Human resources

Last updated

Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. [1] [2] A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. [3] Similar terms include manpower, labor , labor-power , or personnel.

Contents

The Human Resources department (HR department, sometimes just called "Human Resources") [4] of an organization performs human resource management, overseeing various aspects of employment, such as compliance with labor law and employment standards, interviewing and selection, performance management, administration of employee benefits, organizing of employee files with the required documents for future reference, and some aspects of recruitment (also known as talent acquisition) and employee offboarding. [5] They serve as the link between an organization's management and its employees.

The duties include planning, recruitment and selection process, posting job ads, evaluating the performance of employees, organizing resumes and job applications, scheduling interviews and assisting in the process and ensuring background checks. Another job is payroll and benefits administration which deals with ensuring vacation and sick time are accounted for, reviewing payroll, and participating in benefits tasks, like claim resolutions, reconciling benefits statements, and approving invoices for payment. [6] HR also coordinates employee relations activities and programs including, but not limited to, employee counseling. [7] The last job is regular maintenance, this job makes sure that the current HR files and databases are up to date, maintaining employee benefits and employment status and performing payroll/benefit-related reconciliations. [6]

Activities

A human resources manager can have various functions in a company, including to: [8]

Managers need to develop their interpersonal skills to be effective. Organizational behavior focuses on how to improve factors that make organizations more effective.

History

Human resource management used to be referred to as "personnel administration". [9] [10] In the 1920s, personnel administration focused mostly on the aspects of hiring, evaluating, and compensating employees. [11] [12] However, they did not focus on any employment relationships at an organizational performance level or on the systematic relationships in any parties. This led to a lacked unifying paradigm in the field during this period. [13]

According to an HR Magazine article, the first personnel management department started at the National Cash Register Co. in 1900. The owner, John Henry Patterson, organized a personnel department to deal with grievances, discharges and safety, and information for supervisors on new laws and practices after several strikes and employee lockouts. This action was followed by other companies; for example, Ford had high turnover ratios of 380 percent in 1913, but just one year later, the line workers of the company had doubled their daily salaries from $2.50 to $5, even though $2.50 was a fair wage at that time. [14] This example clearly shows the importance of effective management which leads to a greater outcome of employee satisfaction as well as encouraging employees to work together in order to achieve better business objectives.

During the 1970s, American businesses began experiencing challenges due to the substantial increase in competitive pressures. Companies experienced globalization, deregulation, and rapid technological change which caused the major companies to enhance their strategic planning – a process of predicting future changes in a particular environment and focus on ways to promote organizational effectiveness. This resulted in developing more jobs and opportunities for people to show their skills which were directed to effectively applying employees toward the fulfillment of individual, group, and organizational goals. Many years later the major/minor of human resource management was created at universities and colleges also known as business administration. It consists of all the activities that companies used to ensure the more effective use of employees. [15]

Now, human resources focus on the people side of management. [15] There are two real definitions of HRM (Human Resource Management); one is that it is the process of managing people in organizations in a structured and thorough manner. [15] This means that it covers the hiring, firing, pay and perks, and performance management. [15] This first definition is the modern and traditional version more like what a personnel manager would have done back in the 1920s. [15] The second definition is that HRM circles the ideas of management of people in organizations from a macromanagement perspective like customers and competitors in a marketplace. [15] This involves the focus on making the "employment relationship" fulfilling for both management and employees. [15]

Some research showed that employees can perform at a much higher rate of productivity when their supervisors and managers paid more attention to them. [14] The Father of Human relations, Elton Mayo, was the first person to reinforce the importance of employee communications, cooperation, and involvement. [14] His studies concluded that sometimes the human factors are more important than physical factors, such as quality of lighting and physical workplace conditions. As a result, individuals often place value more on how they feel. [14] For example, a rewarding system in Human resource management, applied effectively, can further encourage employees to achieve their best performance.

