Question

What do you mean by HRM? Briefly state the activities of HRM.

Answer 1

Human Resource Management is a function within an organization which focuses mainly on the recruitment of, management of, and providing guidelines to the manpower in a company. It is a function of the company or organization which deals with concerns that are related to the staff of the company in terms of hiring, compensation, performance, safety, wellness, benefits, motivation and training.

Major HR Management Activities

1. Strategic HR Planning and Analysis

a) HR Planning : Human resource planning is the continuous process of systematic planning to achieve optimum use of an organization’s most valuable asset — its human resources. The objective of HRP is to ensure the best fit between employees and jobs while avoiding manpower shortages or surpluses. The four key steps of the HRP process are analyzing present labor supply, forecasting labor demand, balancing projected labor demand with supply and supporting organizational goals.

b) Job Analysis : Information is the basic material used by an industry for many kinds of job related planning. Nature of job information varies from industry to industry, from department to department and from purpose to purpose. Information used for job analysis must be accurate, timely and tailor made. According to N.R Chatterjee, job analysis is the process of determining by observation and study and reporting pertinent information related to the nature of a specific job. Dale Yoder defined as the method used to determine what types of manpower are needed to perform the jobs of the organization.

c) HRIS

2. Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)

a) Compliance

b) Diversity

c) Affirmative Action

3. Selecting and Hiring Employees

a) Job Analysis : Job analysis is a family of procedures to identify the content of a job in terms of activities involved and attributes or job requirements needed to perform the activities. Job analysis provides information of organizations which helps to determine which employees are best fit for specific jobs. Through job analysis, the analyst needs to understand what the important tasks of the job are, how they are carried out, and the necessary human qualities needed to complete the job successfully.

The process of job analysis involves the analyst describing the duties of the incumbent, then the nature and conditions of work, and finally some basic qualifications. After this, the job analyst has completed a form called a job psychograph, which displays the mental requirements of the job. The measure of a sound job analysis is a valid task list. This list contains the functional or duty areas of a position, the related tasks, and the basic training recommendations. Subject matter experts (incumbents) and supervisors for the position being analyzed need to validate this final list in order to validate the job analysis.

b) Recruiting : Recruiting is a ‘linking function’ joining together those with jobs to fill and those seeking jobs. It is a joining process in that it tries to bring together job seekers and employer with a view to encourages the former to apply for a job with the latter. The objective of recruitment is to develop a group of potentially qualified people. To this end, the organization must project the position in such a way that job seekers respond. To be cost effective, the recruitment process should attract qualified applicants and provide enough information for non qualified persons to self select themselves out.

c) Selection : To select is to choose. Selection is a screening process. It is the process of picking individuals who have relevant qualifications to fill jobs in an organization. The basic purpose is to choose the individuals who can most successfully perform the job from the pool of qualified candidates. Selection starts after the recruitment process is over and job application has been received.

5. Training and Development

a) Orientation

b) Training : Training involves the change of skills, knowledge, attitudes, or behavior of employees. Although training is similar to development in the methods used to affect learning, they differ in time frames. Training is more present-day oriented, its focus is on individual’ current jobs, enhancing hose specific skills and abilities to immediately perform their jobs. Training is job specific and is designed to make employees more effective in their current job. Employee development, on the other hand, generally focuses on future jobs in the organization.

c) Employee Development

d) Career Planning

c) Performance Management

6. Compensation and Benefits

Wages /Salary /Administration : Wages and salaries are the remuneration paid or payable to employees for work performed on behalf of an employer or services provided. Normally, an employer is not permitted to withhold the wages or any part thereof, except as permitted or required by law. Employers are required by law to deduct from wages, commonly termed “withhold”, income taxes, social contributions and for other purposes, which are then paid directly to tax authorities, social security authority, etc., on behalf of the employee. Garnishment is a court ordered withholding from wages to pay a debt.

7. Performance Appraisal : After an employee has worked on a job for a period of time, his performance should be evaluated. Performance evaluation is the process of deciding how an employee does his job. Performance here refers to the degree of accomplishment of the tasks that make up an employee’s job. It indicates how well an individual is fulfilling the job requirements.