Introduction
Human Resource Management, or HRM for short, is one of the most important elements in running a prosperous business, although it is not always treated with the time and focus that it deserves. To completely understand what HRM is and its influence on the success or failing of a business, we first need to know what it means. The following is a good definition:
The purpose of Human Resource Management is to recruit, develop and use the personnel within an enterprise in the manner in which is most appropriate to achieving the aims and objectives of the organisation.
This effectively translates to “using people in the business in the best way possible” though that would be an over-simplified statement that doesn’t echo the real nature and scope of HRM. HRM describes all of the methods and processes that are involved in ensuring that all members of staff within a company are pulling in the same direction, and more importantly, in the right direction. Without good human resource management a business will be spending effort on tasks that it may not directly benefit from.
At its core, HRM combines three major elements that are essential to the productive output of the staff. These factors include motivation, management and leadership, and organisational structures. As a result, HRM can be employed on all levels of management in your company, not just the shop floor staff, and it may even be used to alter the framework of those levels of management as well. It is a wide-ranging subject that is explored in greater detail in this article.
Why is it Necessary?
Quite simply, businesses don’t operate without workers. As such, some level of human resource management is needed for any organisation to operate at all, let alone in an efficient and profitable manner. Even if you don’t realise exactly how HRM affects the daily running of your company you will certainly be employing some form of HRM in order to keep trading.
Human Resource Management has an impact on every level of your corporate activities with various degrees of visibility. The most evident HRM tasks involve the hiring and firing of staff as well as monetary systems such as payroll. It may also impact on motivation and communication within your company, which are much more intangible aspects but are critical nonetheless.
It also goes without saying that each organisation is different and will have a different set of challenges to face and opportunities to take advantage of. HRM can act as a versatile tool that converts workforce potential into financial gains and can adjust to fully utilise the strengths of your company. Without it, your competitors might be afforded the chance to prosper where you missed out.
Businesses that are established to supply for organisation setups such as shelf companies ought to have a well-trained workforce in place.
Impact on Business
Whilst this all sounds very interesting and significant, how does it actually impact on the daily functions of your company, and more importantly, how will it help to boost the performance and profitability of your company?
Recruitment & Training
This is probably the part of a company that is most affiliated with human resources – recruitment. Nearly every company in the world, and particularly businesses that are expanding, have to recruit people to work for them. Either existing employees have left, or new opportunities have arisen which mean there are jobs that must be filled. HRM can make sure your recruitment process gets the appropriate people into the right jobs at an affordable price.
It is also important to keep your staff training procedures up-to-date to make sure that your workforce is fully capable of doing the job they are there to do. Regardless of whether it is a new piece of legislation or a new piece of technology that changes the industry, there is an on-going requirement to keep your company up-to-date and ready to take advantage of any opportunity. There is an expression that states that “if you are not moving forward you are going backwards” which can be applied to business.
You may also find that the costly process of external recruitment can be averted if your company has adequate training facilities in place. It is far easier to teach an existing staff member to a higher level and then use outside recruitment to fill the gap left at the lower level than it is to recruit directly to a higher level.
Employee Relations
When you have the suitable people working for you it is necessary to keep them doing work for you, and to make certain they are doing a decent job. This can be achieved through good employee relations. The most obvious employee relations practice is the art of motivation – a wide topic by itself – but other worker relations issues can include disciplinary and grievance management. All of these factors are an important part of the overall HRM strategy.
Finances
You can’t keep employees at your organisation by good motivational techniques alone. They’ll want to be paid a fair sum and on time. Payroll ought to be one of the primary systems that is created when you start a business, but they still need to be taken care of and updated when staff join, leave or switch pay grade. Incorrect management of your payroll program can rapidly lead to disaster in terms of your workforce.
Industrial Relations
Several firms will have to deal with trade union or other workers rights organisations which can be very forceful when protecting the interests of their members. When dealing with such bodies it is beneficial to have people within your company who can connect comfortably with them whilst keeping the interests of your own business in mind at the same time.
