What is human resource:

Human resources is a term used to describe the individuals who make up the
workforce of an organization, although it is also applied in labor economics to, for
example, business sectors or even whole nations. Human resources is also the
name of the function within an organization charged with the overall responsibility
for implementing strategies and policies relating to the management of individuals
(i.e. the human resources). This function title is often abbreviated to the initials
'HR'.

Human resources is a relatively modern management term, coined as early as the

1960s - when humanity took a shift as human rights came to a brighter light during
the Vietnam Era. [1]The origins of the function arose in organizations that
introduced 'welfare management' practices and also in those that adopted the
principles of 'scientific management'. From these terms emerged a largely
administrative management activity, coordinating a range of worker related
processes and becoming known, in time, as the 'personnel function'. Human
resources progressively became the more usual name for this function, in the first
instance in the United States as well as multinational or international corporations,
reflecting the adoption of a more quantitative as well as strategic approach to
workforce management, demanded by corporate management to gain a
competitive advantage, utilizing limited skilled and highly skilled workers.

ROLE OF HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT IN THE

ORGANIZATION
The Human Resources (personnel) department has staff relationship with other
department / managers in the total organization. The personnel department is
responsible for advising management from Managing Director to the lowest line
supervisor on all area relating to thepersonnel management and industrial relations.
Personnel department also performs various functions of employment, training and
development. It represents management in many of the relationships that affect the
organization as a whole. It is also responsible for representing various workers
problems to management.

Personnel department generally acts in an advisory capacity; it provides

information, offers suggestions and is not responsible for the end results. The
personnel managers must exercise control very tactfully in order to win the
confidence and cooperation of all line managers. He has to persuade the line
managers to work with staff specialists and not against them. The authority of
personnel manager should derive from concrete personnel policies and programs
and from the advantage and result of accepted specialized knowledge.

As a Source of Help:
In certain situations (when line managers lack skill or knowledge in dealing with
employee problems) experienced personnel managers assume line responsibility for
personnel matters. But it may be resented by the very managers who ought to seek
staff assistance in meeting their personnel responsibilities. Personnel managers
should learn the reputation and confidence of line managers of being a source of
help rather than a source of threat to line managers. Staff assistance is likely to be
effective when it is wanted rather than imposed

As a Change Agent:

Personnel Manager should work as an enabler and change agent regarding

personnel areas and he should be familiar with different disciplines like
management, technology, sociology, psychology and organizational behavior as
organizational adaptability, viability and development are dependent on the human
resources development. So the personnel managers should work as a consultant of
an organizational development by providing necessary information and
infrastructure to line managers. Thus, the role of personnel managers is more
concerned with providing information and offering advice to the decision makers
rather than making decisions.

As a Controller:

Nevertheless it is still true that effective personnel executives advise on policies

that help managers in implementing their programs and provide service and
exercise the monitoring and control function sparingly.

Responsibilities within Personnel Department:

As other managers the manager-personnel is also a line manager in relation to

subordinates within the personnel department. Personnel Manager is responsible for
the success or failure of his department in contributing to the organizational goals.
In most of the organizations the personnel manager is responsible for supervising
the activities of his subordinates, likeemployment manager, wage and salary
manager, manager for training and development, manager-industrial relationsetc.
He is also responsible for the operations of personnel manager at divisional and
branch levels.

As the Chief of the Personnel Department the Personnel Manager has to get
effective results with the co-operation of all the employees working in the
department and by showing the validity of the concept of the team work. The
success of the personnel department should be measured in terms of its
contributions to the personnel programs.

The effectiveness of HR department can be gauged by the fact how smooth they
conduct the negotiations with workers union without the workers resorting to strikes
and how fast the periodic agreement (once in 3 or 5 years) is signed with them.
Key functions
Human Resources may set strategies and develop policies, standards, systems, and
processes that implement these strategies in a whole range of areas. The following
are typical of a wide range of organizations:

• Maintaining awareness of and compliance with local, state and federal labor
laws (Department of Labor federal labor law information)

• Recruitment, selection, and on boarding (resourcing)

• Employee recordkeeping and confidentiality

• Organizational design and development

• Business transformation and change management

• Performance, conduct and behavior management

• Industrial and employee relations

• Human resources (workforce) analysis and workforce personnel data

management

• Compensation and employee benefit management

• Training and development (learning management)

• Employee motivation and morale-building (employee retention and loyalty)

Implementation of such policies, processes or standards may be directly managed

by the HR function itself, or the function may indirectly supervise the
implementation of such activities by managers, other business functions or via
third-party external partner organizations. Applicable legal issues, such as the
potential for disparate treatment and disparate impact, are also extremely
important to HR managers.

The Importance of Human Resources Management

(HRM) in Modern Organizations
Organizational Psychology holds that successful organizations do not owe their
success solely to market realities and sustainable competitive advantages. Actually,
there is a lot more. Successful companies are those that consider their human
capital as their most important asset. Facts and figures are the quantitative
elements of successful management, yet the qualitative, i.e. the cognitive aspects,
are those that actually make or break an organization.
Human Resources Management (HRM) is the strategic management of the
employees, who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of the
strategic objectives of the organization. Assuming that the employees of an
organization are individuals with own mental maps and perceptions, own goals and
own personalities and as such they cannot be perceived as a whole, HRM holds that
the organization should be able to employ both individual and group psychology in
order to commit employees to the achievement of organizational goals.

