Assignment

Human Resource Management

Submitted by: Waqas Muazam

ID: 101510

Course: PGDBM

Queensbury College London

Contents

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT.......................................................................................... 3

Introduction................................................................................................................................................. 3
DEFINED...............................................................................................................................................................3
HUMAN RESOURCE SYSTEM................................................................................................................................3

AIMS OF HRM............................................................................................................................................... 4
Organizational effectiveness................................................................................................................................4
Human capital management...............................................................................................................................4

HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING................................................................................................... 5

Aims Of Human Resource Planning............................................................................................................... 6

FINDING AND ANYLASIS............................................................................................................... 6

Incorporate Workforce Management Solutions into Your Human Resources Planning by Alise Parkhill..........6

CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................................... 7

How to Ensure Effective Human Resource Planning   by Mahendra Gupta.....................................................7

1. Determine the current and future SUPPLY of human resources.................................................................8

2. Determine the current and future DEMAND of human resources...............................................................8

3. Match DEMAND with SUPPLY and determine the resourcing gaps.............................................................8

4. Build and implement future plan to bridge the gap between DEMAND & SUPPLY......................................8

REFERENCING............................................................................................................................... 10
 Human resource management

Introduction

The terms ‘human resource management’ (HRM) and ‘human resources’ (HR)
have largely replaced the term ‘personnel management’ as a description of the
processes involved in managing people in organizations. The concept of HRM
underpins all the activities described in this book, and the aim of this chapter
is to provide a framework for what follows by defining the concepts of HRM
and an HR system, describing the various models of HRM and discussing its
aims and characteristics. The chapter continues with a review of reservations
about HRM and the relationship between HRM and personnel management
and concludes with a discussion of the impact HRM can make on
organizational performance (Armstrong, 2006:3).

DEFINED

Human resource management is defined as a strategic and coherent approach to the

management of an organization’s most valued assets – the people working there
who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of its objectives.
Storey (1989) believes that HRM can be regarded as a ‘set of interrelated policies
with an ideological and philosophical underpinning’. He suggests four aspects that
Constitute the meaningful version of HRM (Armstrong, 2006:3):

1. a particular constellation of beliefs and assumptions;

2. a strategic thrust informing decisions about people management;
3. the central involvement of line managers; and
4. reliance upon a set of ‘levers’ to shape the employment relationship.

HUMAN RESOURCE SYSTEM

Human resource management operates through human resource systems that bring
together in a coherent way:
● HR philosophies describing the overarching values and guiding principles adopted
in managing people.
● HR strategies defining the direction in which HRM intends to go.
● HR policies, which are the guidelines defining how these values, principles and
the strategies should be applied and implemented in specific areas of HRM.
● HR processes consisting of the formal procedures and methods used to put HR
strategic plans and policies into effect.
● HR practices comprising the informal approaches used in managing people.
● HR programmes, which enable HR strategies, policies and practices to be
implemented according to plan (Armstrong, 2006:4).

AIMS OF HRM

The overall purpose of human resource management is to ensure that the

organization is able to achieve success through people. As Ulrich and Lake (1990)
remark:
‘HRM systems can be the source of organizational capabilities that allow firms to
learn and capitalize on new opportunities.’ Specifically, HRM is concerned with
achieving objectives in the areas summarized below (Armstrong, 2006:8).

Organizational effectiveness

‘Distinctive human resource practices shape the core competencies that determine
how firms compete’ (Cappelli and Crocker-Hefter, 1996). Extensive research has
shown that such practices can make a significant impact on firm performance. HRM
strategies aim to support programmes for improving organizational effectiveness by
developing policies in such areas as knowledge management, talent management
and generally creating ‘a great place to work’. This is the ‘big idea’ as described by
Purcell et al (2003), which consists of a ‘clear vision and a set of integrated values’.
More specifically, HR strategies can be concerned with the development of
continuous improvement and customer relations policies (Armstrong, 2006:3).

Human capital management

The human capital of an organization consists of the people who work there and on
whom the success of the business depends. Human capital has been defined by
Bontis et al (1999) as follows: Human capital represents the human factor in the
organization; the combined intelligence, skills and expertise that give the
organization its distinctive character. The human elements of the organization are
those that are capable of learning, changing, innovating and providing the creative
thrust which if properly motivated can ensure the long-term survival of the
organization (Armstrong, 2006:8).

