Human Resource Management (HRM) Explained – Everything you Need to Know -
People are essential to the success of any organization. HR professionals play a pivotal
role in how successful an organization is. And good Human Resource Management is
essential for businesses of all sizes. Hi, I'm Erik from AIHR, and in this session you'll
learn what Human Resource Management or HRM is, how it originated during the two
world wars, its key activities, how successful HR professionals make an impact on their
business, and some trends that we're seeing right now.
However, before we start, smash that like button and make sure to subscribe so you
don't miss out on any valuable HR insights. *MUSIC* Before we get into HRM activities,
let's start with a definition. Human Resource Management is the management of people
to help them perform to the best of their abilities and, as a result, achieve better
performance for the organization.
This is summarized in a great quote by Stephen Covey: "An empowered organization is
one in which individuals have knowledge, skills, desires, and opportunities to personally
succeed in a way that leads to collective organizational success." A human resource is an
individual employee, and human resources is what we call the set of people who make
up the workforce in an organization.
Another common term you might hear is human capital. This refers to the economic
value of an employee's experience and skills. Human capital was introduced into the
mainstream in 1928 when the English economist Arthur Cecil Pigou wrote that
"Organizations can invest in material capital, which are buildings, tools, and machines,
as well as in human capital.
" We now know that investing in human capital pays off. Organizations with employees
who have relevant knowledge, skills, and experiences are more successful than
organizations that don't. Organizations are also more successful if they're able to hire
the right people, successfully onboard them, fairly reward them, and continuously
optimize their performance.
The realization that human capital increases the success of organizations led to the
creation of the modern HR department, which in turn is in charge of Human Resource
Management. How did HRM get to where it is now? Let's take a look at a brief history so
you can get a better idea of why we do what we do in HRM today.
HRM started as personnel management, which became relevant during the two World
Wars. The wars had a tremendous impact on the way we worked. Since most young men
were drafted into the army, women started to participate in work serving in the armed
forces or working in factory jobs. Because some men were afraid that this would cause
women to lose their femininity, some factories gave female employees lessons in how to
apply makeup.
I bet you didn't think that that was ever part of an HR job description. During the World
Wars, organizations also introduced assessments like IQ testing to predict performance,
, and implemented an increasing number of social policies. Personnel management
during and after the war was focused on compliance and creating work efficiency.
In the decades that followed, personnel management became increasingly important
and became involved in everything related to staffing: from hiring and firing to
administrating benefits, collective bargaining, and determining salaries. In the mid-80s,
the term Human Resource Management was introduced as a way for the organization to
implement policies that would make the organization more successful.
While personnel management focused on creating efficiencies, HRM promised to go
beyond that and actually make an impact on the business. This move was reinforced by
a growing amount of research that found that investments in HRM practices, like proper
training and competitive compensation for employees, would increase the organization's
financial performance.
The consequence of this was that HRM became less administrative, and instead worked
alongside line managers. Day-to-day people management became part of the manager's
role, while HR started to integrate with the business and focus on strategic people issues
like talent acquisition, compensation, and retention.
Leading organizations would implement HR policies that were collaborative and that
were aligned with the organization's goals. Citibank appointed the HR director to the
corporate board, and in other companies like Hewlett Packard and WH Smith, the group
HR director became fully involved in formulating corporate strategy.
This integration of HRM with business strategy was called strategic Human Resource
Management. That brings us to today, where HRM has evolved into one of the
cornerstones of the modern organization. Good people practices can make an
organization many times more successful than its competitors, meaning that HRM
occupies a strategic spot in an organization's business model.
And just as a reminder, if you're enjoying this session so far, you know what to do. So
what exactly is involved in Human Resource Management? HRM actually encompasses
a long list of activities. I won't give you the whole list, but let's dive into seven of the
most important HRM activities, before I explain what some of them have to do with
hygiene.
The first HRM activity is recruitment and selection. These are the most visible elements
of HR. I think we all clearly remember our first job interview. The goal here is to recruit
new employees and select the best ones to come and work for the organization. You
might be quite familiar with the most common selection methods like interviews,
assessments, reference checks, and work tests.
Performance management is another key activity. The goal here is to help boost people's
performance so that the organization can reach its goals. This happens through feedback
and performance reviews. Another key aspect of managing performance is succession
planning. The goal here is to build a talent pipeline so that when strategic roles open up,
there is talent waiting to take them on.
