“Managers know that people make the critical difference between success and failure. The effectiveness with which organisations manage, develop, motivate, involve and engage the willing contribution of the people who work in them is a key determinant of how well those organisations perform” (Patterson et al. 1997).
INTRODUCTION
The above quotation was certainly true and correct. Imagine a business environment without a centralized form of manpower? Who will do the job? Even the largest company in the world will not work without human intervention. Latest technological advancements will not guarantee success as to compare with what human beings can do. This is what human resource management (HRM) role in an organisation - proper implementation of company’s policy and strong working relation towards victory. In every business to function, human work force is the fuel. In every organization, performance counts. It is the measurement of employees’ capacity and productivity towards success.
Through HRM, it is presumed that everything will be systematic and orderly done. Thus, carefully planned and executed strategies are very essential to gain the ultimate goal of all - company growth. Nowadays, the success of organisations locally and internationally is increasingly perceived basing on efficient HRM. Effective HRM optimistically affects performance in organizations, both on large and small bases. Success is dependent on the proper management of all the assets in an organization especially the human workforce.
Coppers & Lybrand (C&L) consider HRM and its development as their top priority. The administration is determined in hiring and retaining skilled and competent workers. Each worker should meet the demands of the highly competitive and growing business industry worldwide. Chairman and CEO Nicholas C. Moore says that the attraction and retention of people, which they consider as the highest intellectual capital is the critical objectives of C&L (Schermerhorn 2001).
The HRM function plays a great role in the execution of company’s goal. Through effective implementation from the start up to the end, it will yield to higher employees’ productivity and increase of revenue. All HRM functions are deliberate and directed to the success of the organization. Richard Pinola, chair and CEO of Right Management Consultants, Inc., has identified what administration officials require from lead professionals in terms of HR. He also added that to increase real value to a company, HR must relate to the organisation’s overall strategy. When this approach is accomplished, affirmative changes can occur in talent management, leadership development, and organizational performance (Hornsby and Kuratko 2005).
The most vital asset of an organization is its employees. For these organizations to maximize their assets, they should handle the employees’ working condition with intelligence and efficiency (Ulrich, 1998). They must be allowed to be involved in making work-related decisions to further enhance the organizational structure (Delaney & Huselid, 1996). Furthermore, the structure of tasks among the employees strengthens the organizational performance (Wilson, 1989). Therefore, it is necessary to understand the employees’ characteristics for the organization to be effective (Schneider, 1983). The development, building, motivation, enhancement and enrichment of the employees of any organization largely depend on the leadership, mandate and vision of the organization (Rainey & Steinbauer, 1999).
The HRM Function
The human resource management process is the process of attracting, developing, and maintaining workforce. This is the readiness of an organization to meet the demands and expectations of the target market. There are three main HRM functions: attracting a quality workforce, developing a quality workforce, and maintaining a quality workforce (Schermerhorn 2001).
Aside from existing complex legal environment that influences HRM, giving special attention to equal employment opportunity is important. Equal employment opportunity (EEO) is the right to employment and advancement without focus on race, gender, religion, color, or nationality. Through this policy, discrimination is minimized. But before implementing the basic function of HRM, there is a need to plan - strategic human resource planning. This process is concerned in analyzing staffing needs and planning how to satisfy these needs in a way that it is efficient and could meet the organisational mission, objectives and strategies. In this process, job analysis, job descriptions, and job specifications is important. Job analysis include the orderly study of just what is done, when, where, how, why, and by whom in existing or potential new jobs. Job descriptions, on the other hand, focus on the duties and responsibilities of the person to have the job (Schermerhorn 2001). And lastly, job specifications are lists of qualifications required. After accomplishing this process, true HRM function begins.
Attracting a Quality Workforce
The first responsibility of HRM is for attracting a quality workforce. This is the recruitment and selection of employee. It is very significant for a company to hire the best people to occupy the position. According to David (2003), recruiting is part of the over-all management function of staffing and major role player in ensuring that company strategies are implemented. Spencer (2004) also emphasized that staffing requires both the process of attracting and selecting prospective personnel’s capabilities and competencies with the company position. It is also considered as the most critical step because wrong recruitment and selection can lead to a waste of company time, resources and finances (Spencer, 2004). Staff training and development could not be implemented if there is no retention or if the employee turns out to be unsuitable to the organization. Spencer (2004) introduced the concept of total staff which encompasses budgetary impact, organizational public image, achievement of goals and service delivery and become effects of staff selection process. This evidently shows that right recruitment and selection is important in all levels of the organization because it influences all organizational processes as well as its image. The concept of total staff supports the principle of recruitment and staff selection because the belief is based on the idea that organizations become more efficient and productive if the principle is executed properly.
Several strong points of this principle are vital. First, it will save the company valued time, resources and money spent on staffing. This is the best advantage as companies need also those components to develop other aspects of their businesses. Other strengths would be an increase in staff morale, increase in production, decrease in staff turnover and enhanced performance effectiveness and efficiency. Further, the manager’s outlook is to help the supervisor in establishing policy in staff selection such as detailed planning and recruitment preparation. The principle clearly recognizes recruitment and staff selection as an interdependent, non-separate, continuous process which should be given adequate and immediate follow-up action (Spencer, 2004).
