HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGMENT

Human resources is a term used to describe the individuals who comprise the workforce of an organization, although it is also applied in labor economics to, for example, business sectors or even whole nations. Human resources is also the name of the function within an organization charged with the overall responsibility for implementing strategies and policies relating to the management of individuals (i.e. the human resources). This function title is often abbreviated to the initials 'HR'.

Human resources is a relatively modern management term, coined in the 1960s.[citation needed] The origins of the function arose in organizations that introduced 'welfare management' practices and also in those that adopted the principles of 'scientific management'. From these terms emerged a largely administrative management activity, co-ordinating a range of worker related processes and becoming known, in time as the 'personnel function'. Human resources progressively became the more usual name for this function, in the first instance in the United States as well as multinational corporations, reflecting the adoption of a more quantitative as well as strategic approach to workforce management, demanded by corporate management and the greater competitiveness for limited and highly skilled workers.

Key functions

Human Resources may set strategies and develop policies, standards, systems, and processes that implement these strategies in a whole range of areas. The following are typical of a wide range of organizations:

* Recruitment, selection, and onboarding (resourcing)

* Organizational design and development

* Business transformation and change management

* Performance, conduct and behavior management

* Industrial and employee relations

* Human resources (workforce) analysis and workforce personnel data management

* Compensation, rewards, and benefits management

* Training and development (learning management)

Implementation of such policies, processes or standards may be directly managed by the HR function itself, or the function may indirectly supervise the implementation of such activities by managers, other business functions or via third-party external partner organizations.

Human resources purpose and role

In simple terms, an organization's human resource management strategy should maximize return on investment in the organization's human capital and minimize financial risk. Human Resources seeks to achieve this by aligning the supply of skilled and qualified individuals and the capabilities of the current workforce, with the organization's ongoing and future business plans and requirements to maximize return on investment and secure future survival and success. In ensuring such objectives are achieved, the human resource function purpose in this context is to implement the organization's human resource requirements effectively but also pragmatically, taking account of legal, ethical and as far as is practical in a manner that retains the support and respect of the workforce

Major trends

To know the business environment an organization operates in, three major trends must be considered:

1. Demographics: the characteristics of a population/workforce, for example, age, gender or social class. This type of trend may have an effect in relation to pension offerings, insurance packages etc.

2. Diversity: the variation within the population/workplace. Changes in society now mean that a larger proportion of organizations are made up of "baby-boomers" or older employees in comparison to thirty years ago. Advocates of "workplace diversity" simply advocate an employee base that is a mirror reflection of the make-up of society insofar as race, gender, sexual orientation, etc.

3. Skills and qualifications: as industries move from manual to more managerial professions so does the need for more highly skilled graduates. If the market is "tight" (i.e., not enough staff for the jobs), employers must compete for employees by offering financial rewards, community investment, etc..

Careers in Human Resources Managment

A career in human resources involves helping an organization manage its people. This includes hiring and firing, training, compensation, administering benefits and handling the informational side of people management. Human resource managers are frequently in top management roles and are critical to the success of any company. To excel in this role you have to be sensitive to the needs of the other departments and see their perspective. You need to be able to see the big picture to help sell ideas to the other functional managers and to serve them as internal clients. You have to be able to sell HR throughout the organization to come up with solutions that will be most effective.

This is an exciting career area that attracts people who are sensitive, big picture, team-oriented, extroverted and honest. On the other hand, because human resources jobs support more visible functions in the company, they are not for people with huge egos and a strong need to be center stage.

The human resources field is changing rapidly with increasing use of technology, training and outsourcing. A career in HR promises to keep you busy, engaged and deeply involved in making things happen in your company.