Human resource management (HRM) is the strategic and coherent approach to the effective and efficient management of people in a company or organization such that they help their business gain acompetitive advantage. It is designed to maximizeemployee performance in service of an employer's strategic objectives.[1][2][3][4]
Human resource management is primarily concerned with the management of people within organizations, focusing onpolicies andsystems.[5] HR departments are responsible for overseeingemployee-benefits design, employeerecruitment,training and development,performance appraisal, andreward management, such as managingpay and employee benefits systems.[6] HR also concerns itself withorganizational change andindustrial relations, or the balancing of organizational practices with requirements arising fromcollective bargaining and governmentallaws.[7]
The overall purpose ofhuman resources (HR) is to ensure that the organization can achieve success through people.[8] HR professionals manage thehuman capital of an organization and focus on implementing policies and processes. They can specialize in finding, recruiting, selecting, training, and developing employees, as well as maintaining employee relations or benefits. Training and development professionals ensure that employees are trained and have continuous development. This is done through training programs, performance evaluations, and reward programs. Employee relations deals with the concerns of employees when policies are broken, such as in cases involving harassment or discrimination. Managing employee benefits includes developing compensation structures,parental leave, discounts, and other benefits. On the other side of the field are HR generalists orbusiness partners. These HR professionals could work in all areas or belabour relations representatives working withunionized employees.
HR is a product of thehuman relations movement of the early 20th century when researchers began documenting ways of creatingbusiness value through thestrategic management of the workforce.[9] It was initially dominated by transactional work, such aspayroll andbenefits administration, but due toglobalization, company consolidation, technological advances, and further research, HR as of 2015[update] focuses on strategic initiatives likemergers and acquisitions,talent management,succession planning,industrial andlabor relations, anddiversity andinclusion. In the current[update] global work environment, most companies focus on loweringemployee turnover and onretaining the talent and knowledge held by their workforce.[10]
The human resources field began to take shape in 19th century Europe. It is built on a simple idea byRobert Owen (1771–1858) andCharles Babbage (1791–1871) during theIndustrial Revolution. These men concluded that people were crucial to the success of anorganization. They expressed the thought that well-being of employees led to perfect work; without healthy workers, the organization would not survive.[11][need quotation to verify]
The term "human resource" was first coined by labor economistJohn R. Commons in 1893.[12][13] HR emerged as a specific field in the early 20th century, influenced byFrederick Winslow Taylor (1856–1915). Taylor explored what he termed "scientific management" (sometimes referred to as "Taylorism"), striving to improve economic efficiency in manufacturing jobs. He eventually focused on one of the principal inputs into the manufacturing process—labor—sparking inquiry into workforce productivity.[14]
Meanwhile, in London C S Myers inspired by unexpected problems among soldiers who alarmed generals and politicians. During the First World War, he co-founded the National Institute of Industrial Psychology (NIIP) in 1921.[15] He set seeds for thehuman relations movement, this movement, on both sides of the Atlantic, built on the research ofElton Mayo (1880–1949) and others to document through theHawthorne studies (1924–1932) and other studies how stimuli, unrelated to financial compensation and working conditions, could yield more productive workers.[16]Work byAbraham Maslow (1908–1970),Kurt Lewin (1890–1947),Max Weber (1864–1920),Frederick Herzberg (1923–2000), andDavid McClelland (1917–1998) formed the basis for studies inindustrial and organizational psychology,organizational behavior andorganizational theory.[citation needed]
By the time there was enough theoretical evidence to make abusiness case for strategic workforce management, changes in thebusiness landscape—à laAndrew Carnegie (1835–1919) andJohn Rockefeller (1839–1937)—and in public policy—à laSidney (1859–1947) andBeatrice Webb (1858–1943),Franklin D. Roosevelt and theNew Deal of 1933 to 1939—had transformed employer-employee relationships, and the HRM discipline became formalized as "industrial andlabor relations". In 1913 one of the oldest knownprofessional HR associations—theChartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)—started in England as the Welfare Workers' Association; it changed its name a decade later to the Institute of Industrial Welfare Workers, and again the next decade to Institute of Labour Management before settling upon its current name in 2000.[17] From 1918 the earlySoviet state institutions began to implement a distinctideological HRM focus[18]alongside technical management—first in theRed Army (throughpolitical commissars alongside military officers), later (from 1933) in work sites more generally (throughpartorg posts alongside conventional managers).[19]
In 1920, James R. Angell delivered an address to a conference on personnel research in Washington detailing the need for personnel research. This preceded and led to the organization of the Personnel Research Federation. In 1922 the first volume ofThe Journal of Personnel Research was published, a joint initiative between the National Research Council and the Engineering Foundation.[20] Likewise in the United States, the world's first institution of higher education dedicated to workplace studies—theSchool of Industrial and Labor Relations—formed atCornell University in 1945.[21] In 1948 what would later become the largest professional HR association—theSociety for Human Resource Management (SHRM)—formed as the American Society for Personnel Administration (ASPA).[22]
In the Soviet Union,Stalin's use of patronage exercised through the "HR Department" equivalent in theBolshevik Party, itsOrgburo, demonstrated the effectiveness and influence of human-resource policies and practices,[23][24]and Stalin himself acknowledged the importance of the human resource,[25]exemplified in his mass deployment of it, as in thefive-year plans and in theGulag system.