Aiming to enable the organization to achieve its strategic goals by attracting,

retaining and developing employees, HRM functions as the link between the
organization and the employees. A company should first become aware of the
needs of its employees, and at a later stage, understand and evaluate these needs
in order to make its employees perceive their job as a part of their personal life, and
not as a routine obligation. To that end, HRM is very crucial for the whole function of
an organization because it assists the organization to create loyal employees, who
are ready to offer their best.

The HRM activities in modern organizations are typically performed in

communication with the General Management in an effort to provide a variety of
views when a decision must be taken. In that way, decision making is not subject to
the individual perceptions of the HR or the General Manager, but it becomes the
outcome of strategic consensus.

The main goals / responsibilities of HRM are:

• To retain low employee turnover rate by inspiring people to work for the
company

• To attract new employees

• To contribute to employee development

To achieve these goals, Human Resources Management trains and motivates the
employees by communicating ethical policies and socially responsible behaviour to
them. In doing so, it plays a significant role in clarifying the organization's problems
and providing solutions, while making employees working more efficiently.

On the other hand, challenges do not cease for the HRM. Modern organizations can
survive in the dynamic, competitive environment of today only if they capitalize on
the full potential of each employee. Unfortunately, many companies have not
understood the importance of the human capital in successful operations. The
recruitment and selection of the best employees is a very difficult obligation. Even
companies that are voted in the top-ten places to work at, often endure long
periods of hard work to realize that human element is all an organization should
care about.

New challenges arise even now for the organization, and it is certain that new
challenges will never cease to emerge. Therefore, the use of proper Human
Resources techniques is a really powerful way for organizations to overcome these
challenges, and to improve not only their quantitative goals but also their
organizational culture, and their qualitative, cognitive aspects.

HR as a Competitive Advantage
The Opportunity

If managed effectively, the workforce, provides a very definite competitive

advantage to those firms that are savvy and progressive enough leverage the HR
department appropriately.

Human Resources Should be at the Core of Workforce Management

Human Resources (HR) should be at the core of workforce management.HR is the

conduit for acquiring and retaining the necessary workforce through job
satisfaction, security, compensation, training programs, appropriate and frequent
measurement of the workforce, and finally providing flexibility with respect to the
values of different generations of workers. HR should also take a leadership role in
employee management communications. Too often, HR is seen as a cost center that
ensures that payroll is on time and vacation tracking is accomplished.

HR’s Role- An Experience

By far, the best example of a factor contributing to employee personal growth and
satisfaction that I have witnessed has been a culture that promotes a collaborative
work environment. The downside to this is that it takes a lot of time, resources and
discipline to convert a typical structured hierarchical organization to one that
emphasizes collaboration.

Unfortunately, in this example, HR was seen as a roadblock to the corporation.

Because they (HR) were not provided with the necessary tools to operate
collaboratively in this organization and be allowed to change policies, the
corporation was not competitive in the workforce arena. Although the culture was
very enjoyable to work in, there was personal growth happening with many
employees, and the amount and quality of work were beyond compare, the
compensation options available (and other factors) were less than admirable.

The Solution

This particular corporation continues to operate under the assumption that they are
keeping costs down by paying the minimum compensation necessary to acquire an
employee. They think that people should be happy to have the job in the first place.
They believe that people aren’t worth their pay. On an individual basis this can be
true, but they can exist at any level within an organization. They need to be
removed from the workforce, because they are taking money from the real workers.
Corporations are better off with fewer exceptional people all making more money
than they should, than to have the same or lower payroll costs with more people. To
emphasize, it is better to hire one exceptional person at $60,000 than two average
people at $25,000 each.

The result of this shortsightedness was that they could not acquire the folks with
the necessary levels of experience, education and skill levels they required for
corporate expansion. They subsequently opted to hire many consultants (and
contractors) to accomplish their goals and objectives. HR was left completely out of
this decision. As if this were not enough, the company was still reticent to assist
employees with career planning and the necessary follow on, quality training and
additional responsibilities.

Human Resources Is Currently Failing to Fulfill Its Potential

Although HR should be at the core of workforce management, in many

organizations they are not. HR Departments are typically staffed with people who
do not have appropriate skills and are not given appropriate latitude to fulfill their
objectives.

For the last thirty years, I changed jobs on average every two and a half to three
years. Whenever I had an interview with a prospective employer, HR was always a
roadblock, never an enabler. If I couldn’t get past the HR process to interview with
the manager or supervisor I would be working with or for, I simply discounted the
opportunity. And with good reason, I not once received a call back from any
organization that allowed me to interview only with HR.