By one account, which is also business legend, the seachange in Human Resources from simply managing the ‘personnel’ function to becoming a proactive governance entity within organisations is said to have first occurred at British Airways in the 1990s. Its HR team devised policies whose intention was to create a positive business culture. One such policy was called the ‘Competency and Behaviour Matrix’. "This listed the professional skill levels and corporate behaviours that were expected from each level of seniority in the business." The behaviours included 'Leadership' and 'Collaboration'. "Job interviews and promotion appraisals included meetings with HR where questions like “Can you describe a time when you demonstrated extraordinary leadership?” would be asked and the answer graded against the matrix." By the turn of the Millennium it was considered best practice, with new behaviours, including 'Diversity Equality and Inclusion' being added to the matrix. [16]

Origins of the terminology

Pioneering economist John R. Commons mentioned "human resource" in his 1893 book The Distribution of Wealth but did not elaborate. [17] The expression was used during the 1910s to 1930s to promote the idea that human beings are of worth (as in human dignity); by the early 1950s, it meant people as a means to an end (for employers). [18] Among scholars the first use of the phrase in that sense was in a 1958 report by economist E. Wight Bakke. [19]

In regard to how individuals respond to the changes in a labor market, the following must be understood:

Criticism of its terminology and role

An advertisement for "human resources" (labour) from Sabah and Sarawak, seen in Jalan Petaling, Kuala Lumpur. Sabah Sarawak labour advert Kuala Lumpur.JPG
An advertisement for "human resources" (labour) from Sabah and Sarawak, seen in Jalan Petaling, Kuala Lumpur.

One major concern about considering people as assets or resources is that they will be commoditized, objectified, and abused. Human beings are not "commodities" or "resources", but are creative and social beings in a productive enterprise. The 2000 revision of ISO 9001, in contrast, requires identifying the processes, their sequence, and interaction, and to define and communicate responsibilities and authorities.[ citation needed ] In general, heavily unionized nations such as France and Germany have adopted and encouraged such approaches. Also, in 2001, the International Labour Organization decided to revisit and revise its 1975 Recommendation 150 on Human Resources Development, resulting in its "Labour is not a commodity" principle. One view of these trends is that a strong social consensus on political economy and a good social welfare system facilitate labor mobility and tend to make the entire economy more productive, as labor can develop skills and experience in various ways, and move from one enterprise to another with little controversy or difficulty in adapting.

Another important controversy regards labor mobility and the broader philosophical issue with the usage of the phrase "human resources". [21] Governments of developing nations often regard developed nations that encourage immigration or "guest workers" as appropriating human capital that is more rightfully part of the developing nation and required to further its economic growth. Over time, the United Nations have come to more generally support [22] the developing nations' point of view, and have requested significant offsetting "foreign aid" contributions so that a developing nation losing human capital does not lose the capacity to continue to train new people in trades, professions, and the arts. [22] Some businesses and companies are choosing to rename this department using other terms, such as "people operations" or "culture department," in order to erase this stigma. [23] An HR professional who is a critic of its governance has written that "HR has become the clerisy for the management class, driving and enforcing uniformity of opinion," whereas "those who come up with the good ideas in business are the dissidents, the disruptors, the passionate." [24]

Development

Human resource companies play an important part in developing and making a company or organization at the beginning or making a success at the end, due to the labor provided by employees. [25] Human resources are intended to show how to have better employment relations in the workforce. [26] Also, to bring out the best work ethic of the employees and therefore making a move to a better working environment. [27] Moreover, green human resource development is suggested as a paradigm shift from traditional approaches of human resource companies to bring awareness of ways that expertise can be applied to green practices. By integrating the expertise, knowledge, and competencies of human resource development practitioners with industry practitioners, most industries have the potential to be transformed into a sector with ecofriendly and pro-environmental culture. [28]

Human resources also deals with essential motivators in the workplace such as payroll, benefits, team morale and workplace harassment. [5]

Planning

Administration and operations used to be the two role areas of HR. The strategic planning component came into play as a result of companies recognizing the need to consider HR needs in goals and strategies. HR directors commonly sit on company executive teams because of the HR planning function. Numbers and types of employees and the evolution of compensation systems are among elements in the planning role. [29] Various factors affecting Human Resource: planning organizational structure, growth, business location, demographic changes, environmental uncertainties, expansion etc. Additionally, this area encompasses the realm of talent management.[ citation needed ] [30]

See also

Related Research Articles

Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products. It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit."

Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any other entity, pays the other, the employee, in return for carrying out assigned work. Employees work in return for wages, which can be paid on the basis of an hourly rate, by piecework or an annual salary, depending on the type of work an employee does, the prevailing conditions of the sector and the bargaining power between the parties. Employees in some sectors may receive gratuities, bonus payments or stock options. In some types of employment, employees may receive benefits in addition to payment. Benefits may include health insurance, housing, disability insurance. Employment is typically governed by employment laws, organisation or legal contracts.

A layoff or downsizing is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or, more commonly, a group of employees for business reasons, such as personnel management or downsizing an organization. Originally, layoff referred exclusively to a temporary interruption in work, or employment but this has evolved to a permanent elimination of a position in both British and US English, requiring the addition of "temporary" to specify the original meaning of the word. A layoff is not to be confused with wrongful termination.

Staffing is the process of finding the right worker with appropriate qualifications or experience and recruiting them to fill a job position or role. Through this process, organizations acquire, deploy, and retain a workforce of sufficient quantity and quality to create positive impacts on the organization's effectiveness. In management, staffing is an operation of recruiting the employees by evaluating their skills and knowledge before offering them specific job roles accordingly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Recruitment</span> Process of attracting, selecting and appointing candidates to a job or other organization

Recruitment is the overall process of identifying, sourcing, screening, shortlisting, and interviewing candidates for jobs within an organization. Recruitment also is the process involved in choosing people for unpaid roles. Managers, human resource generalists, and recruitment specialists may be tasked with carrying out recruitment, but in some cases, public-sector employment, commercial recruitment agencies, or specialist search consultancies such as Executive search in the case of more senior roles, are used to undertake parts of the process. Internet-based recruitment is now widespread, including the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

Human resource management is the strategic and coherent approach to the effective and efficient management of people in a company or organization such that they help their business gain a competitive advantage. It is designed to maximize employee performance in service of an employer's strategic objectives. Human resource management is primarily concerned with the management of people within organizations, focusing on policies and systems. HR departments are responsible for overseeing employee-benefits design, employee recruitment, training and development, performance appraisal, and reward management, such as managing pay and employee benefits systems. HR also concerns itself with organizational change and industrial relations, or the balancing of organizational practices with requirements arising from collective bargaining and governmental laws.

Personnel economics has been defined as "the application of economic and mathematical approaches and econometric and statistical methods to traditional questions in human resources management". It is an area of applied micro labor economics, but there are a few key distinctions. One distinction, not always clearcut, is that studies in personnel economics deal with the personnel management within firms, and thus internal labor markets, while those in labor economics deal with labor markets as such, whether external or internal. In addition, personnel economics deals with issues related to both managerial-supervisory and non-supervisory workers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Society for Human Resource Management</span> Professional human resources membership association

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is a professional human resources membership association headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia. SHRM promotes the role of HR as a profession and provides education, certification, and networking to its members, while lobbying Congress on issues pertinent to labor management.

A chief human resources officer (CHRO) or chief people officer (CPO) is a corporate officer who oversees all aspects of human resource management and industrial relations policies, practices and operations for an organization. Similar job titles include: chief people officer, chief personnel officer, executive vice president of human resources and senior vice president of human resources. Roles and responsibilities of a typical CHRO can be categorized as follows: workforce strategist, organizational and performance conductor, HR service delivery owner, compliance and governance regulator, and coach and adviser to the senior leadership team and the board of directors. CHROs may also be involved in board member selection and orientation, executive compensation, and succession planning. In addition, functions such as communications, facilities, public relations and related areas may fall within the scope of the CHRO role. Increasingly, CHROs report directly to chief executive officers and are members of the most senior-level committees of a company.

A job description or JD is a written narrative that describes the general tasks, or other related duties, and responsibilities of a position. It may specify the functionary to whom the position reports, specifications such as the qualifications or skills needed by the person in the job, information about the equipment, tools and work aids used, working conditions, physical demands, and a salary range. Job descriptions are usually narrative, but some may comprise a simple list of competencies; for instance, strategic human resource planning methodologies may be used to develop a competency architecture for an organization, from which job descriptions are built as a shortlist of competencies.

