Human Resource Management

1. Nature, Scope, and Strategies

There are four types of resources in a firm namely;-

Of these four, the humans cause the other resources to achieve the objectives of the firm underscoring the
relevance of the adage that the human resources are the most important resources in an organization.

The presence of humans in the midst of finance, materials, and machines, however, will not guarantee the
achievement of objectives of the firm! The achievement of the firm’s objectives can only be guaranteed if
the humans present are carefully selected and treated to meet the following criteria:-
a. Optimal number of staff in the firm;
b. Have relevant competencies (skills, knowledge and attitudes);
c. Organization structured with staff correctly deployed;
d. Motivation correctly addressed;
e. Compensated adequately addressed;
f. Staff capacity continuously improved and
g. Performance correctly managed.

The human resource department is the management arm of the organization that ensures that the above
seven “criteria” of the humans in the firm are met. The process of ensuring that these “criteria” are met is
referred to as the functions of the human resource management.

In brief the human resource department has the responsibility of ensuring that the firm has the right quality
and quantity of employees required to achieve its objectives.

Definition of Human Resource Management

“Human resource management (HRM) is the strategic and coherent approach to the management of an
organization's most valued assets - the people working there who individually and collectively contribute
to the achievement of the objectives of the business” (Armstrong, 2001]

“Human Resource Management is the organizational function that deals with issues related to people such
as compensation, hiring, performance management, organization development, safety, wellness, benefits,
employee motivation, communication, administration, and training.” Heathfield, 2007

“Human Resource Management, concerned with the strategic management of human resources to achieve a
competitive advantage” Pearson Education, 2006

Functions of Human Resource Management

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There are two broad categories of functions of HRM namely;-

A. Managerial functions
B. Operative functions

A. Managerial functions: These are functions required of any manager and they include:-

a. Planning: Planning a process of determining the firm’s goals and formulating policies and
strategies of achieving them. For HRM planning is referred to as manpower planning.
b. Organising: Organising is the process of drawing up an organisation’s chart and allocating
specific roles to specific positions.
c. Directing: This is the process activating group or individuals efforts to achieve the desired
goals. It includes activities like getting subordinates to get the job done, maintaining morale
etc.
d. Controlling: This is the process of setting performance standards and monitoring to
ensure these standards are met and taking corrective action incase standards are not met.

B. Operative functions: these are department –specific functions which ensure that the firm
has the right people for the right jobs at the right time. These functions include:-
a. Procurement: this is a function commonly called recruitment and selection and includes
manpower planning, job analysis, recruitment, selection, induction and placement.
b. Development: this includes all strategies put in place to ensure that the knowledge skills of
the staff are continuously aligned to the changing needs of the firm.
c. Compensation: this function is also called Rewarding and involves determination of salary
and wage levels to ensure equity and competitiveness of the firm in the job market.
d. Maintenance: this function is concerned with protecting and promoting employees while
at work by availing benefits. The benefits include provision of medical insurance, housing,
education, transport, social securities, pensions etc.

2. Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM)

Strategic Human resource management is a derivative of Strategic Management therefore to understand the
concept of SHRM one must first understand the concept of Strategic Management.

Strategic management may be defined as the art and science of formulating, implementing and evaluating
cross-functional decisions that will enable an organization to achieve its objectives.

It is the process of specifying the organization's objectives, developing policies and plans to achieve these
objectives, and allocating resources to implement the policies and plans to achieve the organization's
objectives. Strategic management, therefore, combines the activities of the various functional areas of a firm
to achieve objectives. It is the highest level of managerial activity, usually formulated by the Board of
directors and performed by the organization's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and executive team. Strategic

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management provides overall direction to the enterprise and is closely related to the field of Organization
Studies.

The strategic process has two phases:-

1. Strategy formulation which involves decision about the vision and mission of the firm,
establishing long and short term objectives and selecting the strategies and activities to be
implemented to achieve these objectives.
2. Strategy implementation involves the alignment of the firms resources, structures, systems,
processes with the strategies. It involves providing leadership pertinent to the strategy and
monitoring the effectiveness of the strategy in achieving the organizational objectives.

List advantages of strategic management

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Description of SHRM

SHRM or Strategic human resource management is a branch of Human resource management or HRM.
Strategic human resource management is a fairly new field, which has emerged out of the parent discipline
of human resource management. Much of the early HRM literature treats the notion of strategy
superficially, rather as a purely operational matter the results of which cascade down throughout the
organisation.

Definition of SHRM
SHRM Is the initiation and implementation of human resource policies and plans aimed at aligning the
human resource function with the overall business strategy.

Academic theories behind SHRM

Strategic human resource management can be defined as the linking of human resources with strategic
goals and objectives in order to improve business performance and develop organizational culture that
foster innovation, flexibility and competitive advantage. In an organization SHRM means accepting and

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involving the HR function as a strategic partner in the formulation and implementation of the company’s
strategies through HR activities such as recruiting, selecting, training and rewarding personnel .

Evolution and difference from earlier HRM

Many writers in the late 1980’s, started clamouring for a more strategic approach to the management of
people than what the standard practices of traditional management of people or industrial relations models
followed.

Strategic human resource managements focuses on human resource programmes with long-term objectives.
Instead of focusing on internal human resource issues, the focus is on addressing and solving problems that
effect people management programmes in the long run and often globally. Therefore the primary goal of
strategic human resource is to increase employee productivity by focusing on business obstacles that occur
outside of human resources. The primary actions of a strategic human resource manager are to identify key
HR areas where strategies can be implemented in the long run to improve the overall employee motivation
and productivity.

Examples of application of SHRM in the

The recruitment and selection function of the organization.