Human capital can be regarded as the prime asset of an organization and businesses
need to invest in that asset to ensure their survival and growth. HRM aims to ensure
that the organization obtains and retains the skilled, committed and well-motivated
workforce it needs. This means taking steps to assess and satisfy future people needs
and to enhance and develop the inherent capacities of people – their contributions,
potential and employability – by providing learning and continuous development
opportunities. It involves the operation of ‘rigorous recruitment and selection
procedures, performance-contingent incentive compensation systems, and
management development and training activities linked to the needs of the business’
(Becker et al,1997). It also means engaging in talent management – the process of
acquiring and nurturing talent, wherever it is and wherever it is needed, by using a
number of interdependent HRM policies and practices in the fields of resourcing,
learning and development, performance management and succession planning. The
process of human capital management (HCM) as described in the next chapter is
closely associated with human resource management. However, the focus of HCM is
more on the use of metrics (measurements of HR and people performance) as a
means of providing guidance on people management strategy and practice
(Armstrong, 2006:9).

Human Resource Planning

There is no single definition of human resources planning (HRP) with which
everyone agrees. Many definitions and models of HRP exist. Many HRP
practitioners prefer to focus on the technical side—that is, the mathematical and
behavioural methods of forecasting HR needs. Others prefer the managerial side—
that is, the way decision-makers tackle human resource issues affecting an
organization (Rothwell and kazanas,2003:2).

Still others distinguish between strategic HRP, undertaken to formulate

and implement an organization’s long-range plans, and operational HRP,
undertaken to guide daily HR decisions. To complicate matters even more, some
HR practitioners distinguish between HRP for an organization, which focuses
on planning solely to meet organizational demands, and HRP for individuals,
which focuses on the implications of such plans for individual career planning
(Rothwell and kazanas,2003:2).
Aims Of Human Resource Planning

HR management involves large amount of management and planning of the

employees of an organization. The objective of the HR department is to promote
loyalty among the staff and help them in attaining their full potential. If your
company consists of fulfilled and happy workforce, then there is no doubt in that
your company will perform well. Employees are the biggest assets in any company
and human resource focuses to improve the asset and making them stronger. This
will help the company because the company will have a creative and productive
workforce (Chandra, 2011).

Finding And Anylasis

Incorporate Workforce Management Solutions into Your Human Resources
Planning:

When it comes to human resources planning, it is important to consider any and all assets
that can help make your department more efficient. A sound, reliable, and well-staffed
human resources team is the cornerstone of a successful company, regardless of size.
Incorporating workforce management solutions into your human resources division is a
great first step in guaranteeing your employee needs are well taken care of and addressed in
a timely manner (Parkhil,2011).
Workforce management solutions integrate a diverse array of components, such as data
collection, compliance regulations, implementation of employee-based self-services,
scheduling and automation. Utilize workforce solutions to improve productivity in your
core staff and allow management the opportunity to measure performance. This not only
reduces the burden on your existing in-house staff, but also provides an opportunity to gain
access to expert professionals (Parkhil, 2011).
To integrate the most innovative workforce management solutions into the inner workings
of your company, it's important to work with a company that has extensive experience. Not
only should this organization be accustomed to working with companies similar in size and
scope to yours, they should be open to any ideas pitched by your human resources team.
The working relationship among workforce management solutions specialists and human
resources staff must be amenable to make certain all company goals are reached and
employees continue to thrive under current working conditions (Parkhil, 2011).
Your staff is your most important asset and the key to your company's ability to operate
successfully. Therefore, you want to be sure that you are addressing the needs of this group
and noting that they are content within your company by all means possible. The right
workforce management solutions will breed loyalty and respect by your employees, which
in turn means a healthier, more comfortable working relationship between management and
workers. On this alone, it is well worth the investment to work with a consulting company
to benefit your company, and more specifically, the employees that work each day to meet
goals from profit to productivity (Parkhil, 2011).

Conclusion
How to Ensure Effective Human Resource Planning:

People are indeed the greatest assets to an organisation; they are the foundation, but
also one of the largest expenses. Thus it is critical that an organisation ensures that
these human assets are properly utilised before going ahead and hiring new staff.
However, when you have hundreds of projects and many employees, there is bound
to be a resource allocation inefficiency - right? Wrong. Resource inefficiency can be
greatly reduced - if we make the right choice (Gupta, 2011).

