Introduction to Human

Resource Management
 Human Resource Management
 “Human” represents the dimension of HRM which
relates to the soft aspects such as commitment of
employees through participation and the most
important assets being the employees.
 “Resource” represents the hard aspects such as the
strategy link of HRM and the importance of efficient
utilization of employees.
 “Management” represents the role of HRM as part of
management that implies that it’s not only an
administrative function that carries out the
formulated policies but also a managerial function
that contributes to strategy formulation.
 Importance of Human Factor

• Output will be greater than the input

• Each individual is different from culture,
education, environment, background etc
• Service is delivered by people.
• Low quality HR leads to low quality customer
service.
• We cant purchase the loyalty, dedication,
devotion towards the organisation.
• Time passes human factor can bring experience
to organisation to accept the challenges
• Recent developments like legislation, trade
unions enhanced their importance
 • Human Resource Management
– involves attracting, developing, and
maintaining a quality workforce.

Basic Responsibilities of Human Resource Management

1. Attract a quality workforce—human resource planning,

recruitment, and selection.
2. Develop a quality workforce—employee orientation,
training, performance appraisal.
3. Maintain a quality workforce—retention and career
development.
 HR is multidisciplinary

• Economics (wages, markets,

resources)
• Psychology (motivation, satisfaction)
• Sociology (organization structure,
culture)
• Law (min. wage, labor contracts, EEO)
 Brief History of HRM
• Traced to England - craftspeople organized
guilds
– They used unity to improve working conditions

• Industrial Revolution in 18th century laid the

basis for a new, complex industrial society
– Changing work conditions, social patterns, and labor
created a gap between workers and owners

• During the world wars era, scientific

management, welfare work, and industrial
psychology merged
• Personnel departments were created to deal with:
– Drastic changes in technology
– Organizational growth
– The rise of unions
– Government intervention
concerning working people
• Around the 1920s, more organizations
noticed and acted on employee-management conflict
• The Hawthorne studies (1924 to 1933):
– pointed out the importance of social interaction on output and
satisfaction

• Until the 1960s, the personnel function was concerned

only with blue-collar employees
– File clerk, house-keeper, social worker, firefighter, and union trouble
defuser
 Evolution of HRM in India

Period Development Outlook Emphasis Status

Status
1920s Beginning Pragmatism Statutory, Welfare, Clerical
-1930s of Capitalist paternalism

1940s Struggling for Technical, Introduction of Administration

-1960s reorganization legalistic Techniques

1970s- Achieving Professional, Regulatory, Managerial

1980s sophistication Legalistic, Conforming,
Impersonal Standards on
functions
1990s Promising Philosophical Human values, Executive
productivity through
people
Categories of HRM Activities

Transformational
Knowledge management
Cultural Change
Strategic redirection and renewal
Management development
Traditional
Recruitment and selection
Training
Performance management
Compensation
Employee relations
Transactional
Benefits administration
Record keeping
Employee services
• HRM consists of numerous activities:
– Equal employment opportunity (EEO) - The right to employment
and advancement without regard to race, religion, sex, color or
national origin
– compliance
– Job analysis
– Human resource planning
– Recruitment, selection, motivation, and orientation
– Performance evaluation and compensation
– Training and development
– Labor relations
– Safety, health, and wellness
 Personnel Management Vs HRM

Dimension Personnel Management HRM

1.Employment Written contract Aim to go beyond

contract contract
2.Rules Importance of devising Impatience with rule
clear rules
3.Management Procedures Business need
action
4.Behaviour Norms/customs and Values/mission
referent practices
5.Managerial task Monitoring Nurturing
7.Initiative Piecemeal integrated

8.Speed of decision Slow Fast

9.Management role Transaction Transformational

10.Communication Indirect Direct

11.Prized Negotiation Facilitation

management skills
12.Selection Separate, marginal Integrated, key task
task
13.Pay Job evaluation Performance related

