Human Resource Management AS Business

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Human resource management (HRM) - the strategic approach to the effective management of an organisation's workers so that they help the business gain a competitive advantage

Workforce planning - analysing and forecasting the numbers of workers and the skills of those workers that will be required by the organisation to achieve its objectives

Workforce audit - a check on the skills and qualifications of all existing workers and managers

Recruitment - the process of identifying the need for a new employee, defining the job to be fulfilled and the type of person needed to fill it, attracting suitable candidates for the job and selecting the best one

Job description - a detailed list of the key points about the job to be filled - stating all its key tasks and responsibilities

Person specification - a detailed list of the qualities, skills and qualifications that a successful applicant will need to have

Training - work related education to increase workforce skills and efficiency

On-the-job training - instruction at the place of work on how a job should be carried out

Off-the-job training - all training undertaken away from the workplace

Induction training - introductory training programme to familiarise new recruits with the system used in the business and the layout of the business site

Staff appraisal - the process of assessing the effectiveness of an employee judged against pre-set objectives

Employment contract - a legal document that sets out the terms and conditions governing the worker's job

Dismissal - being dismissed or sacked from a job due to incompetence or breach of discipline

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 the employee doing this job becomes redundant through no faults oh his or her own

Temporary employment contract - employment contract that lasts for a fixed time period - ie. six months

Part-time employment contract - employment contract that is for less than the normal full working week of 40 hours - ie. eight hours a week

Flexi-time contract - employment contract that allows staff to be called in at times convenient to employers and employees

Outsourcing - not employing staff directly, but using an outside agency or organisation to carry out some business functions

Teleworking - staff working from home but keeping contact with the office by means of modern IT communications

Hard human resource management - an approach to managing staff that focuses on cutting costs - ie. temporary and part-time employment contracts, offering maximum flexibility but with minimum training costs

Soft human resource management - an approach to managing staff that focuses on developing staff so that they reach self-fulfilment and are motivated to work hard and stay with the business

Poaching - well qualified staff leaving for a better paid job once they have gained qualifications from a business with a good training programme

Human resource management purpose and role

recruit, train and use the workers of an organisation in the most productive manner to assist the organisation in the achievement of its objectives

personnel departments used to be responsible for recruiting, training, discipline and welfare of staff and tended to be:

bureaucratic in their approach with an inflexible approach to staff issues

focused on recruitment, selection and discipline rather than development and training

reluctant to give any human resource roles to any other departmental managers

not represented at board of directors level and not part of the strategic management team

human resource is broader and more far-reaching in scope and focuses on:

planning the workforce needs of the business

recruiting and selecting appropriate staff, using a variety if techniques

appraising, training and developing staff at every stage of their career

preparing contracts of employment for all staff and deciding on whether these should be permanent or temporary, full or part-time

involving all managers in the development of their staff - emphasising that this is not just a human resource responsibility

improving staff morale and welfare

developing appropriate pay systems for different categories of staff

measuring and monitoring staff performance

Planning the workforce needs of the business - strategic workforce planning

HR needs to plan the future staffing needs of the business

if not done would lead to many staff or staff with wrong skills

HR must work with the corporate plan of the business and the objectives this contains

start with a workforce audit

then assess staff and skills needed

Number of staff needed for the future depends on:

forecast demand for the firms product

productivity levels of staff

objectives of the business

changes in the law regarding worker's rights

labour turnover and absenteeism

The skills of the staff required

the pace of technological change in the industry

the need for flexible or =multi-skilled staff as businesses try to avoid excessive specialisation

Recruiting and selecting staff

establishing the exact nature of the job vacancy and drawing up a job description

drawing up a persons specification

preparing a job advertisement reflecting the requirements of the job and the personal qualities needed

drawing up a shortlist of applicants

conducting interviews - or using other selection methods

Training, developing and appraising staff

induction training

on-the-job training

off-the-job training

Development and appraisal of staff

continuous process

form of new challenges and opportunities, additional training course and promotion with additional delegated authority and lastly job enrichment

essential component of staff self-fulfilment

Involving all managers in staff development

HR should not perform their duties in isolation

recruitment and selection requires important information which they can get from the department with the vacancies

effective appraisal requires reports from an employees supervisor and line manager

training and developing of staff will also benefit from a substantial input from other business managers

HR must keep all managers of the business informed of the tasks being undertaken

ensure that training and developing needs are coordinated with all departments

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