In today's organisations, it is increasingly difficult to manually calculate an accurate

demand and supply of human resources across the organisation. This is because
when there are complex organisational structures, matrix management and many
projects, the visibility of the work and resources goes down. If you want to enable
accurate human resource planning in order to maximise the utilisation of your
employees, then it is important that you implement a proper centralised system with
the right processes (Gupta, 2011).

This means not just any old system, but one that will keep up with the pace of your
dynamic organisation and continuously track the supply and demand of human
resources in order to support you bridge the inefficiency gap. When finding the right
system for your human resource planning, the following steps are a must:

1. Determine current and future SUPPLY of human resources

2. Determine current and future DEMAND of human resources

3. Match DEMAND with SUPPLY and determine the gap

4. Create and implement plan to bridge the gap between DEMAND & SUPPLY
(Gupta, 2011).
1. Determine the current and future SUPPLY of human resources

since employees are located all over the place - within departments, teams, projects, offices,
cities and countries - it is important to have an organisation wide visibility of the quantity and
quality of the people you have employed. To ensure this, it is critical that you have a
centralised system in place where the following information can be systematically recorded
and managed for the whole organisation:

* Individual Capabilities i.e. skills, trainings, and certification.

* Work history on different jobs, projects, functional areas.

* Areas of interest and types of roles an individual can play.

* Current and future work hours of an individual.

* Planned and unplanned leave.

* Public holidays, part time and full time work calendar (Gupta, 2011).

2. Determine the current and future DEMAND of human resources

All organisations have a variety of projects that require different people with different skills,
yet tracking this at a micro level is difficult and cumbersome, especially in a large
organisation. Hence, it is necessary to have a system in place where the various resource
demand created by planned and unplanned activities can be tracked and managed at macro
level. A system that tracks project related work and also non project related unplanned work
such as business as usual activities and help desk support in order to calculate the total
resources demanded (Gupta, 2011).

3. Match DEMAND with SUPPLY and determine the resourcing gaps

It may sound simple, that once the supply and demand of human resources have determined
accurately, they need to be matched up. It is important to ensure that the right person for the
project is identified based on the required skill, role, training, availability and area of interest.
This ensures a win-win situation for both employees and employers and ultimately adds to
the profitability of the company. Sounds quite challenging doesn't it? (Gupta, 2011)

It can be easy. Finding the best person for the job can be easily achieved through the use of a
robust resource planning and scheduling software - a tool that will find the correct resource
with the click of a button. A tool that will measure and track the utilisation of individual
human resources, so that new work can be allocated and existing work can be reallocated in
order to balance the work load across the organisation and achieve optimum utilisation
(Gupta, 2011).

4. Build and implement future plan to bridge the gap between DEMAND &
SUPPLY

No matter how much we attempt to reallocate our resources, we often end up with resourcing
gaps where we have too many employees, or sometimes don't have enough. The important
thing is being able to identify this in advance and plan accordingly to ensure that our
organisations run smoothly. In such situations organisations should ensure they (Gupta,
2011):

* Build and implement a proper recruitment plan based on the resourcing gaps i.e. plan to
hire people at the appropriate time.

* Retrain current employees to acquire new set of skills to maximise the efficiency of
existing staff.

* Provide better incentives to retain people with rare skill sets - as they can be hard to come
by (Gupta, 2011).
Referencing

Armstrong, M (2006) Human Resource Management Practice. 10 th ed. London: Kogan Page
Publishers.

Rothwell, W. and Kazanas, H. (2003) Planning and Managing Human Resources. 2 nd ed. Amherst,
Massachusetts: Human Resource Development Press.

Kipper, D., 2011. Significance of Human Resource, Business/Human Resources, [online]. Available at:
http://goarticles.com/article/Significance-of-Human-Resource-Management/4203561/ [27-02-
2011].

Parkhill, A., 2009. Incorporate Workforce Management Solutions into Your Human
Resources Planning, Business/Human Resources, [online]. Available at:
http://goarticles.com/article/Incorporate-Workforce-Management-Solutions-into-Your-Human-
Resources-Planning/2148913/ [27-02-2011].

Gupta, M., 2010. How to Ensure Effective Human Resource Planning, Computer/Software,
[online] Available at: http://goarticles.com/article/How-to-Ensure-Effective-Human-
Resource-Planning/3630644/ [28-02-2011]