Developing a Quality Workforce
The second HRM function is developing a quality workforce. The workforce should increase the assets, strengthen its X-factor, and contribute to its success. Orientation is a basic requisite in starting a new business environment in order for them to be comfortable and welcome. Introducing new members of the team to fellow team players, their job, and the company itself is a part of the induction. Staff induction is both a policy and a procedure of orienting an employee of an organization’s policy, people, practice and procedures (Induction Policy, 2005). Moreover, induction seeks to provide information about duties, workflow and company goals and objectives so the employee would know what is expected of him/her.
Spencer (2004) further explains that induction is an elaboration of specific obligations and intends to create a trusting relationship between the employee and the employer. This process should be enforced in every organization. However, this is often considered non-existent. According to Spencer (2004), an effective induction should achieve the needs and expectations of the employee and the employer. The criteria should make the new employee start production immediately; be integrated and matched to the existing organizational culture; ensured of his/her suitability with the job; feel a sense of belonging and undergo training of the essential skills needed for the position (Weber, 1999). The value of human capital is enhanced by acquisition of higher performance potential such as new tasks, functions, and KSAPs (knowledge, skills, abilities, personal attributes).
This is where the importance of employee training recognized as a crucial issue for businesses (Ford et al. 1997). To the extent that employee-training programs are effective, companies are able to avoid wasteful spending and improve performance and productivity. Thus, a key consideration for all business is the expected return provided the organization for its training investment. As it has been suggested that organizations are likely to increase their reliance upon and utilization of employee training programs in years to come (Noe, 1999), the effectiveness of training interventions in organizations is likely to become even more outstanding in the future (Blanchard & Thacker 1999).
According to Sims (1998), the systematic process of training consists of planned programs designed to improve competence and performance at the individual, group, and/or organizational levels. The scope of training initiatives vary and include operator, technical, sales, customer service, and various levels of leadership training (Sims 1998).
Conducting training for the wrong reasons may lead to bad training while having the right reasons for it may lead to the improvement, which the organization aims to attain. Some of the valid reasons for training would be to improve performance, to improve employees’ skills, to promote job competency, to solve problems, or to orient new employees (Stewart 2003). Benefits of an effective employee training include improved profitability and more positive attitudes toward profit orientation; enhanced employees’ job knowledge and skills; high morale of the work force. As for the individual, training helps the individual in making better decisions and effective problem solving; it enables him or her to internalise and operationally motivational variables of recognition, achievement, growth, responsibility and advancement; and it aids in encouraging and achieving self-development and self-confidence.
Furthermore, training improves communication between groups and individuals; aids in orientation for new employees and those taking new jobs through transfer or promotion; provides information on equal opportunity and affirmative action; provides information on other governmental laws and administrative policies; and improves interpersonal skills. This principle, also called performance appraisal, is a process of assessing whether organizational objectives are met. This is arises from the three previous concepts because it would evaluate how the employee’s performance have fared to satisfy the organization (Debrah, et al., 2003). However, it is specifically a tool which stems from supervision because performance measurement and rewards system is covered by the concept of supervision (Spencer, 2004). Evaluation seeks to monitor and improve effectiveness by giving the employee feedback on his/her performance. This process should be carried out at regular intervals and should follow specific protocols to maintain objectivity in the evaluation process. Moreover, another advantage is that evaluation aims to establish trust among the entire organization because objectivity and fair play are called into this task. Lastly, the evaluation process is a good way of providing employee satisfaction and maturation which will improve the performance in the future.
Maintaining s Quality Workforce
The last function of HRM is maintaining a quality workforce. In a dynamic changing world of trade, it is not enough to attract and develop qualified workers but it must be successfully nurtured and manage for long-term working relationships. This includes ample attention to such issues as career development, retention and turnover, and compensation and benefits. Career development requires planned programs. This well-planned program involves not just a continuing process of mutual sharing of knowledge, skills, experience and techniques from each employee in the organization but also a process which promotes a deliberate integration of each employee’s unique talents and skills into the organization that will necessitate company synergy.
Balance in life and work is also important in order to face the demands of job and the family. This will help the employee in coming up with priorities. Thus, work and family will be balance. Retention of employee is a very crucial factor in HRM. Offering of compensation, benefits and rewards will be a great help. Some company’s worldwide offer several types of benefits to employees vary in many ways. In the United States, employees receive benefits such as, paid leave, health care, insurance, retirement benefits, and the like (Burke & Morton, 1993). However, in as much as organizations want to provide their employees different and necessary benefits, they just cannot fully provide them with all the benefits. The problem may be attributed to the lack of or the limited financial resources of organizations to fund such benefits, because of the impact on the “bottom line.”
Management relations are same vital aspects of maintaining the strong workforce. Quality management is concerned with its continuous improvement; the external customer, or person affected by outputs is the ultimate source of quality judgments; the system or subsystem leading to productive outputs, and considering resource inputs, is the focus of attention; the organization is studied and portrayed as systems; besides ultimate clientele or consumers of outputs, all persons in the stream of production are considered to be customers; groups of employees and managers work on problem solving; every person is to be a process manager; employees are trained in problem solving techniques, including process analysis and statistical quality control (Siegel 1996). In these ways, the organization will continue discovering changes essential to the trends of the fast-pace world of business today for success and organizational growth.
CONCLUSION
The function of HRM is for the betterment of the organisation’s working force. It is very essential for the HRM officer to concentrate on the feature wherein it needs special kind attention. Everything changes. And in order for companies to go with the flow of current trends, they must be fully equipped with all the necessary factors affecting a satisfactory human resources management system. As from the conception of an employee up to the end of his or her service to the organization, the HRM function will always be directed to the purposes of holistic human development to attain the ultimate goal - growth.
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