Human Resource Management (HRM) is the function within an organization that focuses on recruitment of, management of, and providing direction for the people who work in the organization.
HRM can also be performed by line managers. HRM is the organizational function that deals with issues related to people such as compensation, hiring, performance management, organization development, safety, wellness, benefits, employee motivation, communication, administration, and training. HRM is also a strategic and comprehensive approach to managing people and the workplace culture and environment.Effective HRM enables employees to contribute effectively and productively to the overall company direction and the accomplishment of the organization's goals and objectives. HRM is moving away from traditional personnel, administration, and transactional roles, which are increasingly outsourced. HRM is now expected to add value to the strategic utilization of employees and that employee programs impact the business in measurable ways.
The new role of HRM involves strategic direction and HRM metrics and measurements to demonstrate value. Significance of HRM can be discussed at four levels which are as follows: 1.Corporate Level: - For an enterprise effective HRM leads to attainment of its goal efficiently and effectively. HRM helps enterprise in the following ways.
a. Hiring required skill set and retaining them through effective human resource planning, recruitment, selection, placement, orientation and promotion policies. b. Development of employees by enhancing necessary skills and right attitude among employees through training, development, performance appraisals etc. HRM also takes care of optimum utilization of available human resource. d.
HRM also ensures that organization has a competent team and dedicated employees in future.Significance at Professional Level: - HRM also leads to improved quality of work life; it enables effective team work among employees by providing healthy working environment. It also contributes to professional growth in various ways such as by providing opportunities for personal development of an employee enabling healthy relationships among teams and allocating work properly to employees as well as teams. 3.
Significance at Social Level: - HRM plays important role in the society, it helps labour to live with pride and dignity by providing employment which in turn gives them social and psychological satisfaction.HRM also maintains balance between open jobs and job seekers. 4. Significance at National Level: - HRM plays a very significant role in the development of nation. Efficient and committed human resource leads to effective exploitation and utilization of nation’s natural, physical and financial resources. Skilled and developed human resource ensures the development of that country.
If people are underdeveloped then that country will be underdeveloped. Effective HRM enhances economic growth which in turn leads to higher standard of living and maximum employment. Recent Trends in Human Resource Management: -The present day economy has been titled as “Knowledge economy”. In such an economy, it is people who make all the difference. In political economy capital or market was important. Talent occupies centre stage in the Indian workplace.
In view of this, managing and retaining manpower is becoming crucial to an organization’s success. To achieve this, companies across sectors are focusing on some of the more critical HR practices. Some of the trends in human resource management are: Leadership development Creating a pipeline of leadership talent is key to a business’ future growth.It is imperative for the top level of an organization to make leadership talent management a priority, and put its money into long-term plans, as opposed to short-term ones. If companies are worried about their talent pipeline, they have to develop their people. Work-life balance No company or employee has found the Holy Grail of balancing work and life, but that is a work in progress.
However, multinationals, information technology (IT) and IT enabled services (ITeS) companies have been able to promote the balance between career, family and leisure-time better.Other sectors have also been increasingly promoting a work-life balance. Interestingly, most companies in India use benefits such as flexible timings, telecommuting, creche facilities and concierge services as an attraction and retention strategy. Experts say companies should see the work-life balance as a business proposition since progressive companies carry business forward with employees and families.
Inclusion and diversity With higher numbers of the workforce in India at a time when companies across the world have an ageing workforce on their rolls, conflicts are to be expected.Therefore, companies are investing both time and resources in ensuring that all age groups are comfortable working together. Organizations in India have also been focusing on making workplaces more representative. For companies such as ICICI Bank Ltd, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Vedanta Resources, PepsiCo India, Shell Companies in India and Bharti Airtel Ltd, gender diversity has become a critical area of focus. Health and wellness The work culture at globalized workplaces involves long working hours, frequent travel, multitasking and tight deadlines - and all this often leaves employees mentally and physically stressed.
Companies have begun to realize that healthy employees contribute to higher efficiency and productivity. Apart from medical benefits, companies are also offering yoga classes and health camps and have doctors on campus. HCL Technologies Ltd, for instance, like many other IT companies, has 24/7 medical facilities in all its centers. DuPont has an Intranet-based tool, which assesses an employee’s health through a questionnaire and makes recommendations based on the scores. Right skilling Right skilling, or matching jobs with a particular level of training rather than hiring over skilled workers, is gaining currency.Companies use this strategy to tide over a manpower supply crunch and to broaden their talent base Apart from IT and ITes firms, organizations in the banking and financial services sector, too, have been increasingly hiring graduates and training them.
