5 Major Functions of Human Resource Management

This assignment provides an overview of the five major functions of human resource management (HRM) in an organization. HRM personnel play important roles in bringing the best talent to the company, increasing manpower effectiveness and efficiency, and attaining desired goals. The assignment discusses the key sources for uncertainty in fisheries management, adult learning, and corporate strategy on HRM. It also highlights the impact of global talent management and the role of HR managers in people enabling and empowerment.

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1. Purpose and functions of human resource management (HRM).....................................1
P2. Strengths and weaknesses of different methods of recruitment and selection.................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
P3. Advantages of HRM for employer and employees..........................................................3
P4. Role of HRM practices in increasing profitability and efficiency of organisation..........4
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5
P5. Importance of employee relations in decision making in HRM......................................5
P6. Key elements of employee legislations in HRM decision making..................................6
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................7
P7. Applying HRM practices in work related context...........................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management is a vital process that includes designing effective
strategies and policies for managing the manpower of an organisation. There is a separate
functional unit for performing various activities related with this concept. It includes several
functions concerned with hiring, training, remuneration and development, etc. of manpower
working in a company (Cascio and Boudreau, 2010). This report is about HSBC which is a large
organisation involved in banking and financial services. In this assignment, purpose and scope of
human resource management will be discussed. Effectiveness of key factors related with this
scenario will also be explained. This concept is highly important in enhancing the efficient
working in this enterprise.
TASK 1
P1. Purpose and functions of human resource management (HRM)
HRM is an important part in HSBC. This concept is related with management and
development of employees working in this organisation. There are several objectives of this
process. These are as follows:
 Assessing the need of manpower for this company
 Ensuring adequate and efficient use of human resource
 Developing training and development sessions for the purpose of skill enhancement
 Motivating staff members to work effectively towards objectives of this organisation
Functions of HRM
Human resource department is entitled to perform several important functions in HSBC.
They are involved in various processes and activities related with manpower of this organisation
(5 Major Functions of Human Resource Management, 2017). Main roles of this department are
as follows:
Planning- It is concerned with designing appropriate plans for human resources of this
organisation (Anderson, 2013). This process includes gathering and analysing data in order to
identify the need for manpower to operate various activities of company.
Staffing- This function is related with recruiting and selecting employees in company.
HRM department adopts various methods such as external and internal recruitment. Selection of
candidates is done on the basis of skills and qualification required to perform particular job role.
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Developing- It is related with assessing the development needs of employees in order to
design proper training sessions for enhancing their knowledge and skills for making them more
capable in performing their tasks.
Motivating- In this function, manager uses several motivation techniques to encourage
workers to perform their tasks in an effective manner (Glendon, Clarke and McKenna, 2016). It
is essential for attaining the desired goals and objectives of HSBC in an effective manner.
Appraising- In order to maintain the working standards of workers, it is required to
conduct performance appraisal time to time therefore, it is another important activity of this
department.
(Source:- Roles and Responsibilities of Human Resource Management, 2017)
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Illustration 1: Roles and Responsibilities of Human Resource
Management

Evaluating- This function of HRM is related with evaluating human resources in order to
detect errors and taking corrective actions to eliminate such hurdles.
Maintaining relationship- One of the most important functions performed by this
department is to maintain healthy relations with employees. It is required to provide satisfaction
at workplace in order to gain effective performance from them.
P2. Strengths and weaknesses of different methods of recruitment and selection
Recruitment is the process of attracting capable candidates in order to fill vacant job
positions in firm. Selection is an activity of choosing the best person out of large pool of talent.
There are several techniques to conduct both these functions in HSBC. Different methods of
recruitment are as follows-
Internal recruitment
In this technique of recruitment, employees are hired from the workers already working
in company. It is done through the ways of promotion, job rotation, etc.
Strengths- It is a cost effective technique because company is not entitled to post any
kind of advertisement. This saved amount can be invested in other development activities for
growth of business. Along with that, this method is important to build motivation amongst
existing workforce. It is also required to maintain healthy relations with key personnel in order to
retain them for longer time period.
