Learning Journal: Key Management Functions and HRM

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LEARNING JOURNAL

Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
A. Key management functions in an organisational context...........................................................2
B. Apply effective verbal and nonverbal communication skills for different target audiences,
both individually and in teams.........................................................................................................4
C. Demonstrate an appreciation of key concepts & considerations in core human resource
management functions and activities...............................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
References........................................................................................................................................9
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Introduction
An organisation is a group of people and the management of people is necessary to maintain
organisational effectiveness. Effective communication should be established by the people of the
organisation to maintain organisational effectiveness. This report will include a brief discussion
of management functions and application of communication skills in an organisation. Further,
the discussion on concept and consideration of human resource management functions and
activities will get done in that report for the brief understanding of human resource management.
A. Key management functions in an organisational context
The functions of management related with managing all the activity in an organisation
effectively to achieve the business objectives. There are five basic functions of management
described as follows (Koontz, 2010):
Figure 1 management functions
Planning
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Planning is an important part of any organisation. Planning is a future related approach that
determines an organisation’s direction. A plan gives an outline of an activity which is going to be
done In the future. It involves the forecasting of future events and provides tools to control them.
The manager is required to do planning in an organisation (Hill, et.al, 2014).
Example-
The planning of adequate budget and human resource are done by the management of the
organisation. Effective planning balances the impact of both the internal and external factors.
Organizing
Organization of planned activity is necessary to develop an organisation structure. The
organisation of activity helps in maintaining the effective utilization of available resources. Thus
the organisation of activities includes all the things is need to be done to achieve business
objectives.
Example -
Organizing includes identification, assignment of task and coordination between different
activities.
Staffing
The management is also responsible for recruiting and selecting people to perform different task
in the organisation. The staffing includes hiring and management of the people at the work to
accomplish business objectives (Boxall and Purcell, 2011).
Example – hiring of new employees in the organisation to perform various job roles.
Directing
The management of an organisation is also responsible for communicating, leading, motivating,
and supervising its staff to achieve the business objectives. it enables its employees to perform
more effectively in order to achieve desired performance in their work (Cascio, 2015).
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Example – the manager of an organisation provides direction to the employees towards
attainment of the business goals.
Controlling
The controlling of activity helps in to improve its performance. The controlling includes pre-
defined performance standards, measurement of performance and comparison of performance
with the standard to know its effectiveness. That helps in taking corrective action in order to
perform better.
Example- the performance of the employees is evaluated by comparing it with the established
standards to improve their performance level.
Thus, the management plays a vital role to maintain the effectiveness of an organisation. The
functions of management are helpful in achieving business goals. Every organisation applies
these management functions effectively to achieve success in the market. An organisation
maintains the well- being of a society and environment (Khorasani and Almasifard, 2017). The
management follows the government rules and regulations to reduce the negative impact of
business activity on the society and environment. Like management applies a pollution control
system (Peaucelle and Guthrie, 2015).
B. Apply effective verbal and nonverbal communication skills for different
target audiences, both individually and in teams
Communication
Communication is a two-way process in which the sender decides a message to send to the
receiver in order to distribute some information. The communication is done by the people of an
organisation is called organisational communication. That includes two type of communication
intra- organisational or inter-organisational (West, et.al, 2010).
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Figure 2 communication process
Communication skills
This represents those attributes are used to communicate with a team, audience and individually.
Effective communication skills are necessary to have to communicate with others (Dozier, et.al,
2013).
Figure 3 communication skills
Effective verbal communication skills
Verbal communication includes the use of words through the mouth while communicating with
others. The effectiveness of verbal communication can be determined as follows (Shockley,
2014)
Consider your purpose
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While establishing communication with anyone, first of all, identify the purpose of your
communication and the reason for communication.
Consider your audience
Determine your audience or team to communicate. Decide your relationship with the audience
and use a good language and tone to communicate with them.
Consider your message
This includes the information you are going to distribute. This will help you to decide what to
say or what to remove in the information.
Consider your design
Look at the grammar, structure and sentence of your message. You should also check the font
colour and sound to check its effectiveness.
Effective non- verbal communication skills
This includes the use of sign, symbol, colour and written words to communicate with the others.
The effectiveness of non-verbal communication can be determined as follows
Purpose
Determine the purpose of communication and decide the medium of communication like writing
a letter for distributing business information.
Audience
Determine your audience for a business letter the audience could be a client or group of
employees. Use a proper tone and language while writing a business letter.
Information
Determine the information you want to distribute among the employees than structure it
properly. The business letter follows the formal structure of a business letter. Use correct,
concise and concrete information.
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Design
You should focus on the grammar and sentences carefully. The visual aspect is also necessary to
be considered like font size, font colour and company branding that helps in writing a business
letter more effectively.
