HRM Model & HRM Chart

Objective of HRM

Objectives are pre-determined goals to which individual or group activity in an organization is directed. Objectives of personnel management are influenced by organizational objectives and individual and social goals. Institutions are instituted to attain certain specific objectives. The objectives of the economic institutions are mostly to earn profits, and of the educational institutions are mostly to impart education and / or conduct research so on and so forth. However, the fundamental objective of any organization is survival.

Organizations are not just satisfied with this goal. Further the goal of most of the organizations is growth and / or profits.

Institutions procure and manage various resources including human to attain the specified objectives. Thus, human resources are managed to divert and utilize their resources towards and for the accomplishment of organizational objectives. Therefore, basically the objectives of HRM are drawn from and to contribute to the accomplishment of the organizational objectives. The other objectives of HRM are to meet the needs, aspirations, values and dignity of individual employees and having due concern for the socio-economic problems of the community and the country.

The objectives of HRM may be as follows:

To create and utilize an able and motivated workforce, to accomplish the basic organizational goals.

To establish and maintain sound organizational structure and desirable working relationships among all the members of the organization.

To secure the integration of individual or groups within the organization by co-ordination of the individual and group goals with those of the organization.

To create facilities and opportunities for individual or group development so as to match it with the growth of the organization.

To attain an effective utilization of human resources in the achievement of organizational goals.

To identify and satisfy individual and group needs by providing adequate and equitable wages, incentives, employee benefits and social security and measures for challenging work, prestige, recognition, security, status.

To maintain high employees morale and sound human relations by sustaining and improving the various conditions and facilities.

To strengthen and appreciate the human assets continuously by providing training and development programs.

To consider and contribute to the minimization of socio-economic evils such as unemployment, under-employment, inequalities in the distribution of income and wealth and to improve the welfare of the society by providing employment opportunities to women and disadvantaged sections of the society.

To provide an opportunity for expression and voice management.

To provide fair, acceptable and efficient leadership.

To provide facilities and conditions of work and creation of favorable atmosphere for maintaining stability of employment.

HRM systems diagnostic checklists

HRM systems diagnostic checklists

The following check-lists present some questions which may prove helpful for you to think about when planning your development programs for human resources (your people) in your organization.

Use them to provoke thought and to stimulate discussion. Consult with others in your organization. They will help you to identify the critical human resource issues facing your organization.

The aim is to begin to explore how a considered and planned approach to people management can improve business performance, to the benefit of all.

Use this checklist in conjunction with our diagnostic Team Building instrument. It will, via your team members responses identify critical issues they perceive as important. These issues may be at odds with your own perceptions and analysis and therefore any such discrepancy will need to be addressed.

Warning Indicators
Your organization is more than likely in trouble if any of the following holds true:
chronic industrial relations problems
no means of resolving employee grievances
increasing / erratic employee turnover
increasing number of customer complaints
no pride in the organization
inter-group conflicts
no career paths for ambitious talented employees
dissatisfaction with pay and conditions
unclear job roles
no clear performance measures
quality is unimportant
bad product service / delivery records
poor recruitment standards / practices
no management development programs
no induction training for new employees
critical skill shortages
inter-departmental conflict
you do not know if any of the above are applicable
you ignore any of the above

Culture, organization, people, systems (COPS) Checklist
Culture
Do your staff identify with the organization and 'the success of the organization' as being of direct benefit to themselves?
Do your staff see themselves as having common interests with their work colleagues and group? Is there a strong team spirit?
Is work allocated on the basis of individual expertise rather than position in the organization?
Are there sufficient skills / power bases in the organization?
Are there appropriate leadership skills within the organization?
Are your staff encouraged to say what they think about the organization?
Does your organization encourage innovation and creativity amongst staff?
Do your staff feel a sense of personal responsibility for their work?
Is quality emphasized in all aspects of the organization?

