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Human Resources has at least two meanings depending on context. The original usage derives from political economy and economics, where it was traditionally called labor, one of three factors of production. The more common usage within corporations and businesses refers to the individuals within the firm, and to the portion of the firm's organization that deals with hiring, firing, training, and other personnel issues. This article addresses both definitions.
It is the responsibility of human resource managers to conduct these activities in an effective, legal, fair, and consistent manner.
The objective of Human Resources (HR's raison d'etre) is to maximize the return on investment from the organization's human capital
"Human resource management aims to improve the productive contribution of individuals while simultaneously attempting to attain other societal and individual employee objectives." Schwind, Das & Wagar (2005)
In reality, human resources deals with two different worlds
1) Non-Unionized - Where management has the control, and
2) Unionized - Where there is shared control through a collective agreement - Management and a union negotiate a collective agreement with respect to terms and conditions of employment. The Union represents employees to management. (That is the Union speaks for employees, both collectively and individually)
Collective Agreements - Can cover any and all terms and conditions of employment. Collective agreements become "the Bible," the code and are binding in law. - Disputes of the collective agreement are resolved by arbitration.
After
completing the programme students should be able to:
1.
Differentiate the fundamental characteristics of people, with
particular regard to such factors as culture, gender, ethnicity,
personality, attitudes, and motivation, and assess the implications
of such differences for the purposes of effective human resource
management.
2.
Clarify the mechanisms for individual and organisational learning,
including ways of enhancing the effectiveness of deliberate
learning processes and of overcoming the barriers to productive
learning, again with a focus on the significance of learning
from the viewpoint of enhancing organisational effectiveness.
3.
Recognise the significance of the emergent ‘psychological
contract’ in terms of new employer expectations about
‘added value’, employability, and the factors which
will continue to influence the nature of employment in the
vast majority of organisations.
4.
Apply alternative systems of flexible working to meet fluctuating
corporate needs.
5.
Accept the obligations of ethicality governing the actions
of managers, employees, and corporate entities.
6.
Acknowledge the differences between ‘management’
and ‘leadership’ against a background in which organisations
are moving from a focus on compliance to a desire for commitment,
and recommend the installation of appropriate mechanisms for
generating employee commitment in all types of corporate setting.
7.
Maximise individual and collective employee performance, in
specific organisational, functional, departmental or managerial
scenarios, through effective motivation, job design, reward/recognition
processes, and ‘performance management’.
8.
Handle difficult people-management situations through systematic
grievance-handling mechanisms, directive or non-directive
counselling, coaching, and ultimately by means of disciplinary
action and dismissal.
9.
Apply each of the procedures and skills associated with the
major arenas for personnel management, viz., human resource
planning, recruitment, selection, induction, training/development,
reward /recognition, review/appraisal, employee relations,
welfare, health and safety responsibilities, discipline, and
grievance-handling, in both remedial and continuous-improvement
circumstances. (Several of these themes are mentioned elsewhere
in the syllabus, but are repeated here in order to ensure
completeness.)
10.
Communicate effectively in all relevant organisational situations,
i.e., meetings, presentations, and negotiating.
Human Resources Development (HRD) is a framework for the expansion of human capital within an organisation. Human Resources Development is a combination of Training and Education that ensures the continual improvement and growth of both the individual and the organisation. Adam Smith states, “The capacities of individuals depended on their access to education”. (Kelly, 2001).
Human Resources Development is the medium that drives the process between training and learning. Human Resources Development is not a defined object, but a series of organized processes, “with a specific learning objective” (Nadler,1984) Human Resources Development is the structure that allows for individual development, potentially satisfying the organisation’s goals. The development of the individual will benefit both the individual and the organisation. The Human Resources Development framework views employees, as an asset to the enterprise whose value will be enhanced by development, “Its primary focus is on growth and employee development…it emphasises developing individual potential and skills” (Elwood, Holton and Trott 1996) Human Resources Development can be in-room group training, tertiary or vocational courses or mentoring and coaching by senior employees with the aim for a desired outcome that will develop the individual’s performance.
An apprentice will step through the development process to become a tradesman in their field as will a white-collar trainee to become a professional in their field. Training will allow the individual to complete a task within their field today Gutteridge and Hutcheson maintain that, “Training provides, maintains and enhances skills to perform the job” (Nadler 1984) Education and training will develop the individual to become a tradesman or a professional in the future. A successful Human Resources Development program will prepare the individual to undertake a higher level of work, “organised learning over a given period of time, to provide the possibility of performance change” (Nadler 1984). Human Resources Development is the framework that focuses on the organisations competencies at the first stage, training, and then developing the employee, through education, to satisfy the organisations long-term needs and the individuals’ career goals and employee value to their present and future employers.
Human Resources Development can be defined simply as developing the most important section of any business its human resource by, “attaining or upgrading the skills and attitudes of employees at all levels in order to maximise the effectiveness of the enterprise” (Kelly 2001). The people within an organization are its human resource. Human Resources Development from a business perspective is not entirely focused on the individual’s growth and development, “development occurs to enhance the organization's value, not solely for individual improvement. Individual education and development is a tool and a means to an end, not the end goal itself”. (Elwood F. Holton II, James W. Trott Jr).