During the latter half of the 20th century, private-sectorunion membership in the U.S. declined significantly,[26][27][28][29]while workforce-management specialists continued to expand their influence within organizations.[30] In the U.S., the phrase "industrial and labor relations" came into use to refer specifically to issues concerningcollective representation, and companies began referring to the proto-HR profession as "personnel administration."[31][32]Many current HR practices originated with the needs of companies in the 1950s to develop andretain talent.[33]
In the late 20th century, advances in transportation and communications greatly facilitated workforce mobility andcollaboration. Corporations began viewing employees as assets. "Human resource management" consequently became the dominant term for the function,[34] with the ASPA even changing its name to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) in 1998.[22]
"Human capital management" (HCM) is sometimes used synonymously with "HR", although "human capital" typically refers to a narrower view of human resources; i.e. the knowledge the individuals embody and can contribute to an organization.[35] Other terms sometimes used to describe the HRM field include "organizational management", "manpower management", "talent management", "personnel management", "workforce management", and simply "people management".
Several popular media productions have depicted human resource management in operation. The U.S. television seriesThe Office, HR representativeToby Flenderson is sometimes portrayed as a nag because he constantly reminds coworkers of company policies and government regulations.[36]Long-running American comic stripDilbert frequently portrays sadisticHR policies through the characterCatbert, the "evil director of human resources".[37] An HR manager is the title character in the 2010 Israeli filmThe Human Resources Manager, while an HR intern is the protagonist in 1999 French filmRessources humaines. The main character in the BBC sitcomdinnerladies, Philippa, is an HR manager. The protagonist of the MexicantelenovelaMañana es para siempre is a director of human resources.Up In the Air is centered on corporate "downsizer" Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) and his travels. As the film progresses, HR is portrayed as a data-driven function that deals with people ashuman resource metrics, which can lead to absurd outcomes for real people.
Dave Ulrich lists the function ofhuman resources as:[38]
At the macro level, HR is in charge of overseeing organizationalleadership andculture. HR also ensures compliance withemployment and labor laws and often oversees employee health, safety, and security. Labor laws may vary from one jurisdiction to the next. In a workplace administered by the federal government, HR managers may need to be familiar with certain crucial federal laws, in order to protect both their company and its employees. In the United States of America, important federal laws and regulations include:
An important responsibility of HR is to ensure that a company complies with all laws and regulations, thus protecting the company from legal liability.[40] In circumstances where employees exercise their legal authorization to negotiate acollective bargaining agreement, HR will typically also serve as the company's primary liaison with employee representatives (usually alabor union). Consequently, the HR industrylobbies governmental agencies (e.g., in the United States, theUnited States Department of Labor and theNational Labor Relations Board) to advance its priorities.
