process,
assessments, and talent acquisition

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10
 • Also known as employee orientation
• Employee onboarding: the process of integrating new hires into an
Onboarding and
organization, helping them become productive and engaged members of
Induction the team
• Giving employees all the information they need to do their work well

• Employees are assessed and are given feedback to improve their

performance.
Assessment and • The performance management cycle mostly focuses on setting goals
Appraisal
and monitoring of progress on these goals
• Corrective action or rewards

Training & • To improve current skills, teach skills to qualify for a promotion, or
Development general upskilling
• Creating employee experience and other conditions that lead to
employee engagement
Engagement & Reward • A positive, work-related state of mind, characterized by vigor,
dedication, and absorption, often more important than a high reward

• Career management and career pathing help employees grow

Career Management
professionally, stay motivated, learn faster, and perform better

Exit Exit interview

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