MNG00724 Human Resource Management Essay: Key Areas for Success

This essay delves into the core principles of Human Resource Management (HRM), emphasizing its critical role in organizational success. The essay identifies and elaborates on three key functional areas: workforce management, training and development, and performance management. Workforce ...Read More

Human Resource Management
HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT – 949761
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Human Resource Management
Introduction
Human resource management is a concept that allows business organizations to effectively
manage the human element in their workplace and to optimize their performance by
improving the work conditions for them. In the past few decades, business organizations have
realized that human resources are their greatest assets and it is only through them that they
can achieve market competencies. As a result, the concept of human resource management
has gained a lot of importance and business organizations are investing heavily in the
management of their human resources.
Three Important Areas of Human Resource Management
Human resource management performs a number of functions, such as training and
development, recruitment and selection, performance management, attraction and retention of
employees, career development, etc. and each one of the functions is crucial for the success
of a business organisation. Pertaining to the market situations in the contemporary business
world, the three most important functional areas of human resource management are:
Workforce Management:
Workforce management is a function in human resource management that allows business
organizations to predict the human resource demand of their workplace by analyzing past and
present trends. Using workforce management tools and techniques, business organizations are
able to predict the possibility of shortage of staff. Once a shortage in the workforce is
predicted, human resource managers are able to plan recruitment and selection strategies for
overcoming the shortages identified. Apart from identifying labor demands, workforce
management techniques are also used by human resource managers to allocate tasks to the
employees. Using different tools and techniques, staff schedules can be easily created and
managed by keeping in mind daily objectives, weekly objectives or monthly objectives (Rao,
2017).
There is a huge demand for talented employees in the contemporary business world.
Multinational organisation are constantly poaching talented employees in the market at a time
when a large population of baby boomers is nearing their retirement. Both the conditions put
together would create a huge void in almost every business organisation and it would become
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Human Resource Management
very difficult for business organizations to fulfil their labor demands (Cascio, 2015). As a
result, workforce management is of utmost importance as it not only helps in avoiding labor
shortages but can also be helpful in long term market survival in the long run.
Training and development:
Training and development are another core functional area of human resource management
which is aimed at improving the skills and competencies of the workforce by making them go
through different learning programs. The contemporary business world experiences internal
and external environment changes on a daily basis. New trends and innovations are shaping
the future and are making it imperative for the business organizations to be able to cope up
with the changing trends.
Training and development programs in such a scenario can have multiple benefits for
employees as well as for the employers. Training and development programs can help an
organisation in increasing the competencies and skills of their employees and enhance their
creativity, innovative skills and performance levels, which would ultimately benefit the
organisation in return. Further, training and development programs can open up career
development opportunities for the employees and they can take up higher job positions in
their companies (Vanderpyl, 2018). An organisation that invests in training and development
of its employees is able to keep its employees engaged in their jobs and achieve high levels of
job satisfaction. When all these factors are combined, it can become easier for an organisation
to retain its talented pool of employees in a time when most of the top multinational
companies are finding it hard to deal with high labor turnover rates (Hanaysha, 2016). Thus,
training and development programs can have multiple benefits for employers as well
employees, which makes it another importance functional area in human resource
management.
Performance management:
Performance management is another important function area under human resource
management that allows business organizations to plan, analyze and measure the performance
of their employees, departments and of the organisation as a whole. Performance
management systems allow human resource managers to develop performance objectives for
their company and break them down into individual performance objective. In this way, they
are able to align individual goals with the goals of their organisation, which motivates the
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Human Resource Management
employees to work harder for the achievement of organizational goals and objectives
(Cavanagh, Bartra, Meacham, Bigby, Oakman & Fossey, 2017). Measuring the performance
levels of the employees allows business organizations to identify areas where the employees
do not possess optimum levels of skills and competencies. It is based on this analysis that the
business organizations are able to design training and development programs that can then be
targeted at improving the performance level of the employees. Performance management
system can also be used in addition with an appraisal system where an employee is given a
monetary or a non-monetary reward for the performance level achieved by him or her. In case
an employee fails to achieve the desired performance level, an organisation can chose to
make changes in his performance goals and objectives or warn him for improving his
performance levels.
In the contemporary world, business organizations are relying on their human resources for
the achievement of organizational goals and objectives. A performance management system
in such a scenario ensures that the workplace environment is driven by performance and also
ensures that the employees remain engaged in their jobs. By aligning individual goals with
organisation goals, organizations are able to make the employees feel that their efforts are
helping their organisation in achieving the results that it desires (Albrecht, et al., 2015).
Further, performance goals can provide new challenges to the employees, which results in
higher employee engagement levels and the employees show a lesser tendency to quit when
they are highly engaged in their jobs.
Conclusion
Although no functional area of human resource management is less importance, the functions
discussed above must be allocated a greater number of resources and attention because of the
changing business environment. Therefore, business organizations should strengthen their
policies in the areas of workforce management, training and development & performance
management.
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Bibliography
Albrecht, S. et al., 2015. Employee engagement, human resource management practices and
competitive advantage: An integrated approach. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness:
People and Performance, 2(1), pp. 7-35.
Cascio, W., 2015. Managing human resources. s.l.:McGraw-Hill..
Cavanagh, J., Bartram, T., Meacham, H., Bigby, C., Oakman, J. and Fossey, E., 2017.
Supporting workers with disabilities: a scoping review of the role of human resource
management in contemporary organisations. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources,
55(1), pp.6-43.
Hanaysha, J., 2016. Examining the effects of employee empowerment, teamwork, and
employee training on organizational commitment. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences,
Volume 229, pp. 298-306.
Rao, M., 2017. Innovative tools and techniques to overcome HR challenges globally.. Human
Resource Management International Digest , 25(7), pp. 1-4.
Vanderpyl, T., 2018. HR’s role in organizational effectiveness.. Human Resource
Management International Digest, 26(6), pp. 40-43.
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