The Roles and Responsibilities of Human Resource Management (HRM)

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Human Resource Management is a way of managing, maintaining, training and developing the most important resource in any organization, namely the employees.

Human Resource Management contributes to the organization functioning as it should in order to achieve its goals. It is the most important factor that enables the employers and the organization to achieve their goals.

It ensures employee satisfaction and ensures that the employees' contribution is maximized to achieve the overall goal.

It is a transparent way of managing the workforce that aims to achieve competitive advantage through strategic planning and utilization of employees.

Regardless of the industry or the nature of the business, HRM plays an important role in the success of the business and its employees.

The HRM functions are designed to recruit employees and work to train, develop and maintain employee satisfaction and commitment.

Ultimately, the functions lead to the organization achieving its goals, making HRM a catalyst for a successful business.

The importance of HRM functions

  • HRM is the backbone of any organization, and HRM functioning properly can be decisive for whether your company is successful or not. With well-functioning HRM functions, the business flow is stable, and all employees work towards a common goal.
  • As the HRM functions are designed to recruit and maintain the workforce, it is important that the HR department has the functions required to recruit correctly.
  • HRM and the HRM functions are universal and can be used in all organizations, regardless of size, scope and industry.
  • The HRM functions are more action-oriented and help to solve employee-related problems with the help of sensible guidelines rather than registration or written process rules.
  • The functions strive to optimize and maximize the employees' full potential. They also encourage training and development programs to enhance workforce capabilities.
  • These functions are not isolated tasks, as they involve all employees, regardless of their role or status in the organization.

Different types of HRM functions

There is no fixed list of HRM functions, because in our changing times, new functions are constantly being added.

However, all HRM functions, both old and new, can be classified into three categories:

1. Management functions: - Planning of human resources

  • Organization
  • Steering
  • Control

2. Operational functions: - Job analysis and design

3. Advisory functions: - Advice to senior management

  • Advice to department managers

It is important to know and understand these HRM functions, as they are crucial for the operation and flow of the company.

Here are some examples of management functions

1. Personnel planning: This is a function that determines the need for the number of employees and the types of employees needed to achieve the organization's goals.

Research is an important part of this function, as data is collected and analyzed with a view to current and future staffing needs.

This function also helps to anticipate changes in the employees' values, attitudes and behavior, and how this will affect the organization and the business

2. Organization: In an organization, tasks are distributed between members, relationships are identified and established, and activities are directed towards contributing collectively to achieving the organization's goals.

3. Management: Getting employees to perform to the maximum and activating them at various levels is only possible through proper management and motivation.

When employees are motivated, you can use their full potential with the right management.

4. Check: After planning, organization and management, the employees' actual performance is checked and compared with the original plans.

If the employees' performances deviate, control measures must be implemented so that the employees' performances are in line with the targets.

Examples of operative functions

1. Selection and recruitment: This is a function that gathers a selection of potential candidates for the organization. Management can select the right candidate for the job from this talent pool.

2. Job analysis: The process of outlining what a job entails and specifying the requirements for candidates, such as qualifications, skills and work experience, is called job analysis. Job design aims to outline and organize tasks, duties and areas of responsibility in a single work unit to achieve specific goals.

3. Training and development: This HRM function enables the employees to develop their skills and knowledge so that they can perform the job effectively. Training and development programs help prepare existing employees for new roles and responsibilities. They also help new and existing employees learn more about their jobs.

4. Payroll administration: HRM decides what should be paid for various roles and jobs. HRM helps in determining the compensation of the employees, which includes salary administration, salary administration, bonuses, incentives, etc.

5. Performance evaluation: This HRM function is very important as the HR department has to ensure that the employees' performance is consistent. Performance evaluation rewards those employees who perform consistently and achieve their goals.

6. Welfare of the employees: This is a function that looks after the general well-being of the employees by the organization offering various benefits, facilities and services to the employees.

7. Employee Relations: This refers to HRM's interaction with the employees represented by a union. The employees join together to gain more influence on decisions that affect pay and working conditions, etc.

8. Maintenance: HR is considered to be a resource for the organization, and employee turnover is considered to be good for the organization. HRM always tries to keep the best employees in the organization.

9. Personnel research: HRM conducts personnel surveys to survey the employees' opinions on, among other things, compensation, working conditions and work culture. The results of these surveys help to determine promotions, employee satisfaction, skills development and termination of employees.

10. Personnel register: This function includes registration, maintenance, documentation and retrieval of personnel-related data such as application forms, employment history, working hours, compensation history, attendance, turnover and other personnel-related data.

Examples of advisory functions

HRM has expertise in managing the company's human resources and can therefore advise on issues that concern the employees:

1. Advice to senior management: HR managers give advice to senior management on the design and evaluation of personnel programmes, guidelines and procedures.

2. Advice to the department heads: The personnel manager advises the department heads on issues such as personnel planning, job analysis, job design, recruitment, selection, placement, training, performance evaluation, etc.

HRM's strategic functions

To explain the strategic functions of HRM, we must first understand what strategic HR is in detail.

You can read our whitepaper to get a better understanding of strategic HR.

Strategic HRM functions include :

1. Benchmarking the employees' current status: It is very important to understand the employees' current status in order to be able to set future goals and understand the time frame to achieve them.

2. Ensuring that business results are in line with the organization's goals: Everyone in the organization works to achieve the organization's goals, but ensuring that business results are in line with those goals helps us keep track of progress.

At the same time, it helps us to adjust the things that make us on the right track to reach these goals in an efficient way.

3. Measuring HR's contribution: Since HRM is more action-oriented and involves more activity, it is very difficult to put figures on this. Strategic HRM functions make it easier to communicate the real extent of HR work's contribution to management.

Human Resource Management (HRM) is pivotal for organizational success, encompassing functions from recruitment to strategic planning. With tools like IceHrm, businesses can efficiently manage their workforce, fostering growth and productivity.