Human resource managers act as a bridge between the company's management and its employees. These professionals are responsible for creating a safe, efficient workplace by balancing various employee demands and relations with business-related needs.
Human resource management (HRM) includes managing, coordinating and allocating employees to meet the organisation's goals. It mainly focuses on ensuring the safety of employees, investing in them, and managing every aspect of staffing - from recruitment to compensation and development.
If you want to study human resources online, read this guide to find everything you need about human resource management.
What is human resource?
Before we understand what human resource management is, we must understand what human resources is. Human resources, or HR, is a part of a business responsible for selecting, recruiting, screening and training aspiring employees. This division also administers the benefit programmes of the employees.
This department is responsible for managing a business employee experience throughout the entire work life-cycle of the employee in the organisation. In various companies, HR must administer compensation benefits.
This department is necessary as it helps add value to an organisation by offering objective guidance to employees and managers on people-related matters. This work is carried out with day-to-day support for company employees, project work and strategic planning.
What is human resource management?
Human resource management (HRM) can be described as the practice of recruiting, hiring, deploying and managing the employees of an organisation. The strategies of HRM focus on actively improving and advancing a company’s workforce, having a long-term mission of enhancing the company.
Employees who join a company don’t come with only technical knowledge, skills and experience. They are also humans with personal perceptions, desires, attitudes, motives and values. With proper HRM, companies can maintain the balance and create a smooth transition for their employees.
An essential aspect of human resource management is maintaining the ‘humane approach’ when managing the employees. The manager considers his employees as crucial resources.
This approach helps in effectively using the workforce, not just for the benefit of the business but also for the development, growth and self-satisfaction of the people concerned.
Human resource management focuses on human resource development and influential people management. A HR management course can help new professionals to learn from industry experts and implement their suggestions.
How does human resource management work?
Individuals in the HR department manage the daily activities of all human resource-related functions. The HR department can vary in size, nature and structure. Some of the HR job titles found in different companies are:
- HR manager
- HR Assistant
- HR business partner
- Recruiting manager
- Recruiter
- Recruiting coordinator
- Immigration specialist
- Talent management specialist
- Compensation specialist, etc.
Objectives of human resource management
To practise effective HRM, you must understand the aims of. There are four main objectives of human resource management, which are as follows:
- Societal objectives: These can be defined as measures developed for responding to the employee and company's social and ethical needs and challenges. This has legal issues like equal pay offered for equal work and opportunity.
- Functional objectives: These guidelines have been set to keep the functioning of the HR pepper. It includes ensuring that all the HR resources are allocated to their full potential.
- Organisational objectives: These can be defined as actions to ensure organisational efficiency. It provides adequate training, hiring the correct number of employees for a particular project and having a high employee retention rate.
- Personal objectives: These resources are used to support the employees' individual goals. They include opportunities needed for career development and education as well as maintaining the satisfaction of the employees.
Some of the specific objectives of HRM are:
- Make the entire use of the abilities and skills of every employee.
- Recruiting and retaining productive employees.
- Make sure that the new employees are offered proper training.
- Communication company procedures, policies, and rules to the employees.
- Maintain legal, ethical and socially responsible behaviours and policies in the workplace.
- Create and maintain a positive employee experience with a high quality of life and satisfaction; motivate the employees to contribute their best efforts to their work.
Need for human resource management
HRM is to recognise the value an employee adds to the organisation, also referred to as human capital. Investing in the company e, employees, and strategically supporting their needs will improve employee motivation and satisfaction.
Employees who are well-trained, valued, supported and competent by their employers are likelier to develop the skills and creativity needed to achieve the company’s target.
Let us understand the need for human resource management in a business.
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Develop skills of employees
The purpose of HRM is to create a highly efficient and skilled workforce. They also want to boost the confidence and competence so that the company’s employees are motivated to contribute. The human resource department or an HR manager might offer the following:
- On-the-job training
- Mentorship within the organisation
- Tuition reimbursement programme
- Career development programmes for helping employees to explore their potential.
Apart from these, a certification course in HR management is also offered by a number of companies to help their HR professionals learn about HRM.
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Promote a productive and positive workplace culture
HRM focuses on maintaining and protecting the company's culture and offering employees job satisfaction. Most of an employee's motivation stems from the organisation's work culture. This is where employee engagement programmes come into play.