Weaknesses- This technique consists of chances of conflicts amongst employees due to
intense competition to get higher positions. If one person gets promotion then it may demotivate
the other for not getting this opportunity.
External recruitment
In this method, candidates are hired from outside sources. It is focussed towards
attracting new and fresh talent in company.
Strengths- This is very useful in enhancing the talented employees in firm. It is also
required to maintain workforce diversity at workplace (Brewster and Hegewisch, 2017). Existing
employees get motivated to perform better in order to compete with new talent.
Weaknesses- This process is very time consuming because of various activities required
to hire employees from outside. Along with that, it involves high cost as there is the need for
proper orientation and training sessions for these new candidates.
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Methods of selection
Screening- This technique includes process of analysing resumes and CV of job seekers
in order to evaluate the information provided by them. This method is useful in assessing the
capabilities of candidates to understand whether they are suitable for job or not. Main drawback
of this process is that, it requires a lot of time and cost to select the best suitable candidates.
Interviews- This technique includes interaction between candidates and employers. It is
very helpful in identifying the skills and capabilities of job seekers by meeting them personally.
Main weakness of this activity is that it is very time consuming and sometimes, interviewer fails
to judge the person properly.
TASK 2
P3. Advantages of HRM for employer and employees
Human resource management is an important concept for both employer and employee. It
includes various activities for developing manpower of organisation in order to improve their
performance to attain company's goals in an effective manner (Knowles, Holton and Swanson,
2014). It provides various advantages to both the parties which are like:
Advantages of HRM to employer
 These practices are beneficial for organisation to promote positive behaviour at
workplace. It includes activities like motivation in order to ensure proper employee
satisfaction at workplace. This helps in managing the behaviour of workers towards
company.
 HRM is helpful in improving the skills and abilities of workers through several training
and development sessions. This assists the employer in getting better outcomes from
employees.
 This concept includes effective methods to recruit employees in the organisation. It is
very helpful in enhancing the talent in company who can provide fresh and creative ideas
for betterment of business.
Advantages to employees
 Training and development programs organised by HR department are very helpful for
employees to increase their knowledge base and abilities to perform their job roles
effectively (Chelladurai and Kerwin, 2017).
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 Employees have become highly motivated and confident because of positive efforts of
HRM practices. This helps in ensuring their personal and professional development for
longer period of time.
 Continuous performance appraisal is helpful in making them expert in particular field. It
is useful in increasing the opportunities for their career enhancement.
 Employees can get promotions if they will work as per the strategies and policies of
human resource department.
 It also reduces the chances of disputes and conflicts as HRM practices are focussed on
maintaining healthy relationships amongst workforce.
P4. Role of HRM practices in increasing profitability and efficiency of organisation
Human resource management is a crucial activity in HSBC. Its functions are related with
development of employees working in an organisation. Practices of HRM include various
strategies and policies that are helpful in increasing the productivity of workers in order to get
profitable outcomes from them (Daley, 2012). This is required to attain desired goals and
objectives of this company in an effective manner. There are various benefits of HRM practices
to enhance the profits and efficiency of this organisation. These are as follows:
Highly capable workforce- HRM practices are helpful for this company in selecting the
best talent in firm and polish them more with effective training and development sessions. It
makes employees able to deliver better performance with their skills and knowledge. This is
important in contributing to profitability and productivity of company because of fresh ideas in
every activity of business.
Performance management- HR department makes proper strategies for assessing the
performance of employees. It is done on timely basis in order to detect errors and deficiencies in
the working of workforce. This helps in improving their execution standards to make them more
capable in performing their tasks. It is required to reduce wasteful activities that leads to
unnecessary cost of the firm. This process is useful in increasing productivity of workers that
ultimately leads to better revenues.
Reduces employee turnover- Practices of HRM emphasis on providing appropriate
satisfaction to workers HSBC. It is done through proper diversity and integrity at work place in
order to provide better working conditions to employees (Fulton and et.al., 2011). This helps in
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retaining employees for longer period of time which reduces the cost of employee turnover. It
contributes to improve the productivity and profitability of overall firm.
