Human Resource Management

Introduction
Organizations are established to achieve specific objectives. Many of them compete with
one another in the attempt to reach their goals. When they are not in competition, they try their
best to survive. Success comes as a result of the effective and efficient use of resources, whether
human or nonhuman. Most often, however, the outcome is attributed to the performance of the
organization’s human resources. This happens even in the presence of various constraints like
those concerning equipment, materials, and money.
The importance of human resource cannot be overemphasized. In the long history of
mankind, this truism has been proven time and again. Literature abounds with stories about wars
won by nations with soldiers who were really prepared to do their jobs. The early Greeks, for
instance, were able to defeat armies larger than their own because of superior recruitment and
training. During the Second World War, in a few critical weeks in 1940, Britain survived the
attempted invasion of Hitler’s Germany. The British were not subjugated because of high morale,
discipline, and their determination to fight.
Businesses and other forms of non-military organizations are like armies in some ways.
To reach their goals, they must manage their human resources properly. Business literature also
abounds with stories of companies, which became successful because of the right application of
human resource management.

What is Human Resource Management?

Defining human resource management (HRM) is useful in the sense that it provides a
starting point in presenting the various principles and methods involved. HRM is to be
distinguished from the other management functions of marketing, finance, and production. It is
different from marketing which is concerned with the generation of sufficient volumes of sales to
keep the company as a viable concern. It is also different from finance which is concerned with
obtaining the funds needed for the various activities of the firm and the effective and efficient use
of such funds. It is also different from production which is concerned with making sure that there
are enough stocks of products or available services for the company’s market requirements.
Among the five Ms of management, i.e., men, money, machines, materials, and methods,
HRM addresses the concern about the first M, which is men. It is believed that in the five Ms,
“men” is the most difficult to manage. This may be so because among the five, “men” is different
from the other Ms in the sense that men possess the power to manipulate the other Ms. Whereas,
the other Ms are either inanimate or abstract and as such, do not have the power to think and
decide what is good for them.