Organization
Does the structure of your organization encourage effective performance?
Is the organization structure flexible in the face of changing demands?
Is the structure too complex? If so in what areas?
Do your staff have clear roles and responsibilities?
Does your organization structure tend to push problems up rather than resolve them at the point where they occur?
Do your procedures and management practices facilitate the accomplishment of tasks?
Do you constantly seek to challenge your organization structure?

People
Do your staff have the necessary skills and knowledge to perform their jobs in the most effective manner?
Do your staff understand their jobs and how they contribute to overall business performance i.e. have clear goals and objectives?
Do your staff have a customer service orientation?
Are people with potential spotted and developed for the future?
Are your staff encouraged to perform well through the giving of recognition, feedback, etc.?
Do your people know what their expected performance standards are?

Systems
Do your organization's systems (e.g. Employee selection and Recruitment, promotion, planning, management, information and control) encourage effective performance among your staff?
Are these systems consistent across the organization?
Are there clear rewards for effective performance within your work group?
Does the organization review its systems frequently and ensure they mutually support each other?

You may now wish to consider and write down:
What are the three critical people issues facing your business?
What plans /actions can you take to address these issues?

Strategy for HRM

Strategy for HRM : These issues motivate a well thought out human resource management strategy, with the precision and detail of say a marketing strategy. Failure in not having a carefully crafted human resources management strategy, can and probably will lead to failures in the business process itself.

This set of resources are offered to promote thought, stimulate discussion, diagnose the organizational environment and develop a sound human resource management strategy for your organization. We begin by looking at the seven distinguishable function human resource management provide to secure the achievement of the objective defined above.
Steps in developing HRM strategy

Step 1: Get the 'big picture'
Understand your business strategy.

*Highlight the key driving forces of your business. What are they? e.g. technology, distribution, competition, the markets.
*What are the implications of the driving forces for the people side of your business?
*What is the fundamental people contribution to bottom line business performance?

Step 2: Develop a Mission Statement or Statement of Intent
That relates to the people side of the business.

Do not be put off by negative reactions to the words or references to idealistic statements - it is the actual process of thinking through the issues in a formal and explicit manner that is important.

What do your people contribute?

Step 3: Conduct a SWOT analysis of the organization
Focus on the internal strengths and weaknesses of the people side of the business.
Consider the current skill and capability issues.

Vigorously research the external business and market environment. High light the opportunities and threats relating to the people side of the business.

What impact will/ might they have on business performance?
Consider skill shortages?
The impact of new technology on staffing levels?

From this analysis you then need to review the capability of your personnel department. Complete a SWOT analysis of the department - consider in detail the department's current areas of operation, the service levels and competences of your personnel staff.

Step 4: Conduct a detailed human resources analysis
Concentrate on the organization's COPS (culture, organization, people, HR systems)
Consider: Where you are now? Where do you want to be?
What gaps exists between the reality of where you are now and where you want to be?

Step 5: Determine critical people issues
Go back to the business strategy and examine it against your SWOT and COPS Analysis
Identify the critical people issues namely those people issues that you must address. Those which have a key impact on the delivery of your business strategy.
Prioritize the critical people issues. What will happen if you fail to address them?

Step 6: Develop consequences and solutions
For each critical issue highlight the options for managerial action generate, elaborate and create - don't go for the obvious. This is an important step as frequently people jump for the known rather than challenge existing assumptions about the way things have been done in the past. Think about the consequences of taking various courses of action.

Consider the mix of HR systems needed to address the issues. Do you need to improve communications, training or pay?
What are the implications for the business and the personnel function?
Once you have worked through the process it should then be possible to translate the action plan into broad objectives. These will need to be broken down into the specialist HR Systems areas of:

*employee training and development
*management development
*organization development
*Performance appraisal
*employee reward
*employee selection and recruitment
*manpower planning
*communication

Step 7: Implementation and evaluation of the action plans

The ultimate purpose of developing a human resource strategy is to ensure that the objectives set are mutually supportive so that the reward and payment systems are integrated with employee training and career development plans.

There is very little value or benefit in training people only to then frustrate them through a failure to provide ample career and development opportunities.