Attracts new talent- Effective HRM practices help in attracting the talented candidates
to join this company. Such employees can bring fresh ideas to bring innovation in business. They
could help this organisation in attaining competitive advantages in the current market place.
TASK 3
P5. Importance of employee relations in decision making in HRM
Employee relations refers to the bond that a worker shares with his employer. It is
required to provide a better work environment to employees so that better relations could be
formed. Concept of human resource management is focussed towards growth of workforce in
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Illustration 2: Role Of HR Manager In People Enabling And People Empowerment
(Source:-Role Of HR Manager In People Enabling And People
Empowerment,2015)

order to provide them satisfaction at workplace. It is important to maintain healthy relations with
workers because it plays a major role in decision-making process related with HRM (Glendon,
Clarke and McKenna, 2016). This functional unit should focus on managing positive
relationships in order to make effective decisions. If there will be positive working conditions
then it will increase the efficiency of their performance. Along within that, employer will be able
to assess the needs of employees in a proper way.
Manager can take right decisions in the favour of these identified needs by making
appropriate strategies. This concept also assists in reducing the workload from HR department as
employees are themselves motivated to work in an effective manner in order to attain desired
objectives of company. Employee relations are important to retain talented workers by providing
them required benefits in this company so that they will not seek for another workplace. HR
manager of this organisation can maintain a strong bond by developing appropriate rewards and
career advancement policies. This can also be done by ensuring proper coordination amongst
workers by maintaining effective communication. It helps HR department to focus more on
taking better decisions for employees that are as per the requirements and expectations of
workforce.
P6. Key elements of employee legislations in HRM decision making
Employee legislations include laws and acts related with welfare and security of workers
at workplace. HR department of HSBC is responsible to make all the decisions and policies
according to these laws in order to ensure ethical work practices in organisation. These legal
factors influence every decision related with workforce. Thus, it is required to consider such
aspects in this process. There are several acts related with employee’s welfare. These are given
as below-
Equal remuneration act- This law is concerned with policies related with salary and
wages of workers. According to this act, an employer is entitled to perform all the
responsibilities towards workforce in a fair and equitable manner (Marchington and et.al., 2016).
There should not be any act of discrimination in company in terms of remuneration. Therefore,
payment should not be done as per the gender, caste, race and nationality, etc.
Minimum wages act- This legislation is related with minimum rate of payment payable
to workers for specific job roles. Employees should be given with remuneration as per the
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prescribed amount. If an organisation pays less amount as compared to the limit specified in this
act, then it will be considered as breach of law.
Employee's safety act- According to this law, there should be proper regulations related
with security and safety of workers in order to provide them better work environment. It is
required to design proper strategies and policies that ensure proper rights of workers related with
safety at workplace.
Work time regulation act- This act is concerned with timings of working in a company.
It includes limit related with working hours, intervals, etc. Employer is responsible to follow
these regulations and if a worker is giving extra working to this organisation then that person
should be paid with overtime amount (Purce, 2014).
Therefore, these are some laws related with employee legislations. It is required to link
HRM practices with these regulations in order to maintain legal framework in all the activities
related with workers of company. It is mandatory to ensure proper employee welfare to provide
them satisfaction related with workplace.
TASK 4
P7. Applying HRM practices in work related context
Human resource management is an essential task of HSBC. It is required to make
effective practices of HRM in order to attain higher performance from employees (Scullion and
Collings, 2011). This is very useful in achieving the goals and objectives of this company with
high level of productivity of its workers. In case of HSBC, concepts of human resource
management could be applied in the following manner-
Job analysis- This activity is related with identification of vacant positions in company
in order to fill it with skilled personnel. In this step, effective job description is to be designed so
that capable job seekers could be attracted.
