Functions & evolution of human resource management

Functions & evolution of human resource management

1. Human Resource Management

   • the strategic approach to the effective management of an organisation's workers so that they help the business gain a competitive advantage.
   • HRM aims to recruit capable, flexible and committed people, managing and rewarding their performance and developing their key skills to the benefit of the organisation.
   • Human resource planning aims to get the right number of people with the right skills, experience and competencies in the right jobs at the right time at the right cost.
   • Demographic change
     • Changes in the size, structure and distribution of populations over time and place.
     • The potential supply of labour to any organisation is affected by demographic changes.
     • Occupational mobility of labour
       • The extent to which workers are willing and able to move to different jobs requiring different skills.
       • Geographical mobility of labour
         • The extent to which workers are willing to move to a new  region to take up new jobs.

2. THE EFFECT OF DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE ON LABOUR SUPPLY

   • 1. NATURAL POPULATION GROWTH
     • Opportunities:
It may be easier to recruit good staff as working population increases
     • Constraints:
Increased birth rates may take years before they impact on the working population
   • 2. NET MIGRATION
     • Opportunities:
It may be easier to recruit good staff at lower rates of pay
 Highly qualified staff might be recruited from other countries
     • Constraints:
'Brain drain' of qualified and experienced staff to other countries will reduce competitiveness
 Immigrants may need more training; e.g., in language and cultural issues
   • 3. AGEING POPULATION
     • Opportunities:
It is often claimed that older staff are more loyal and reliable than younger workers
     • Constraints:
Older staff may be less flexible and adaptable; e.g., to the introduction of new workplace technologies (caution! this is very stereotypical)
   • Reasons for relatively low mobility of labour in developed countries:
     • High levels of home ownership mean that workers are reluctant to pay the cost in time and money of arranging a house sale and purchase in another region.
     • High skill levels in one occupation may mean that workers are not equipped to deal with machines, processes and technologies in other industries and occupations.
   • Reasons for relatively high mobility of labour in developing countries:
     • Home ownership is low.
     • Low skill levels may mean that workers can undertake low-skilled jobs in many different industries.

3. Demographic changes

   • The service sector is the biggest employer
   • Female participation in the work-force has increased
   • An aging population is placing pressure on people to retire later
   • Immigration programs are being used to cover skills gaps
   • Deskilling is occurring in some of the primary and secondary sectors
   • Many business are sticking to core functions and outsourcing non-core functions to specialist businesses

4. WORKFORCE PLANNING

   • Forecasting the number of staff required
     • Forecasting the number of staff required depends on:
       • Forecasting demand for the firm's product
       • The productivity levels of staff
       • The objectives of the business
       • Changes in the law regarding workers' rights
       • Labour turnover and absenteeism
   • Forecasting the skills required
   • Labour turnover:
     • A measure of how many people leave a business over a given period of time.
     • It is usually expressed as a percentage of the total labour force
   • Absenteeism
     • Frequent absence from work or another place without a good explanation
   • Workforce audit
     • A check on the skills and qualifications of existing employees.
     • Thinking ahead and establishing the number and skills of the workforce required by the business to meet its objectives.
   • Recruitment
     • the process of finding suitable job applicants using advertisements, employment agencies and word of mouth.
     • When an organisation decides to recruit staff, it may choose internal or external recruitment methods.

5. Steps in the recruitment & selection process

   • Establish the exact nature of the job vacancy and draw up a job description
   • Draw up a person specification
   • Prepare a job advertisement reflecting the requirements of the job and the personal qualities looked for
   • Draw up a short list of applicants
   • Conduct interviews
   • Job description
     • A detailed list of the key points about the job to be filled, stating the key tasks and responsibilities of it.
     • Person specification
       • A detailed list of the qualities, skills and qualifications that a successful applicant will need to have.

6. On-the-job training

   • nvolves instruction at the place of work.
   • It is often conducted either by the HR managers or departmental training officers.
   • Watching or working closely with existing experienced members of staff is a frequent component of this form of training.
   • It is cheaper than sending recruits on external training courses and the content is controlled by the business itself. A special type of on-the-job training is induction training.

