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Introduction - The first part introduces the essential elements of human resource
management, its origins and applications. Human resource
management is viewed as an all-embracing term describing a
number of distinctive approaches to people management.
People management - Human resource management
has not 'come out of nowhere'. Human resource
management has absorbed ideas and techniques from a number of areas. In effect,
it is a synthesis of themes and concepts drawn from over a century of management
theory and social science research.
More from Human Resource Management in a Business Context on the theme of
People management
Management thinking - Like fashions in hairstyle and clothing,
management ideas come and go. However, a consistent theme has prevailed
for over twenty years: the most successful organizations make the most
effective use of their people - their human resources.
This excerpt from Human Resource Management in a Business Context outlines some of the major
management ideas
Personnel management - The renewed emphasis on the importance of human
resources in the 1980s and 90s drew attention to the way in which people management was
organized. Specifically, this meant a critical review of the functions of personnel management.
Personnel management has been a recognized function in the USA since NCR opened a
personnel office in the 1890s. In other countries the function arrived
more slowly and came through a variety of routes. This excerpt from Human Resource Management in a Business Context looks at
Personnel management from a historical perspective.
Further notes: Traditional Personnel Functions
Recruitment - advertising for new employees and liaising with employment
agencies.
Selection - determining the best candidates from those who apply, arranging interviews,
tests, references.
Promotion - running similar selection procedures to determine progression within the
organization.
Pay - a minor or major role in pay negotiation, determination and administration.
Performance assessment - co-ordinating staff appraisal and counselling systems to evaluate
individual employee performance.
Grading structures - as a basis for pay or development, comparing the relative difficulty
and importance of functions.
Training and development - co-ordinating or delivering programmes to fit people for the
roles required by the organisation now and in the future.
Welfare - providing or liaising with specialists in a staff care or counselling role for
people with personal or domestic problems affecting their work.
Communication - providing an internal information service, perhaps in the form of staff
newspapers or magazines, handouts, booklets, videos.
Employee Relations - handling disputes, grievances and industrial action, often dealing
with unions or staff representatives.
Dismissal - on an individual basis as a result of failure to meet requirements or as part
of a redundancy, downsizing or closure exercise, perhaps involving large numbers of people.
Personnel administration - record-keeping and monitoring of legislative
requirements related to equal opportunities and possibly pensions and tax.
Source: adapted from Price, A.J., (1997, 2004), Human Resource Management in a Business
Context, Thomson Learning.
Human Resource Management
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Introduction - The first part introduces the essential elements of human resource
management, its origins and applications. Human resource
management is viewed as an all-embracing term describing a
number of distinctive approaches to people management.
