Principles of Management II

Chapter Two: Human Resource Management

Lecturer : Dr. Mazen Rohmi
 Introduction

 Human resources are considered to be the center of

all development processes of the economy.

 While HRM has been known from ages, its

rediscovery has been necessitated by the deteriorating
social conditions, increased competition and rapid
technological advancement
 Concept of Human Resource
Management

 Human Resource Management deals with the

design of formal systems in an organization to ensure
the effective and efficient use of human talent to
accomplish organizational goals.
 In an organization, the management of human

resources means that they must be recruited,

compensated, trained, and developed.
 Human Resource Management
Activities
 The central focus for HR management must be on
contributing to organizational success.
 A key to enhance organizational performance is to

make sure that human resources activities support

organizational efforts are focusing on productivity,
service, and quality.
 Productivity: As measured by the amount of output
per employee, continuous improvement of
productivity has become even more important as
global competition has increased.

 The productivity of the human resources in an

organization is affected significantly by management
efforts, programs, and systems.
 Quality: The quality of products and services
delivered significantly affects organizational success
over the long term. If an organization gains a
reputation for providing poor-quality products and
services, it reduces its organizational growth and
performance.
 An emphasis on quality requires continuous changes

aimed at improving work processes. That need opens

the door for reengineering the organizational work
done by people.
 Service: Because people frequently produce the
products or services offered by an organization, HR
management considerations must be included when
identifying service obstructions and redesigning
operational processes.
 Involving all employees, not just managers, in

problem solving often requires changes in corporate

culture, leadership styles, and HR policies and
practices.

 HR Activities
 The HR activities are as follows:
1. HR Planning and Analysis
2. Equal Employment Opportunity
3. Staffing
4. HR Development
5. Compensation and Benefits
6. Health, Safety, and Security
7. Employee and Labor/Management Relations
 HR Planning and Analysis

 HR planning and analysis activities have several

facets. Through HR planning, managers attempt to
anticipate forces that will influence the future supply
of and demand for employees.
Equal Employment Opportunity
 Compliance with equal employment opportunity (EEO)
laws and regulations affects all other HR activities and is
integral to HR management.
 For instance, strategic HR plans must ensure sufficient
availability of a diversity of individuals to meet affirmative
action requirements.
 Affirmative action is defined as a law that requires
employers to make an extra effort to employ protected
groups.
 When recruiting, selecting, and training individuals, all
managers must be aware of EEO requirements.
 Staffing
 The aim of staffing is to provide an adequate supply
of qualified individuals to fill the jobs in an
organization.
 By studying what workers do, job analysis (An

assessment that defines jobs and the behaviors

necessary to perform them) is the foundation for the
staffing function.
 Job Descriptions and Job Specifications
 Job descriptions is a written statement that describes
a job.
 Job specifications (A written statement of the

minimum qualifications that a person must possess to

perform a given job successfully) can be prepared to
recruit applicants for job openings.
 The selection process (Screening job applicants to

ensure that the most appropriate candidates are hired)

is concerned with choosing the most qualified
individuals to fill jobs in the organization.
 Recruitment
 If employee vacancies exist, managers should use the
information gathered through job analysis to guide
them in recruitment—that is, locating, identifying,
and attracting capable applicants (see Figure 3.2 -
Recruiting Sources).
Recruiting Sources
 Decruitment
 If HR planning shows a surplus of employees,
managers may want to reduce the organization‘s
workforce through decruitment (see Figure 3.3 –
Decruitment Options).
 HR Development
 Beginning with the orientation (Introducing a new employee to his or
her job in an organization) of new employees, HR training and
development also includes job-skill training.
 As jobs evolve and change, ongoing retraining is necessary to
accommodate technological changes.
 Encouraging development of all employees, including supervisors and
managers, is necessary to prepare organizations for future challenges.
 Career planning identifies paths and activities for individual employees
as they develop within the organization.
 Assessing how employees perform their jobs is the focus of
performance management system that establishes performance
standards that are used to evaluate employee performance.
Compensation and Benefits
 Compensation rewards people for performing
organizational work through pay, incentives, and
benefits.
 Employers must develop and refine their basic wage

and salary systems.

 How do managers determine who gets paid what?

Several factors influence the compensation and benefit

packages that different employees receive.
 Figure 3.4 summarizes determines of pay and benefits
 Skill-based Pay and Variable Pay
 Many organizations, however, are using alternative approaches
to determining compensation: skill-based pay and variable pay.
 Skill-based pay systems reward employees for the job skills and

competencies they can demonstrate.

 Under this type of pay system, an employee‘s job title does not

define his or her pay category, skills do.

