The Importance of Human Resource management

Human resource management (HRM) is the practice of recruiting, hiring, deploying and managing an organization's employees. HRM is often referred to simply as human resources. A company or organization's The HR department is usually responsible for creating, putting into effect and overseeing policies governing workers and the relationship of the organization with its employees. The term human resources were first used in the early 1900s, and then more widely in the 1960s, to describe the people who work for the organization, in aggregate.HRM is really employee management with an emphasis on those employees as assets of the business. In this context, employees are sometimes referred to as human capital. As with other business assets, the goal is to make effective use of employees, reducing risk and maximizing return on investment.The modern HR technology term, human capital management has come into more frequent use than the term, HRM, with the widespread adoption by large and midsize companies and other organizations of software to manage many HR functions.

The evaluation of human resource management

According to Armstrong (1999).”Human resource management is a strategic and coherent approach to the management of organizations' most valued assets-the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of its goals”.Other researchers such as Storey (1995 cited in Armstrong,1999). defined HRM in a different way. He said “Human resource management is a distinctive approach to employment management which seeks to obtain competitive advantage through the strategic development of a highly committed and skilled workforce, using an array of culture, structure and personnel technique"

Definition of Personnel Management

Personnel Management is a part of a management that deals with recruitment, hiring, staffing, development, and compensation of the workforce and their relation with the organization to achieve the organizational objectives. The primary functions of the personnel management is divided  into two categories:

Operative Functions: 

 The activities that are concerned with procurement, development,  compensation, job evaluation, employee welfare, utilization, maintenance, and collective bargaining.

Managerial Function:

   Planning, Organizing, Directing, Motivation, Control, and  Coordination are the basic managerial activities performed by  Personnel Management.

From the last two decades, as the development of technology has taken place and the humans are replaced by machines. Similarly, this branch of management has also been superseded by Human Resource Management.

Definition of Human Resource Management

Human Resource Management is that specialized and the organized branch of management which is concerned with the acquisition, maintenance, development, utilization, and coordination of people at work, in such a manner that they will give their best to the enterprise. It refers to a systematic function of planning for the human resource needs and demands, selection, training, compensation, and performance appraisal, to meet those requirements.

Personnel Management Vs Human Resource Management

BASIS FOR COMPARISON PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Meaning The aspect of management that is concerned with the workforce and their relationship with the entity is known as Personnel Management. The branch of management that focuses on the most effective use of the manpower of an entity, to achieve the organizational goals is known as Human Resource Management. Approach Traditional Modern Treatment of manpower Machines or Tools Asset Type of function Routine function Strategic function Basis of Pay Job Evaluation Performance Evaluation Management Role Transactional Transformational Communication Indirect Direct Labor Management Collective Bargaining Contracts Individual Contracts Initiatives Piecemeal Integrated Management Actions Procedure Business needs Decision Making Slow Fast Job Design Division of Labor Groups/Teams Focus Primarily on mundane activities like employee hiring, remunerating, training, and harmony. Treat manpower of the organization as valued assets, to be valued, used and preserved.

To conclude, personnel management focuses on the operational level. As result, emphasizing technical skills and day to day as recruitment and selection, training, salary administration, and employee relations, while, HRM was portrayed as being proactive-looking at people in economic terms as either assets or cost to be actively managed. HRM was seen to be strategic, tying people management to business objectives. HRM is an integrated approach that provided a logical program to link all aspects of people management.

HRM focus on people management as a consistent view in which people treated as Valuable assets. A firm’s reward systems, performance measures, promotion, and learning opportunities were used to maximize the utilization of its resources.

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