HR
RM & B
BIBLE
Abiimanyu
u N.N. (11AC01)
Santra H
S H.R. (1
11AC26
6)
Shanm
mugan
nathan E. (11A
AC31)
Vidhya Shaankar D
D. (11A
AC39)
Vijesh R
V R.M. (11AC40
0)
 

 
 

ABSTRACT

Our assignment “Bible and HRM” deals with HRM and its related concepts sourced

from the King James Version of the Bible with sufficient references from the Old Testament

and the New Testament. The Bible being the Holy book of the Christians, it contains Jesus

Christ’s teachings. We have used some of his teachings and related them to certain common

HRM concepts such as HR Planning, Recruitment, Selection, Performance Appraisal, Wages,

Employee Compensation, Employee Safety and Welfare and Employee – Employer

Relationship.

We have taken some assumptions in perceiving certain concepts from the verses.

Most of the verses contain references to God and we have re-phrased it as higher authority in

order to make the explanations more meaningful. Almost all of the important topics of HRM

have been covered in this assignment.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT 1 

1. INTRODUCTION 3 

2. GENERAL QUOTES – HRM OVERVIEW 4 

3. HR PLANNING 6 

4. JOB DESIGNATION & DIVISION OF WORK 7 

5. RECRUITMENT & SELECTION 8 

6. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL 10 

7. WAGES 11 

8. EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION 12 

9. EMPLOYEE SAFETY & WELFARE 13 

10. EMPLOYER – EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIP 14 

CONCLUSION 15 

REFERENCES 16 

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1. INTRODUCTION

Bible is the most printed, translated and read book in the world. In spite of being the

holy book of the Christians, many researches have been done in the past with Bible as the

main source. HRM is related to man management and there are many verses in the Bible that

can be cited as primary examples of how to manage people and concepts related to it. Human

Resources Management can also be defined as administrative activities associated with

human resources planning, recruitment, selection, orientation, training, appraisal, motivation,

remuneration, etc. It aims at developing people through work.

Concepts such as employee remuneration, wage and salary administration, employee

– employer relationship, employee health and safety, employee development and duties and

performance appraisal have been mentioned in the Old Testament as well as the New

Testament of the King James version of the Bible.

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2. GENERAL QUOTES – HRM OVERVIEW

Luke 16:8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly.

For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the

people of the light.”

The manager is being congratulated by the master as he has acted wisely. This

indicates the man management skill of the manager as he was shrewd in dealing with people.

Luke 16:9 “I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is

gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”

The proper uses of resources lead to more success in an organization. Here ‘eternal

dwellings’ can be re-phrased as ‘success’ in management.

Luke 16:10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and

whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.”

Job can be allocated according to the capacity of the individual based on the level of

trust and the person’s capability.

Luke 16:11 “So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly

wealth, who will trust you with true riches?”

The above quote relates the employee’s worth regarding his job and his related

qualifications.

Luke 16:12 “And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's

property, who will give you property of your own?”

The employee will be given rewards based on his performances and his ability to meet

the handling and deadline of the task as per the requirements.

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Luke 16:13 “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other,

or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and

Money."

No employee can operate with two separate objectives and if he does there is a high

probability of the tasks clashing with each other resulting in ramifications.

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3. HR PLANNING

Genesis 41:34 – 41:36 “Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land and take

one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plentiful years. And let them

gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up grain under the authority

of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. That food shall be a reserve for the land

against the seven years of famine that are to occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land may

not perish through the famine.”

The Pharaoh is required to appoint the supervisors and the produce of the land is

divided and stored for use in the future in case of famines. Thus, an organization needs to

plan for the use of its human resources and make sure there is a back-up in case of any

emergency.

2 Corinthians 9:6 “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows

bountifully will also reap bountifully”

If HR planning is good and according to standards, then the results of the organization

will be successful. If it is not so, then the results will be disastrous.

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4. JOB DESIGNATION & DIVISION OF WORK

Ephesians 4:11 “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists;

and some, pastors and teachers.”

The jobs must be allocated to each and everyone in the organization. Some do the

technical work; some do the report work, etc. Also, the work should be divided among the

employees of the organization so that everyone is doing their preferred kind of job and

feeling satisfied.

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5. RECRUITMENT & SELECTION

Matthew 4:18 – 4:22 “And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon

called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he

saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left

their nets, and followed him. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the

son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets;

and he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.”

The candidate should be selected only on his merit and not on the basis of his cast,

creed, sect, religion or gender. Here, Jesus selects fishermen as his disciples.

Matthew 20:20 – 20:27 “Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons,

worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. Whosoever will be great among you, let

him be your minister. And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.”

The above quote reflects the selection process, albeit in a religious way. There are two

potential candidates for two posts. There is recommendation for both of them. But Jesus says

that there is a higher power, which can be alluded to as ‘Interview’ or other selection tests.

