The term HRM stands for Human Resource Management. It is that function of Management which is responsible for managing all the affairs related to the people or internal customers or employees. It includes HR Planning, Recruitment and Selection, Training and Development, Compensation or Pay Management, Performance Management , Disciplinary procedure, Health and Safety, Careers Management, Industrial/Employee relations, Organizational Culture management and much more.
Normally there is a full time person or Department in organization who look after all these activities similar to Finance and Marketing Department who are responsible for managing the finance or external customers of the firm respectively. . This person is called HR Manager or HR Department.
Common Questions you can be asked during a training session or classroom are:
What is the Importance of HRM?
What is the difference between HRM and HRD?
What kind of jobs you we get after studing HRM?
Why many organizations do not have any HR Department?
Who is responsible for HR if there is no HR department or manager?
What is the future of HRM?
Answers:
Importance of HRM is that without effective people management no organization can survive or grow in the long run. If organization is in Industrial sector, good employer-employee relation is must for smooth running of operations and production. It is HR department / manager who strive to create a good relationship between employer and employees. Similarly HRM becomes more important for services sector which contribute a big portion of GDP specially in developed economies. Reason is that in services sector a big portion of total cost is labor cost or people. So if organization do not manage these expensive resource properly it means that organization resources are not utilized effectively.
Difference between HRM and HRD is that HRM relates to all the activities of managing employees in an organization while HRD which stands for Human Resource Development includes training, learning, development and coaching etc. So we can say that HRD is a sub-field of HRM which specifically relates to the improvement or enhancement of employees knowledge, skills, abilities and attitudes.
Students of HRM can get jobs as Recruitment Officer, HRD specialist, Training Officer, Compensation specialist, Performance Management Specialist, Health and Safety Officer, Employee relations officer, Personnel Manager, Organization Development consultant, Knowledge manager and administration officer and much much more.
The reason that many organization specially small and medium size enterprise do not have HRM department is that it cost money ($) to setup an HR department or hire an HR manager. In these organization normally General manager or line manager look after these HR activities. Moreover many organization do not give importance to HR issues because they have more concern for finance or customers. However it can be argued that if organization have sound HR practices it can result in effective financial management as well as higher customer satisfaction and thus higher profits.
The Future of HRM seems great as more and more organizations are recognizing the importance of people issues and thus either employing HR experts or developing HR skills of existing general or administrative managers. HRM is becoming a managerial fad and fashion even in developing economies where it is believed that by having HR Manager or function organization will be in a better position to compete in the marketplace.