These programmes help in fostering a collaborative and inclusive workplace culture. Even though quantifying and measuring the work culture might be challenging, it is a crucial part of HRM for retaining and recruiting employees.
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Protect the employees
The primary purpose of practising human resource management in an organisation is to protect the employees. HR professionals are responsible for ensuring that every employee's needs are being strategically met so that the employee is satisfied and the company goal is not harmed.
HR professionals manage all legal documentation, regulations, and policies which apply to the organisation. They find effective ways to educate the employees and enforce the company's policy. HRM acts as a partner or ally to the employees. HRM emphasises employee development while protecting the employees from workplace discrimination, hazards and unfair treatment or compensation.
Understanding the fundamentals of HRM
Human resource management involves the management of a company or the company’s operations and employees.
This includes recruiting and hiring employees, their management and the direction offered to these employees. There are a number of primary functions and fundamentals of HRM, which are as follows:
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Recruiting and staffing
Recruiting and staffing are fundamental to human resource management. Human resource managers are responsible for advertising the open positions in their organisation. It is a part of their job role to fill up open positions in the organisation with qualified individuals.
Depending on the applications that they receive, they select the person they want to interview. They conduct interviews and choose the candidate who fits the organisation correctly. Sometimes, they ask candidates to perform various tasks to test the individual’s ability to do the job.
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Training and development
Human resource managers are responsible for training and developing the company's employees. They train the new employees, help them learn about the company guidelines, and help them understand the place's work and culture. They are also responsible for constantly developing the existing employees to prepare them for new changes.
These professionals help the employees perform their best by offering various programmes which allow them to grow and maintain their expertise and skills. This, in turn, helps in improving the efficiency of performance in the workplace. Motivating the new employees to enrol in an HR management course online, will help the newcomers to have an understanding of the basics.
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Performance management and evaluations
HRM also involves the process of evaluating the performance of an employee. This is generally done multiple times annually and helps foster communication between the employee and the team lead. Performance evaluation allows employees to perform their best at work, boosting the company’s efficiency.
HR personnel help define the company's goals and objectives, enabling the employees to use the performance management software and call meetings to foster discussions. This is essential as performance management helps supervisors understand the potential and ability of an employee for future development and growth.
According to the supervisors' evaluation, they can create a plan for achieving future goals to improve an employee's performance.
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Payroll and benefits
A crucial area of human resource management is payroll and benefits. Individuals working in the HR department of a company are tasked to create strategic compensation plans and negotiate the employees' healthcare benefits.
They are also responsible for ensuring the company seniors adhere to its policies. A competitive benefits package and compensation plan can be attractive to potential employees. Hence, HR managers must put together strategic offers which will help attract and retain employees in the future.
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Succession planning
Succession planning is a crucial part of human resource management. It includes identifying and developing employees who can step in and replace certain seniors as and when they leave the position.
For instance, when a leader retires, human resource managers must already have a succession plan. This is a crucial step in HRM as it helps ensure the business continues operating smoothly even when the leaders keep changing.
The three crucial points of human resource management
To understand human resource management better, you must understand the three crucial areas of it. They are as follows:
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Recruitment
The recruitment process can be defined as identifying, attracting, selecting, hiring and onboarding employees. It involves everything in hiring a new employee - from identifying to staffing. Recruiting individuals with the right qualifications, skill set and experiences for available job roles is an integral step in the company's long-term success.
Recruitment of new employees is an integral part of human resource management. This is done by posting ads about open spots on job boards, social media platforms and other mediums. Employers do this in the hopes of hiring new, well-deserving candidates.
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Selection
An essential step in continuing the process of recruitment is the process of selection. HR professionals are responsible for selecting the correct fit for the company from the vast pool of applications. As an HR professional, you must review resumes, interview candidates, and narrow your options to deserving ones.
The process of selection is different for every company. Depending on the available positions, HR professionals select the candidates. Simply defining, selection is a simple process of choosing the right candidate who is ideal for the vacant position in the company.
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Retention
As the name suggests, retention is the ability of an organisation to hold on to its employees. HR professionals are responsible for developing strategies to mitigate employee turnover risks. They must also work towards developing strategies for increasing the retention of top talent.