From the academic experience, it’s very clear what role HR could and probably
should play in a firm. But that led to the obvious question – why are they NOT in the
leadership position in the areas that are HR’s responsibility?
I am not sure that I can prioritize these reasons, because I am looking from the
outside in. If I had been a HR person for a number of years, I could probably present
a more informed argument and prioritize the list with some authority.

Reputation

The first and foremost reason is the reputation that HR has acquired over the years
for being bureaucratic and ineffective. The “roadblock” perception is so ingrained
that even senior management is in tacit agreement. The result is that whenever
senior management becomes aware of the importance of selecting the right person
for a position, candidates are handled directly by the stakeholders in the position
and HR is avoided as much as possible. Another result is that HR initiatives aimed at
training, motivation and retention are seen as “fluff,” and are not given sufficient
funding to be effectively implemented.

Wrong People

The next problem, related to the first, is that the “wrong” people tend to work in HR.
Because of low wages and an underestimation of the importance of an HR role, staff
members are generally barely a step above an ‘entry level clerical’ skill and training
level. These people (in my experience) are not strong and assertive or willing to
stand up for the right thing in the face of senior management. Also, they are not
knowledgeable in the many diverse areas of expertise now required in most
organizations. And, as a result, HR principles are unwilling to involve other
supervisors and managers as subject matter experts for interview during the
acquisition process.

Leadership Positioning

HR departments are not involved in the organization’s strategic and leadership

initiatives as they should be. It appears (and seems very logical) that HR should also
be heavily involved and very influential in policy decisions involving HR oriented
areas such as workforce acquisition and retention, job satisfaction, security,
compensation, and training programs. They should also be involved in appropriate
and frequent measurement of the workforce. Finally, HR should provide flexibility
with respect to the values of the new and different generations of workers. In my
experience, HR is a department that is isolated, dictated to, and kept “out of the
way” as much as possible, and seen as a necessary evil that merely serves to
prevent the perception of lack of compliance with any employment laws.

These three areas, although very general and fairly high level, seem to be the
essence of HR management. The areas, when managed effectively, should provide
a competitive advantage. With technology spread across all industries, there are
few areas where products and services can differentiate significantly. Quality within
both the product and/or service is, in general, the last point of serious contention in
the market. In companies that are driven by people, HR should be the organization
that can make a difference.

In the companies that I have had the pleasure of dealing with HR, (note sarcasm)
that department seemed to be hamstrung. They have no idea of what questions
they should be asking me, except for a possible script provided by someone, and
therefore don’t have an idea on how to evaluate my answers. I don’t have any idea
how they deselected me – I never have found out.

HR Can Be Strategically Improved

In order for HR to meet its potential, the senior management of an organization

needs to have an understanding of the potential of the HR role. They need to
communicate those expectations to the entire company on a frequent and regular
basis. Most importantly, they need to demonstrate that commitment by devoting
the time and resources to finding HR personnel with appropriate skills, give them
the latitude necessary to do their jobs, and accept nothing less than excellent
results in hiring, training, motivating and retaining quality people for all positions.

Reputation

This can be repaired through immediate senior management attention, focus and
trust. This obviously means that senior management will insure that the “right
people” are or become responsible for HR. Then provide the necessary corporate
direction, focus and then stand back and trust the HR folks to do their jobs. There
will be some rough spots initially, but with some time, attention and support from
senior management, these will be resolved.

The Right People

The most interesting facet of HR in a leadership role – what is the “right stuff,” the
right background, education and skills necessary for the department that is typically
staffed with “paper pushers?”

We start by following the same rules that we wish HR to follow throughout the
corporation. We hire the best, brightest and attract and motivate them in the same
ways. These things must obviously come from higher up in the organization. This
should not be a problem in an organization that has provided HR with the direction
we have discussed.

Leadership Positioning

Typically, one of the largest investments corporations have is personnel. With very
little additional effort, and maybe some more investment in HR departments, as
well as personnel, most corporations could have a world class workforce working for
them.
This is the beginning of a world class workforce. By then investing heavily in the
employees through proper compensation, and other job satisfiers, such as job
security and extensive in-depth training programs, the corporation then has the
basis for retaining the world class workforce through job satisfaction. Follow this
approach with appropriate and frequent measurement of the workforce, while
providing both a collaborative work environment and flexibility with the values of
each of the successive generations of workers, and the workforce will attain
personal growth and achievements beyond your wildest expectations. Although this
may sound rather altruistic, I have seen various combinations of each of these
attributes at work in different corporations – both large and small.

HR should be allowed, no, commanded to hire the absolute best people. Then set in
place policies and procedures to attract, motivate, train and reward the best people.
Then give the winners trust, independence, praise, freedom, and encouragement.
Corporations that think they will save money by only hiring people they can afford
will attain only mediocre results at best.

Corporate leaders – this includes HR as well, should know that people make things
happen. If the people in a corporation are supported, trusted and respected based
on performance, regardless of generation gaps; the corporation will have a high
propensity to exceed all expectations. HR should have as part of its charter the
wherewithal to ensure that these things happen throughout the corporation. One
can only imagine the possibilities if these attributes were combined in one
corporation.