There is not a business or corporation in existence that would survive, let alone prosper, without the input of a human being. Even a sole trader business has a person at the helm whose task is to drive that business into the future, making the appropriate decisions that are intended to enable the business to achieve its objectives. Therefore, in essence, "human resources" within a business environment is a term that refers to the people that work within it.

The concept and discipline of human resources management tends to more widely used in reference to larger corporate organisations that have several, if not thousands of employees. It can therefore be defined as the art or process of managing employees. However, as will be shown within this article, the HR management process is far more diverse that simply dealing employee's pay and conditions, which is a misconception of the role held by many. The following provides an overview of the main areas covered within the HR management remit, although in most cases these are heavily interrelated.

Recruitment and retention
As with any other resource that is used within a business, it is important that the employees engaged are "fit for the purpose." This does not mean fitness in the physical sense, but rather that they have the skills and competencies to fulfil the role that they are being employed to undertake or, in the case of a trainee, the ability to learn these skills. Part of the HR manager's task is to design the recruitment process for new employees in a manner that will attract the most suitable candidate for the role being offered and, where there is more than one applicant, to either conduct the interviews or be present when the process of selecting the successful candidate.

In addition to pay, employees also incur other costs to the business, which might include an investment in training, uniform and other ancillary items. There has to be a return made on these costs and this return will improve as the result of the length of time the employee is employed by the business. Therefore, another aspect of the recruitment process, as well as other areas of the HRM role, is to be looking to improve employee retention levels. In this respect, when considering applicants the HR team should be looking for the type of person who will be likely to make a longer term commitment to the company and prefers a stable career path environment. Someone who has shown a history of consistent career changes may

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

---

Add your voice

Know something about Human resources management explained?
We want to hear your view. Write now!