Functions of human resource management described the scope of the HR department. Every organization has its human resources, which should be managed effectively, because the success of the organization in the competitive environment is only due to the human resource factors, as all the other resources like financial, technological, etc are common to almost every organization.
The HR department plays a central role in managing the employees of the organization. For this purpose, it performs certain functions of Human Resource Management, which we may also the key functions of human resource management. You should be aware of them all.
Functions of Human Resource Management
- Staffing
- Human Resource Development
- Compensation & Benefits:
- Safety & Health
- Employee & Labor Relations
- Human Resource Research
Now each function is discussed one by one.
1. Staffing
The organization can become effective when it possesses qualified persons, who are designated for specific positions along with the proper place & timing. This would make an organization achieve its organizational objectives. The organization gets such qualified employees on time when its HR department performs effective staffing functions.
Following are the important activities of the staffing function of the HR department.
- Job Analysis
- Human Resource Planning (HRP)
- Recruitment
- Selection
1. Job Analysis
In job analysis, a systematic effort is made to ascertain the knowledge, skills & duties necessary to perform certain jobs in the organization.
2. Human Resource Planning (HRP)
Human Resource Planning is the systematic activity of the staffing function of the HR department, in which the requirements of human resources are reviewed in order to confirm that the required number of workers with the required skills & knowledge are made available when they are demanded.
3. Recruitment
Recruitment is the systematic process of attracting & encouraging a relatively large number of applicants to apply for the required jobs of the organization.
4. Selection
Selection is the final systematic process through which the organization identifies the best persons from a pool of applicants for the job that can effectively fulfill the required criteria of performing the desired duties in the organization.
2. Human Resource Development
Functions of human resource management include another important role of the Hr department in which the training & development of the employees is conducted along with career planning. For this purpose, certain activities including performance appraisals are performed that identify the needs for training & development of the specified employees.
The training is designed & given to provide the employees with the required skills & knowledge for their current positions of the jobs. While development is much broader than training in which the future aspect of employees are covered by providing them sufficient & knowledge to perform more complex duties of future jobs.
The individual as well as the teams of employees can benefit from human resource development which ultimately benefits the organization by improving its entire performance. Human resource development is not an optional activity but rather the necessity of the employees as well as the organization to cover the changing skills, jobs & technology of the world.
Career planning is a much more advanced activity in which the employee determines his career goals & then he tries to point out the proper means to accomplish those goals. Organizations also use career development in which properly qualified & experienced people are made available to the organization when needed.
The performance appraisals are prepared to check the performance level of the employees by analyzing the performed tasks.
3. Compensation & Benefits
The HR department has also a responsibility to perform the function of compensation & employee benefits. Compensation is defined as all the rewards that are obtained by the employee as a result of his employment.
These rewards may take any of the following forms.
1. Pay
The money received by an employee for performing his job.
2. Benefits
Benefits are those extra financial rewards that are received other than pay. Benefits include sick leaves, paid leaves, holidays & medical insurance.
3. Non-financial Rewards
There are also some non-financial rewards that are availed by the employees & which are non-monetary in nature like pleasant working environment & delightedness of work performed etc.
4. Safety & Health
Safety & health is included in the functions of human resource management performed by the HR department of the organization. In this function, the safety of the employees from serious accidents in the working environment is ensured.
Health is a little different from safety in such a way that it is related to the normal physical & mental well-being of employees that makes them free from illness.
The safety & health issue of the employees is very crucial for the HR department because employees are an asset to the organization & their good health in a safe working environment ensures the increased productivity & effectiveness of the organization in the long run.
5. Employees & Labor Relations
The unionism of the employees is becoming popular for many years & now it becomes compulsory by law for organizations to declare a union of their employees & bargain with the union on certain matters. If the employees of the organization want to join the union, then the organization does not put pressure on them for prevention.
Although unionism is an earlier concept that is also working in the private industry still many organizations try to keep a union-free environment because unions can become harmful for the organizations if they are not properly handled.
6. Human Resource Research
Human resource research is not nominated as a function of human resource management, but still, it is considered to be one of the functions of HRM because it does not require cost for separate laboratory & provide effective solutions for many issues of the HR department.
Interrelationship of the HRM Functions
All the functions of HRM are interrelated with each other & a single decision of the HR department can affect many areas of the organization so management should keep the focus on this fact while making certain policies & rules for employees.
Hello everyone! This is Richard Daniels, a full-time passionate researcher & blogger. He holds a Ph.D. degree in Economics. He loves to write about economics, e-commerce, and business-related topics for students to assist them in their studies. That's the sole purpose of Business Study Notes.
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