Organisations are built through people and their services. To achieve all the objectives of an organisation, it is essential to develop employees’ skills, motivate them for better performance, and ensure commitment towards the organisation. All these attributes are achieved through functions of human resource management.
Human resource management functions are the responsibility processes that involve economic planning, supervising, and monitoring activities of any organisation, keeping in focus the human factor. HRM can be interrelated, interdependent, or may also depend upon a specific situation.
What is HRM?
Human resource management, or HRM as it is commonly addressed, implies a process through which the human or the people involved in an organisation are developed through the personnel’s motivation, integration, or guidance. This is for achieving the goals set for the organisation along with the goals for individuals. These HRM functions are normally classified as managerial and operational functions and are performed as a single activity in the entity by the management.
Importance of HRM
The growth and prosperity of any organisation depends upon the development of the individual. In today’s era, the organisational dynamics depend upon the managerial functions of HRM such as:
- The personnel can bring in the necessary change in an organisation through its creativity, intelligence, and other factors.
- So, when the management of a company makes efforts to develop and sharpen the skills of humans, it results in growth, survival, future development, and prospects of the entity.
- The role of human resource management is to recruit, train and then retain an employee in the organisation from the futuristic point of view.
- A company must fulfil every employee’s emotional and physical needs to bring loyalty, commitment, concentration, and stability to the organisation.
- The function of human resource management is a vital tool for the management to achieve the set goals and results with the personal development, skill development, and cooperation of the individuals attached to the organisation. These functions create a balance to set the policies for the organisation between the business and the employees.
- Any organisation would experience expansion and growth only when its employees are skilled and developed with its features.
- Some of the functions for HRM include labour relations, managerial relations, performance management, benefits and compensation, training and development, selection, hiring, recruitment, job analysis, job design, etc.
Evolution Cycle of HRM
The HRM functions evolve with the expansion, growth, and development of the organisation. Human resource management starts with a Business function and gradually evolves to Business Partner and finally to a strategic partner.
The functions of Human Resource Management play an important role in all the stages of evolution about responsibilities and jobs. As the levels increase, the value of manageability of association, employee retention rate, company goals, top talent, leadership potential increases gradually and certainly. It adds to the worth and value at every stage of the HRM function. An HR is also liable for setting entity strategies, time management, finance, information about the employees, and many more.
At the business partner stage, the current organisational needs are the priority. HR also prioritises organisational plans, correspondence, occurring and recurring events, pay grades, competency-based recruitment.
In the next stage, HR creates an organisational hierarchy and identifies the required skills for each job. Then it also becomes essential to formulate programs through recruitment strategies, abilities for expert levels, and comparing contenders and norms set in similar industries.
In line with the company structure and expertise database, the function of HR also includes recruiting professionals with pay hikes and retain talented employees. Normally, organisations and entities with human resource development believe in assigning leadership roles rather than development year on year.
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Functions of Human Resource Management
Human Resource Management or HRM is a unique approach towards employment management to achieve the individual and strategic goals by deploying the skilled and committed workforce strategically and personnel, structural and cultural techniques.
The major functions of human resource management in an organisation are mentioned below:
1. Human Resource Planning
This is the inception stage for any entity and organisation. The requirement for the organisation as per the department, streams, and workflow with regards to skilled and unskilled resources is to be assessed and analysed. All the HRM functions and objectives such as selection, recruitment, performance, development, learning, and others rely on the planning stage.
This stage is similar to workforce planning as the vital aim is to assess the current situation of the organisation and the future placement of the same for success and expansion. This stage is similar to workforce planning as the vital aim is to assess the current situation of the organisation and the future placement of the same for success and expansion.
2. Selection and Recruitment
This function is the trickiest one regarding all other functions yet one of the most crucial HRM functions and objectives. Selecting an appropriate candidate who may fit all the requirements of the organisation is a tough job. It is the responsibility of HR to screen, select and train suitable candidates whose values and skills align with the organisation.
Appropriate sourcing strategies and becoming a perfect employer brand make the work easier. With the screening of the applications, HR has to select appropriately qualified candidates who have the potential to work as per the organisation’s standards. For the recruitment funnel, there are many recruitment tools now available to help the process of selection.
3. Performance management
Performance management ensures that the employees are in the productive zone and are also engaged correctly. Open feedback, clear goal setting, good leadership are some of the attributes required for perfect performance management.