A process which anticipates and maps out the consequences of business strategy on an organization's human resources. This is reflected in planning of skill and competence needs as well as total headcounts.
For resourcing strategies to be implemented they must be translated into practical action. The strategic process can be organized logically - for example, following the decision sequence shown on page 351 of Human Resource Management in a Business Context. For these decisions to be taken, information must be obtained, consequences gauged, political soundings taken and preferences assessed.
It is clear that many of these decisions are fundamental to an organization. If the implications are major, strategic decisions are taken at the centre of the business. The role of the human resource function is two-fold:
1. To participate in the decision process by providing information and opinion on each option, including:
redundancy or recruitment costs
consequences on morale
redeployment/outplacement opportunities
availability of skilled staff within the organization
availability of suitable people in the job market
time constraints
development/training needs/schedules
management requirements.
This forms part of the information collated from the organization as a whole
2. To support line managers dealing with the people consequences of implementing the decision. Information already gathered provides the basis for a human resource plan. ( Continued on page 351 of Human Resource Management in a Business Context).
People as numbers
The manpower planning approach which addresses questions such as:
How many staff do we have/need?
How are they distributed?
What is the age profile?
How many will leave in each of the next five years?
How many will be required in one, five, ten years?
Human Resource Information Systems are invaluable in answering these questions.
Forecasting methods
Human resource planners have a choice of techniques open to them, including: extrapolation (of past trends); projected production/sales; employee analysis; scenario building.
Explained further in pages 355-356 of Human Resource Management in a Business Context.
Employee turnover
Turnover covers the whole input-output process from recruitment to dismissal or retirement and takes the consequences of promotion and transfer into account. (See page 359 of Human Resource Management in a Business Context.
'Soft' planning
HRM implies that planning has to go beyond the 'numbers game' into the softer areas of employee attitudes, behaviour and commitment. These aspects are critical to HR development, performance assessment and the management of change.
Recruitment refers to the process of attracting, screening, and selecting qualified people for a job at an organization or firm. For some components of the recruitment process, mid- and large-size organizations often retain professional recruiters or outsource some of the process to recruitment agencies.
The recruitment industry has five main types of agencies: employment agencies, recruitment websites and job search engines, "headhunters" for executive and professional recruitment, niche agencies which specialize in a particular area of staffing, or employer branding strategy and in-house recruitment. The stages in recruitment include sourcing candidates by advertising or other methods, and screening and selecting potential candidates using tests or interviews
Professional development refers to skills and knowledge attained for both personal development and career advancement. Professional development encompasses all types of facilitated learning opportunities, ranging from college degrees to formal coursework, conferences and informal learning opportunities situated in practice. It has been described as intensive and collaborative, ideally incorporating an evaluative stage [1] There are a variety of approaches to professional development, including consultation, coaching, communities of practice, lesson study, mentoring, reflective supervision and technical assistance.[2]
Empowerment refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social, or economic strength of individuals and communities. It often involves the empowered developing confidence in their own capacities.
Performance management (PM) includes activities to ensure that goals are consistently being met in an effective and efficient manner. Performance management can focus on the performance of an organization, a department, employee, or even the processes to build a product or service, as well as many other areas.
Performance management as referenced on this page is a broad term coined by Dr. Aubrey Daniels in the late 1970s to describe a technology (i.e. science imbedded in applications methods) for managing both behavior and results, two critical elements of what is known as performance.[1]
Harry McShane, age 16, 1908. Pulled into machinery in a factory in Cincinnati. His arm was ripped off at the shoulder and his leg broken. No compensation paid. Photograph by Lewis Hine.
Collective bargaining is a process of voluntary negotiation between employers and trade unions aimed at reaching agreements which regulate working conditions. Collective agreements usually set out wage scales, working hours, training, health and safety, overtime, grievance mechanisms and rights to participate in workplace or company affairs.[1]
The union may negotiate with a single employer (who is typically representing a company's shareholders) or may negotiate with a federation of businesses, depending on the country, to reach an industry wide agreement. A collective agreement functions as a labor contract between an employer and one or more unions. Collective bargaining consists of the process of negotiation between representatives of a union and employers (generally represented by management, in some countries[which?] by an employers' organization) in respect of the terms and conditions of employment of employees, such as wages, hours of work, working conditions and grievance-procedures, and about the rights and responsibilities of trade unions. The parties often refer to the result of the negotiation as a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) or as a collective employment agreement (CEA).
Diversity training is training for the purpose of increasing participants' cultural awareness, knowledge, and skills, which is based on the assumption that the training will benefit an organization by protecting against civil rights violations, increasing the inclusion of different identity groups, and promoting better teamwork. [1]
Diversity training has been a controversial issue, due to moral considerations as well as questioned efficiency or even counterproductivity.