 Research shows that these types of pay systems tend to be more

successful in manufacturing organizations than in service

organizations and organizations pursuing technical innovations.
 On the other hand, many organizations use variable pay

systems, in which an individual‘s compensation is contingent on

performance.
 Health, Safety, and Security
The traditional concern for safety has focused on eliminating accidents
and injuries at work.
Additional concerns are health issues arising from risky work with
certain chemicals and newer technologies.
Through a broader focus on health, HR management can assist
employees with substance misuse and other problems through employee
assistance programs in order to retain otherwise satisfactory employees.
Employee wellness programs to promote good health and exercise are
becoming more widespread.
Workplace security has grown in importance, in response to the
increasing number of acts of workplace violence.
HR management must ensure that managers and employees can work in
a safe environment.
 Employee and Labor/Management
Relations
 The relationship between managers and their
employees must be handled effectively if both the
employees and the organization are to prosper
together.
 Whether or not some of the employees are

represented by a union, employee rights must be

addressed.
 It is important to develop, communicate, and update

HR policies and rules so that managers and

employees alike know what is expected.
Identifying and Selecting Competent
Employees
 Every organization needs people to do
whatever work is necessary for doing what
the organization is in business to do.
 How do they get those people?
 what can they do to ensure they get

competent, talented people?

This first phase of the HRM process involves
three tasks: human resource planning,
recruitment and decruitment, and selection.
 Human Resource Planning
 Human resource planning is the process by
which managers ensure that they have the
right number and kinds of capable people in
the right places and at the right times.
Through planning, organizations avoid
sudden people shortages and surpluses.
 HR planning entails two steps:

(1) assessing current human resources, and

(2) meeting future HR needs.
 Current Assessment
 Managers begin HR planning by inventorying
current employees.
 This inventory usually includes information

on employees such as name, education,

training, prior employment, languages
spoken, special capabilities, and specialized
skills.
 An important part of a current assessment is job
analysis, an assessment that defines a job and
the behaviors necessary to perform it.
 Information for a job analysis is gathered by
directly observing individuals on the job,
interviewing employees individually or in a group,
having employees complete a questionnaire or
record daily activities in a diary, or having job
―experts (usually managers) identify a job‘s
specific characteristics.
 Using this information from the job analysis,
managers develop or revise job descriptions and
job specifications.
 A job description
 A job description is a written statement describing a job—
typically job content, environment, and conditions of
employment.

 A job specification states the minimum qualifications that

a person must possess to successfully perform a given job.
It identifies the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to
do the job effectively.
 Both the job description and job specification are important
documents when managers begin recruiting and selecting.
 Human Resource Management
Challenges
 The environment faced by HR management is a
challenging one; changes are occurring rapidly
across a wide range of issues. the most prevalent
challenges facing HR management are as follows:
 Economic and technological change

Occupational shifts from manufacturing and

agriculture to service industries and
telecommunications.
– Pressures of global competition causing firms to
adapt by lowering costs and increasing
productivity.
2. Workforce availability and quality concerns
– Inadequate supply of workers with needed
skills for ― “knowledge jobs”
– Education of workers in basic skills.
3. Demographics and diversity issues
– Increasing Racial/Ethnic Diversity
– More Women in the Workforce
 Single-parent households
 Dual-career couples
• Domestic partners

 Working mothers and family/childcare

– Significantly Aging Workforce
 Age discrimination
 HRM Challenges
4. Organizational restructuring
– Mergers and Acquisitions
– Right-sizing—eliminating of layers of management,
closing facilities, merging with other organizations,
and outplacing workers
 Intended results are flatter organizations, increases
in productivity, quality, service and lower costs.
 Costs are ―survivor mentality, loss of employee
loyalty, and turnover of valuable employees.
– HR managers must work toward ensuring cultural
compatibility in mergers.
 Chapter Checkout

1. The primary purposes of staffing include all

of the following Except
a. disciplining employees.
b. finding employees.
c. hiring employees.
d. rewarding employees.
2. Affirmative action is defined as
a. any employment decision that harms one
individual more than any other.
b. any employment decision that is based upon
sexual conduct.
c. a law that requires employers to make an
extra effort to employ protected groups.
d. any employment decision that harms one
group more than another.
 3. An assessment that defines a job and the
behaviors necessary to perform it in an
organization is described as a
 a. job evaluation.
 b. job description.
 c. job analysis.
 d. job specification.
 4. Any criterion of performance measure used
as a basis for an employment decision is a(n)
 a. assessment center.
 b. performance standard.
 c. test.
 d. None of the above.
5. All of the following would be considered a
separation Except a (n)
a. demotion.
b. layoff.
c. retirement.
d. firing.
6. _______________ states the minimum
qualifications that a person must possess to
successfully perform.
a. Job evaluation
b. Job description
c. Job analysis
d. Job specification
7. Introducing a new employee to his or her job
in an organization is described as
 a. redeployment.
 b. whereabouts.
 c. orientation.
 d. configuration.

Answers: 1. a 2. c 3. c 4. c 5. a 6. d 7. c