Other Activities:
Instartup companies, trained professionals may perform HR duties. In larger companies, an entire functional group is typically dedicated to the discipline, with staff specializing in various HR tasks and functionalleadership engaging in strategic decision-making across thebusiness. To train practitioners for theprofession, institutions of higher education,professional associations, and companies have established programs of study dedicated explicitly to the duties of the function. Academic and practitioner organizations may produce field-specific publications. HR is also a field of research study that is popular within the fields of management andindustrial/organizational psychology. One of the important goal of HRM is establishing with the notion ofunitarism (seeing a company as a cohesive whole, in which both employers and employees should work together for its common good) and securing a long-term partnership of employees and employers with common interests.[47]
Code of ethics provides a framework for ethical behavior and professional conduct in HRM. It ensures integrity, fairness, and responsibility. Its function is to guide HR professionals and departments in upholding the rights, safety, and interests of all stakeholders. They are generally categorized into the following:[48][49]
Technology has a significant impact onHR practices. Utilizing technology makes information more accessible within organizations, eliminates time doing administrative tasks, allows businesses to function globally, and cuts costs.[50] The adoption of modern business practices andinformation technology has transformed HR practices in the following ways:
Recruiting has mostly been influenced by information technology.[51] In the past, recruiters relied onprinting in publications andword of mouth to fill open positions. Human Resource professionals were not able to post a job in more than one location and did not have access to millions of people, causing the lead time of new hires to be drawn out and tiresome. With the use of e-recruiting tools, HR professionals can post jobs and track applicants for thousands of jobs in various locations all in one place. Interview feedback,background checks anddrug tests, andonboarding can all be viewed online. This helps HR professionals keep track of all of their open jobs and applicants in a way that is faster and easier than before. E-recruiting also helps eliminate limitations of geographic location.[51]
E-recruitment is defined as the use of the internet and web-based technologies to attract, identify, and select potential employees for organizations, automating and streamlining recruitment activities that were traditionally performed manually[52][53] . It encompasses a range of digital tools and platforms, including corporate websites, job boards, social media, applicant tracking systems, and online assessment tools[54][55]
HR professionals generally handle large amounts ofpaperwork on a daily basis, ranging from department transfer requests to confidential employeetax forms. Forms must be on file for a considerable period of time. The use ofhuman resources information systems (HRIS) has made it possible for companies to store and retrieve files in an electronic format for people within the organization to access when needed, thereby eliminating the need for physical files and freeing up space within the office. HRIS also allows for information to be accessed in a timelier manner; files can be accessible within seconds.[66] Having all of the information in one place also allows for professionals to analyze data quickly and across multiple locations because the information is in a centralized location. Human resource analytics can improve human resource management.[67]
Technology allows HR professionals to train new staff members in a more efficient manner. This gives employees the ability to accessonboarding andtraining programs from virtually anywhere. This eliminates the need of organizing costlyface-to-face training and onboarding sessions. It allows management's to provide necessary training for job success and monitor progress of their employees throughvirtual classrooms and computerized testing, predict the risk of employee turnover through data analysis, help HR to formulate relevant talent retention and incentive strategies, improve the personal development of the company,[68] and maintain metrics that aid in performance management.[50]
Virtual management also allows HR departments to quickly complete necessary paperwork for large numbers of new employees and maintain contact with them throughout their entire professional cycle within the organization. Through virtual management, employees gain greater control over their learning and development, feel more engaged with the organizational culture, and can participate in training at a time and place of their choosing, helping them manage theirwork–life balance and reducinglayoffs andturnover.
An Employer of Record (EOR) is an arrangement in which a third-party organization serves as the official employer for a company's workforce, handling various HR functions such as payroll, tax compliance, and employee benefits, while the client company retains day-to-day management of the workers. This arrangement eliminates the need for an organization to directly engage in HRM matters, allowing it to focus on other priorities.
HRM consultancies are private organizations that offer tailored solutions through specialized expertise for a fee. They design customized human resource strategies and processes to address each company's unique needs. Their services include developing recruitment plans, compensation frameworks, training programs, and performance management systems, all aligned with specific HR practices and the organization's goals and culture. By acting as consultants, they provide targeted solutions that help businesses optimize their workforce and achieve organizational objectives in complex and evolving market conditions.
There are half a million HR practitioners in the United States and millions more worldwide.[69] TheChief HR Officer or HR Director is the highest ranking HR executive in most companies. He or she typically reports directly to thechief executive officer and works with theBoard of Directors onCEO succession.[70][71]
Within companies, HR positions generally fall into one of two categories: generalist and specialist. Generalists support employees directly with their questions, grievances, and work on a range of projects within the organization. They "may handle all aspects of human resources work, and thus require an extensive range of knowledge. The responsibilities of human resources generalists can vary widely, depending on their employer's needs." Specialists, conversely, work in a specific HR function. Some practitioners will spend an entire career as either a generalist or a specialist while others will obtain experiences from each and choose a path later.Human resource consulting is a related career path where individuals may work as advisers to companies and complete tasks outsourced from companies.[72]
Some individuals with PhDs in HR and related fields, such asindustrial and organizational psychology andmanagement, are professors who teach HR principles at colleges and universities. They are most often found in Colleges of Business in departments of HR or Management. Many professors conduct research on topics that fall within the HR domain, such asfinancial compensation,recruitment, andtraining.
There are a number of professional associations, some of which offer training and certification. TheSociety for Human Resource Management, which is based in theUnited States, is the largest professional association dedicated to HR,[69] with over 285,000 members in 165 countries.[73] It offers a suite ofProfessional in Human Resources (PHR) certifications through its HR Certification Institute. An international provider of specialized certifications isAcademy to Innovate HR (AIHR). TheChartered Institute of Personnel and Development, based inEngland, is the oldest professional HR association, with its predecessor institution being founded in 1918.
