Chapter 1: Introduction to Human Resource Management
1-1 What Is Human Resource Management?
★ Organization: A group consisting of people with formally assigned roles who work
together to achieve the organization’s goals.
★ Manager: Someone who is responsible for accomplishing the organization’s goals, and
who does so by managing the efforts of the organization’s people.
★ Managing: To perform five basic functions: planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and
controlling.
★ Management process: The five basic functions of planning, organizing, staffing,
leading, and controlling.
★ Human resource management (HRM): The process of acquiring, training, appraising,
and compensating employees, and of attending to their labor relations, health and safety,
and fairness concerns.
Managers are responsible for managing the efforts of an organization's people. Managing
involves performing five basic functions: plan- ning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling.
Some of the specific activities involved in each function include planning and organizing.
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➔ Planning. Establishing goals and standards; developing rules and procedures;
developing plans and forecasts
➔ Organizing. Giving each subordinate a specific task; establishing departments;
delegating authority to subordinates; establishing channels of authority and
communication; coordinating the work of subordinates
➔ Staffing. Determining what type of people should be hired; recruiting prospective
employees; selecting employees; setting performance standards; compensating
employees; evaluating performance; counseling employees; training and developing
employees
➔ Leading. Getting others to get the job done; maintaining morale; motivating
subordinates
➔ Controlling. Setting standards such as sales quotas, quality standards, or production
levels; checking to see how actual performance compares with these standards; taking
corrective action as needed
Why Is Human Resource Management Important to All Managers?
AVOID PERSONNEL MISTAKES First, having this knowledge will help you avoid the personnel
mistakes you don’t want to make while managing. For example, you don’t want
● To have your employees not doing their best.
● To hire the wrong person for the job.
● To experience high turnover.
● To have your company in court due to your discriminatory actions.
, ● To have an employee hurt due to unsafe practices.
● To let a lack of training undermine your department’s effectiveness.
● To commit any unfair labor practices.
Line and Staff Aspects of Human Resource Management
★ Authority: The right to make decisions, direct others’ work, and give orders.
★ Line authority: Traditionally gives managers the right to issue orders to other manag-
ers or employees.
★ Staff authority: Gives a manager the right to advise other managers or employees.
★ Line manager: A manager who is authorized to direct the work of subordinates and is
responsible for accomplishing the organization’s tasks.
★ Staff manager: A manager who assists and advises line managers.
Line Managers’ Human Resource Management Responsibilities
However, line managers do have many human resource duties. This is because the direct
handling of people has always been part of every line manager’s duties, from president down to
first-line supervisors. One major company outlines its line supervisors’ responsibilities for
effective human resource management under these general headings:
1. Placing the right person in the right job
2. Starting new employees in the organization (orientation)
3. Training employees for jobs that are new to them
4. Improving the job performance of each person
5. Gaining creative cooperation and developing smooth working relationships
6. Interpreting the company’s policies and procedures
7. Controlling labor costs
8. Developing the abilities of each person
9. Creating and maintaining departmental morale
10. Protecting employees’ health and physical conditions
The HR department
In small organizations, line managers may carry out all personnel duties unassisted. But as the
organization grows, they usually need the assistance of a separate human resource staff.
Typical positions include compensation and benefits manager, employment and recruiting
supervisor, training specialist, and employee relations executive.
★ Recruiters: Use various methods including contacts within the community and print and
online media to search for qualified job applicants.
★ Equal employment opportunity (EEO) representatives or affirmative action
coordinators: Investigate and resolve EEO grievances, examine organizational
practices for potential violations, and compile and submit EEO reports.
★ Job analysts: Collect and examine detailed information about job duties to pre- pare job
descriptions.
, ★ Compensation managers: Develop compensation plans and handle the employee
benefits program.
★ Training specialists: Plan, organize, and direct training activities.
★ Labor relations specialists: Advise management on all aspects of union-management
relations.
NEW APPROACHES TO ORGANIZING HR:
Reorganizing the HR function of how it is organized and delivers HR services
Shared Services (Transactional) HR teams (centralized HR units, shared)
➢ These services aim to provide managers and employees with specialized support in the
areas of discipline and management training, among other things.
Corporate HR teams
➢ These assist top management in top-level issues such as developing the personnel
aspects of the company’s long-term strategic plan.
Embedded HR teams
➢ HR generalists (also known as “relationship managers” or “HR business partners”)
assigned to functional departments like sales and production. They provide the
employee selection and other assistance the departments need.
Centers of expertise
➢ Specialized HR consulting firms within the company. For example, one might provide
specialized advice in areas such as organizational change to all the company’s various
units.
1-2 The Trends Shaping Human Resource Management
➔ Workforce Demographics and Diversity Trends
◆ The composition of the workforce will continue to become more diverse with
more women, minority group members, and older workers in the workforce.
➔ Trends in Jobs People Do
◆ Work has shifted from manufacturing to service: In the next few years, almost all
the new jobs added in the United States will be in services, not in
goods-producing industries.
◆ On-demand workers (Uber): Most work- ers aren’t employees at all: They’re
freelancers and independent contractors–gig workers, who work when they can,
on what they want to work on, when they’re needed.
, ◆ Human Capital: More jobs are becoming “high tech.” Jobs like engineering
always emphasized knowledge and education. The big change now is that even
traditional manufacturing jobs like assembler are increasingly high tech.
➔ Globalization Trends
◆ Globalization refers to companies extending their sales, ownership, and/or manu-
facturing to new markets abroad.
➔ Economic Trends
◆ GDP: Gross Domestic Product (a measure of a country’s total output)
◆ Labor Force Trend
◆ The Unbalanced Labor Force
➔ Technology Trends
◆ There are six main types of digital technologies driving HR professionals to
automation:
– Social Media: Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn
– Mobile Applications: monitor employee location and photos to identify them.
– Cloud Computing: enable employers to monitor a team’s goal attainment and to
provide real-time direct evaluative feedback.
– Data Analytics: using statistical techniques, algorithms, and problem solving to
identify relationships among data for the purpose of solving particular problems
– Artificial Intelligence: using computers to do tasks in human-like ways.
– Augmented Reality: transforms huge amounts of data and superimposes digital
summaries and images on the physical world.
1-3 Important Components of Today’s New Human Resource Management
Strategic Human Resource Management
● Strategic human resource management – means formulating and executing human
resource policies and practices that produce the employee competencies and behaviors
that the company needs to achieve its strategic aims.
● Three step sequence:
○ Set the firm’s strategic aims
○ Pinpoint the employee behaviors and skills we need to achieve these strategic
aims
○ Decide what HR policies and practices will enable us to produce these necessary
employee behaviors and skills.
Performance and Human Resource Management
HR and Performance Measurement
The Human Resource Manager is expected to spearhead employee performance.
Three levers can be applied to do so:
1. Department Lever (delivering services efficiently, e.g. using technology)