Employee retention strategies are essential for boosting the productivity of the employees. It also helps promote higher engagement levels, ultimately increasing revenue. Employee retention also helps build a team of hardworking, trustworthy and loyal individuals.
How do HR professionals support the employees?
It has been well-established that an essential duty of HR managers is to protect the best interest of the employees. In the human resource department, you must support the employees by offering the proper training, education and support for their well-being and health.
Proper human resources are primarily needed for maintaining employee morale and satisfaction. How HR professionals support their employees can vary from company to company. Here are some ways the HR department can offer support to their employees.
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Offer a career path within the company.
As a human resource professional, you will support the employees by offering them a career path with the company. The department should offer properly defined avenues for promotions, advancements and transfers to other divisions and departments.
This helps ensure the employees continue working with the company rather than seeking opportunities when ready for new challenges.
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Offer continuous education programmes.
HR professionals can also oversee continuing education programmes for the benefit of the employee and the employer. This could be tuition reimbursement for professional development for certifications and courses.
Providing employees the opportunity to enhance their industry knowledge and skill set can boost their morale and motivate them to do their best work for the company. A certification course in HR management has often been used as a recruitment and retention tool.
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Train and support the leaders.
In the HR department, you have to work with the managers and heads of departments to help enhance their skills and knowledge.
By providing proper training to the company's leaders, you will be helping employees throughout the company. Your training may be focused on disciplinary issues, effective feedback, staff motivation, technical skills, diversity, and compliance with the law.
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Support the wellness and health of employees.
Adequate HRM requires HR professionals to support the employees by assisting with their retirement planning, medical health plans, employee assistance programmes and disability benefits.
These programmes help employees manage stress and resolve conflicts outside the workplace, which otherwise might interfere with their work. For some companies, these benefits are also extended to the immediate family.
Human resource management careers
There are several careers in human resource management that you can choose to explore. Here are some of the career options that you can choose from:
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Training manager
A training manager is responsible for establishing the education and training curriculum for the new employees of the organisation. These professionals manage a training coordinators team along with volunteer instructors from the company.
Training managers are also responsible for managing instructor-led training resources, such as training materials, securing facilities and scheduling instructors. They oversee the entire learning management system to enrol employees in training programmes and deliver online training.
Average salary: INR 7,90,000 per annum
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Training Coordinator
Training coordinators, working under the training manager, are responsible for developing and delivering employee training programmes. These programmes might include instructor-led classes or online education programmes.
The topics covered during the training period of new employees are designed in such a way that helps the new employees learn about the role that they are going to play in the company. The education programmes also cover specific company policies, technological training, supervisor development and personal and professional development.
Average salary: INR 3,40,000 per annum
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Human resource manager
Human resource managers plan, coordinate and oversee the different functions of human resource management. They are responsible for ensuring that an organisation complies with the applicable employment laws and provides benefits programmes and competitive compensation.
These professionals have extensive industry experience and are well-versed in the best practices and the regulations applicable to hire, develop and retain the organisation's human capital.
Average salary: INR 12,00,000 per annum
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Benefits manager
These professionals are responsible for developing and administering an organisation's benefits package. This could include health insurance programmes, life insurance, retirement options, employee assistance programmes, wellness programmes, tuition assistance and retirement options. This helps in encouraging a healthy and productive workforce.
Benefits managers are also responsible for negotiating the insurance plans and the rates with the vendors, transacting employee records with vendors, and coordinating resources for wellness programmes.
Average salary: INR 10,90,000 per annum
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Compensation Specialist
Compensation specialists are responsible for managing an organisation’s salary administration policies. This includes recommending and establishing the pay and compensation plans for all the job roles of the organisation.
They are also responsible for reviewing and managing job descriptions to ensure the classification and compensation for the job role are appropriate. Compensation specialists must research the labour market to ensure the organisation offers competitive salaries and compensation packages.
Average salary: INR 14,00,000 per annum
Conclusion
Adequate human resource management is essential for the success of any business. The people working in a company are its biggest resources. Hence, companies need to protect employees, considering the best interests of both the employee and the employer.
In human resource management, policies and procedures are developed to foster a culture which reflects the core values and empowers the employees.
If you want to study human resources online, check out the Human Resource Management and Analytics CEC programmes by Imarticus. This certification course in HR management has been developed in collaboration with IIT Roorkee. It will prepare the participants to work in a contemporary business environment.
