Summary of the course Essay Example

Summary of the course Essay Example Summary of the course Essay Summary of the course Essay Summary of the course Name: Course: Date: Summary of the course Human Resource management can be described as the management of an organization’s personnel. It entails the activities, policies and practices used in selecting, recruiting, utilizing, developing, remunerating, evaluating, maintaining and appraising an organization’s valuable labor force in order to keep the firm, productive and growing. Owing to increased diversity in the way companies are managed, the scope of human resources has expanded to involve the management and development of a company’s talent, takeovers and consolidation, planning of succession within the company, multiculturalism and involvement in terms of value and practice. One of the basic duties of a human resource manager is the designing of jobs, based on the needs of the organization pertaining to the tasks it requires accomplished to realize certain goals. The question that needs to be answered is, â€Å"What needs to be done for the company to develop product X and gain from the product?† The answer to this question will define the duties of the employee filling this position. However, HR managers should plan and design for these jobs with a holistic approach that would ensure interconnectedness of the different functions to promote cohesion within the organization. A second primary role of a HR manager is the recruitment of suitable personnel to handle the duties created. The process of recruitment involves sourcing for candidates by inviting applications for the jobs. An invitation for job application is prerequisite to capture vital information that is needed to sift through the applications that come in. An appropriate medium is chosen to disseminate this information, relevant mechanisms set to handle the incoming applications, and subsequent interviews that are held after the most fitting candidates are selected. The recruitment process in quite vital as it introduces employees that have the potential of furthering the companies’ objectives to the organization. The introduction of new employees to a company creates the challenges of ensuring that the personnel is oriented to fit the organization better, and understand their responsibilities with regards to the stipulated contractual agreements. The HR manager is responsible for keeping track of the personnel’s development and nurture budding talent in an effort in help the employee(s) attain their full potential and consequently serve to fulfill the organizations targets. This requires a constant review of the company’s personnel records and cooperation between the different managers directly in charge of the different employees. Employees do not work free, and their input to the organization needs to be rewarded. The HR manager’s duties also encompass the remuneration of the employees. Based on a variety of factors involving but not limited to the level of competency of the employee, the number and complexity of the duties assigned to an employee, as well as the prevailing external factors like the state of the economy, may come into play when deciding on the appropriate remuneration package to offer their employees. Salaries should be reviewed match the dynamic external environment when suitable. Considering the HR department is the foremost authority in matters concerning the organization’s human capital, a HR manager is responsible for ensuring that the company abides by the labor and employment laws. These laws protect the welfare of employees, and it is usually punishable law for a company to fail to comply with the laws. In cases where the employees want to hold a collective agreement with the organization, the HR manager is mandated to act as the company’s principle intermediary usually through a proxy like the employees’ representatives (unions). The present form of human resource management has not always existed. Before the 1900s, the rights of employees, with respect to the value they add to an organization were not appreciated. Some individuals like Andrew Carnegie did instill changes to these practices, but that was confined to their own businesses. Widespread acceptance of these ideas took place due to the institution of public policy that strove to improve the conditions that employees were exposed to at work, as well as the relationship that existed between employers and their employees. Advancement in the study and research into this discipline and progression in transport and communication lead to the view held today as far as human capital is concerned. Today there exists concepts that could not have been deemed possible a century ago. The progress made, as far as human rights are concerned, has meant a constant renewal of policies that conflict the rights of employees. For instance, during the Industrial Revolution, women did not work in companies, but presently women are at the helm of a number of multinational organizations. Such changes require a change in structure and the inclusion of several mechanisms that recognize the different needs of different groups present in the workplace. Changes in human relations, in general, have changed the way organizations view their employees. There has been a transition from viewing the labor in terms of their input to the company to looking at employees as individuals. Further studies of human behavior have influenced the management of personnel and policies have been implemented to provide to the needs of personnel outside the scope of their work. Examples of these include installation of fringe benefits that serve the needs of employees as human beings, and not necessarily benefiting the company directly like health insurance, pension plans, maternity and paternity leave. The focus of human resource management has evolved from that of protecting the company from the employees’ unions that were viewed negatively to strategic resourcefulness. An example is in takeovers and consolidation, where the company’s interests with respect to the work force are maintained so that in the process, the purpose of the roles created and talent nurtured by the organization is not lost. HR plays its role in integrating the acquired resources with those of the parent company to safeguard the cohesion and ultimately smooth running of the organization. Another key field pertaining to human resource is the planning of how a company’s employees are succeeded in the eventuality that an employee leaves for whatever reason. In most companies, clear guidelines are set to ascertain that a vacuum is not created by the departure on an employee. Essentially the organization is greater than an individual hence departure should not lead to paralysis. The HR manager is instrumental in identifying successors from either within or outside the company. These new employees are then trained in accordance to the structures available facilitating a smooth transition and normal running of the business. The field of human resource management is dynamic and relevant to the running of any organization successfully. This is evidenced by the fact that it has increased significantly in such a short time compared to a many of the other fields. There are still more areas of improvement and further research into the disciple will result in even greater growth and diversification. The installation of institutions that teach the discipline and the increasing number of peer-reviewed articles is more evidence to this.