What is Human Resource Management?

Introduction

“Financial resources may be the lifeblood of a company, but human resources are the brains” As aptly put by Rob Silzer, human resources are as critical to success as other business operations, like marketing, finance or sales.

Until fairly recently, human resource management was not considered an important part of the organization, but this notion has been largely altered by new technology, globalized markets and changes in organizational hierarchies.

Human resource management has taken a peak and become an irreplaceable unit for both startups and enterprises. It is high time that they are given the importance they are due.

What is Human Resource Management?

Human Resource Management (HRM) is the practice of managing employees to achieve better performance.

Let’s say, if you hire a bunch of people into your organization, you are looking for candidates who can fit into the company culture, stay longer, and be more productive than people who won’t fit into the company culture.

HRM takes care of the affairs such as hiring, onboarding, salary compensation, and ensuring employees’ safety.

Human resources (HR) is the department that oversees employee-related matters. The human resources department recruits, hires, trains, and retains workers for a company. Beneath these duties are dozens of HR tasks that keep organizations running smoothly. Human resource management is both the process and the team of people in the department.

This is what Human Resource Management boils down to, optimizing company performance through better management of human resources.

Evolution of Human resource management

In old times, human resource management was personnel management. Personnel management evolved through the years after research on human behavior by great psychologists.

George Elton Mayo was an Australian psychologist who did multiple experiments on human behavior and regarded work-life balance as the driving force behind the higher productivity of workers. He was later named the ‘Father of Human Resource Management.’

Robert Owen was another social reformer who created a principle of 8 hours of work, 8 hours of rest, and 8 hours of sleep. He implemented many social and welfare practices for his workers and saw his workers get happy, motivated, and working better. Therefore he was referred to as the ‘Father of Personnel management.’

According to a Human Resource Magazine article, the first personnel management department (later evolved as Human resource management) began at the National Cash Register Co. in the early 1900s.

The importance of human resource management

“It is often said that a company is worth what its employees are.” Human resource professionals are the people that bind the organization together and ensure that work continues smoothly, and everyone is aligned with the organization’s goals and values.

If you start to look around, the businesses that keep their employees happy and engaged are ranking at the top. Therefore a well trained HR professional is necessary in every organization who ensures a holistic work culture.

Human resource management should not be underestimated as a field. It plays a vital role in company operations and provides numerous benefits to organizations, including:

• Developing an engaged workforce: Without HR, employees can lose sight of their purpose or role in the company. HR can provide strategic coaching, professional development, and mentorships that help each employee engage and grow.
  
  
• Enhancing collaboration and improving communication: The “soft skills” of HR have an enormous impact on companies. Employees may use HR’s conflict resolution training to help solve problems, or managers could use HR training to assist them in communicating with their employees more effectively.
  
  
• Helping employees develop a deeper commitment to business objectives: Through their role as partners in strategic planning, HR managers gain a clear vision of the company’s current goals and ideal future. Once they have that understanding, they can communicate the strategic plan to employees and help them gain a deeper comprehension of and commitment to the business’s objectives.
  
  
• Boosting employee morale: Through managing benefits such as gym memberships and mental health services, HR professionals are at the core of company culture. When HR institutes social activities such as a company sports team or a weekly outing, it brings employees together as people and improves morale.
  
  
• Navigating conflict effectively: HR managers offer supervisors and employees a tool kit for dealing with conflict. They may conduct workshops for all staff or mediate conflicts between specific staff members.
  
  
• Making team members feel supported and valued: From being a mentor to new employees to offering training to seasoned employees, HR supports employees at every level. Since they are in charge of making sure all staff have what they need to work well, HR professionals have a unique opportunity to get to know each employee as an individual and ensure that everyone feels seen and valued.

For these reasons and countless others, human resource departments and HR managers are vital components of business operations today, and will maintain an important place in workplaces around the world in the future.

Objectives of human resource management

There are four key categories in which we can distinctly place the HRM roles:

1. Social Objectives We live in a dynamic world, and the ethical and social obligations of companies undergo changes with the change in the social environment. This is where each company has to put in place measures that address the social needs of the employees, and the organization. These also include legal obligations such as offering equal opportunities or equal pay for the same work.

   
   

2. Organization’s Objectives There are various tasks performed by HR to enhance organizational efficiency. Hiring people, training them, providing refresher training and employee retention fall under this category.

