Human Resource Management

(Process and procedures)

This general of Human Resource Management (HRM) will cover the following topics: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. HR Management- An introduction Importance of HRM for organizational success Scope of HRM Various processes in HRM Functions of HRM Hiring strategies Retention strategies Global HRM

HR Management- An introduction
HRM or human resource management is a term which we keep reading in the newspapers, journals, case studies etc. Most of the people dont even know the meaning of this term, but they still go ahead and use it because they dont understand the complexities behind this small word-HRM. In general, if we have to explain it to someone we can simply say that Human resource management is a process of managing people in the organizations in a structured manner to fully utilize their capabilities, abilities and skills. This cover the vertical of hiring right people, training employees as per the companys protocol, retain them and constantly keep a check on their pay scale and perks.now it does sound little daunting, isnt?

In lots of MNCs the HR manager is known as people manager because their job is to manage people and to make sure that the company is getting benefitted from them. It is the duty of HR manager to make sure that the employees are motivated, organized and following the culture of the company. In this modern era, the HR managers also have to deal with payroll, employee entertainment, employee training etc. HR managers most of the time are behaving like a bridge between the company and the employees. They have to make sure that all channels of communication are open for the employee and employee never feels neglected or unheard.

Importance of HRM for organizational success

As discussed above the HRM plays a vital role between the employee and the management, they have to make sure the company meet its goals. Before reaching to any conclusion, it is important to discuss the reasons for organizations to have HRM strategy in place because this strategy plays an important component in companys growth. The following are the points which will through some light on the importance of HRM in an organization:

1. Recruitment and training: Company is only able to hire and train the best employees with the help of HR Managers. They are the people who find the right people for right job and constantly come up with the innovative ideas to keep the employees motivated and happy.

2. Maintaining companys work culture: This is one of the most difficult yet important part of HRM. It becomes very difficult at times to maintain the culture of the company but the HR managers have to make sure that employees follow the culture and protocols of the company religiously. While maintaining this task, at time the HRM people have to take tough calls. 3. Managing disputes: More employees in the company means more disputes. At times employees become adamant on small things which creates hurdle in companys growth. HR people has to understand the gravity of the dispute and then have to handle the situation accordingly. They have to make sure that they never side with one employee and peacefully manage the disputes in the company. 4. Appraisals and bonus: All the employees of the company expect time to time raise in their salary with annual bonus etc. It is the responsibility of HR and to access their performance, behavior etc.

While all these above said point may look very insignificant, they are very important for any organization. In conclusion, it is right to say that policies of HRM needs to be implemented and integrated with the overall strategy to ensure effective use of employees and provide better returns to the company in terms of ROI (return on investment). HRM practice should be viewed through the prism of overall strategic achievements by the company because it is the effort of HR people which brings the right employee in the company and continuously motivate them towards achieving their goals. The idea behind measuring the importance between the HRM and company success is to see the excursion rate of the company. The minimum excursion rate, the maximum you can appreciate your HR people.

Scope of HRM
HR department is undoubtedly one of the easy as well as difficult department to be in. Yes, it does sound very contradictory but it is a reality. The objective of HR department is not only hiring people and

retaining them. It is more sort of developing the company and taking it to the growth part while dragging the employees with you. Implementation of new policies, procedures and programs. It is developing the whole of employees knowledge, their skills, creativity, sales training, their aptitude and talent while making sure that one is on the right path. The scope of HRM can also be measured under three broad categories, just to understand the verticals of this industry: 1. Personnel Management and HRM: This is a typical manpower management that involves manpower planning, hiring, selecting, training and development of employees, induction, orientation, transfers, layoffs, retirement. All this put impact on companys growth either directly or indirectly. This also includes the development of the employees and their new skills because market is ever changing and continuously developing. Employee assessment and their scheduling also comes under this.

2. Employee welfare and HRM: This aspect of HRM deals with the working condition, environment, amenities and service at workplace. It is to be said that the more happy space you provide to your employees the easier it becomes to retain them and get work out of them. This vertical also deals with the safety services, medical services, employee benefit and health insurance you provide to your people. It is significant to note that even the cleanliness in the office can impact the satisfaction level of the employees.

3. Industrial relations and HRM: The HR people has to deal with blue collar and employee union with patience because one wrong move can make the work shut for couple of days. It is very important to address to the needs and grievances of employee union with diplomacy and urgency. At times HR people have to do a calculative negotiation between employees and management to restore the peace. The main motive behind this kind of negotiation is to safeguard the interest of the employees by securing the highest level of understanding to make sure it does not leave any dent on organizational growth.

Various processes in HRM

There is no definite process which we can undertake in HRM because its a practical study. Its not some kind of formula which will work on everything. Every company has to test and run some strategies to see whether these are giving the desired results or not. If we have to broadly categories the various processes in HRM, then we can mention three of the following here: Human Resource Planning Employee remuneration and benefit Performance management Employee relations

To understand the in depth of various processes of HRM, we have to talk about the above given process separately. 1. Human resource planning: The HR people have to create a huge pipeline of people in every department of their company so that they never fall behind the recruitment process. They also have to keep in mind the new projects and its requirement, so that they can give a head start to their company people. In this stage the HR people have to keep in mind the following: Advance Recruitment Selection Hiring

 Training and development 2. Employee remuneration and benefit: Process of deciding upon the wages as well as on the benefit fall under this category. It is very difficult for management to find a balance between the wages as well as the employee happiness. Thats where the consulting with HR people come in the picture.

