Human resource management (HRM) is promoted as a central organization concern,

associated with a long term perspective, and strategic integration with business planning.
HRM stresses coherence in employee relations policies to ensure a strategic response for
competitive advantage. ¹ It is an approach to maximize organizational performance
through personnel management that considers human capital as the key resource. Watson
² radically defined the personnel management as concerned with assisting those who run
organizations to meet their purposes through the obtaining of the work efforts of human
beings, the exploitation of those efforts and the dispensing with of those efforts when
they are no longer required. The authors in the book “From training to performance
development” refer Human performance technology to a systematic approach to
identifying the barriers that prevent people from achieving top performance that
contributes to the success of an organization. Solutions are then created quickly and
effectively to remove those barriers so that people can improve their performance and
achieve their full potential. ³ In the wealth management industry where labor cost usually
represents more than half of the annual budget of the company, and the success of the
business performance relies heavily on the performance of the workforce, a well
organized human resource management process is essential for success of the company.
A complete HRM process usually includes a strategic planning, recruitment, selection,
performance appraisal, training, rewards and employee relations.

There are two main theories of HRM: hard and soft HRM. Hard HRM focuses on
managing human resources in line with business strategy and on treating people primarily
as an economic resource. In contrast to hard HRM, Soft HRM focuses on developing
employees’ skills and achieving employee commitment and trust. The stress is on
generating commitment via communication, motivation and leadership. ¹ In general, hard
HRM is used by the Anglo-American companies while the soft HRM is used by the
continental European companies. My company is employing a soft HRM approach.

There are three models regarding HRM. The matching model focuses on strategic
integration. It brings about a good fit between the human resource policy and the
company’s policy with regard to strategic direction. The resource-based model seeks to
understand the distinctive competences of the workforce, through a process of analyzing
capabilities, knowledge and skills at the disposal of the organization so that a sustainable
competitive advantage for the organization can be developed. The processual model
emphasizes employee involvement, envisages a two-way negotiation in which employees
can have an input to the design of the job. Neither the job nor the individual are regarded
as fixed entities. Negotiation between the individual and the organization are envisaged
over the nature and content of the work, and the adaptability of the organization to
individuals’ needs.