Principles of Human Resource Management - Essay Example

PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT The term human resource management (HRM) can be described as the formal systems formulated for the management of personnel within an organization. Human resource tasks are generally split into three major areas of management, which is, staffing, employee reparation, and defining work. Basically, the purpose of HRM is to optimize the output of an organization by maximizing the effectiveness of its employees. This mandate is not likely to change in any basic form, in spite of the ever-increasing rate of change in the business world. As Gubman observed (1996) the primary mission of human resources will constantly be to merge the workforce with the business, be an excellent contributor to the business, obtain, build up, and preserve talent. These three challenges will forever stand. Business consultants are of the belief that the modern human resource management is based on several overriding principles. Probably the most dominant principle being a simple recognition that human resource is the most important asset of an organization. It is virtually impossible for a business to flourish without effectively overseeing this resource. Another vital principle, as Michael Armstrong expressed in his book, a successful business can most likely be achieved if the staff guidelines and procedures of the enterprise are closely connected with, and make a significant contribution to the accomplishment of corporate objectives and tactical plans (Gubman 1996). A third fundamental principle, holds that it is the human resource's responsibility to find, guide, secure, and nurture employees whose talents and goals are attuned with the operating requirements and potential goals of the company. Other human resource management factors that form corporate culture—whether by encouraging amalgamation and collaboration across the company, establishing quantitative performance standards, or taking any other action—are also cited as key factors in business success. HRM is a tactical approach to recruiting, nurturing motivating, and managing the organization's human resources. It is dedicated to forming an appropriate corporate culture and initiating programmes which mirror and maintain the core values of the organization and to ensure its success (Armstrong 1999). HRM roles are positioned theoretically at the centre of the organization, with access to every department in the organization. Due to the fact that the human resource department is charged with the responsibility of managing the output and development of employees at every level, the human resource staff should have access to - and the assistance of - major decision makers. Incidentally, the human resource department should be located in such a way that it is possible to effectively communicate/relay information within all areas of the company. Human resource structures differ from business to business; this depends on the type, size, and governing philosophies of the business that they serve. However, most businesses systematize HRM functions around the group of people to be assisted - they carry out recruiting, administrative, and other tasks in a central location. Different worker development groups for each department are essential for training and developing employees in specialized areas such as accounting, marketing, engineering, or executive education. In contrast, some human resource departments are totally independent and are organized solely by function. For instance, the same training department serves all departments of the business. The core objective of this paper is to highlight the principles of human resource management and job description as a division of the three fundamental tasks of human resource as an area of management (Ulrich 1998). It is impossible for a standardized job description to capture employees everyday work experiences, in most businesses, ambiguous job description, plays a major role in binding various departments within the organization. It has been observed that in this day and age, work challenges are bound to increase, thus the need for cross functional teams (ambiguous job description) will be necessary. Vertical structures around duties and functions in traditional organizations are unsuitable for sharing knowledge at the organizational level. Ambiguous job description is essential in the sense that it depicts how the isolated heterogeneous parts of the business ought to be integrated for it to work interact and get its thoughts channelled from a common ground. Traditional businesses with deep internal competition, non flexible functional sections and excessive compartmentalization may create grave barriers that detach various departments into isolated islands with no valuable communication between them. These businesses (hierarchical ones) slow down the tempo of change, prolong the decision making procedure and bar innovation. For an employee to be effective to an organization he must be able to adapt to a fast changing environment, make quick decisions, and be innovative from various angles. Thus the need for an ambiguous job description is clearly depicted here (Mohamed, Stankosky & Murray 2004, p.127-130). In the letter to the editor, (in the book Managing Human Resources), the marketing manager laments on the disambiguate nature of his job description (Stone 2009, p.175). It can be said that his sentiments are totally misconstrued on the bureaucracy of job analysis since stock analysis is totally necessary being one of the principles of human resource management as is pointed below. Except for his misguided opinion on job analysis, he is totally justified to lament as he his totally overburdened on the performance of his regular duties. What makes it even worse is that there is no support both materially and emotionally from his superiors. Thus, it is imperative to employ some principles of human resource management, to ease the marketing manager’s situation. In the recent past, critics have noted an unfaltering trend towards considerable reassessments of human resources structures and arrangements. A cascade of shifting business environment, changing business structures, and changing management has been forcing human resource departments to modify their perception based on their role and function almost instantly. In the past, businesses structured themselves on a compartmental and centralized basis - head office, sales, production, accounting, and so on. These businesses now wish to decentralize and to assimilate their operations, developing cross-functional groups (Solomon 1993). Currently, top management looks forward to the human resource department to move past its conventional compartmentalized 'bunker' set up to a more integrated and decentralized support function. With regards to this change in prospect, Johnston notes that an increasingly popular inclination in human resources is to spread out the human resource unit and make it responsible to particular line management. This raises the likelihood that human resource is perceived and incorporated as an integral part of the business process, similar to its counterparts, that is, marketing, finance, and operations and so on. However, human resource will maintain a centralized functional relationship in sections where specialized expertise is actually needed, for example, compensation and recruitment responsibilities (Johnston 1996). Human resource management is aimed at development of both individuals and the business within which they operate. Human resource management, then, is concerned not only