   
   

3. Business Objectives Allocating the right human resources, tools and technologies, space, materials, and financial budgets to different verticals with an aim to ensure that the business is able to run to its full potential, come under this category.

   
   

4. Personal Objectives Employees have their own personal goals to achieve while they work for any organization. Offering them the right opportunities, career development or skill enhancement support, and ensuring employee satisfaction through various employee-centric programs is a part of the personal objectives that HRM has to take care of.

   Precisely, the HRM objectives are:

   • Enabling the achievement of organizational goals by hiring, deploying and managing quality talent
   • Optimum usage of each employee’s skills and abilities
   • Imparting proper training to all employees as per their job profiles
   • Building and ensuring that there is a positive employee experience through job satisfaction and work-life balance, that motivates the employees to put in their best efforts
   • Timely and effective communication of company policies, procedures, rules and regulations to all the employees
   • Ensuring implementation and adherence of ethical, legal, and socially responsible work practices and company culture
   • Effective change management to deal with any external factors that might affect employees or the continuation of the business. For instance, the COVD-19 outbreak

The Role of HRM / What do human resources do?

The job responsibilities in an HR department can vary considerably depending on the size of an organization. In a large corporate environment, HR managers may specialize in specific HR areas such as training, recruitment, or staff benefits. In a smaller company, there may be one of tw human resources generalists who oversee all HR functions. Here are some core HR functions.

• Recruitment
  Staffing a business or an individual department requires a number of key steps. Hiring managers must first determine how many new employees the budget can support, then find and interview qualified candidates, and finally, make selections and negotiate compensation.
  
  
• Developing workplace policies
  If it’s determined that a new or revised policy is needed, HR professionals typically consult with executives and other managers, write the supporting documentation and communicate it to employees. Policies may cover vacations, dress codes, disciplinary actions and other types of workplace protocol.
  
  
• Administering pay and benefits
  In order to attract and retain talent, compensation must meet industry standards and be comparable to what other employees in similar roles are being paid. Creating such a fair pay system requires careful consideration of an employee’s years of service with the business, experience level, education and skills.
  
  
• Retaining talent
  Compensation isn’t the only thing that retains talented employees. HR managers may need to proactively address issues with workplace environments, organizational culture and relationships between employees and supervisors.
  
  
• Training employees
  When employees develop new skills, they tend to be more productive and satisfied with their job. Some of the training programs typically run by HR departments include team-building activities, policy and ethics education, and on-the-job instruction and skills, e.g. how to run a machine or computer program.
  
  
• Complying with regulations
  Laws that affect the workplace – whether they’re related to discrimination, health care or wages and hours – are constantly evolving. HR professionals are required to keep up with these changes and notify the rest of the organization in support of compliance.
  
  
• Maintaining safety
  Safety in the workplace means protecting not just the physical health of employees, but also their private information. To minimize workers’ compensation claims and data breaches, HR must implement security measures and ensure that all federal, state and union standards are met.

How does HRM work?

The human resource department functions through dedicated and adequately qualified HR professionals. While in smaller companies, there could be one or a few HR personnel, in large enterprises, it is a full-fledged department with its own hierarchy and Chief People Officer or HR Director etc.

For startups, HR generalists manage everything from recruitment to payroll management, appraisals and formulation of company policies. Whereas, in large enterprises with hundreds or thousands of employees to deal with, there would be specialists with each person dedicatedly handling a given role.

Few Changing trends in Human Resource Management / Trends in Human Resources Management

As with many industries, the human resources industry is expected to undergo significant changes in the coming years. Below are some of the most important emerging trends in HR.

1. Rising Importance of the HRIT Role
   More and more aspects of the workplace are becoming technologically advanced, and the human resources department is no exception. Many companies are now creating specialized information technology roles within their team, often referred to as HRIT specialists.

   As this role is being shaped, it is rapidly growing in strategic importance. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), it is vital for human resources staff to have a working knowledge of information technology because HR touches everyone in an organization and has to deal with many data privacy and integration issues.

2. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Another trend in human resource management is the increasing importance of artificial intelligence and machine learning. One of the biggest advantages of AI technology is the ability to streamline the application process. Instead of requiring HR staff to spend countless hours reading hundreds of resumés and cover letters, AI allows complex programs to do the same work in a fraction of the time.

