Managing Human Resources Responsibilities of Human Resource Departments
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (HRM)
Functions Responsibilities
● The policies, practices, and systems that influence
employees’ behavior, attitudes, and performances
Analysis and Work analysis; job design; job
● Is a function in an organization that facilitates the most
Design of description
effective use of people (human capital) to achieve
work
organizational and individual goals; with specialized
responsibility of enabling management to acquire,
Recruitment Recruiting; job postings;
develop, motivate, and retain competent employees and Selection interviewing; testing; coordinating
● a “distinctive” approach to employment management
use of temporary labor
which seeks to achieve competitive advantage through
the strategic deployment of a highly committed and Training and Orientation; skills training; career
capable workforce an array of cultural, structural and Development development programs
personnel techniques’
● refers to as involving “people practices” Performance Performance measures;
1. Analyzing work & designing jobs, attracting potential Management preparation and administration of
employees; performance appraisals; discipline
2. Choosing employees;
3. Teaching employees how to perform their jobs and Compensatio Wage and salary administration;
preparing them for the future; n and incentive pay; insurance; vacation
4. Evaluating their performance; Benefits leave administration; retirement
5. Rewarding employees; plans; profit sharing’ stock plans
6. Creating a positive work environment; and
7. Supporting the organization’s strategy. Employee Attitude survey; labor relations;
● an organization performs best when all of these Relations employee handbooks; company
practices are managed well publications; labor law
compliance; relocation and
outplacement services
Personnel Policy creation; policy
Policies communications; record keeping;
HR information systems
Compliance Policies to ensure lawful behavior;
with laws reporting; posting information;
safety inspections; accessibility
accommodations
Human Resources and Company Performance
Human capital – an organization’s employees, described Support for Human resource planning and
in terms of their training, experience, judgement, Strategy forecasting; change management
intelligence, relationships, and insight – the employee
characteristics that can add economic value to the
organization. HRM or Personnel Management
Phrases and terms for “HRM:”
Employees in today’s organization are not ● Human Resource Development (HRD)
interchangeable, easily replaced parts of a system but the ● Personnel
source of the company’s success and failure. ● People Management and Development
● Human Capital Management
By influencing who works for the organization and how ● Labour Concepts Management
those people work, HRM therefore contributes to such Human Resource Management, the more strategic and
basic measures of an organization’s success as quality, business-focus, while Personnel Management, more
profitability, and customer satisfaction operational, administrative and employee-focused
Key Differences between Personnel Management and
Human Resource Management
Personnel Human Resource
Management Management
Employee focused Business partner
focused on more day-to-day operational (micro) people
Operational and Strategic
management issues
administrative
Summary of Storey's (1992) HR Roles
Reactive Proactive
HR Role Quadrant Description
Fragmented and ad Integrated and
hoc policies and coordinated policies Handmaiden Tactical - A reactive role, where the HR
practices and practices non function's main purpose is to
intervention provide day-to-day advice
Focus on Focus on adding and services for line
performance value managers, for example
measurement attending selection panels,
sourcing or organising
Hard and Soft HRM appropriate training for
employees or providing day-
Hard HRM – said to place an emphasis on the efficient
to-day legal advice
utilization of your workforce.
● Views employees as a “resource” that needs to
Advisor Strategic - A similarly reactive role, but
be effectively sourced and deployed to achieve
non operating more as an internal
organizational goals;
intervention consultant or HR facilitator for
● Focus on HR activities/tools, HR planning, clear
line manager (Caldwell,
goal/target setting
2003). Providing line
managers with advice
Soft HRM – places greater emphasis on those people
regarding the improvement of
management practices and activities that are aimed at
individual (or team)
gaining the affective commitment of employees to the
performance would be an
organization and its goals
obvious example of this role
● Views employees in a more humanistic way
Regulator Tactical - A more proactive role in
Hard and Soft Human Resource Management
intervention developing and implementing
Hard HRM Soft HRM HR policy. For example,
ensuring the continuous
Employees are a Employees are a updating, and consistent
(human) resource to source of competitive implementation, of HR
be utilized advance policies in line with legislative
developments.
Deployment Development
Changemaker Strategic - Proactive and more strategic
Control Commitment intervention in focus. Here HR decisions,
and thus the HR function, are
Direction Involvement seen as central to the
attainment of firm
Rigidity Flexibility performance.
Performance Performance enabling
measurement HRM Roles and Responsibilities
Presenting two (2) heavily influencing both theory and
practice about HRM roles.
HRM Roles and Responsibilities
Presenting two (2) heavily influencing both theory and Dave Ulrich and Wayne Brockbank’s HR Leader Model
practice about Identified five (5) potential HR roles within organizations.
HRM roles.
Like Storey, they attempted to develop model that
John Storey’s “Strategic/Tactical Model” recognized, and integrated, the complex (and often
Two criteria: competing) strategic and operational
1. Level of intervention – “interventionist” HR is directive functions/responsibilities of HR within organizations
and proactive and “non-interventionist” HR is reactive and
non-directive
2. Strategic or Tactical Focus – “strategic” HR if focused
on macro business-related concerns, and “tactical” HR is
Summary of Ulrich and Brockbank's (2005) HR Leader
relating to the wider societal,
Model
environmental and ethical impact of
HR Role Description the organisation. In an earlier paper,
Ulrich and Beatty (2001) refer to the
Functional Recognises the continuing important importance of the HR professional
Expert role of the HR specialist within becoming a 'Player' within
organisations. In short, a more organisations, where he or she needs
operational/tactical role providing to show contribution, value added and
knowledge and expertise in all areas leadership in business (including
of HR policy development and issues of ethics and sustainability), as
implementation. well as HR-related issues
Employee HR is often seen as a bridge between
Advocate management and employees. The Skills of Human Resource Departments
advocate role thus emphasis Professionals
communication, not just of business Human Relations Skills
objectives and decisions to ● “source of people expertise;”
employees, but of employee ● Need knowledge of how people can and do play
concerns (and ideas) to a role in giving the organization an advantage
management. A key element of this against the competition;
role is the building and maintenance ● Knowledge of the policies, programs, and
of trust between management and practices that can help the organization’s people
employees. Again, therefore, this is a do so;
more operational/tactical role. ● Particularly important are communicating,
negotiating, and team development.
