The Effective Management of Human Resources Is Essential for Business Success - Coursework Example

The effective management of human resources is essential for business success. Your full name Your ID no Unit code and name Lecturer name Essay Assignment Due Date Introduction Organisations are able to gain a competitive advantage through mastering the management of their human resources. The practices of human resources management have deep roots in the past. Human in the ancient societies used to share the work among them hence division of labour is prehistoric. This is where tasks were allocated based on skills and ability. Major contribution of the HRM was felt during the industrial revolution which happened in the 1800s (Bratton & Gold, 2007). HRM have already replaced the Personnel Management (PM). PM main role is paper work on hiring and paying workers. At the moment, management of workers through the HR department has played a major role in success of business. This is due to fact that human resource is the most significant component in attaining business success. Use of HR practices makes it possible to increase productivity through enhanced employee skills and motivation (Igwe, Onwumere & Egbo, 2014). The intention of this essay is to analyse the importance of effective management of the human resources for business success. The essay is divided into four main areas. The first part is the literature review based on summary of views. The second part explains both the purpose and function of HRM for business success. The third part chooses one function and HRM in second part examine it and explain its relevance to business in 21st century. Lastly, the essay choses diversity in the workplace as an issue of concern and explain s how it affect business success. Various sources have examined the role of human resource in business success. According to Collings & Wood (2009), human resource main function is to ensure that there is proper use of the human factors in an organisation. It is also a part of the management which is supposed to organise employees and coordinate them (Bratton & Gold, 2007). Human resource management is expected to perform all operative function which involves recruiting, keeping and utilising the labour force to ensure the business meets its objectives. This leads to definition of the human resource as an effective and efficient use of the human factors in an organisation. According to Collings & Wood (2009), HRM is seen as a set of tools which are used to attract, develop, motivate and maintains the management of people in an effective manner. The main aim of the HRM is to ensure that there is productive working environment where the business is able to meet its goals. The organisation is able to attain success through use of people. Human resources are required for the business success (Igwe, Onwumere & Egbo, 2014). Based on the resource based view of the firm, there is need to attain a competitive advantage. The resources required are the human, organisational and physical capital. According to Bratton & Gold (2007), organisation is only able to gain a competitive advantage if they are able to increase the quality of their resources or manage to use their resources effectively than the competitors. This leads to an argument that people can be managed to create a sustainable competitive advantage. People are the most important source of competitive advantage in the modern firms (Collings & Wood, 2009). This is due to fact that competitors can imitate other resources but will never decipher the capability and motivation on your human capital. The economic theory also supports that human capital is vital in organisation success. A well trained workforce is a key to competition in the business hence the need for their effective management. The returns on effective management of people on the business are lucrative according to the psychology theories of motivation attitude and learning (Igwe, Onwumere & Egbo, 2014). Human Resource Management (HRM) has various purposes and functions that help the business to attain success. The main purpose for the HRM is to ensure that the human resources are well utilised and managed in an effective manner. This is through use of several activities that ensures that the available human resources are managed in an effective manner. This is done for the benefit of the business and society. The scope of the human resource management has expanded to include the personnel aspect, welfare aspect and the industrial relations aspect. All these scopes help HRM in ensuring that workers in an organisation are effective in attaining business goals (Igwe, Onwumere & Egbo, 2014). The HRM department has various functions which are based on the management of the human resource. The management of the human resources can be broken down into following functions; job analysis and design, employees recruitment, training and development, compensation and employees relations (Sujlana, Shetty & Mathew, 2013). Job analysis and design is a major function of the HRM. This is through designing the jobs based on the employee skills, abilities and motives. The HRM department ensures that there is a match between the employee skills, abilities and motives with the job. This reduces the instances if employee absenteeism and high turnover. The job design function is based on scientific management (Igwe, Onwumere & Egbo, 2014). The second function is recruitment and selection. This is a process that involves interviews, recruitment, screening and selecting the suitable candidates to fill job positions. The selected labour force must be if high quality. The third function is appraisal training and development of the employees. The development of the human resources leads to the growth of the organisation. When there is employee development, there are high chances of success in an organisation. Through appraisals, performance deficiencies are noted and ways to improve them addressed (Caldwell et al., 2011). The HRM is expected to be engaged in the compensation and health of the workforce. This function involves determining the competitiveness of the wages, fairness and use of incentives (Jain, 2014). The financial worth of a job position is determined by the HR department. This also involves ensuring that the workforce is healthy and safe. The department also ensures that the work environment is healthy for the employees based on the occupational safety and health acts. HRM is also involved with the human relations. The HR department works with the labour unions to ensure that there is no adversarial relationship (Igwe, Onwumere & Egbo, 2014). Out of different functions of HRM, employee training and development is one of the most important functions due to its relevance in 21st century. This is due to fact that the growth of an organisation is based on the development of the human resources (Igwe, Onwumere & Egbo, 2014). There is need to have a string employee development programme that will ensure that the organisation is successful in the 21st century. The process of training enables the employees to focus on their current jobs while development prepares them for their future jobs (Werner and Herman, 2012). The process starts with employees’ appraisal where employees’ current performance is assessed (Igwe, Onwumere & Egbo, 2014). To compete in the 21st century, organisations are expected to have high efficiencies and innovations. This has made the successful companies to invest highly on learning and development. The main aim is to increase revenue, reduce costs and maintain talent. With globalisation, diverse employees are expected to work together. This required cross cultural training. There is also modern technology which keeps changing hence requiring the employee to be kept up to date. Thus, training and development helps the organisation to keep in touch with current trends (Werner & Herman, 2012). There are various issues or concerns that in recent times relates to HRM and business success. Diversity in the workplace is a major issue of concern in the modern workplace. This is due to the reality that modern workplace has diversity in many ways (Beham, Schwalbach & Straub, 2012). This includes diversity due to social status, disability, sex, religion, culture and ethnicity. In the western countries, multiculturalism has always been a major dimension in diversity. A diverse workplace is an indicator of the changing business marketplace. Diversity in the workplace is beneficial to business when appropriately managed. This is due to fact that when individual differences are respected, the level of productivity increases. Diversity has been proven to increase creativity and innovation in an organisation (Igwe, Onwumere & Egbo, 2014). It has also been proved that diversity in the workplace increases business competitiveness and improves the image. For the human resource department, managing diversity is more than acknowledging the differences. It involves eliminating discrimination and ensuring inclusiveness. Organisations are expected to know how to manage diversity for them to be successful in the modern business environment (Robert-Leigh & McManus, 2015). This is a comprehensive process that involves creating an all-inclusive work environment. Due to business competition, changing workforce composition, backlash by women and minorities and growing importance of the human resource management, it is vital to have HR diversity management (Beham, Schwalbach & Straub, 2012). Conclusion To sum up, the importance of HRM in attaining business goals and objectives cannot be underrated. HRM helps the business to attain competitive advantage. Without human resource, other resources cannot be utilised. Thus, it is evident that human resource is required to create a competitive advantage in the business. In the 21st century, employee training and development is vital for business success. There is also need to acknowledge workplace diversity. This is due to the rising diversity in the modern work environment. In this writer’s opinion, human resources must be managed by well-trained HR managers to attain business success. References Beham, B, Schwalbach, J, & Straub, C 2012, Managing Diversity In Organizations. [Electronic Resource], n.p.: Wiesbaden, Germany : Gabler, 2012., DEAKIN UNIV LIBRARY's Catalog, EBSCOhost, viewed 3 January 2016. Bratton, J, & Gold, J 2007, Human Resource Management, n.p.: New York, N.Y. : Palgrave, 2007., EBSCOhost, viewed 3 January 2016. Caldwell, C, Truong, D, Linh, P, & Tuan, A 2011, 'Strategic Human Resource Management as Ethical Stewardship', Journal Of Business Ethics, 98, 1, pp. 171-182, Health Business Elite, EBSCOhost, viewed 3 January 2016. Collings, D, & Wood, G 2009, Human Resource Management : A Critical Approach, n.p.: London ; New York : Routledge, 2009., EBSCOhost, viewed 3 January 2016. Igwe, A, Onwumere, JUJ & Egbo, OP 2014, ‘ Effective human resource management as a tool for organizational success’, European Journal of Business & Management, vol. 6, no. 39, pp. 210 – 218, viewed 3rd January 2016, < http://www.iiste.org/ Journals/index.php/ EJBM/article/ view/18837/19159> . Jain, M., 2014. ‘Performance Management: Linking Rewards to Performance’, Journal of Social Welfare and Management, 6, 1, p.41. Robert-Leigh Compton BBus, MEcon, LittD & John G. McManus BA, MA, PhD, 2015, ‘Employee Assistance Programs in Australia: Evaluating Success’, Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health, 30:1-2, pp.32-45, DOI: 10.1080/15555240.2015.998971 Sujlana, P., Shetty, A.S. and Mathew, J., 2013. ‘The Survival, Sustenance and Success of Technology Start-Ups: the Role of Human Resource Planning and Policy Development’, Global Management Journal, 5(1/2), pp.53-59. Werner, H. and Herman, L., 2012. ‘Adoption Of Human Resource Practices Within A South African Small Business: A Case Study’, Journal of Enterprising Culture, 20(04), pp.459-480. Read More