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Unit 1: Introduction to Human Resource Management

The role of an HR manager is shifting from one of a protector and screener to that of a Notes
planner and change agent. In the present-day competitive world, highly trained and committed
employees are often a firm’s best bet. HR professionals can help an organization to select
and train employees for emerging roles. Only people who are involved and intelligent can
make a difference. Charles Creer has pointed out that “in a growing number of organizations,
human resources are now viewed as a source of competitive advantage. Increasingly it is
being recognised that competitive advantage can be obtained with a high quality workforce
that enables organizations to compete on the lines of market responsiveness, product and
service quality, differentiated products and technological innovations”.
In the future, the principal issues will be how the HRM function can transform its outlook
from a traditional to a modern one, from being functionally-oriented, internally focused,
reactive, activity-driven, centralised and control-oriented to being business-oriented, customer-
focussed, proactive, effectiveness-driven, decentralised and empowerment-oriented.
Moreover, organizations will need to be concerned with extending their recruiting efforts,
developing careful screening procedures, training employees to adapt to change, providing
appropriate and sufficient educational programmes and accounting for their recruiting,
selecting and training employees. The new generation of employees will weigh salary and
benefits packages against their personal needs and values. Therefore, compensation and
benefits packages will offer greater flexibility in order to meet individual needs.
Self Assessment
Multiple choice questions:

1. …………………… say that “Human resource management encompasses those activities
designed to provide for and coordinate the human resources of an organization”.
(a) Ivancevich and Glucck (b) Byars and Rue
(c) Dale Yoder (d) Flippo
2. …………………… say that “Human resource management is the function performed
in organizations that facilitates the most effective use of people (employees) to achieve
organizational and individual goals”.
(a) Ivancevich and Glucck (b) Byars and Rue
(c) Dale Yoder (d) Flippo
3. ………………….. focuses on providing personal problem solving, counselling to
individual employees.
(a) Union (b) Labour relations
(c) Employee assistance (d) Organization
True or False:
4. Personnel managers do not perform their job in a vacuum.
(a) True (b) False
5. Brian is involved in the hiring for the hotel at all, and does not get involved with
training and development.
(a) True (b) False

1.4 HRM Model

In recent years there has been relative agreement among HRM specialists as to what
constitutes the field of HRM. The model developed by the American Society for Training
and Development (ASTD) identifies nine human resource areas such as:

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