The key principles of human resource management - Essay Example

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Human Resource Management Contents Human Resource Management Contents 2 TASK 4 LO1: Difference between Personnel Management and Human Resource Management 4 Distinctions between personnel management and HRM 4 Function of the human resource management in contributing to organisational purposes 5 Evaluate the role and responsibilities of line managers in human resource management 6 Analyse the impact of the legal and regulatory framework on Human Resource Management 7 LO3: Reward employees in order to motivate and retain them 8 Assess the link between motivational theory and reward 8 Evaluate the process of job evaluation and other factors determining pay 9 Assess the effectiveness of reward systems in different contexts 10 Examine the methods organisations use to monitor employee performance 12 Self Evaluation 13 Reference 15 TASK 1 Title and scenario: Report for outlining the key principles of human resource management showing the differences in personnel versus human resource management and also the motivation, performance management and reward system for staff. LO1: Difference between Personnel Management and Human Resource Management It has been said that there are more similarities between personnel management and human resource management than difference and this is mainly assumed by different number of authors. Legge (1989) there are not much difference between the two approaches but manages to detect diverging aspects. According to Torington, a personnel management is continues process of growth and evolution where more expertise people are required. In this evolutionary process HRM is adding only a dimension to a multi faceted role and is not assumed as a revolutionary concept. But the concept of HRM should not be undervalued or underestimated. Storey has regarded HRM as different approach and philosophy for the management. HRM provides a new platform for managing personnel (Koster, 2007, p.5). Distinctions between personnel management and HRM Difference between Personnel management and HRM are mainly comprises of meaning than of substance. Thus the real difference between personnel and HRM is not actually what the concept are but who are defining the concepts. Another important difference between the two approaches is appreciation towards the employees. Personnel management believes that employees are the key to improve the performance whereas HRM assumes that the employees are essential for success of the organisation (Jan de, 2003, p.4). HRM concentrates on strategic fits unlike personnel management; HRM emphasis on individuals whereas personnel emphasis on collectively; Personnel management provides a generalised HR solution and HRM a much more tailored solution; There is an increase need of HR specialist in case of personnel management whereas in HRM senior mangers perform the work of an HR. Personnel is associated with trade union and managing conflict and HRM with performance, capabilities and outcomes. HRM has a strong emphasis over horizontal and vertical integration. It operates at a strategic level and personnel management is more operationally oriented (Banfield & Kay, 2008, p.40). Function of the human resource management in contributing to organisational purposes The functions of HRM have changed over the years and are continuing to change. The function of HR is to enable organisation to achieve the objectives by way of taking initiatives and providing the required guidance as well as support on matters relating to the organisations employees. The main motive is to develop HR strategies and policies in the organisations. HR functions also play an important part in creation of the organisation environment which enables the employees to utilise their capabilities to benefit both the organisation and the individual. The function of HRM also tends to provide advice and services which enables the organisation to get work done through individuals. The sophisticated HRM aims to achieve a strategic integration (Armstrong, 2006, p.54). The HRM concerns most of the managers as well as the workers; they are the expert who design the process and manages the programs for an effective workplace to support the organisations objectives. Thus the function of human resource is performed in various organisations such as large, small, private or public, profit and also non profit organisation (McKenzie & Traynor, 2001, p.1). HRM function is concerned with two levels, one the HRM takes into consideration the recruitment, and motivating factors and in development of the competent employees. Secondly the HRM is responsible for conflict management (Bratton & Gold, 2011, p.15). For example P&G in UK practises a strong HRM. The core objectives of HRM are to create and sustain competitive advantage and growth with the organisation, system and people. It aims to preserves a value driven and a principle based culture (P&G, 2010). Evaluate the role and responsibilities of line managers in human resource management A line manger is a person who is authorised to direct the work of the subordinates and is also responsible for accomplishing the task of the organisation. They have the authority to give orders. The line managers play a very important role in terms of enacting and implementing policies and practices of HR. When an employee feels positive about their relationship with the line mangers they tend to have a higher level of performance and discretionary behaviour (Banfield & Kay, 2008, p.34). Thus the role and responsibilities of a