Human Resource Management Overview

Human Resource Management Overview

Human Resource Management is the part of a company or organization that recruits new employees. They also train, motivate, and retain them. These are a few of the main goals of Human Resource Management (HRM), but many other duties are within the realm of HRM. With the ever growing business world, new tasks are placed on the Human Resources plate. Since the Privacy Act of 1974 and the rise of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, many new laws govern and regulate business. It is HR’s mission to ensure compliance within the corporation. HRM is often misunderstood in that they only hire, discipline employees, and terminate them for violating policy and law. These are but a few of HR’s missions.

The primary function of Human Resource Management is to govern employees within its organization. All organizations have the same valuable assets, the employees. Without the human element, no business would survive. “Hiring and keeping good people is critical to the success of every organization” (DeCenzo, Robbins, & Vershult, 2013. p. 33). DeCenzo, Robbins, and Vershult (2013) also state that there are four basic functions of HRM that drive their mission: staffing, developing, motivating, and maintaining. All four of these activities reside within organizations of all sizes, whether it be two or two hundred employees.

The first activity of staffing must be completed prior to the other actions. Staffing involves analyzing the positions that need to be filled. This includes the skill and knowledge needed to perform the duties of said position. This is critical to hiring the correct person for the job based on their qualifications. HR must provide the requirements to the applicants to ensure they meet the criteria. After HR has selected potential candidates, the manager(s) look over and interview the selectees.

The next phase is development. The new hire is given a grace period in which he or she is trained on the company policies, his or her duties, and all other need to know data. Other important information passed on could be security measures for personal information or products shipments, etcetera. Proper training leads to safe practices (Mazurek, n.d.). Certain jobs, like flight line work on aircraft, have intense safety training and compliance to ensure no harm comes to employees. Motivation was the third activity. This activity is arguably one of the hardest to accomplish. The employees need to be motivated to do their job. This requires them to enjoy their work. Motivation can be achieved through many means. Respect among employees and their employers, efficient and new technology such as personal computers or tablets, and acknowledgement are effective motivators. Awards for outstanding performance are common among organizations for employees to strive to beat standards set forth by the company.

The final phase is