An organization is nothing without human resources.

people are the essential ingredient in

all organizations, be the organization business, social, governmental or religious.
Lawence appley writes,” working with , for and through people is the way in which a
manager accomplishes his job.
Preferring to work with humans rather than objects is important in industry.dale yoder
says,” managing people is the heart and essence of being a manger.”
As Frederick kappel put it,” people are our most important resourse and every boss of
people has to be his own personnel man.”(1)

CONCEPT OF HUMAN RESOURCE:

Organizations are made up of, and run by ‘people’. Without people organizations cannot
function and exist.without human efforts no firm can achieve its goals.human resource
represents the “people at work”.
According to L.F.urwick;”business are made or broken in the long run not by markets or
capital, patents or equipment but by men.”the physical and financial resources like
money, material,machinery land, facilities,facts and figures are collected, coordinated and
utilized through people.” Appley writes,”a manager does not deal with men,money
,materials.he deals with money and materials through men.he does not deal with
schedules, costs,quality,volume and people.he reaches his objectives through people”.
(1.2)

Human resource: “people”

WHAT IS HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT:

In simple words, human resource management is a management that deals with

recruiting,selecting training and developing human resources in an organization.it is
concerned with the”people” dimension in management. It is
planning,acquiring,developing,utilizing and maintaining ‘human resource’ in the
achievement of organizational goals. It is renaming of personnel management.

PEOPLE
As
Human
capital
COMPREHEN-
STRATEGIC SIVE
FUNCTION FUNCTION

CONTINUOUS STAFF
PROCESS HRM FUNCTION

DEVELOPM-
IMPLIED
ENT
AUTHORITY
ORIENTED
ACTION
ORIENTED

Characteristics of human resource management:

According to Edwin b. filippo,”hrm is the planning,organizing,directing and controlling
of the procurement, development,compensation,integration,maitenence and separation of
human resources to the end that individual, organizational and societal objectives are
accomplished.”

According to Miner and Miner,”human resource management is the process of

developing, applying and evaluating policies, procedures, methods and programmes
relating to the individual in the organization.”

In the words of Dale yoder ,” manpower management effectively describes the processes
of planning and directing the application, development and utilization of human resources
in employment.”

According to Milkovich and Boudreau,”HRM is a series of integrated decisions that

form the employment relationship; their quality contribution to the ability of the
organization and the employees to achieve their objectives.”

It is thus clear that HRM ia a method of developing the potentialities of employees so that
they get maximum satisfaction out of their work and give their best efforts to the
organization. It attracts and selects capable men, organizes them in productive groups,
develops their potentials, given them necessary motivation and maintain their marale
high.(pg.no1.2-1.3)
 “The soft stuff (people) is
always harder than the hard
stuff (machines)…..”
PAST SCENARIO OF HRM:

In the 1980’s and early 1990’s the term HRM came into academic horizons and gradually
used by the practitioners and researchers worldwide. The 1980s and 1990s brought
some other changes to the HRM function. Many organizations found that they
were not able to compete well in the new, global marketplace. Some of these
organizations went out of business or were acquired by other, more successful
organizations. Those organizations that could not compete and that were not
acquired by some other company closed down. those organizations that were
struggling to be competitive often concluded that they could be more efficient
with fewer employees and contributed to the era of downsizing, rightsizing, or
reengineering. During the 1980s, the strategic role of HRM became essential as
organizations reduced staff, closed plants, or restructured. The traditional HRM
function began shifting its emphasis as HRM managers were expected to be
more strategically focused, proactive, and process based in order to contribute to
organizational success.

JOURNEY OF HRM:

From traditional to strategic HR

With organisational dynamics shifting towards an increasing ‘market-and-customer-

oriented’ approach, the role of the human resource function in any company needs to be
revisited and interpreted in today’s context.

In a typical machine-dominated economy, HR was limited to recruitment and training

of the ‘operators’, so that the capital assets would function smoothly. However, in
the knowledge economies of today, success or failure depends largely on how
aggressively the HR function can maintain, and improve, the human capital base,
and the knowledge thereof. Whereas, traditionally, HR has always played the role of
a support function, catering to resourcing, training and motivation requirements, the
modern organisation demands a more enhanced participation from the HR
department .

Strategic HR (SHR), the new avatar, is a realisation that HR can play a more
important and proactive role in the emerging flexible new organisation paradigm.
The HR function is well linked with the strategic goals and objectives of an
organisation, such that HR can augment the organisation’s ethos, and foster a
participative culture. Strategic HR, thus, recognises HR’s partnership role in the
organisation’s strategising process.
Traditional HR

A traditional HR company focuses on clearly laid out and more operational

responsibilities of:

• Staffing/resourcing/hiring: Getting the right people for the appropriate

role/position
• Evaluating/rewarding: Setting a system of evaluating performance and
ensuring adequate returns and rewards
• Motivating/mentoring/ counselling: Keeping employees happy with their roles/
work and work environment, minimising dissent or conflicts
• Developing/maintaining culture: Developing the organisation’s unique
character, values, ethics and principles
• Managing/controlling: In the administrative capacity, to ensure that
policies/processes and standards are appropriately implemented.

Adding the strategic element

In this enhanced capacity, HR is required to balance the roles of a change

agent, an administrative expert, a strategic partner, and an employee
champion—and add value on all these counts.

Change agent: HR must play a proactive role in shaping the workforce attitude and
focus in alignment with the company’s business objectives. The HR function should
be in a position to plan and lead large-scale change progra-mmes and leadership
development initiatives that improve workforce performance.
For instance, in today’s times of mergers, and new strategic partnerships, two or
more organisations come together to form a bigger entity. HR, in such a situation,
has the responsibility to ensure that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
The HR function has to handle the transition, change, and evolution of the bigger
organisation, as seamlessly and smoothly as possible.

Strategic partner: HR must be an active participant in strategic decision-making.

The learnings from the HR role can help advise, coach and educate senior executives
on how workforce issues can affect the overall performance of the business, and
offer solutions that support the execution of business plans.
In fact, HR becomes a more significant element of the entire business functioning,
since it handles the knowledge base on which hinges the organisation’s existence.
So, instead of HR being told to draw its plans from the company’s business and
marketing plan, it actually contributes to the drafting of the business plans.

Administrative expert: The HR function has to perform its basic functions, and
these need to keep evolving with new developments. An effective HR needs to be
conversant with a range of emerging tools and techniques, and innovative
organisational approaches to improve the way in which traditional roles are
performed. At the same time, these traditional roles also need to be enhanced, so
that more value can be derived from the basic data/information that the
administrative functions collate.

Employee champion: In addition to the above, HR should maintain a well-knit bond

with the employees and develop their trust and confidence in the organisation’s
objectives. This also implies that HR plays a critical ‘career planning’ function and
provides for employee growth and development. In fact, employee training—both for
technology upgradation, and for professional development—is increasingly a basic
function of this ‘enhanced HR role’. The SHR function doesn’t only work towards the
collective goal of the organisation, but also focuses on the individual dreams and
aspirations of every employee. HR maintains a balance between these individual and
organisational goals.

HR is today in a position to define business scenarios, plan for the manner in which they
would be handled, and derive the maximum value for the organisation and its employees.
That’s the strategic HR .

CHANGES IN HRM:

Human Resource Management has evolved considerably over the past century, and
experienced a major transformation in form and function primarily within the past two
decades. Driven by a number of significant internal and external environmental forces, HRM
has progressed from a largely maintenance function, with little if any bottom line impact, to
what many scholars and practitioners today regard as the source of sustained competitive
advantage for organizations operating in a global economy.