3. Performance Management: As it says from the name, performance management has a lot to do with managing the performance of each individual. At times when an employee is not feeling motivated, it reflects on his performance. HR people have to make sure that every employee is happy in the company and performing the best to his or her capabilities. If the employee is not performing well, then they can counsel him and bounce him back in the company. 4. Employee relations: If the industry is hugely competitive, it becomes extremely difficult for HR people to retain employees. There are lots of options which are available in the market, so employees dont feel any pressure of finding a new job. Here the only thing which can retain employees are the relation which HR shares with employees. If HR shares a good repo with the employees he can force and talk him into not leaving the organization and also perhaps getting him a hike.

Functions of HRM
HRM is basically a support function of any company because they have to be available in every vertical of the company. From finance to labor, every department requires the attention of HR people. The most common department where you will see regular presence of HR manager is: 1. Payroll and Accounting: Accounts department always consult HR people before making the Payroll of an individual. They keep a close eye on employee benefits, extra hours, payroll advances etc. Payroll services for small business becomes very easy if they have an HR who keeps the record of everything.

2.

Board room discussions: Before floating any policies in the company, management discuss its recuperations with the HR. It is not always mandatory that the policy which management is

planning to launch will go down easy with the employees. Hence, HR people have to slowly and gradually introduce new rules into the company. New development like Work opportunity tax credit programs are also being discussed in companys board room.

3. Training rooms: while providing training to an employee the HR has to make sure that they are optimizing the people on top of their caliber. It is will be a waste investment to train a person into the vertical he was never interested in. The training groups of employees should be made as per their interest and department.

Hiring Strategies
A company is nothing without people because no organization can work alone. They need people to work for them. Same goes true for the HRs, they need to hire people to maintain them. Rather, a right sentence would be- they need to hire right people to contribute to companys success.

A good HR managers really manages the hiring very well in the company. Hiring just does not mean picking a person. It goes deep into: Understanding the requirement Selecting right profiles Get them interviewed Do a background check Final negotiation Make a person join the company

The above said process at times takes more than two months and during all this time, the HR manager has to be on his toes because a candidate is entitled to leave the above said process at any step. HR managers have couple of strategies by which they hire people: 1. Direct recruitment: this is a kind of recruitment which is done directly from the job portals. The HR managers put the job on the job portal, the interested candidates send their resumes and the best from the lot get hired after interview. This is the most common process of hiring all over the world.

2. Reference hiring: this is also known as internal hiring, when an employee refer someone for the position available. In most of the cases, these types of hiring are preferred by the organization because the current employee of the company is ready to take the responsibility of the new

employee. It helps the organization to save a lot of time in employee background check and reference check. 3. Head hunting: this process is very common for the higher position. The HR takes reference from their sources when they need to hire for any senior position and then head hunt a person. In most of the cases, desired person is not even looking for a change. It becomes the responsibility of HR to pursue that person and call him for interview. Hiring is a key component of HR role and HRM. Every company has different strategies and procedures for hiring people and this process do differ from level to level. We hardly see a direct recruiting of senior level position. It is always through reference or market buzz.

Retention Strategies
Hiring will be of no use if the HR people are not able to retain the existing employees. A company can only take progressive steps towards growth when they are hiring new talent while continuously retaining the old people. The more people a company has, the more work they will be able to deliver in the market.

With the help of following process, HR people are able to manage rate of retention: 1. Giving them timely promotions and bonus: At the end of the day, your employees work for money and if you dont pay them best to their caliber they are bound to leave you. It is very important for an organization to give early promotions, bonuses and incentives to make people stay in the company.

2. Appreciations: At times, a small token of appreciation can bring a lot of improvement in the scale of employee motivation. An employee can feel wanted by this small act. Most of the companies also give employee of the month and year awards to keep up such trends.

3. Involving them: If an organization is involving their employees at every level then their people feel satisfied and important. This is the work of HR Manager to explain the process of management and the growth part which the management is intended to take. The HR manager can also organize the open session once in a month to address to employees concern and problems. 4. Eliminate job dissatisfaction: Job dissatisfaction means different to different people. It can revolve from monetary benefits to how their seniors talk to them. There is no fix formula which fits into any theorem of employee satisfaction. In this case, the HR should continuously get in touch with the employees and keep taking their reviews. If couple of employees are getting agitated over same thing that means there is some problem and it needs to get fixed.

Global HRM
With the arrival of globalization, the organizations irrespective of their size have become global. This process has increased the workforce diversity and removed the cultural barriers between two countries. Most of the companies have people working for them from different country as a consultant. They communicate through Skype, Viber, go to meeting etc. The prime function of global human resource management is that the organization now can carry a local host and appeal to the country with local language and procedures. It simplified the lengthy process of travelling, staying and language hurdles. The objectives of Global HRM are as follow: Create a local presence without compromising on global identity. Generate awareness through local channels and hire staff while eliminating the geographical boundaries. Training people as per your companys standard while still keeping the local appeal of the person.

The tactical role of HRM in such a situation is to guarantee that HRM policies are in prime position and in support of the companys strategy, control and structure. In HRM, when we talk about the structures and controls the following are the key components:

1. Decision making: Company cant enforce all the decisions on the people sitting across the globe from you. It is important to give some flexibility to them as well and let them take the some portion of local decision. 2. Co-ordination: Coordination between two countries time zone, language and project status is also vital. One has to take care of cultural sensitivities as well.

So if we consider all the above said points, it will not be wrong to say that Human Resource Management is a huge responsibility in itself and it is very important to have right HR people in your company to ensure success.