in facilitating and cultivating the talents of individual employees, but it is also engaged in executing programmes that improve communication and collaboration between the individual employees so as to enhance organizational development. From this end, if the employees were given the opportunity to design their, the approach that the letter writer would have taken to make their position more manageable would take an approach as described next. The core tasks affiliated to human resource management include: job analysis and recruitment, organization and deployment of work force, measurement and evaluation of work force performance, implementation of reward schemes for staff, professional development of staff, and maintenance of labour force. Job analysis entails determining - often with the assistance of other company divisions - the nature and tasks of various job positions. This could include ascertaining the skills and experiences needed to adequately carry out duties in a specific job position, identifying job and industry trends, and the prospect of future employment levels and expertise requirements. Job analysis is the pillar of human resource management practice since it provides concrete information concerning jobs which in return is used to hire and promote staff, set up wages, establish training needs, and make other fundamental human resource decisions. Staffing, on the other hand, is the main process of managing the flow of workforce into, within (by means of transfers and promotions), and out of the business. Once the recruiting phase of the staffing procedure is done, selection is summarized through reference checks, interviews, testing, job postings and other tools (Burstiner 1988). Organization, use and safeguarding of a company's labour force are also an important function of human resource management. This entails designing an organizational framework that makes optimum use of an enterprise's human resources and setting up systems of communication that assist the organization to operate in a cohesive style (Green 1999). Performance appraisal refers to the system of evaluating employee work output and giving response to the employees both on affirmative and negative facets of their performance. Performance measurements are vital to both the business and the individual; for they are the main data used when determining salary raise, promotions, and, dismissal in the case of workers who perform unsatisfactorily (Green 1999; Roberts, Gary & Carlotta 1993; Reece & Rhonda 1993). Reward schemes are usually managed by the human resource area as well. This facet of human resource management is significant, for it is the instrument by which businesses offer rewards to their employees for past achievements and motivation for high performance in future. It is also the instrument by which businesses address conflicts and problems arising amongst their employees, through institutions set purposely for disciplinary measures. Aligning employees with company goals requires giving the workers an employment affiliation that inspires them to take possession of the business plan (Gubman 1996). Employee development and training is another important responsibility with regards to the human resource personnel. The human resource department is charged with the responsibility of researching an organization's training requirements, and for initializing and assessing staff development programmes designed to attend to those needs. These training programmes can vary from orientation programmes, which are meant to familiarize new recruits to the company, to thorough education programmes designed to acclimatize employees to a new software system as well as other departments (Cirilo & Kleiner 2003; Rossiter, 1996). After bringing in the right talent into the business, the second conventional challenge to human resources is to align the labour force with the business - to persistently build the capacity of the labour force to implement the business plan. This is can be done through performance evaluation, training, and other similar activities. In the scope of performance evaluation, human resource management experts must come up with uniform evaluation methods, develop review methods, train executives and supervisors to direct the appraisals, and then assess and make a follow up on the efficacy of the performance reviews. They must also tie the evaluation process into compensation and motivation strategies, and work to ensure that federal regulations are upheld (Gubman 1996; Cirilo & Kleiner 2003). Responsibilities affiliated to training and development activities, on the other hand, include the determination, design, implementation, and scrutiny of educational programmes. The human resource management professionals should be keen on the basics of learning and motivation, and must articulately design and examine training and development programmes that promote the entire organization and the individual the individual worker. The significance of this aspect of an organization’s operation can hardly be emphasized (Roberts, Gary & Carlotta 1993). Important contributions to business processes are gradually becoming more recognized within human resource management practices. It is without doubt that HR personnel have always facilitated in general business processes in particular angles - for instance, through giving strategies for and monitoring employees’ conduct, or making sure that the firm is conforming to the employee-related guiding procedures - but a growing number of businesses are integrating HR managers into other business procedures as well. Before, human resource managers played more of a supportive role in which their sentiments on operational aspects with respect to business such as cost/benefit justifications were rarely solicited. The changing nature of business arrangements and the market are making it more and more essential for business executives and owners to pay more attention to the human resource side of operation: Duties that were initially painstakingly slotted into properly defined and narrow job functions have now given way to wide job functions or role description. In other cases, totally new work associations have developed: permanent or part-time roles; telecommuting and outsourcing key non-strategic functions are increasingly becoming popular. All these changes, which HR managers are greatly engaged in, are key factors in forming business performance (Johnston 1996). In conclusion therefore, the human resource function of organizations has evolved greatly, with changing roles and job descriptions. This makes it virtually impossible to have a standardized way of job description that captures the employees’ every day duties. This is simply because the employees have to be engaged in the ever evolving roles in organizations. References Armstrong, M 1999. Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. Kogan Page Ltd, London. Burstiner, I 1988, The Small Business Handbook.. Prentice Hall, New York. Cirilo, R & Kleiner, B H 2003, How to orient employees into new positions successfully, Management Research News, 26 (8):16 - 26 Green, P C 1999, Building Robust Competencies: Linking Human Resource Systems to Organizational Strategies, Jossey-Bass, London. Gubman, EL 1996, The Gauntlet is Down, Journal of Business Strategy. November-December. Johnston, J 1996, Time to Rebuild Human Resources Business Quarterly, Winter. Mohammed, M, Stakonsky, M & Murray, M 2004, Applying knowledge management principles to enhance cross- functional team performance. Journal of Knowledge Management. 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