Concept & Functions - Human Resource Management | Human Resource Management - B Com PDF Download

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 
Of all the M’s—Men, Money, Material, Machines, Methods, Men are by far the most important resource  because all other resources by themselves cannot operate. It is through the combined efforts of men that all other resources are collected, coordinated and effectively utilized for the attainment of organisational objectives. 

Renis Likert rightly observed, “All the activities of any enterprise are initiated and determined by the persons who make up that Institution, plants, offices, computers, and all else that make a modern firm— managing the human component is the Central and most important task, because all else depends on how well it is done.”

The personnel, manpower, human resources or people at work of an organisation consist of all individuals engaged in any of the organisational activities, regardless of levels. Human resources from the national point of view means the knowledge, skills, creative abilities, talents and aptitudes obtained in the population; whereas from the viewpoint of the organisation, these represent the total of the inherent abilities, acquired knowledge and skills as exemplified in the talents and aptitudes of its employees.

Jucius Michel calls these resources ‘human factors’ which refer to, “a whole consisting of inter-related, inter-dependent and inter-acting physiological, psychological, sociological and ethical components.”

Human Resource Management—Concept

The management of men is a challenging task because of the dynamic nature of the people. No two persons are similar in mental abilities, liking, disliking, values, faiths, perceptions, sentiments, actions, reactions and behaviour. People are responsive because, they feel, think and act; therefore, they cannot be operated like machine, money and material. Thus human resource management is a most crucial job because “managing people is the heart and essence of being a manager.” An organisation cannot succeed if this human element is neglected.

Definition of Human Resource Management

Different experts of Personnel management/HRM have given different definitions, some of them are reproduced below to get an idea of what it means.

Edwin B. Flippo “The personnel function is concerned with the procurement, development, compensation, integration, and maintenance of the personnel of an organisation for the purpose of contributing towards the accomplishment of that organisation’s major goals or objectives. Therefore, personnel management is the planning, organising, directing, and controlling of the performance of those operative functions.”

Dale Yoder “Man power management effectively describes the processes of planning and directing the application, development, and utilisation of human resources in employment.”

E.F.L. Brech “Personnel Management is that part of management process which is primarily concerned with the human constituents of an organisation.”

Pigors and Myres “Personnel Administration is a method of developing the potentials of employees so that they get maximum satisfaction out of their work and give their best efforts to the organisation.”

National Institute of Personnel Management of India “Personnel management is that part of  management which is concerned with people at work and with their relationship within the organisation. It seeks to bring together men and women who make up an enterprise, enabling each to make his own best contribution to its success both as an individual and as a member of a working group.”

On the basis of the above definitions, the following features of human resource management can be identified:

1. It is a part of general management.
2. It concerns management of human resources.
3. It helps in the maximum development of personnel abilities so that they may feel satisfied with their work.
4. It establishes human relations at all levels in the organisation.
5. It includes planning, organisation, control and direction of man-power.
6. It is advisory in nature. It contributes to the success and growth of an organisation by advising the operating departments on personnel matters.
7. It is inter-disciplinary. It involves application of knowledge from several disciplines like psychology, sociology, anthropology, Philosophy, economics, Politics etc.
8. It is not a ‘one shot’ function but a never ending exercise and continues all the 365 days of a  year.

Objectives of Human Resource Management

According to Michael J. Jucius, personnel management should aim at:

(i) attaining economically and effectively the organisational goals,

(ii) serving the individual goals to the highest possible degree and

(iii) preserving and advancing the general welfare of the community.

In the opinion of Scott “The objectives of personnel management in an organisation are to obtain maximum individual development, desirable working relationships between employers and employees, and to effect the moulding of human resources as contrasted with physical resources.”

Ralph C. Davis has divided the objectives of personnel management in an organisation into two categories:

(a) Primary objectives, and (b) Secondary objectives.

(a) Primary Objectives The goal of personnel management is the creation of a work force with the ability and motivation to accomplish the basic organisational goals.

(ii) To satisfy personal objectives of the members of the organisation through monetary and non-monetary devices. Monetary objectives include profit for owners, salaries/wages and other  compensation for executives and employees. Non-monetary objectives include prestige, recognition, security, status etc.

(iii) Thirdly, they relate to the satisfaction of Community such as serving customers honestly and promoting a higher standard of living in the community.

(B) Secondary Objectives aim at achieving the primary objectives economically, efficiently and effectively.

(i) The economic need for or usefulness of the goods and services required by the community/society.

(ii) Conditions of employment for all the members of an organisation to their satisfaction and need so that they may be motivated to work for the success of the enterprise.

(iii) The effective utilisation of people and materials.

(iv) The continuity of the enterprise.

From the above discussion, the specific objectives of personnel management may be summarised as follows:

(i) To ensure effective utilisation of human resources.

(ii) To establish and maintain an adequate organisational structure of relationships among all the members of an organisation.

(iii) To generate maximum development of human resources within the organisation by offering opportunities for advancement.

(iv) To ensure respect for human beings by providing various services and welfare facilities to the personnel.

(v) To ensure reconciliation of individual/group goals with those of the organisation.

(vi) To identify and satisfy the needs of individuals by offering various monetary and non- monetary rewards.

(vii) To achieve and maintain high morale among employees by securing better human relations.

Management of human resource is of utmost significance and can be discussed under four headings.

(a) Social Significance The effective management of human resource is likely to serve the following social goals as indicated by Dole Yoder.

(i) Helps to maintain even-balance between jobs and job holders and to raise living standards of individuals in the Society.

(ii) To help people to avail of the best, most productive and most gainful jobs.

(iii) To assist every member of the organisation in maximising the contribution and reward by developing talents in the job.

