Human resource management

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Human Resource Management (HRM) is both an academic theory and a business practice that addresses the theoretical and practical techniques of managing a workforce. The theoretical discipline is based primarily on the assumption that employees are individuals with varying goals and needs, and as such should not be thought of as basic business resources, such as trucks and filing cabinets. The field takes a positive view of workers, assuming that virtually all wish to contribute to the enterprise productively, and that the main obstacles to their endeavors are lack of knowledge, insufficient training, and failures of process.

HRM is seen by practitioners in the field as a more innovative view of workplace management than the traditional approach. Its techniques force the managers of an enterprise to express their goals with specificity so that they can be understood and undertaken by the workforce, and to provide the resources needed for them to successfully accomplish their assignments. As such, HRM techniques, when properly practiced, are expressive of the goals and operating practices of the enterprise overall.

The field also encompasses the sometimes arcane details of what is traditionally referred to as personnel management. Personnel management as a term describes those activities that are necessary in the recruiting of a workforce, providing its members with payroll and benefits, and administrating their work-life needs. In many locales, these activities can require a considerable amount of regulatory knowledge and effort, and many enterprises can benefit from the recruitment and development of personnel with these specific skills.

1 Academic Theory
2 Critical Theory
3 Human Resource Management of Independent Contractors
4 References
5 See also
6 External Links

[edit] Academic Theory

The basic premise of the academic theory of HRM is that humans are not machines. Therefore we need to have an interdisciplinary examination of people in the workplace. Therefore fields such as psychology, industrial and organizational psychology, sociology, and critical theories: postmodernism, post-structuralism play a major role. Many colleges and universities offer bachelor and master degrees in human resources.

[edit] Critical Theory

Critics of HRM have noted that HRM suffers the problem of the connotation of its own name; treating humans as a resource. However, some are trying to change the name of the field to Human Capital.

Rhetoric has had an important consideration within the understanding of critical theory, of the rhetorics and realities of HRM (Legge 2005). Postmodernism and post-structuralism theories play an important part here because we can consider the importance of understanding and contemplating the reality of language and understanding.

Management Gurus have tried to have the effect of attempting to move academic theory into a sellable product, which management gurus and consultants can sell to business leaders.

New Label Some critics have noted that in practice, while the philosophy of HRM has changed the workplace, the department or manager who used to have "Personnel Manager" on their door, has now changed that sign to "Human Resource Manager" and that is the only change.

Empowerment has been noted as a HRM practice which by critics has been noted more as a pseudo-empowerment, based on attitudinal shaping (Wilkinson 1998).

Other such HRM practices have been noted as hidden within rhetoric, and many examples particularly within Call Centers are much more Orwellian, and hide the reality, through attitudinal shaping (Wilkinson 1998).

Human Resource Management is part of a business or company which recruits, develops and utilizes an organization's personnel in the way which would benefit the firm's objectives. Creating alignment between an organization's HRM strategy and the core objectives of a business is seen to be essential.

Human resource management (HRM) is all about managing people, human capital and culture for business success. The Human Resources Management (HRM) function includes a variety of activities, and key among them is deciding what staffing needs you have and whether to use independent contractors or hire employees to fill these needs, recruiting and training the best employees, ensuring they are high performers, dealing with performance issues, and ensuring your personnel and management practices conform to various regulations. Activities also include managing your approach to employee benefits and compensation, employee records and personnel policies.

[edit] Human Resource Management of Independent Contractors

The human resources management of the contingent workforce can be challenging due to the unique legal and operational landscape. There is much research indicating the benefits and advantages to working as and hiring independent consultants. Companies benefit because they can hire a highly skilled and experienced expert to work on a short-term project and do not have to hire the consultant full-time. The benefits of this are that the company incurs a relatively low cost, because they pay a rate to the consultant for exactly and only the amount of time they are needed. The alternative to this would be hiring the consultant permanently and having to pay for the time the professional is not working on a major project. Many industries now have a rising need for the flexibility and speed of deployment of skilled contractors, and permanent talent can never fill this demand. Also the company gets an experienced professional to work on the project, most likely resulting in a finished product of high quality. The independent consultant benefits because he or she may choose when and where to work, on which projects to work (probably those in which he or she is most interested) and can also choose his or her salary by negotiating a competitive billing rate. There are, however, several challenges in managing independent consultants in regards to human resources. The hired consultant often does not work in the same physical office space of the hiring client, and therefore could be rather detached of the company. Also the contractor works for the company for a short period of time. These aspects of the independent consultant's profession could present HR problems in terms of lack of motivation, lack of cohesion with the hiring company's goals and culture, as well as miscommunication between the consultant and his or her manager or director. From a security standpoint, the independent consultant is somewhat of a “foreigner” in the company and may pose concerns about his or her trustworthiness. Also, if the company does not correctly classify the contractor (for example if they were hired as an independent, but are really considered an employee), it is at risk for IRS Reclassification. Although these are legitimate concerns and real challenges, there are several solutions and ways to succeed in the management of independent contractors. For temporary administrative workers, Staffing companies can fulfill the HR need. In the case of more specialized consultants (highly skilled and highly compensated experts), a better solution is to use a Portable Employer of Record or an Umbrella company.

[edit] References

Legge, K. 2005. Human Resource Management: Rhetorics and Realities. Anniversary ed. Macmillan.

Steyaert, C. and Janssens, M. 1999. eds. Organization (Special Issue) [online]. Available from: Sage Publications on the World Wide Web: http://org.sagepub.com/content/vol6/issue2/ [Accessed 16.02.2004]. (Note: Online resource is from an Academic Website, which may require specialist access or payment).

Wilkinson, A. 1998. Empowerment: theory and practice. Personnel Review. [online]. Vol. 27(1): 40-56. Available from: Emerald on the World Wide Web: http://hermia.emeraldinsight.com/vl=2601464/cl=84/nw=1/fm=docpdf/rpsv/cw/mcb/00483486/v27n1/s3/p40 [Accessed 16.02.2004]. (Note: Online resource is from an Academic Website, which may require specialist access or payment).

Lowman, R. 2002. California School of Organizational Studies Handbook of Organizational Consulting Psychology. Jossey-Bass.