It should be clear that a offshore business can’t function efficiently without having motivated and capable staff.
Workforce Planning
We have seen the impact that human resource management may have on a company and on the whole it looks like good HRM will have a beneficial effect on any company. As a rule, this is the case, but good HRM does not just happen overnight.
One way to implement HRM ideas to your business is through workforce planning – a process that has the aim of making sure your staff can complete the upcoming tasks needed for your company to be successful.
Definition
Workforce planning is the process of anticipating ahead of time the human resource needs of any enterprise, both in terms of the number of employees needed and the proper skill mix. Recruitment and training procedures are designed with a long term emphasis in order to make sure that the organisation is able to function without being limited by a shortage of appropriate labour.
Requirements
Analysing your workforce demands is vital to the proper planning of your workforce in the short-term and long-term future. If your business is subject to seasonal changes in demand, such as in the tourism industry, or is prone to seasonal fluctuations in staff levels then your workforce planning has to take these factors into consideration. Also bear in mind any future retirements or times of maternity/paternity leave or you could suffer from a shortage of qualified personnel.
Recruitment
Whether you are recruiting externally or from within your existing workforce you still need to find the right individual to fill the position. As part of your workforce planning you should draw up a job description that details the role that will be undertaken as well as a person specification which will give an indication of the kind of individual that would be a good fit for the job and your company. By mixing and prioritising the elements of these two documents you will be able to recognise the ideal job candidate.
Selection
The selection process can be as involved or as simple as you deem necessary. Outside of regular job interviews there are a number of ways you can learn about about applicants for your jobs, including aptitude tests, group interviews and even psychometric testing. These sophisticated techniques might not be applicable to all workforce planning projects but are an alternative to organisations.
Training & Development
The primary goal of staff training and development is to produce a better quality of worker within your organisation. Workforce planning can use training to fill upcoming gaps in the skill set of your staff and is generally faster and more economical than external recruitment. Training and development may also go some way toward motivating your staff.
It does not take long to perform a quick lookup associated with offshore corporations to identify the major competition in that particular niche of the business world.
Workforce Motivation
It practically goes without saying that well motivated workers are going to deliver a better standard of work and have a higher quantity of output than unhappy workers. This improved working rate will inevitably lead to an increase in the profitability of a business. Yet motivation remains a bit of taboo topic amongst some managers.
Essentially, all motivational tactics can be separated into two sets that are often referred to as the “carrot and stick” approach to motivation. The analogy refers to the two approaches to make a donkey carry your possessions, either by tempting it with a carrot, or threatening it with a hit from a stick!
Whether you use the carrot strategy or the stick strategy will largely depend on your own management approach, as well as the business you work in and the type of people that you hire. Regardless of your method, motivational factors can be separated into a further two groupings; financial and non-financial motivators.
Financial
The most typical financial motivators are payment schemes. You can pay workers in numerous different ways, either a fixed amount for a set service, by an hourly or daily fee, or a rate linked to production, such as a commission scheme. Whichever method is employed, the workforce is motivated to work because they will receive money for doing so.
Another financial motivation technique involves what are known as incentive schemes, where by additional financial rewards are given out for good performance. This may include commission above a fixed salary, performance-related pay levels or even providing a share of company profits. Once again, the motivating aspect here is the money alone.
Non-financial
Many human resource theorists have their own thoughts about the different elements that motivate people to do the job, although these are often seen as a bonus to an employee. It is broadly acknowledged that income is the critical motivational factor for the majority of people.
The Changing Face of HRM
As previously mentioned, HRM is a versatile tool that is there to match the features of your workforce to the objectives of your business. As a result, it has had to keep changing to a business climate that is constantly changing for one reason or another.
Perhaps there is a new piece of government legislation that will have an effect of how your business can carry out its operations, or maybe a new manufacturing technology will come along that will revolutionise your industry. Either way, if you want to ensure that your staff is performing to its maximum level then your HRM system should be adaptive enough to cope with an ever-changing world. After all, what may seem like a threat to many will often appear as an opportunity to a shrewd entrepreneur.