(iv) To help to ensure the best protection and conservation of human resource to prevent its wasteful  or careless use.

(v) To help people to make their decisions with minimum of direction and control.

2. Professional Significance: Management of human resource serve the following professional goals:

(i) Maintaining respect and dignity of the individual members.

(ii) Providing maximum opportunities for personality development of each participant in the organisation.

(iii) Ensuring effective allocation of services to different jobs.

(iv) Ensuring effective utilisation of people’s talents and interests in work-settings.

3. Significance for an Enterprise It can help the organisation in accomplishing its goals by:

(i) creating right attitude among the employees through effective motivation;

(ii) utilising effectively the available human resources;

(iii) securing willing cooperation of the employees for achieving goals of the enterprise.

(iv) attracting and retaining the right man on the right job.

4. National Significance The development of a country to a large extent depend on the quality, skill, knowledge and abilities of its people. Countries are underdeveloped because their people are backward, illiterate, unskilled or semi-skilled. Effective management and development of human resources help to speed up the process of economic development which in-turn raises the standard of living of its people.

Scope of Human Resource Management

The field of personnel management is very wide as it is called by several terms such as, ‘Labour Management’, ‘Manpower Management’, ‘Human Relations’, ‘Human Resource Management’ and so on. The Indian Institute of Personnel Management has laid down the scope of personnel management as follows:

(i) The Welfare Aspect: This aspect is concerned with working conditions and amenities such as canteens, creches, rest rooms, lunch rooms, housing, transport, education, medical help, health and safety, washing facilities, recreation and cultural facilities, etc.

(ii) The Labour or Personnel Aspect: It is concerned with recruitment, selection, placement, induction, transfer, promotion, demotion, termination, training and development, Lay-off and retrenchment, wage and salary administration, incentives, productivity, etc.

(iii) The Industrial Relations Aspect: It is concerned with trade unions, negotiation, settlement of industrial disputes, joint consultation and collective bargaining.

All these aspects are concerned with human element in industry as distinct from the mechanical.

Dale Yoder has classified the scope of personnel management in terms of the following functions:

(i) Setting general and specific management policy for organisational relationship and establishing and maintaining a suitable organisation for leadership and co-operation.

(ii) Collective bargaining, contract negotiation, contract administration and grievance handling.

(iii) Staffing the organisation, finding, getting and holding prescribed types and number of workers.

(iv) Aiding in the self-development of employees at all levels providing opportunities for personnel development and growth.

(v) Developing and maintaining motivation for workers by providing incentives.

(vi) Reviewing and auditing manpower management in the organisation.

(vii) Industrial relations research carrying out studies designed to explain employees’ behaviour and thereby affecting improvements in the manpower management.

Functions of Human Resource Management (HRM)

The functions of HRM can be broadly classified into two categories viz;

1. Managerial functions, and

2. Operative functions

1. Managerial Functions

Managing people is the heart and essence of being a manager. Personnel manager is a manager and as such he must perform the basic functions of management like planning, organising, directing and controlling.

(i) Planning: It is a pre-determined course of action. Planning is the determination of the plans,  strategies, programmes, policies and procedures to accomplish the desired organisational  objectives. For HRM, planning involves estimation of human resource requirements, recruitment, selection, training etc. It also involves formulation of personnel policies and programmes, forecasting personnel needs, and preparing the human resource budget etc.

(ii) Organising: After plans have been developed, the HRM must establish an organisation to carry them out. This function involves grouping of personnel activities, assignment of tasks to  different individuals and teams, delegation of authority and establishment of authority–responsibility relationship and integrating their activities towards the organisational objectives.

(iii) Directing: This function involves motivating, guiding, leading and activating the personnel.

Human resource manager must inculcate in the workers a keen appreciation of the enterprise policies. The willing and effective cooperation of employees for the attainment of organisational goals is possible through motivation and command.

(iv) Controlling: It involves checking, measuring, verifying, correcting and assuring the accomplishment of plans. Auditing training programmes, analysing labour turnover records, directing morale surveys are some of the means to assure the human resource management that the activities are being carried out in accordance with the plans.

2. Operative Functions

The operative or service functions of human resource management are related to specific activities of procuring, developing, compensating and maintaining an efficient work force.

I.  Procurement: It is the first operative function of human resource management.

Procurement is concerned with securing and employing the right kind of people in the right number on a right job at a right time to achieve the organisational objectives. It consists of the functions such as job analysis, human resource planning, recruitment, selection, placement, induction and internal mobility.

II. Development: It is concerned with the personnel development of employees by improving the knowledge, skills, aptitudes, attitudes and values of employees to make them more competent and effective on their present and future jobs. This function includes:

Performance appraisal, Potential appraisal, Performance counselling, Training and management development, Career planning and Development, Organisation development.

III. Compensation: It is the process of providing equitable and fair remuneration to the employees. This function includes: Job evaluation, Wage and Salary administration, Incentives, Bonus etc.

IV. Integration: It is concerned with the attempt to bring about a reasonable reconciliation of individual and organisational interests. It involves: Negotiations with labour unions, handling employees’ grievances, developing sound human relations, establishing good relations with government agencies and educational institutions, workers’ participation in management, employees’ discipline etc.

V. Maintenance: It is concerned with sustaining and protecting the physical and mental health of employees in the organisation. It includes several types of benefits such as housing, medical services, educational facilities, social security measures like provident fund, pension, gratuity, maternity benefits, health and safety measures, group insurance etc.

VI. Records, Research and Audit: Personnel department maintains the records of the employees working in the organisation. Record-keeping is necessary both for exercising control over personnel activities and for doing research. This function involves: developing a good system of record keeping, carrying out research on various subjects and annual personnel audit.