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Human Resource Management as a practice.

Industrial revolution in the 18th century transpired fundamental changes in agriculture, textile, metal craft, transportation, economic policies and the social structure in England. Formation of factory system well along wide spread globally creating a new dimension in management of human factor in working environments. After Frederick Taylors introduction of the "scientific management marked a remarkable milestone in its short time line of evolution. This particular dimension in corporate setup was deeply explored and became broadly known as Human Resource Management (HRM). This discipline grew popular day by day with the accelerating demand for further research and development in the practices. Personnel Management or earlier known as "Tea and sympathy" activities rapidly transformed over time in order to facilitate selecting, grooming, managing and nurturing right people to make things happen in structured organizations. People factor is really crucial in any organizational setup. There was a wide spread dilemma as with the advancement of technology future organizations would only need two breathing souls working round the clock. That is a human and a dog. Surprised? The human placed to feed the dog and the dog is entrusted not to let the human touch anything in the system. But this is not real in the factual state. The more advance the technology becomes the need for more and more hands will increase. There exists a positive correlation between these two entities since technology advancements generate the need for specialised talents. HRM in the modern context bridges the gaps between organizational expectations and the employee concerns. Organizations engage in a never ending battle to achieve excellence through optimum utilization of its available resources. It faces much complex challenges in globalization, advancements in technology, cost factor, human capital, managing change, market turbulences and the like. And on the other hand employees inculcate passion for employment, career management, good governance, compensation and benefits whilst adhere the ethics or standards of conduct. The HRM functions create the linkage between the two entities by planning, recruitment, staffing, job design, training and development, performance appraisal, communication, compensation, benefits and labour relations. Best human resource practices minimize the risk factor of an organization and lubricate the parts enabling smooth flow of organizational entities. Few hours Strike initiated by the labour unions consequently to a clash between two employees left a multinational company operating in Sri Lanka with no choice than to fire the training manager who was responsible for a major HR function in the organization. It was found that the employee who ignited the clash was not put through any training for a considerable period of time. The multinational company initiated the decision in order to preserve accountability. This is one simple example implicating the significance of good HR practices in order to be successful in the modern era of the corporate world. HR professionals perform the tasks of advocacy and counseling within the organization. They render consultation to senior management, middle management and junior management whenever it is 1|P age

required. They make use of the knowledge gathered through interaction with the employees and through experience gathered engaged in day to day practices. This knowledge is ranging from labor agreements, past practices, policies, ethics and corporate governance, employee concerns and alike.HR practitioners establish conclusions on these aspects upon knowledge acquired from external factors such as new legal and regulatory data, statutory requirements, employment and economic information and the like.HR professionals contribute immensely in management decision making. They also perform service activities such as recruiting, selecting, testing, planning, conducting training sessions and learning employee concerns. Technical knowhow is very essential for HR professionals and it constructs the foundation for HR program design and implementation. An atmosphere should be created to the employees to believe that the HR staff is placed to assist but not there to impose obstacles for them. This could be archived through right communication and change management. HR professionals often involved in drafting new policies or policy revisions to manage staffing issues or to mitigate deficiencies anticipated. These policies generate guidelines to monitor performance of line departments and other staff departments to ensure smooth flow with the already established HR policies, procedures and practices. Another important aspect of HR professionals is employee advocacy. That is paying attention to employee concerns and mediating them with the respective managers. A successful employee relation provides the support structure for undisrupted workflow in any organization. It is said Time wasted failure tasted. HR professionals should inculcate several attributes in order to perform well in an organization. They should understand the business which they are already a part of. Thus broadening their knowledge on economic and financial aspects gives an opportunity to work abreast with business managers to establish organizations strategic direction. Since HR professionals recognized as experts on organizations behavioral science, they should develop competencies in the areas of team building and communication. HR professionals should always be open to change. It is required that HR should always work amalgamating with other business units of the organization to have a profound understanding about the role they play in order to initiate waves of change. High standards in interpersonal and problem solving skills, innovativeness and creativity should be demonstrated to be successful in managing change. Another important aspect is the personal credibility. Trust and credibility should be earned through maintaining good relationships with employees of all walks in the organization. High level of emotional intelligence is the key for success in achieving personal credibility. Self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills are the major ingredients for developing emotional intelligence. Addressing HR issues at its Grass root level increases efficiency and sustainability in employee retention. Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) have made its mark establishing its place in the technologically advanced organizations. Growing demand in the corporate world for ERP systems confirms my earlier statement. This novelty eases the burden of standard administrative procedures associated in everyday HR functions such as payroll, time and attendance, performance appraisal, benefits administration, HR management information system, recruiting, learning and development, performance record, employee self-service, scheduling, absenteeism management and the like. Software developers specialized in the field of HR has emerged in the industry to cater the accelerating demand. Going beyond the conventional administrative frame work organizations making use of specially developed software in recruiting, screening, and pre-testing applicants online before hiring them and also to train and promote employees once they have been hired. There are number of organizations in Sri Lanka making use of these technological advancements however we 2|P age

often come across employers stick to the good old conventional methodologies. Even at present there exist many employers whose preferred method for accepting applications for a vacancy published is via post. We experience these kinds of situations when going through employment sections of public newspapers. Restricting themselves to conventional practices would be a pennywise pound foolish management decision when considering the state of the art technologies available which are tailor-made to shoulder organizations to achieve productivity at a moderate cost. It is a turmoil that needs to be explored and rectified in order to achieve sustainable development. Sometimes this may due to lack of competent staff with the right knowledge. However this has become a challenge for HR professionals unless they have an essential tool in their armoury to unleash the power when it is necessary. Wonder what that is? The magical tool that opens doors is IT literacy. We see many of the HR courses available to groom professionals to the corporate world lack this important requirement. Fair application of Technological innovations where it is applicable transforms efficient HR practices into most efficient HR practices over the time. There are five major types of assets that leverage to enhance performance and add value to operations. They are categorically noted as financial capital, physical capital, market capital, operational capital and the human capital. These assets can be accounted or measured through formal accounting practices except human capital. Hence it has a great strategic value over competition. Right strategic application to human resources in an organization can deliver higher returns for any organization. Secret behind maximizing the value of human capital is learning and development (earlier known as training development). Training changes the manner which employees perform their tasks, how they interact with others, the conditions under which they perform or change in their job responsibilities. Learning and development should be identified in the investment perspective of an organization. Training and development may incur short term costs but may be beneficial in the long run. HR researchers and practitioners have focused their attention on linking the Human resource function with the strategic objectives of the organization. This particular process became popular as Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM). Strategic management is considered to be a continuous activity that requires a constant adjustment of three major interdependent poles: the values of senior management, the environment, and the resources available. It is typically broken down into five steps: mission and goals, environmental analysis, strategic formulation, strategy implementation, strategy evaluation. These strategic moves take place Corporate, Business, and Functional hierarchies of the organization. SHRM deals with the effective management of people as a source of competitive advantage. In conclusion it is really vital for any organization to align HRM to work in line with the corporate strategic direction. After all its the right people who make the difference at the end of the day.

Prepared by:

K.J.C.J.Rodrigo
PQHRM-IPM charmindarodrigo@hotmail.com (Annexure: list of references)

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