People are essential to the success of any organization. HR professionals play a pivotal
role in how successful an organization is. And good Human Resource Management is
essential for businesses of all sizes. Hi, I'm Erik from AIHR, and in this session you'll
learn what Human Resource Management or HRM is, how it originated during the two
world wars, its key activities, how successful HR professionals make an impact on their
business, and some trends that we're seeing right now.
However, before we start, smash that like button and make sure to subscribe so you
don't miss out on any valuable HR insights. *MUSIC* Before we get into HRM activities,
let's start with a definition. Human Resource Management is the management of people
to help them perform to the best of their abilities and, as a result, achieve better
performance for the organization.
This is summarized in a great quote by Stephen Covey: "An empowered organization is
one in which individuals have knowledge, skills, desires, and opportunities to personally
succeed in a way that leads to collective organizational success." A human resource is an
individual employee, and human resources is what we call the set of people who make
up the workforce in an organization.
Another common term you might hear is human capital. This refers to the economic
value of an employee's experience and skills. Human capital was introduced into the
mainstream in 1928 when the English economist Arthur Cecil Pigou wrote that
"Organizations can invest in material capital, which are buildings, tools, and machines,
as well as in human capital.
" We now know that investing in human capital pays off. Organizations with employees
who have relevant knowledge, skills, and experiences are more successful than
organizations that don't. Organizations are also more successful if they're able to hire
the right people, successfully onboard them, fairly reward them, and continuously
optimize their performance.
The realization that human capital increases the success of organizations led to the
creation of the modern HR department, which in turn is in charge of Human Resource
Management. How did HRM get to where it is now? Let's take a look at a brief history so
you can get a better idea of why we do what we do in HRM today.
HRM started as personnel management, which became relevant during the two World
Wars. The wars had a tremendous impact on the way we worked. Since most young men
were drafted into the army, women started to participate in work serving in the armed
forces or working in factory jobs. Because some men were afraid that this would cause
women to lose their femininity, some factories gave female employees lessons in how to
apply makeup.
I bet you didn't think that that was ever part of an HR job description. During the World
Wars, organizations also introduced assessments like IQ testing to predict performance,
, and implemented an increasing number of social policies. Personnel management
during and after the war was focused on compliance and creating work efficiency.
In the decades that followed, personnel management became increasingly important
and became involved in everything related to staffing: from hiring and firing to
administrating benefits, collective bargaining, and determining salaries. In the mid-80s,
the term Human Resource Management was introduced as a way for the organization to
implement policies that would make the organization more successful.
While personnel management focused on creating efficiencies, HRM promised to go
beyond that and actually make an impact on the business. This move was reinforced by
a growing amount of research that found that investments in HRM practices, like proper
training and competitive compensation for employees, would increase the organization's
financial performance.
The consequence of this was that HRM became less administrative, and instead worked
alongside line managers. Day-to-day people management became part of the manager's
role, while HR started to integrate with the business and focus on strategic people issues
like talent acquisition, compensation, and retention.
Leading organizations would implement HR policies that were collaborative and that
were aligned with the organization's goals. Citibank appointed the HR director to the
corporate board, and in other companies like Hewlett Packard and WH Smith, the group
HR director became fully involved in formulating corporate strategy.
This integration of HRM with business strategy was called strategic Human Resource
Management. That brings us to today, where HRM has evolved into one of the
cornerstones of the modern organization. Good people practices can make an
organization many times more successful than its competitors, meaning that HRM
occupies a strategic spot in an organization's business model.
And just as a reminder, if you're enjoying this session so far, you know what to do. So
what exactly is involved in Human Resource Management? HRM actually encompasses
a long list of activities. I won't give you the whole list, but let's dive into seven of the
most important HRM activities, before I explain what some of them have to do with
hygiene.
The first HRM activity is recruitment and selection. These are the most visible elements
of HR. I think we all clearly remember our first job interview. The goal here is to recruit
new employees and select the best ones to come and work for the organization. You
might be quite familiar with the most common selection methods like interviews,
assessments, reference checks, and work tests.
Performance management is another key activity. The goal here is to help boost people's
performance so that the organization can reach its goals. This happens through feedback
and performance reviews. Another key aspect of managing performance is succession
planning. The goal here is to build a talent pipeline so that when strategic roles open up,
there is talent waiting to take them on.