line manger in HRM are, A line manger works closely with the HR professionals and the employees in order to develop the HR practices. The line manager engages themselves with HR practices and is consistent with HR policies. The line manger includes the HR professional in formulating and implementing the business strategies. The line manger considers the daily implication of business decision in managing human resource. A line manger accepts the responsibilities to manage the HR strategically. The line mangers learn about the basic needs and apply the principles which are needed to manage the human resource. The line manger also seeks advice and inputs from its employees and professionals to improve its own competency to manage human resource (Jackson, Schuler & Werner, 2011, p.20). For example the line manager in Marks & Spencer’s are responsible manages the issues relating to HR. The line manager of M&S is goal oriented, relevancy oriented, the mangers are practical and also seeks advice and examples. For example there was a need for vignettes in order to take the experience whether good or bad and personalize in a way which roots in the memory than facts on their own (Kineo, 2009, p. 3). Analyse the impact of the legal and regulatory framework on Human Resource Management HRM practices occur within the legal and regulatory framework, where there are two areas which governs and influence the HRM. The first key area id equal opportunities and secondly is the employment law. Equal Opportunities: Equal opportunity refers to the area where the organisations have adopted policies which states that employees cannot be discriminated on basis of gender, disability or caste. Thus to protect the organisation and employees, it is important that the providers have a clear policies with regards to equal opportunity. All the organisation and its activities and policies must ensure equal opportunity for its entire staff in the work place and avoiding discriminatory practices. Employment Law: In addition to providing equal opportunity between the employees in the organisation the managers needs to take care of the legal framework of employment law. There is various numbers of statutory rights which the employees are entitled to ranging from the right of a written statement to get dismissed in an unfairly way. Thus mangers must keep all the current information with regards to legal framework. For example in UK, the government brought forward a bill on legal service which states that the profession need an overhaul. This was initiated by Tesco, where the bill brings in new regulation for legal framework. This law allows the lawyers to form a partnership with the non lawyers. This legislation would also allow the advice agencies to employ the solicitors directly (BBC, 2012). LO3: Reward employees in order to motivate and retain them Assess the link between motivational theory and reward A number of motivational theories are used to explain how reward can affect individual behaviour and of the teams. The reward factors of an organisation can be explained with the help of motivational theories. The theories include instrumentality theory, needs hierarchy, two factors, expectancy, and goal and equity theory. All the theories are related with reward. One of the forms of reward is money, people need and want money. Money acts as reinforce as it is associated with rewards. Reward policies and practices depend largely on the needs of an individual and on their specific employment condition. Porter and Lawler have found out that people with a higher pay are more satisfied with their reward which has also been supported by Maslow and Herzberg. Extrinsic rewards which are provided by the employer which includes pay is an important factor in attracting and also retaining the employees. Intrinsic rewards relates to responsibilities, work and the achievements which has a deeper impact on the theories of motivation. Thus reward system should include a mix of both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. In instrumentality theory proposed by Taylor, people would be motivated to work when the rewards and punishment are related with their performance. Maslow’s need hierarchy, there is little or nil relevance towards reward management. Herzberg two factor theory supports the concept of reward and the lasting impact of non financial reward. The expectancy theory of Vroom & Lawyer and Porter is the most relevant theories in regards to reward practice. In the goal theory of Latham and Locke provides rational for performance management. This theory is the basis for financial as well as non financial rewards (Armstrong, 2002, p.68). Evaluate the process of job evaluation and other factors determining pay British Telecom has employed a CEO, departmental managers, operators, technicians and others. Thus is important to know how pay is determined for the different sections. The framework used for analysing pay is job analysis which is an important aspect in evaluating jobs. Job evaluation is a process which is designed to determine the worth of job within an organisation. The job evaluation process comprises of four steps which includes, gathering the data, selecting compensable factor, job evaluation and assigning pay to the respective job. Information is collected through job analysis. The job analyser needs to capture the content of the jobs as its one of the important steps in job evaluation. The similarities and difference of jobs needs to be captured by the job analyser. Compensable factors are defined as those factors which an organisation chooses to reward by means