7. Induction training

   • given to all new recruits.
   • It has the objective of introducing them to the people that they will be working with most closely, explaining the internal organisational structure, outlining the layout of the premises and making clear essential health and safety issues.

8. Off-the-job training

   • entails any course of instruction away from the place of work.
   • This could be a specialist training centre belonging to the firm itself or a course organised by an outside body, such as a university or computer manufacturer, tom introduce new ideas that no one in the firm currently has knowledge of.
   • These courses can be expensive, yet they may be indispensable if the firm lacks anyone with this degree of technical knowledge.

9. Cognitive training

   • designed to train and develop the mental skills of employees to improve their performance.
   • The assumption behind it is that learning in itself is one of the most fundamental and important skills an employee can have.
   • Staff who can learn new skills will be the most successful in the workplace. Cognitive training can involve activities to improve memory, listening skills and attention, logic and reasoning, problem solving and time management.

10. Behavioural training

    • Targets functional issues that can lead to increased worker performance by changing certain behaviours. For behavioural training to be effective, a desirable change in staff behaviour, both personal and professional, needs to eventuate. Examples of this include:
    • Team building Conflict resolution Stress management Leadership skills Business etiquette

11. Staff Appraisal

    • The process of assessing the effectiveness of an employee judged against pre-set objectives.
    • Appraisal is often undertaken annually. It is an essential component of a staff development programme.
    • The analysis of performance against pre-set and agreed targets with the setting of new targets allows the future performance of the worker to be linked to the objectives of the business.
    • Dismissal
      • Being removed or 'sacked' from a job due to incompetence or breach of discipline.
      • Dismissal could result from the employee being unable to do the job to the standard required.
      • It may also be that the employee has broken one of the crucial conditions of employment.

12. Contract of employment

    • A legal document that sets out the terms and conditions governing a worker's job.
    • Unfair dismissal
      • Ending a worker's employment contract for a reason that the law regards as being unfair.
      • Redundancy
        • When a job is no longer required so that the employee doing this job becomes redundant through no fault of her own

13. Advantages of flexible employment contracts for firms

    • Staff can be required to work at particularly busy periods of the day, but not during the slow periods.
      • Most staff are available to be called upon should there be sickness or other causes of absenteeism.
        • The efficiency of staff can be measured before they are offered a full-time contract.
          • Savings on overheads costs can be made by using teleworking; e.g., smaller office premises = cheaper rent.
    • Disadvantages of flexible employment contracts for firms
      • There will be more staff to 'manage' than if they were all full time.
        • Effective communication will become that more difficult - more staff and associated difficulties in scheduling meetings where all staff can be present.
          • Motivation levels may be adversely affected as part-time staff may feel less involved.
            • Some managers fear the teleworking lowers productivity as workers can no longer be effectively supervised.

14. Vocaublary

    • Temporary employment contract
      • Employment contract that lasts for a fixed time period; e.g., six months.
    • Part-time employment contract:
      • An employment contract that is for less than the normal full working week of, say, 40 hours; e.g. 10 hours per week.
    • Flexi-time employment contract
      • An employment contract that allows staff that allows staff to be called in at times most convenient to employers and employees; e.g., at busy times of the day.
    • Temporary employment contract
      • Employment contract that lasts for a fixed time period; e.g., six months.
    • Part-time employment contract:
      • An employment contract that is for less than the normal full working week of, say, 40 hours; e.g. 10 hours per week.
    • Flexi-time employment contract
      • An employment contract that allows staff that allows staff to be called in at times most convenient to employers and employees; e.g., at busy times of the day.
    • Outsourcing:
      • Not employing staff directly, but using an outside agency or organisation to carry out some business functions.
      • OUTSOURCING (SUBCONTRACTING)
        • using another business (a ‘third party’) to undertake a part of the production process rather than doing it within the business using the firm’s own employees. When this is done by firms in another country it is called ‘off-shoring’.
        • Business process outsourcing (BPO):
          • a form of outsourcing which uses a third party to take responsibility for certain business functions, such as human resources and finance.
          • Re-shoring:
            • Is off-shoring reversed. It is when a company brings production and operation facilities back to the home country.