Thus, effective verbal and non- verbal communication can be applied by following the above-
mentioned steps. That will help you to present as a good communicator among the audience.
C. Demonstrate an appreciation of key concepts & considerations in core
human resource management functions and activities
Key concepts
Human resource management relates to managing the people at work and increases their
products work to achieve business goals and also focuses on satisfying the needs of the
employees (Noe, et.al, 2017).
HRM is also responsible for determining policies and procedure for its effective implementation
in the organisation that motivates an employee and influences his productive behaviour
HRM is the most important part of an organisation because it affects customer, shareholders and
business results through its key position in the business.
Functions of human resource management
Workforce planning
The HRM department oversees the requirement of current and future employees in the
organisation and determines the staffing needs.
Talent acquisition
This is another function of HRM that deals with acquiring new employees in the organisation
through the recruitment and selection process that helps in to get the right person for the right
job.
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Performance and reward
The HRM department appraises the performance of the employees and rewards them for their
effective performance.
Employee development
HRM department organizes the necessary training and development program for its employees
which ensures their personal and professional growth in the organisation
Employee health and safety
The HRM department establishes various health-related policies, procedure and programs to
ensure the health and safety of the employees at the workplace (DeCenzo, et.al, 2016).
Maximizing and retaining talents
The HRM department provides various benefits to the employees like bonuses, incentives and
other health-related plans. They also focus on the continuous development of the employees by
providing them with career opportunities that help in maximizing and retaining the talent in the
organisation (DeCenzo, et.al, 2016).
Organisational effectiveness
This concept determines the effectiveness of an organisation with the help of efficient human
resource management. The HRM department increases the productivity level of the employees
through rewarding their performance that results in maintaining the overall effectiveness of an
organisation (DeCenzo, et.al, 2016).
HR operations
The human resource department is also responsible for looking at day to day operational activity
which is related to human resources.
Hence, the HRM function plays an important role in the success of an organisation. The HR
manager performs functions of HRM like recruitment, formulation of HR policies, management
of performance of the employees etc.
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Conceptual understanding
The management theory of Henry fayol helped in understanding the functions of management in
an organisation which describes its five functions of management (Shafritz, et.al, 2015). The
theory of communication and its framework determined the effective utilization of verbal and
non- verbal communication skills. A theorist Armstrong described the functions of human
resource management.
Application
These key concepts can be applied in an organisation by its employees. Effective communication
skills can be practised within the organisation. The management theory can be applied in an
organisation through operating its five functions. The functions of human resource management
can be applied by the human resource manager.
Self-reflection
I have learned about the effectiveness of human resource management and its function within an
organisation that helps in achieving business objectives and also the functions of management
that diverts an organisation towards great success. Further, the effective use of communication
skills will help in establishing proper communication and coordination within the people of the
organisation. The organisation follows some ethics and maintains social sustainability while
operating its business activities.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it is concluded that management functions play an important role in
the success of an organisation. Human resource management functions help in increasing the
productivity level of the organisation and maintain organisational effectiveness. Further,
effective communication skills are results in establishing proper communication within the
people of an organisation.
References
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Boxall, P. and Purcell, J., 2011. Strategy and human resource management. Macmillan
International Higher Education.
Cascio, W.F., 2015. Managing human resources. McGraw-Hill.
DeCenzo, D.A., Robbins, S.P. and Verhulst, S.L., 2016. Fundamentals of Human Resource
Management, Binder Ready Version. John Wiley & Sons.
Dozier, D.M., Grunig, L.A. and Grunig, J.E., 2013. Manager's guide to excellence in public
relations and communication management. Routledge.
Hill, C.W., Jones, G.R. and Schilling, M.A., 2014. Strategic management: Theory & cases: An
integrated approach. Cengage Learning.
Khorasani, S.T. and Almasifard, M., 2017. Evolution of management theory within 20 century:
A systemic overview of paradigm shifts in management. International Review of Management
and Marketing, 7(3), pp.134-137.
Koontz, H., 2010. Essentials of management. Tata McGraw-Hill Education.
Noe, R.A., Hollenbeck, J.R., Gerhart, B. and Wright, P.M., 2017. Human resource management:
Gaining a competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Peaucelle, J.L. and Guthrie, C., 2015. Henri Fayol. In The Oxford Handbook of Management
Theorists.
Shafritz, J.M., Ott, J.S. and Jang, Y.S., 2015. Classics of organization theory. Cengage Learning.
Shockley-Zalabak, P., 2014. Fundamentals of organizational communication. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson.
West, R.L., Turner, L.H. and Zhao, G., 2010. Introducing communication theory: Analysis and
application (Vol. 2). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
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