A Bi-annual performance is one of the most influential HR activities. This review can help in evaluating employees by the managers regarding their performance. The customers, subordinates, managers, and peers provide feedback about the employees through the tools such as 360-degree feedback.
Performance management bridges the gap between the present and the future workforce, making it convenient for the management to have the required and appropriate sources and resources.
4. Development and learning
Sharpening the skills and learning of the organisation’s employees is the core responsibility of the HR activities. This function of HRM is yet another function that connects the present and future workforce.
Organisations do have a set budget for the development and learning of the employees concerned. This budget is then distributed among the employees as per the hierarchy, benefits derived, and requirements. Some countries collect the cost of learning and development by the employees, while this cost is assigned to the employers in some countries. There are some other countries as well where this area is either neglected completely or is unregulated.
Though the views for learning and development are different from several employers, the crux remains that employers understand the value of skill development. And so now it becomes the responsibility of the HRM to direct it appropriately.
5. Career Planning
This function of Human Resource Management includes development for employees, guidance, and career planning that is collectively called career pathing. HR has to act as the pathfinder for the employees who would benefit the organisational growth and expansion. This kind of planning ensures a strong employer brand, higher productivity, and better succession planning.
6. Function Evaluation
With the dynamism of the industry, this is a technical part of the HR functions list. A strategic approach is required for organisational evaluation to ensure it’s on the right path towards achieving success with regard to its products and services. The company needs to satisfy the customers but also operate strategically.
This involves the evaluation of the entire human resource operations. This includes value addition by the job, economic activities and situation, job responsibilities, working time, job location, availability, and quality of workers. The functions are internally ranked through several methods: the personal method, Points method, classification method, and ranking method.
7. Rewards and Recognition
To attract an appropriate candidate towards the organisation, rewards, compensation, benefits play an essential role. This also leads to suitable employee recognition, which helps in boosting employee motivation. The rewards differ as per the culture, country, and fields of work. However, companies should note that rewards stretch more than money and go up to psychological and relational outcomes.
Satisfying work-life balance, conducive organisational culture, recognition, status, opportunities, growth all come under the roof of rewards. The Employee Value Proposition creates the brand image to the outside world and the prospective employees. Informal and formal development opportunities, feedback, growth opportunities, autonomy, alternating work, status, job security, social environment, bonuses, performance-based pay, base salary are all the components of rewards that are essential to boost the performance of the employees.
All the above HRM functions relate to talent management and are essential for attracting, motivating, developing, and retaining high-performing employees.
8. Industrial Relations
This function of HR is for maintaining and nurturing relations with labour unions, their members, and collectives for the benefit of the organisation. Every country has its way to monitor trade unions. With cordial relations with the trade unions, it becomes convenient to resolve the conflicts easily, and there would be considerable support at times of crisis or layoffs.
9. Employee Communication and Participation
It is the employees’ right to be heard and informed about the relevant information, topics, and events. People advocacy include communication expert, workplace champion, people practices, culture building, and many more such features and is developed for the futuristic HR workforce.
10. Health and Safety
Making and implementing the safety, security, and health regulations for the employee is important. It is one of the most integral functions of the Human Resource Management department. The safety and security of the employees should always be the priority of the employers. This motivates the employees for better performance.
11. Personal Well Being
Personal well being implies supporting the employees when they need the organisation’s support, such as when unplanned things appear. It is a vital function of Human Resource Management required to be overseen by this department. Problems in and outside the company hamper the productivity, engagement, and performance of the employee. Communication is the key to understanding the well-being of the employees. Therefore, HR is responsible for open communication through which they can understand the needs of the employees, leading to employee retention.
12. Administrative responsibilities
The last and the most critical function of Human Resource Management is about the personnel procedures and the information system about HR.
Unwanted bullying and intimacy, racial and cultural diversity, regulations, illness, performance improvement, discipline, relocations, promotions are all handled with this function. For every such situation that arises, procedures and policies are developed and adhered to for overcoming the challenges and complying with the requests.
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Conclusion
Human resource management is a multi-faceted and multi-talented role for companies to achieve their goals by strategically enabling the workforce. Human resource management functions require a wide variety of flexible and dynamic skills to change and adjust to changing society and behaviour. Only core qualification is not enough to be a successful human resource manager. Instead, acquired and flexible changes are highly essential to be one.