After attending the tests, each one of the candidate is offered their posts on basis of their

performance in the tests. The one who performs well becomes the ‘minister’, obviously the

better post, and the other one becomes ‘servant’.

Luke 10:1 – 10:21 “After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them

two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.

Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye

therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.”

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The verses indicate a recruitment drive. The followers of Jesus are sent to places

where Jesus will visit in the future. He selects candidates through his followers and gives

them instructions on how to find a suitable candidate in each place.

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6. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

Colossians 3:25 “But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done:

and there is no respect of persons.”

The employee is rewarded according to his performance. If he has performed

creditably, bonuses and rewards are offered to him. If his performance is not up to the mark

and he is unable to meet the deadline, there may be chances of demotion or his salary being

cut down considerably. This is done irrespective of the reputation of the person.

2 Timothy 2:6 “The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.”

The employee who works the hardest must be the one who is rewarded first. Hard

work should not go unnoticed and it should be rewarded accordingly.

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7. WAGES

Genesis 30:32 “I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all the

speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and

speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire.”

The wages of the employee is given according to his work or his performance. In

olden days, the cattle and goat were mostly unicolored and spots and specks were not usual

and hence they were given as wages which was fair according to the Bible.

Leviticus 19:13 “Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him

that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.”

The Bible gives a brief view of employee wages and its timely settlement. According

to it, if an employee is made to wait for his wages till next morning for the work which he

rendered the previous day it is equivalent of robbing the neighbour.

Malachi 3:5 “And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against

the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that

oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the

stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.”

The employer paid the wages to the employee, according to the verse. But the

employee was not paid his fair wage and hence the Lord comes to the rescue of the employee

who has been wronged.

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8. EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION

Deuteronomy 15:13 “And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him

go away empty.”

An employee, when being dismissed or sent off from his job should not be sent off

empty handed.

Deuteronomy 15:14 “Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor,

and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the LORD thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt

give unto him.”

The employee who is leaving the job after working for an effective period of time

should be adequately rewarded according to his work rendered to the organization. Here,

according to the quote, the person is offered sheep, wine and food grains when he leaves his

master.

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9. EMPLOYEE SAFETY & WELFARE

Leviticus 25:39 “And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto

thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant.”

The employee must not be given additional and unnecessary burden and compelled to

work against his wishes. He should be assigned only the job pertaining to his job description.

Leviticus 25:41 “And then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with him, and

shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return.”

The employee’s family should be given adequate benefits and the employee should

feel that his family is being taken care of. This will result in employee satisfaction and

encourage him to work with more effort.

Leviticus 25:43 “Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God.”

The employee should not be mishandled or treated with disdain. This will result in

adverse effects for the organization. Here ‘God’ may be taken as an allusion for predefined

protocols and standards.

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10. EMPLOYER – EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIP

Genesis 1:26 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”

Every man is equal and therefore everyone deserves equal respect. In an organization,

the employer may have the control and the employee may be working under him. But, both

the employer and employee deserve the same respect.

2 Samuel 18:2 – 18:4 “And the king said unto the people, I will surely go forth with you

myself also. But the people answered, Thou shalt not go forth: for if we flee away, they will

not care for us; neither if half of us die, will they care for us: but now thou art worth ten

thousand of us: therefore now it is better that thou succour us out of the city. And the king

said unto them, What seemeth you best I will do. And the king stood by the gate side, and all

the people came out by hundreds and by thousands”

The king listens to the people when invading a city. The employers should consult

with their employees before making a decision. Doing so will make the employees feel that

they are being involved in the decision making process of their organization and motivate

them further.

Philippians 2:4 “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of

others.”

All employees should not be self-centred and make sure that others’ opinions are not

neglected. This ensures a smooth running of the organization and reduces any conflicts.

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CONCLUSION

The Bible has various references to HRM concepts and our assignment has made an

attempt to cite certain quotes with relevant explanations. Concepts such as HR Planning,

Selection and Recruitment, Wages, Performance Appraisal, Employee Compensation,

Employee Safety & Welfare and Employer – Employee Relationship have been covered with

adequate quotes and explanations. The spiritual side of the Bible has been avoided and only

the important details have been taken into account. Overall, the Bible is a storehouse of

values and teachings and HRM is one of the many topics which have been covered

extensively.

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REFERENCES

1. Kenneth Boa, Human Resources, http://bible.org, http://bible.org/seriespage/human-

resources

2. Business Management Group A, http://businessmanagementgroupa.wikidot.com,

http://businessmanagementgroupa.wikidot.com/bible-verses

3. Encouraging Bible Verses, http://encouragingbiblequotes.com,

http://encouragingbiblequotes.com/versesworka.html

4. Bible Verses - Week 11 - Human Resources Management,

http://enterprisers.wikidot.com, http://enterprisers.wikidot.com/verses11

5. Gordon Cohn, Touro College, Improving Employer-Employee Relationships: A

Biblical and Talmudic Perspective on Human Resource Management,

http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu,

http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/economic/friedman/employee.htm

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