14.Labour Collective bargains Performance based

management contract
15. Job categories Many Few

16. Job design Division of labor Team work

17. Conflict handling Reach temporary truce Manage climate &

culture
18. T&D Controlled access to Learning companies
courses
19. Focus of attention Personal procedures Cultural, structural &
for interventions personnel strategies
20. Respect for Labor is treated tool People are as assets
employees
21. Shared interest Interest of organisation Mutual interest
most
22. Evolution Proceeds HRM Latest in evaluation

23. Locus of control External Internal

24. Organizing top-down,centralised Decentralized

principles
 HRM Objectives & Functions

HRM Objectives Supporting Functions

1.Societal 1.Legal compliance
2.Benefits 3.Union-Mgmt relation

2.Organisational 1.HR Planning

2.Employee relation
3.Selection
4.T &D
5.Appriasal
6.Placement & 7.Assessment
3.Functional 1.Apprisal 2. Placement
3.Assessment
4.Personal 1.T&D
2.Placement
3.Compemsation 4.Assessment
 Composition of HR/Personnel Department

Director HRM

Managerial Manager Administration Manager-HRD Manager- IR

Personnel

Appraisal T & D

pr Canteen Medical Welfare Transport Legal

HRP Hiring Grievance Handling Compensation

 Fombrun, Tichy & Devanna

Prescriptive-
Ignores stakeholder interests, situational factors and notion of
strategic choice.
Expresses the coherence of internal HR policies and the
importance of ‘matching’ them to external business strategy.
 The Harvard Framework of HRM
(US)
Stakeholders
Interests:
Shareholders
Management
Employee
Government
Community HRM policy HR outcomes: Long-term
Unions choices: Commitment consequences:
Individual
Employee Competence
well-being
influence Congruence Organisational
HR flow Cost effectiveness
Situational Reward systems effectiveness Societal
Factors: Work systems well-being
Workforce
Business
Recognises different stakeholder interests
conditions
Acknowledges the importance of “trade offs”
Management
Widens the context of HRM to include “employee
philosophy
influence”
Labour market
Acknowledges a broad range of contextual influences
Unions
Emphasises strategic choice
Laws and values
Guest Model
Warwick

Extends the
Harvard
framework.
Maps the
connections
between the
outer and inner
contexts and
explores how
HRM adapts to
changes in
context.
 Recruitment
• The process by which a job vacancy is identified and
potential employees are notified.
• Regulated and subject to employment law.
• Forms of recruitment -advertising in newspapers, magazines,
trade papers and internal vacancy lists.
• Applicants may demonstrate their suitability through
application form, letter or curriculum vitae (CV)

Selection
• The process of assessing candidates and appointing a post
holder
• Interview – most common method
• Psychometric testing – assessing the personality of the
applicants – will they fit in?
• Aptitude testing – assessing the skills
of applicants
 Discipline
• Firms cannot just ‘sack’ workers
• Wide range of procedures and steps
in dealing with workplace conflict
– Informal meetings
– Formal meetings
– Verbal warnings
– Written warnings
– Grievance procedures
– Working with external agencies
Development
• Developing the employee - can be regarded as
investing in a valuable asset
– A source of motivation
– A source of helping the employee fulfil potential
 Training
• Similar to development:
– Provides new skills for the employee
– Keeps the employee up to date
with changes in the field
– Aims to improve efficiency
– Can be external or ‘in-house’

Reward System
• The system of pay and benefits used by the firm to
reward workers
• Money not the only method
• Fringe benefits
• Flexibility at work
• Holidays, etc.
 Trade Unions
• Importance of building relationships with employee
representatives
• Role of Trade Unions has changed
• Importance of consultation
and negotiation and working
with trade unions
• Contributes to smooth change management and leadership
Productivity
• Measuring performance:
• How to value the workers contribution
• Difficulty in measuring some types of output – especially in the
service industry
• Appraisal
– Meant to be non-judgmental
– Involves the worker and a nominated appraiser
– Agreeing strengths, weaknesses and ways forward to help both employee
and organisation
 Outsourcing HRM activities
Advantages:
• Better quality people and knowledge.
• Reduction in administrative costs

Disadvantages:
• May lead to loss of control of certain activities
which may be a problem on time sensitive projects
for example.
• May result in loss of the opportunity to gain
knowledge and information that may have general
application to other key processes and activities.
A Model of IHRM