JOB DESCRIPTION
Organisation name - HSBC
Job profile - Receptionist
Location – London, UK
Report to - Human Resource Manager
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Responsibilities
 Serve visitors by welcoming and directing them in a proper manner and inform
administration of organisation about visit of these guests.
Roles
 Welcome and greet all the visitors and persons who have called in organisation for the
purpose of certain enquiry
 Maintain proper records and logbook related with issues of visitors
 Ensure proper security and confidentiality while solving queries of persons
 Maintain proper telecommunication system
Qualification required
Master degree in business administration
Skills
 Verbal communication skills
 Can work effectively in pressure
 Knowledge of Microsoft office
Experience required
1 to 2 years
Salary
Initial remuneration of 6 to 8 pounds per annum.
After posting job advertisements, HR department gets CV of various candidates. Its
template is given as below-
CURRICULUM VITAE (CV)
Name:
Address:
Contact number:
Email Id:
Career objectives: To work in a dynamic work environment where I can use my skills in order
to enhance future growth
Academic qualification:
 Graduation
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 Master in business administration
Experience:
3 years’ experience
Personal skill:
 Punctual
 Good verbal communication
 Hard working
 Problem solving
Declaration:
I hereby declare that the above information is true to my knowledge and expectations.
Recruitment- HR department is responsible to analyse all the CVs in a proper way in
order to call relevant candidates for further proceedings that is selection process.
Documentation- Once, candidates are selected, then they are asked to provide authentic
documents such as mark sheets, degrees, experience letter, etc.
Training and development- After completion of this process, workers are provided with
training session to make them more capable in performing their job roles more efficiently.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the above report that human resource management is a vital part
for ensuring development in an organisation. This functional unit plays various important
functions for ensuring smooth functioning of the business concern. They are responsible for
bringing the best talent in company and encourage them to work for betterment of firm. HRM
personnel are focussed on increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of manpower in order to
attain better outcomes from them. It helps HSBC in attaining the desired goals in a proper way
and maintaining competitive advantages in banking and finance sector.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Anderson, V., 2013. Research methods in human resource management: investigating a business
issue. Kogan Page Publishers.
Brewster, C. and Hegewisch, A. eds., 2017. Policy and Practice in European Human Resource
Management: The Price Waterhouse Cranfield Survey. Taylor & Francis.
Cascio, W. and Boudreau, J., 2010. Investing in people: Financial impact of human resource
initiatives. Ft Press.
Chelladurai, P. and Kerwin, S., 2017. Human resource management in sport and recreation.
Human Kinetics.
Daley, D. M., 2012. Strategic human resources management. Public Personnel Management.
pp.120-125.
Fulton, E. A. and et.al., 2011. Human behaviour: the key source of uncertainty in fisheries
management. Fish and Fisheries. 12(1). pp.2-17.
Glendon, A. I., Clarke, S. and McKenna, E., 2016. Human safety and risk management. Crc
Press.
Knowles, M. S., Holton III, E. F. and Swanson, R. A., 2014. The adult learner: The definitive
classic in adult education and human resource development. Routledge.
Marchington, M. and et.al., 2016. Human resource management at work. Kogan Page
Publishers.
Purce, J., 2014. The impact of corporate strategy on human resource management. New
Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals). 67.
Scullion, H. and Collings, D., 2011. Global talent management. Routledge.
Online
5 Major Functions of Human Resource Management. 2017. [Online]. Available
through:<https://www.keka.com/5-major-functions-human-resource-management/>.
Roles and Responsibilities of Human Resource Management, 2017. Online. Available
through<http://ifeel.edu.in/blog/roles-responsibilities-human-resource-management/>
Role Of HR Manager In People Enabling And People Empowerment. 2015 [Online]. Available
through:<http://highereducation-world.blogspot.in/2016/02/role-of-hr-manager-in-
people-enabling.html>.
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Roles and Responsibilities of Human Resource Managemenan Resource Management, 2017
Roles and Responsibilities of
Human Resource Management
5 Major Functions of Human
Resource Management
5 Major Functions of Human
Resource Management
5 Major Functions of Human
Resource Management
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