   Even with this advanced technology, organizations will still rely on skilled professionals to handle the complex and nuanced situations that machines can not. HR professionals can actually use this technology to their advantage by putting the time and energy that is saved to other, more important duties.

3. Technology to Measure Engagement
   Just as technology is shifting many other aspects of human resource management, it is also impacting the way companies are measuring employee engagement.

   In a 2015 study, SHRM found that 89 percent of medium-to-large companies utilized standard surveys to assess employee engagement while only 30 percent made use of advanced technological methods—such as analyzing computer usage data—to discover how employees were interacting with emails, websites, and more. The field has made a massive shift toward using these more advanced means of gathering information in the last two years.

4. An Emphasis on People Management
   It’s well documented that happy, well-managed teams often result in a successful organization; this isn’t a new concept. As the structure of the modern workplace continues to evolve, however, the need for effective leaders has become increasingly critical.

   More and more organizations are realizing their people are their biggest asset and [they’re realizing] that they really need to pay more attention to how they organize people to do different jobs.

   With the consistent restructuring of teams and the corporate world’s overall lean into the gig economy, the general scope of HR teams’ work has developed into “a much more complex task of trying to organize these people and resources.”

5. Increased Demand for Data Analytics Skills
   Digital recruitment tools like LinkedIn are incredibly popular, with this platform alone gaining 120 new users every minute. These users are generating incredible amounts of data daily that can be beneficial to the practices of HR managers. Due to this fact, HR managers now have unparalleled access to data on users’ engagement with posted jobs, salary metrics, candidates’ previous employment, and much more.

   With the right skills in data analytics and interpretation, these managers can use collected information to identify patterns and note other significant findings, in order to make informed hiring decisions and improve recruitment processes in the future.

Can we still call it “Human” Resource Management?

Today the recruitment process has been automated and taken over by artificial intelligence and robots, but the “humanness” can never be replaced by machines, a machine will not understand the emotions and conflicts of the employee, only another human can.

Therefore humans are crucial assets for any organization, although today many tasks have been handed over to the artificial intelligence but they lack judgment skills which cannot be matched with human mind.

To suffice, humans can never be replaced come what may!

Strategic Human Resource Management: How HR Impacts an Organization

From nonprofits to Fortune 500 companies, these days human resource management is a vital business function that affects a company’s bottom line. Gone are the days in which HR managers only dealt in “hiring and firing”; now they are an essential part of an organization’s long-term growth. In modern workplaces, HR managers are often involved in the process of strategic planning. When these professionals have a seat at the table during planning sessions, they can help the entire company work together more seamlessly and move forward as a whole.

To effectively execute strategic human resource management, a company may follow a set of specific protocols. HR managers use these strategies to support their organizations’ objectives and goals, planning the company’s next moves.

Some HR managers gather data using a system called SWOT analysis, which assesses a company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. After taking an idea of these four areas, company leaders brainstorm specific ways to capitalize on strengths and opportunities while avoiding threats and minimizing weaknesses. For example, if a company identifies limited staff and skills as a weakness, it can set the goal of hiring more staff or offering training to expand current employees’ skill sets.

Once a vision has been established, the HR department works to create a specific, measurable strategy with concrete goals that align with the organization’s mission. HR departments may also work to create action items and delegate them to employees, or communicate changes to the entire company. This part of the process often involves adjusting funding allocations or introducing new positions to meet certain goals.

Finally, the company must create a process to continue improvement by asking what happens next. This step involves creating clear metrics to measure progress and clear systems for sharing and analyzing data. Once that data has been analyzed, the company may decide to continue moving forward with the current action plan, or may stop and rework its goals.

The Emergence of HRM software

Faced with rising numbers of contract-based workers and increasingly complex regulations, HR professionals have turned to HRM software to help them keep pace with changing workforce environments and people management needs.

This technology is available with a variety of options to suit businesses of any size. Basic systems may offer recruitment services, payroll and benefits, while more robust solutions tend to include talent management, international compliance support and advanced analytics.

HRM software is a digital solution for managing and optimizing the daily human resources tasks and overall HR goals of an organization. HRM software makes it possible for HR staff and managers to better allocate their time and resources to more productive, profitable efforts.

Why use a human resource management system (HRMS)?