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. Usually small businesses (for-profit or nonprofit) have to carry out these activities themselves because they can't yet afford part- or full-time help. However, they should always ensure that employees have -- and are aware of -- personnel policies which conform to current regulations. These policies are often in the form of employee manuals, which all employees have.

Note that some people distinguish a difference between between HRM (a major management activity) and HRD (Human Resource Development, a profession). Those people might include HRM in HRD, explaining that HRD includes the broader range of activities to develop personnel inside of organizations, including, eg, career development, training, organization development, etc.

There is a long-standing argument about where HR-related functions should be organized into large organizations, eg, "should HR be in the Organization Development department or the other way around?"

The HRM function and HRD profession have undergone tremendous change over the past 20-30 years. Many years ago, large organizations looked to the "Personnel Department," mostly to manage the paperwork around hiring and paying people. More recently, organizations consider the "HR Department" as playing a major role in staffing, training and helping to manage people so that people and the organization are performing at maximum capability in a highly fulfilling manner.

Human Resource Management

Human Resources may be the most misunderstood of all corporate departments, but it's also the most necessary. Those who work in Human Resources are not only responsible for hiring and firing, they also handle contacting job references and administering employee benefits.

It's true that any individual who works in Human Resources must be a "people person." Since anyone in this department deals with a number of employees, as well as outside individuals, on any given day, a pleasant demeanor is a must.Managing employees is a major job, so those in Human Resources must be equal to the task. Ten or twenty years ago, Human Resources personnel were rarely seen. Instead they worked behind the scenes to ensure personnel records were in order and employee benefits were being properly administered, but the job stopped there.

Today's Human Resources personnel don't only handle small administrative tasks. They are responsible for staffing major corporations. This is no minor feat.It's not enough to be able to screen potential employees, however. Those who work in Human Resources also have to be able to handle a crisis in a smooth, discreet manner. Whether the issue is health care related or regarding sexual harassment or employee disputes, a person working in Human Resources must be trusted to keep an employee's personal details to herself. The Human Resource team must also be a good judge of morale and realize when morale boosting incentives are needed. It's up to them to make sure all employees are comfortable with their surroundings and working under acceptable, if not above average, conditions.

For those looking to enter a career in Human Resources, a college education is necessary. One doesn't necessarily have to have a degree in Human Resources, however. Majoring in Business Administration, Psychology, Labor Relations and Personnel Administration, as well as degrees in Social and Behavioral Sciences, can also be beneficial.Human Resources may have gotten a bum rap, but it's clearly among the most important departments in any corporation. The next time you have to meet with someone from Human Resources, remember that without her, your company might not be running so efficiently.Overall Human Resources Management can be defined as a "strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organisations most valued assets - the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of its goals" (from A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice - Michael Armstrong - 2000 revised edition).Human resource (or personnel) management, in the sense of getting things done through people.

It's an essential part of every manager's responsibilities, but many organizations find it advantageous to establish a specialist division to provide an expert service dedicated to ensuring that the human resource function is performed efficiently."People are our most valuable asset" is a cliché which no member of any senior management team would disagree with. Yet, the reality for many organizations is that their people remain"

*under valued

* under trained

*under utilized

* poorly motivated, and consequently

*perform well below their true capability

The rate of change facing organizations has never been greater and organizations must absorb and manage change at a much faster rate than in the past. In order to implement a successful business strategy to face this challenge, organizations, large or small, must ensure that they have the right people capable of delivering the strategy.The market place for talented, skilled people is competitive and expensive. Taking on new staff can be disruptive to existing employees. Also, it takes time to develop 'cultural awareness', product/ process/ organization knowledge and experience for new staff members.As organizations vary in size, aims, functions, complexity, construction, the physical nature of their product, and appeal as employers, so do the contributions of human resource management. But, in most the ultimate aim of the function is to: "ensure that at all times the business is correctly staffed by the right number of people with the skills relevant to the business needs", that is, neither overstaffed nor understaffed in total or in respect of any one discipline or work grade.