Human Capital A more strategically focused role that
Developer aims to source, develop, retain and Decision-Making Skills
deploy employees centra to the ● Apply decision-making skills to strategic issues;
needs of the business. This is also ● Knowledge of organization’s line of business;
about effectively balancing the ● Ability to present options in terms of costs and
developmental (and career) needs of benefits to the organization, stated in terms of
individuals and the organisation. finances (pesos);
● Decisions also must take into account social and
Summary of Storey's (1992) HR Roles ethical implications of the alternatives
Leadership Skills
Strategic A strategic role partnering ● Requires helping the organization manage
Partner management at all levels of the change
business. This includes direct input ● Includes diagnosing problems, implementing
into strategic-level decision making: organizational changes, and evaluating results,
advising leaders (CEOS) on the especially in terms of employee’s skills and
future direction of the business and attitudes *changes – produces conflicts,
the HR challenges it faces, and/or resistance, and confusions among the people
leading in key change initiatives, are who must implement the new plans or programs
just two examples. This may also ● Provides tools for overcoming resistance to
involve advising line managers on change, teaching employees to operate under
potential performance improvements new conditions, and even encouraging
in their team and individual business innovation.
units. (survey of Fortne 500 comapnies found that in 87% of the
companies, organization development and change were
HR Leader Within this model Ulrich and managed by the HR department)
Brockbank (2005) overlay the above
prescriptive roles with this HR leader Technical Skills
role. In short, they suggest that it is ● Need knowledge of state-of-the-art practices in
essential for the HR professional to such areas as staffing, development, rewards,
bring effective leadership to the organizational designs, and communications
function, otherwise none of the other ● Must be able to evaluate the worth of the
roles will be realised. Emphasised techniques that are available for carrying out
here is also a corporate governance HRM activities, principles, and business value to
role, with HR taking a lead on matters determine which are beneficial
Outsourcing the HR function 3. Train employees in some or all aspects of employees’
HR outsourcing – refers to the use of another party to job
deliver all or part of this function and its services, with 4. Conduct performance appraisal and may recommend
various reports suggesting that nearly all organizations (at pay increase
some point) have outsourced parts of their HR function. 5. Plays a key role in employee relations, because they
are most often the voice of management
Outsourcing presents organizations with certain
challenges, including decisions regarding what to Understanding the principles of communication,
outsource, whom to outsource them to, for how long and motivation, and other elements of human behavior can
how to manage this relationship. help supervisors inspire the best from the organization’s
human resources
Potential Benefits and Challenges of Outsourcing HR
(CIPD, 2011)
Potentail Benefits Potential Challenges
Reduced costs Decisions on what to
outsource-as a rule, do not
outsource what you don’t
understand
Increased efficiencies Loss of tacit knowledge
and speed of
response
Access to the Loss of control over HR Ethics in Human Resource Management
provider’s processes and decision Ethics – refers to the fundamental principles of right and
sophisticated her making wrong; ethical behavior is behavior that is consistent with
systems those principles.
Access to new HR Disconnect between day-to- In the context of ethical human resource management,
expertise and the day operational decisions HR manager must view employees as having basic rights.
knowledge made by the outsourcing
provider and the strategic Employee Rights
Reduced risk HR decisions made by the Right of free consent – right to be treated only as
central function knowingly and willingly consent to be treated
HR function freed to Right of privacy – right to do as they want in their private
be more focused on lives, and they have the right to control what they reveal
strategy about private activities
HR Responsibilities of Supervisors Right of freedom of conscience – right to refuse to do
Many large organizations have human resource what violates their moral beliefs, as long as these beliefs
department, which advise and support activities of the reflect commonly accepted norms
other departments. In small organizations, there may be
an HR specialist, but many HR activities are carried out Right of freedom of speech – right to criticize an
by line supervisors. organization’s ethics, if they do so in good conscience and
their criticisms does not violate the rights of individuals in
Non-HR managers need to be familiar with the basics of the organizations
HRM and their role with regard to managing human
resources. Right to due process – if people believe their rights are
being violated, they have the right to a fair and impartial
Supervisors typically have responsibilities related to all hearing.
the HR functions (Congress has addressed this right in some
circumstances by establishing agencies to hear
Supervisors are likely to be involved in: complaints when employees believe their employer has
1. Determine what kind of works need to be done and in not provided a fair hearing)
what quantities
2. Interview and participate in the decisions which job Standards for Ethical Behavior
candidates to be hire Four principles according to ethical, successful
companies:
1. Relationship with customers, vendors, and clients,
emphasize mutual benefits;
2. Employees assume responsibility for the actions of the
company;
3. Such companies have a sense of purpose or vision that
employees value and use in their day-to-day work
4. Emphasize fairness; that is, another person’s interest
count as much as their own
Standards for Ethical Behavior
Raytheon Company has checklist for employees to
determine whether an action they are contemplating is
ethical:
1. Is the action legal?
2. Is it right?
3. Who will be affected?
4. Does it fit with “Raytheon’s” values”
5. How will I feel afterward?
6. How will it look in the newspaper?
7. Will it reflect poorly on the company
For HR practices to be considered ethical, they must
satisfy the 3 basic standards