Talent management (TM) is the anticipation of required human capital for an organization and the planning to meet those needs. The field has been growing in significance and gaining interest among practitioners as well as in the scholarly debate over the past 10 years, particularly after McKinsey's 1997 research and the 2001 book on The War for Talent. Although much of the previous research focused on private companies and organizations, TM is now also found in public organizations

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development</span> UK professional association

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) is an association for human resource management professionals. Its headquarters are in Wimbledon, London, England. The organisation was founded in 1913—it is the world's oldest association in its field and has over 160,000 members internationally working across private, public and voluntary sectors. Peter Cheese was announced in June 2012 as CIPD's new CEO from July 2012.

Training and development involve improving the effectiveness of organizations and the individuals and teams within them. Training may be viewed as related to immediate changes in organizational effectiveness via organized instruction, while development is related to the progress of longer-term organizational and employee goals. While training and development technically have differing definitions, the two are oftentimes used interchangeably and/or together. Training and development have historically been topics within adult education and applied psychology but have within the last two decades become closely associated with human resources management, talent management, human resources development, instructional design, human factors, and knowledge management.

E-HRM is the planning, implementation and application of information technology for both networking and supporting at least two individual or collective actors in their shared performing of HR activities.

Competency-based recruitment is a process of recruitment based on the ability of candidates to produce anecdotes about their professional experience which can be used as evidence that the candidate has a given competency. Candidates demonstrate competencies on the application form, and then in the interview, which in this case is known as a competency-based interview.

Human resource planning is a process that identifies current and future human resources needs for an organization to achieve its goals. Human resource planning should serve as a link between human resource management and the overall strategic plan of an organization. Ageing workers population in most western countries and growing demands for qualified workers in developing economies have underscored the importance of effective human resource planning.

Compensation and benefits (C&B) is a sub-discipline of human resources, focused on employee compensation and benefits policy-making. While compensation and benefits are tangible, there are intangible rewards such as recognition, work-life and development. Combined, these are referred to as total rewards. The term "compensation and benefits" refers to the discipline as well as the rewards themselves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skills CFA</span>

Instructus Skills is both the standard setting organisation for business skills and the largest apprenticeship-issuing authority in the United Kingdom by number of certificates issued. Instructus Skills has one of the largest organisational footprints of any standards-setting body or Sector Skills Council representing approximately 11 million UK employees working in pan-sector occupations, and developed apprenticeship frameworks which were expected to be started by over 122,000 learners during 2010–11.

A human resources management system (HRMS) or Human Resources Information System (HRIS) or Human Capital Management (HCM) is a form of Human Resources (HR) software that combines a number of systems and processes to ensure the easy management of human resources, business processes and data. Human resources software is used by businesses to combine a number of necessary HR functions, such as storing employee data, managing payroll, recruitment, benefits administration, time and attendance, employee performance management, and tracking competency and training records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paula Caligiuri</span> Psychologist, author

Paula Caligiuri is an American academic, talent management specialist, psychologist, book author, and entrepreneur. As a Distinguished Professor of international business and strategy, she is on the faculty at D'Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University. Her published contributions in the field of international human resource management have won academic distinctions, and been endorsed in scholarly literature and in wider professional circles. Among her books, Get a Life, Not a Job, Managing the Global Workforce,Cultural Agility: Building a Pipeline of Successful Global Professionals, and Build Your Cultural Agility: The Nine Competencies of Successful Global Professionals, received attention by qualified media. In 2023, she wrote Live for a Living: How to Create your Career Journey to Work Happier, Not Harder with Andrew Palmer (Technologist), which focuses on career development. She is ranked # 392 among the best business and management scientists in the US, 810 worldwide.