HRMS are designed to meet the core needs of HR and automate basic administrative functions. With the aid of these people-centric, data powered solutions, HR managers may be able to:

• Improve their hiring processes
• Manage people more effectively
• Optimize workforce productivity
• Engage and retain employees
• Eliminate costly redundancies
• Make data-driven decisions
• Maintain regulatory compliance

Choose from the best HRM software

From the hiring process, employee onboarding, and scheduling to compliance and benefits, HR systems can run like clockwork with the right technology. Without it, it’s all a hassle and unnecessary work for everyone in the software industry.

It all comes down to the automation feature of human resource management systems—whose competitive advantage is making workforce management relatively easy by existing in a core HR software platform that helps a wide range of manual tasks, administrative tasks, and daily HR tasks, such as document management.

Some of the best HRM softwares that are suitable for companies of all sizes include:

1. Rippling
   Rippling is the first choice for businesses to manage all of their HR, IT, payroll, benefits, corporate cards, expenses, and more–in one global workforce platform. By connecting every business system to one source of truth for employee data, businesses can automate all of the manual work they normally need to do to make employee changes.

   Take onboarding, for example. With Rippling, you can just click a button and set up a new employee’s payroll, health insurance, work computer, corporate card, and third-party apps–like Slack, Zoom, and Office 365–all within 90 seconds.

2. Gusto
   Gusto is an online HR software that helps the HR management workflows of small businesses run smoothly. It has the core HR functions that make sure employee satisfaction is the number one priority within a narrow scale, which meets the needs of small businesses with no problem.

3. UKG Pro
   UKG Pro is a powerful, global HRM solution that transforms your business with a connected global workforce experience delivered through resilient and mindful HR technology. From payroll to talent to service delivery to surveys, and everything in between, UKG Pro is the powerful HRM suite you need to drive people-focused results.

4. DarwinBox
   Darwinbox is a new-age and disruptive mobile-first, cloud-based HRMS platform built for large enterprises to attract, engage and nurture talent. With the help of an agile platform, users can establish employee databases, company calendars, organizational charts and permissions. Recruiters can set up branded career pages, source candidates from various channels and manage prospects throughout the hiring process.

5. FreshTeam
   With Freshteam, you get to make sure your HR efforts are up to date with the 2022 standards, from hiring to onboarding, time tracking, employee data, and day-to-day workflows of the HR team.

   Freshteam helps your HR team with features such as: applicant tracking system, onboarding and offboarding, employee information system, time off, mobile app, and detailed HR reports to take your team’s performance to the next level!

6. monday.com
   monday.com is an open platform that makes it easier for HR managers to build custom solutions for their team’s needs. It is the ultimate software that has been praised by many human resources managers for its clean UI, simple system, and engaging core HR functions.

7. Bamboo HR
   BambooHR is an award-winning HR platform that helps your growing organization to automate, centralize, and connect your employee data all in one place. It gives you a one-stop shop to manage employee data and gather valuable insights to find, hire, and onboard the best talent. It also simplifies payroll, tracks hours, captures benefits and measures the employee experience and performance.

8. Namely
   Namely is a human resource management system that offers the core features of human resources information systems with some special features that are worth mentioning. This HR platform helps businesses improve their HR processes and remain compliant in the meanwhile.
   Namely is trusted by 1,400+ organizations. It seamlessly delivers features like employee onboarding, talent management, time and attendance, recruiting, analytics, employee management, and more—letting you manage all your HR procedures and policies from one platform.

9. Workday
   Workday is a popular HR software that is a one-stop solution for finance, HR, and planning—all in one.
   It helps you manage and organize your HR processes while keeping your bottom line in mind. This HR software is trusted and used by many organizations across various industries, including Salesforce, Toyota, Visa, Target, and Adobe.

10. Assembly
    Assembly has helped thousands of companies achieve 95% employee engagement. Assembly works great for teams of all sizes and has a free trial option. Assembly offers a variety of useful features and integrates with Slack, MS Team, and popular SSO & HRIS solutions.
    It simplifies HR & recruiting with templates such as employee benefits survey, contractor time tracking, employee exit interview survey, employee satisfaction survey, eNPS score, internal referral program, interview questions template and new hire survey.

Final Takeaway

Startups have begun to wiggle into the marketplace and create a niche through product innovation. While the human resource management needs of the small business may not be same as those of the large firms, even a business that carries only two or three employees faces important personnel management issues

Human Resource Management is integral today for the existence and successful sustenance of a company of any size and nature. An effectively structured HR department contributes and impacts the ethos of the entire organization.