The upside? Lower attrition rates and wage costs. Pai explains that when you have an over-qualified employee, it is very difficult to meet her aspiration levels and, therefore, the chances of the employee moving on to something more challenging are higher. Managing solid citizens Organizations which neglect their solid citizens are doing this at their own peril, say experts.Unlike star performers who are potential leaders, and therefore more likely to move out of an organization faster, this group provides stability and bench strength to an organization.
Experts say companies need to take a fresh look at solid citizens and invest time and resources in managing and developing this group. Instant rewards Recognizing and rewarding performers is one of the most effective tools to attract and retain the right talent. Companies in India are looking at rewards systems more seriously, and are adopting total rewards practices that include compensation in both cash and kind.Apart from lifestyle perquisites such as a house, a car or a club membership, profit-linked incentives, deferred gratuity, and wealth-building programmers in the form of stock options and soft loans, companies are also including work-life balance programmers; competency pay packages where niche skills are compensated; and career opportunities, such as overseas assignments, new projects, etc. , to reward staff. These rewards can be tailored to suit the top performers’ aspirations to achieve maximum effect.
Measuring human capital: Evaluation of performance lays a key role, not just in rewarding an individual employee, but also in setting performance benchmarks. And hence, the need for a fair and transparent performance management system. A strong performance analysis helps make human resources both efficient and effective. Managing aspirations As aspirations of organizations grow, so do those of employees. And, with the changing lifestyles and profiles of the workforce, personal and professional aspirations of employees are not just varied, but are increasingly on the rise.
Experts say people as well as organizations have aspirations, and when the two get aligned, achieving business goals becomes easier. Companies should be clear about goals of individuals as well as of the organization, and the role each needs to play. The firm should also communicate the goals, and have robust and reliable processes to execute them. 360 degrees feedback Finally, recognizing the need to make performance appraisal systems more effective, an increasing number of companies are using the 360 degrees or multi-rater feedback process.
Unlike the traditional appraisal system, which gives unidimensional feedback, this one allows an employee to give feedback to her reporting manager, peers, direct reports and others. While most companies started using this system as a means for performance appraisal, most of them now use the 360 degrees feedback system to identify the learning and development needs of employees. Since companies are finally valuing people and their softer skills, does that make it easier to hire good people? The answer is no.In today’s business climate, attracting and retaining the best employees is very difficult. The reason is a combination of the change in business practices and the shift in employee attitudes.
The business landscape has changed dramatically in the past decade as a result of many factors from the feverish hiring boom of the 90s to the economic slowdown in the later part of the last decade. During this same period of time, employee attitudes have changed dramatically.Exposure to widespread layoffs and corporate scandals has led to an erosion of company loyalty and eevaluation of career and life priorities by many employees. So now we have companies looking to acquire the best talent and a growing workforce of talented individuals who are no longer attracted by compensation alone, but who require and value intangibles as well. The bottom line is this In order to achieve professional growth and success in the next period of increased talent acquisition, technology professionals are going to have to step out of their comfort zone and develop the holistic, relationship-focused business skills that companies are requiring.And by the same token, companies are going to have to take a more strategic and supportive approach to recruiting and retention if they want to find and keep the new breed of evolving talent.
On one hand, a 360 Degree performance appraisal is used for measuring competencies, for assessing how others perceive the employee and for different elements such as leadership, teamwork and character. On the other hand, this type of feedback system doesn’t evaluate the performance objective of the staff, doesn’t determine if the employee is meeting the job requirements or what skills are used on the job.Until recently, IBM used 360-degree feedback as part of their annual performance review. This practice was halted as the reviews had become politically charged and were no longer reliable. Since IBM appreciated the value of multiple perspectives, a new employee satisfaction survey was implemented to regain the benefits found in using the survey without the pitfalls Technology Another trend, according to James W.
Robertson, HR Transformation Management Consultant for PwC, is “HR wanting to ‘own’ their technology and making a move to cloud based solutions that they can maintain cheaply without having to be dependent upon IT or a big ERP system. In addition, many organizations are automating processes through either technology or vendors.“Most organizations are moving away from handling the labor intensive areas in human resources and managing them through trusted vendors who learn their company culture,” says Charles Little, JR. SPHR, President ; CEO at Strategic HR Partners. “These areas include payroll, recruiting, benefits administration, training ; development, and organizational development,” says Little.