References

  1. ↑ "What is Human Resources? Definition of Human Resources, Human Resources Meaning". The Economic Times. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  2. ↑ Aswal, Dinesh K. (9 November 2020). Metrology for Inclusive Growth of India. Springer Nature. p. 987. ISBN   978-981-15-8872-3.
  3. ↑ Haas, Hein de; Castles, Stephen; Miller, Mark J. (21 November 2019). The Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 332. ISBN   978-1-352-00713-8.
  4. ↑ FCS Marketing L4. Pearson South Africa. 2009. p. 148. ISBN   978-1-77025-400-8.
  5. 1 2 "Beyond Hiring and Firing: What is HR Management?". The Balance. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  6. 1 2 "HR Assistant Job Description and Salary". www.humanresourcesedu.org. June 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  7. ↑ "Use Coaching to Improve Employee Performance".
  8. ↑ Mathis, R.L; Jackson, J.H (2003). Human Resource Management. Thomson.
  9. ↑ Poole, Michael (1999). Human Resource Management: Critical Perspectives on Business and Management. Taylor & Francis. p. 95. ISBN   978-0-415-19338-2.
  10. ↑ Pieper, Rüdiger (25 October 2012). Human Resource Management: An International Comparison. Walter de Gruyter. p. 3. ISBN   978-3-11-086910-1.
  11. ↑ Lepadatu, Darina; Janoski, Thomas (18 February 2020). Framing and Managing Lean Organizations in the New Economy. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-351-01513-4.
  12. ↑ Jackson, Esther (28 September 2021). Adaptability in Talent Development. Association for Talent Development. ISBN   978-1-952157-52-3.
  13. ↑ "The Historical Background of HRM" . Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  14. 1 2 3 4 "History of Human resources" . Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Human Resource Management (HRM) – Definition and Concept". www.managementstudyguide.com. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  16. ↑ C.J. Strachan (pseud), How HR Turned Workplaces Woke, The Daily Sceptic, 23 March 2024; https://dailysceptic.org/2024/03/23/how-hr-woked-the-workplace/
  17. ↑ Kaufman, Bruce E. (2001). "Human resources and industrial relations: Commonalities and differences" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 May 2015.
  18. ↑ E McGaughey, "A Human is not a Resource" (2018) Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge Working Paper 497
  19. ↑ Kaufman, Bruce E. (2008). Managing the Human Factor: The Early Years of Human Resource Management in American Industry. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. p. 312n28.
  20. ↑ "Managing Generational Differences in the Human Resources Role". 27 June 2014.
  21. ↑ Dubey, N. B. (1 December 2009). OFFICE MANAGEMENT: Developing Skills for Smooth Functioning. Global India Publications. p. 9. ISBN   978-93-80228-16-7.
  22. 1 2 "10. Human resources" (PDF). Atlantic International University. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  23. ↑ "Rebranding Human Resources. Let's Get Real". HR Cloud. 2015.
  24. ↑ C.J. Strachan (pseud), How HR Turned Workplaces Woke, The Daily Sceptic, 23 March 2024; https://dailysceptic.org/2024/03/23/how-hr-woked-the-workplace/
  25. ↑ Noe, Raymond; Hollenbeck, John; Gerhart, Barry; Wright, Patrick (16 October 2014). Ebook: Fundamentals of Human Resource Management. McGraw Hill. p. 7. ISBN   978-0-07-717197-1.
  26. ↑ Staff, U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Statistics; Statistics, United States Bureau of Labor (1 February 2000). Occupational Outlook Handbook. U.S. Government Printing Office. ISBN   978-0-16-050249-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  27. ↑ Radhakrishna, A., and R. Satya Raju. "A Study On The Effect Of Human Resource Development On Employment Relations." IUP Journal of Management Research 14.3 (2015): 28–42. Business Source Complete. Web. 25 Sept. 2015.
  28. ↑ Osolase, Ehikioya Hilary; Rasdi, Roziah Mohd; Mansor, Zuraina Dato’ (May 2023). "Developing Awareness of Green Human Resource Development Practices in the Hotel Industry". Advances in Developing Human Resources. 25 (2): 116–122. doi:10.1177/15234223231155503. ISSN   1523-4223.
  29. ↑ "What Is the Difference Between Human Resource Management & Human Resource Planning?". Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  30. ↑ "Occupational Outlook Handbook / Human Resources Managers". U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. 8 September 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.