Human resource management (HRM)

People are the key organisational resource; without them organisations would nor exist or function- All businesses need to plan for and manage the people they employ if they are to use this resource effectively and efficiently in pursuit of their objectives. In modern and foward-looking organisations this implies a proactive approach to the management of people which goes beyond the bounds of traditional personel management and involves the establishment of systems for planning, monitoring, appraisal and evaluation, training and development and for integrating the internal needs of the organisation with the external demands of the marketplace. Such an approach is associated with the idea of human resource management.

As in other areas of management, HRM involves a wide variety of activities related to the formulation and implementation of appropriate organisational policies, the provision of opportunities for monitoring, evaluation and change, and the application of resources to the fulfilment of organisational ends. Key aspects of  'people management' include:

·                     recruitment and selection;

·                     working conditions;

·                     training and career dcvelopment;

·                     job evaluation;

·                     employee relations;

·                     manpowecr planning; and

·                     legal aspects of employment

In most, if nor all, cases these will be affected by both internal and external influences (e.g. size of the firm, management style, competition, economic and political developments), some of which will vary over time as well as between organisations.

The provision of these activities within an organisation can occur in a variety of ways and to differcnt degrees of sophistication. Some very small firms may have little in the way of a recognisable HRM function, being concerned primarily with questions of hiring and firing, pay and other working conditions, bur not with notions of career development, staff appraisal or job enrichment. In contrast, very large companies may have a specialist HRM or Personnel Department, often organised on functional lines and responsible for the formulation and implementation of personnel policies throughout the organisation. Such centralisation not only provides some economies of scale, but also a degree of standardisation and consistency across departments. To allow for flexibility, centralised systems are. ofen combined with an element of decentralisation which permis individual departments or sections to exercise some influence in matters such as the recruitment and selection of staft, working conditions, training and career development.

To illustrate how the different aspects of HRM are influenced by external factors one Part of this function - recruitment and selection of staff - has been chosen. This is the activity within the organisation which seeks to ensure that it has the right quantity and quality of labour in the right place and at the right time to meet its requirements at all levels. To achieve this aim, the organisation initially needs to consider a large number of factors, including possible changes in the demand for labour, the need for new skills and likely labour turnover, before the processes of recruitment and selection can begin. These aspect in turn will be conditioned by a variety of factors such as changes in the demand for the product, the introduction of new technology and social, economic and demographic changes, some of which may not be anticipated or expected by srategic planners.

Once recruitment and selection is ready to begin, a further raft of influences will impinge upon the process; some of which emanate from external sources. In drawing up a iob specification, for cxample, attention will normally need to be paid to the state of the local labour market, including skill availability, competition from other cmployer’s, wage rates in comparable jobs and/or organisations and sociodemographic trends. lf the quality of labour required is.in short supply, an organisation may find itself having to offer improved pay and working conditions simply to attract a sufficient number applicants to fill the vacancies on offer. Equally, in fashioning its job advertisements and in drawing up the material it sends out, to potential applicants, a firm will need to pay due attention to the needs of current legislation in areas such as equal opportunities, race discrimination and employment protection, if it is not to infringc the law.

Amongst the other external factors the enterprise may need to take into consideration in recruiting and selecting staff will be:

·      the relative cost and effectiveness of the differrnt advertising media;

·      existing relationships with external sources of recruitment (e.g- job centres, schools, colleges, universities);

·      commitment to the local community;

·      relationships with employee organisations (e.g. trade unions, staff associations); and

·      opportunities for staff training and development in local training and educational institutions.

Ideally, it should also pay some attention to possible future changes in the technology of the workplace, in order ro recruit individuals either with appropriate skills or who can be retrained relatively easily with a minimum amount of disruprion and expense to the organisation.

g activities as promotion, distribution or marketing research.