Several associations also serve specific niches within HR. The Institute of Recruiters (IOR) is a recruitment professional association, offering members education, support and training.[74] WorldatWork focuses on "total rewards" (i.e., compensation, benefits, work life, performance, recognition, and career development), offering several certifications and training programs dealing withremuneration and work–life balance. Other niche associations include theAmerican Society for Training & Development andRecognition Professionals International.
A largely academic organization that is relevant to HR is theAcademy of Management that has an HR division. This division is concerned with finding ways to improve the effectiveness of HR.[75] The academy publishes several journals devoted in part to research on HR, includingAcademy of Management Journal[76] andAcademy of Management Review,[77] and it hosts an annual meeting.
Some universities offer programs of study for human resources and related fields. TheSchool of Industrial and Labor Relations atCornell University was the world's first school for college-level study in HR.[78] It currently offers education at theundergraduate,graduate, andprofessional levels, and it operates a joint degree program with theSamuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management. In theUnited States of America, theHuman Resources University trains federal employees.
Many colleges and universities house departments and institutes related to the field, either within abusiness school or in another college. Most business schools offer courses in HR, often in their departments of management. In general, schools of human resources management offer education and research in the HRM field from diplomas to doctorate-level opportunities. The master's-level courses includeMBA (HR),MM (HR), MHRM, MIR, etc. (SeeMaster of Science in Human Resource Development for curriculum.) Various universities all over the world have taken up the responsibility of training human-resource managers and equipping them withinterpersonal andintrapersonal skills so as to relate better at their places of work. As Human resource management field is continuously evolving due to technology advances of theFourth Industrial Revolution, it is essential for universities and colleges to offer courses which are future oriented.[79]
Ongoing research investigates the relationship between human research management and performance and includesorganization studies,industrial and organizational psychology,organizational theory andmanagement science.[80]
Academic and practitioner publications dealing exclusively with HR:
Related journals:
A systematic review found a lack of clarity in conceptualization and measurement of human resource systems.[95]The effect size of human resource management was found to decrease when correcting for past performance of employees.[80]
Human resource management has been criticized of in some casesdiscrimination andalgorithmic bias.[96] Women were found over-represented in human resource management.[97]
[...] features of personnel management that were typical for the socialist Soviet Union [...]: Ideologization of all definitions, regulations, concepts, and explanations; linking the fundamental principles of personnel management with the classical works of the Marxist-Leninist theory as well as the obligatory references to the Communist Party documents of various levels [...]; and administrative and even criminal liability for non-working, enshrined as a separate item in the constitution of the USSR.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)Not seen as having the right stuff for high-profile posts such as the one held by Trotsky, Stalin thus occupied a series of relatively low-level positions in the Communist leadership after the revolution. One of these, which he acquired in 1919, was the de facto head of the Communist Party's Organizational Bureau (Orgburo), seen then as a technical body in much the same way a human resources department is seen in a modern institution. [...] Stalin's genius was to recognize that [...] this was precisely the position to occupy. Using his position to influence who was appointed to lower-level party posts, each relatively unimportant in its own right, Stalin systematically advanced people he believed would support him in the future, thereby constructing a large network of political clients within the party and the state which it dominated. [...] This patronalistic mechanism constituted what Robert V. Daniels later called the great 'circular flow of power' that essentially decided Communist Party leadership disputes and solved succession crises from Stalin straight through to Gorbachev. The power to influence lower-level appointments was concentrated, though still largely seen as a technical matter, with the creation of the post of general secretary in 1922, a post-Stalin was in a perfect position to occupy, and he did.
The Secretariat personified the Stalinist system. [...] It runs the day-to-day affairs of the State as well as the Party. Can you imagine that huge body of bureaucratic anachronism, which was also responsible for the selection and promotion of 'cadres'? The model invented by Stalin to consolidate his power existed up to contemporary time. [...] Stalin had both the time and the ability to shape human resources to his own ends, teaching secrecy, brutality and duplicity.
Надо, наконец, понять, что из всех ценных капиталов, имеющихся в мире, самым ценным и самым решающим капиталом являются люди, кадры. [Finally, one must understand that of all the valuable forms of capital existing in the world, the most precious and the most decisive capital is people, cadres.]
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)Given the 'continued union membership decline' case vs. the 'rebound in union membership' case, which one is currently the 'general wisdom' within the community of labor-management analysts?
[...] after World War II, U.S. industry suffered a talent shortage unlike anything since. [...] In that [...] void, modern HR was born, ushering in practices such as coaching, developmental assignments, job rotation, 360-degree feedback, assessment centers, high-potential tracks, and succession plans. They sound routine now, but they were revolutionary then. And they arose from an urgent need to develop and retain talent in the 1950s.
Human capital management (HCM) has been described as 'a paradigm shift' from the traditional approach to human resource management (Kearns, 2005b) [...].
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