of differential pay. The common compensable factors are efforts, skill, knowledge and responsibility. While evaluating a job four methods are used which includes job ranking where the raters examine job description and arrange jobs accordingly to the requirements. Next method is job classification where the class of the employees are defined to define a group of jobs. Next method is termed as factor comparison which is a quantitative method and is used to evaluate jobs on compensable factors. In point method, numerical values are set to be assigned to a specific job component. For instance, let us take an example of the UK retail industry. The top managers would be paid more such as the CEO and ranks top in the organisation that is followed by the next level of mangers. The pay scale of Tesco Plc in UK ranges from 20, 402 pounds to 87,262 pounds and it’s the work of the job analyser to set the pay according to the positions held by an employee (Pay Scale, 2012). Assess the effectiveness of reward systems in different contexts Reward systems are critical part of any organisation. It is important to notice how well the reward system fits into the organisation and how effective the organisation becomes. Over the years few new reward system have become popular so to align the system of reward with the upcoming changes which has occurred in the organisation because of the way they have been designed and managed over the years. One way to look at the reward system is shown in figure1 which states that to show the design it should be driven with the basic design of the organisation and the management needs to be influenced by the strategy of the organisation. The diagram finally says that the reward system with combination of organisational design also drives the organisational performance. Figure 1: Reward System (Source: LAWLER, 1993) The core objective of a reward system is to attract and retain employees. It has been observed that a research on career and job choice and also turnover has shown that the level of rewards an organisation offers to its employees influences its employees and they are attracted to work for the organisation. Therefore the objective should be to design a reward system which is effective at retaining employees. Thus the reward system needs to allocate rewards in such a way that the valuable employees feel satisfied as compared to individuals who performed the same kind of jobs (Lawler, 1993, p. 2). For example P&G in UK follows an implicit reward system. The company found out that the way in which the experts were highlighted who was involved in a project followed an implicit reward system. This made the expert to participate more in the projects particularly for people involved in the innovation area (Info World, 2011, p.38). Examine the methods organisations use to monitor employee performance There are two methods to monitor employee’s performance within the organisation which includes formal and informal. In informal method the monitoring is done on a daily basis and the mangers need to observe employees at work, communicate with them. It is the duty of the manger to inform the employees when they are performing well and also when they perform badly. In formal method, monitoring of employees performance is done on a particular aspect of job performance. Three aspects are used to monitor an employee’s job performance which are setting standards, measure the performance and provide the employees with feedbacks. With the advancement of technology, it is possible to evaluate employees electronically. Such as video surveillance is used so that less amount of theft occurs in workplace. Telephone surveillance for the service representatives has been used to monitor the timing as well as the content of customers (Grobler & Warnich, 2005, p.285). Every company examines the performance of the employees so that the performance can be improved. P&G also does the same in monitoring its employees. Monitoring performance forms an important part of P&G’s EMS. For example the compliance issues should be remedied in twelve months. The company has an extensive record and the annual EMS audits to verify the performance (Lachman, et.al, 2001, p.98). Self Evaluation Human Resource Management is a very broad topic thus in order to be effective and answer to the point, I have research and tried to use books as much as I could. The objective of the project report was to relate the theories with practical examples. Though the theories were available in most of the books but examples relating to the theories were the toughest job. As organisation does not produce every minute details of how it functions. Thus some relevant sites have been used to answer accordingly. Lastly but most importantly the very essential thing is hard work which is put in the project for its successful and timely completion of the work assigned. This has helped to learn more in details about the Human Resource Management which is regarded as one of the important topic for every organisation. Employees are the key to each and every organisation therefore this subject of HRM has taught how to make employees deliver their best and in a most effective manner. Reference Armstrong, M. (2002). Employee reward. CIPD Publishing. Armstrong, M. (2006). A handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers. Banfield, P. & Kay, R. (2008). Introduction to Human Resource Management. Oxford University Press. BBC. (2012). Tesco law' approved by Holyrood. [Online]. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11488106. 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