What is Human Resources Management

May be some of you surprised to see my such post. But to tell you the truth, I feel so sad when I tried to search the above mentioned subject with two renowned search engine by Internet, surprisingly I found very poor and inappropriate reply. So, from onwards I will try to put some basic information about Human Resources Management in my blog. Certainly this kind of post not for the professionals but for the beginners who by any means shows their interest about HRM recently.
Thanks for all of cooperation. :-)

What is Human Resources Management?

Human Resources Management is an approach to the management of people, based on four fundamental principles. First, human resources are the most important assets an organization has and their effective management is the key to its success. Second, this success is most likely to be achieved if the personnel policies and procedures of the enterprise are closely linked with, and make a major contribution to, the achievement of corporate objectives and strategic plans. Third, the corporate culture and the values, organizational climate and managerial behavior that emanate from that culture will exert a major influence on the achievement of excellence. And finally, HRM is concerned with integration - getting all the members of the organization involved and working together with a sense of common purpose.

According to Mondy & Noe (2008) five functional areas are associated with effective HRM: staffing, human resource development, compensation, safety and health, and employee & labor relations.

Human Resource Planning:
HRP is a process of anticipating and making provision for the movement (flow) of people into, within, and out of an organization. In this function, the number and type of employees needed to accomplish organizational goals are determined. Research is an important part of this function because planning requires the collection and analysis of information in order to forecast HR supplies and to predict future human resources needs. The basic human resource planning strategy is staffing and employee development.

Performance Appraisal:
Performance appraisal function of HRM monitors employee performance to ensure that it is at acceptable levels. HR professionals are usually responsible for developing and administering performance appraisal systems, although the actual appraisal of employee performance is the responsibility of supervisors and managers. Besides providing a basis for pay, promotion, and disciplinary action, performance appraisal information is essential for employee development since knowledge of results is necessary to motivate and guide performance improvements. In short, performance appraisal judges effectiveness of recruitment efforts, validates selection function, determines training needs, a factor in determining pay and it justifies personnel actions. Few popular performance appraisal methods now a day are Balance Score Card, KPI etc.

Compensation:
Managing Compensation is another vital function of HRM. HR personnel provide a rational method for determining how much employees should be paid for performing certain jobs. Pay is obviously related to the maintenance of human resources. Compensation affects staffing in that people are generally attracted to organizations offering a higher level of pay in exchange for the work performed. It is aid or impairs recruitment, pay rates affect selectivity and pay can motivate training.

Training and Development:
In present competitive business world training and development function is a major challenging function of HR which gives employees the skills and knowledge to perform their jobs effectively. In addition to providing training for new or inexperienced employees, organizations often provide training programmes for experienced employees whose jobs are undergoing change.

End Note:

Despite these points and areas management professionals and practitioners would probably agree that Human Resources Management focuses on analyzing an organization’s HR and other needs as the organization’s conditions change, and then supplying strategies to help respond proactively to those changes over time. HRM helps ensure that the right numbers of the right kinds of people are available at the right times and in the right places to translate organizational plans into reality.

Effect of Digital Technology in Human Capital Management

Effect of Digital Technology in Human Capital Management



Present global challenging corporate environment, human capital professionals more knowingly human resources professionals excitedly depends on technology related with their field. RFID, Biometrics, Smart-Card, Web-clients server, Internet-Intranet etcetera all are using for better human capital management. Present days, core HR responsibilities as diverse as recruitment, oversight of legal and regulatory compliance, benefits administration, and the safeguarding of confidential employee information cannot be carried out effectively without high-tech tools. Technology both hardware and software are using to carry out the successful day to day HR management in corporate business houses.

In a world where what matters gets measured, many HR professionals are turning to sophisticated analytics to gauge their department's strategic contributions. From planning to recruitment, retention to performance, training to development everywhere technology has been adopted in HR for better operation with efficiency. Workplace diversity initiatives are getting a boost from technology. Remarkable developments in assistive technology, for example, have increased job opportunities for people with physical disabilities. Some employers say that investing in such technologies is simply the right thing to do; others argue that such initiatives are good for the bottom line since they allow companies to recruit from a broader pool.

Employers are also turning to technology to assist in evaluating their workers and vice versa. Electronic systems can automate performance management processes, ensure an accurate "grading curve" and guarantee feedback to employees. Meanwhile, many companies are relying on technology to streamline traditionally cumbersome employee surveys. Technology has significant impact on organization and employee development in such areas as e-learning, computer-based testing and workplace collaboration. Organizations are increasingly using technology in training.

Human resources professionals are upping their reliance on technology to manage safety and security information and functions. Workplace safety and security can benefit from technology by facilitating acquisition and analysis of injury and illness data, injury costs per employee, training documentation and management, performance management, electronic communications, digital access key log-in information, security camera data management and identity theft protection. Biometrics devices that use fingerprints or other physical traits for identification can help solve some employee discipline problems and protect sensitive data. Time clocks are one of a growing number of workplace applications of biometrics.

During the last decade, the Internet has played a growing role in external recruiting. Large, all-purpose online job boards quickly found a place in recruitment. Meanwhile, niche sites catering to specific industries and demographic niches such as women and Asians won favor. Online corporate job sites and intranets have become key recruiting tools, allowing employers to get the word out about job openings quickly and inexpensively.

Employers also are using technology to market job openings more strategically. Many capitalize on emerging technology like RSS-real simple syndication-allowing online postings to reach job seekers via e-mail or text message as soon as a new job is posted. Others are enhancing traditional online listings with videos and podcasts. Meanwhile, employers have had to adapt to tech-savvy candidates and multimedia resumes that include text, photos, video and sound.

Now a day many HR professionals are relying on electronic on boarding systems to handle tasks including assigning parking passes, computers, uniforms, e-mail addresses and security badges. Some employers-particularly those with a scattered workforce-are capitalizing on computerized learning systems for orientation and to deliver coaching on topics from sexual harassment avoidance to conflict resolution.

Indeed HR professionals, working in tandem with information technologists, now rely on policy and software to monitor data flow, block inappropriate data such as pornography, and prevent the leaking of trade secrets. HR professionals also rely on automated systems to direct employee benefit contributions. Such systems automatically direct a portion of workers' pay toward their retirement savings plans unless employees opt out, for instance.

And while total rewards statements that alert employees to the total value of their compensation benefits packages have been around for years, many companies now are making that information available to workers electronically through HR information systems or self-service sites.