Human Resource

Management
Lecture 1
Roles and Functions

David Lin (MA Comm. Studies)

davidganglin@gmail.com

What is HR management

All the concepts, strategies, policies and

practices which organisations use to
manage and develop the people who
work for them.

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The management and development of HR
management is a shared responsibility.

† Organisation
„ Sets philosophies and policies
† Managers
„ Manage people in their work groups
† HR specialists
„ Provide expert advice and assistance

What is HR management?

† A new name for personnel

management?
† A stage in an evolutionary development?
† A distinctive management discipline?

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 Development of
personnel management
Two main themes
† Concern for welfare of employees
† Organisation’s need for control

Map of HRM territory

Source: Beer and Spector (1985).

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 Features of HRM

† Integration and fit

† Mutuality and common cause
† Assets, resources, competitive
advantage
† Greater responsibility for line managers
† More prominence for HR specialists
† Different from personnel management

Personnel management and HRM compared

Rudman (2002)

Personnel management Human resources

† Functional
† Short-term focus
† Maintenance
† Policies and programmes
† Rules and procedures
† Conflict institutionalised
management
† Strategic
† Long-term focus
† Development
† Whole organisation
† Values and mission
† Teamwork emphasised

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According to Rudman (2002),
HRM is a top-level activity
concerned with setting broad
directions and strategies

The matching role of HRM

POLITICAL Devanna,Formbrun and Tichy (1984)

FORCES
CULTURAL
FORCES

MISSION HUMAN
AND RESOURCES
ECONOMIC
STRATEGY MANAGEMENT
ORGANISATION
FORCES

ORGANISATION
CULTURE

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HR’s changing role

The four main features of strategic

human resources management are:

† planning is used
† there is a coherent approach to the design and
management of HR systems based on an
employment policy and staffing strategy, often
underpinned by a philosophy
† HR policies and activities are matched to some
explicit business strategy
† the organisation’s people are seen as a
strategic resource for achieving competitive
advantage
Hendry and Pettigrew (1986)

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Why the confusion about the
HR role?

† Lack of standard practices

† Roles not clearly defined
† Divided loyalties
† Line or staff

Top management perceptions

of the HR role
† Fire fighter
† Compliance officer
† Problem avoider
† Maintainer
† Visionary
† Servant leader

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 Rudman’s finding

“Human resources is being transformed from

a specialised, stand-alone function to a broad
corporate competency in which human
resources and line managers build
partnerships to gain competitive advantage
and achieve overall business goals.”

Rudman (2002)

Defining HR role
Different approaches
† Contracting concept (Mumford)
† Mediator (Thomason)
† Welfare worker to HR manager
(Torrington)
† Planning focus (Tyson & Fell)
† Conformist or deviant innovator (Legge)
† Business partner

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HR champions - multiple roles

Factors that influence the role

of the HR function are
† the organisation’s size and structure
† the numbers of people employed and the
kinds of work they do
† the industry or sector in which it is
involved
† the style of its management and the
culture of the organisation.
Rudman
(2002)

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Possible roles the HR function
will have to play are
† Manager or executive
† Initiator or formulator
† Implementor and service provider
† Controller and auditor
† Advisor
† In-house consultant

Relationships with other

functions and managers

† Staff authority
† Line authority

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Alternatives to the in-house
HR function

† Consultants
† Outsourcing
† The e-hr revolution

Reasons for using consultants

† to provide specialist expertise and knowledge that is not
available within the organistion
† to provide an independent view
† to act as a catalyst
† to provide extra resources to meet temporary
requirements
† to help develop a consensus when there are divided
views about proposed changes
† to demonstrate to employees the impartiality or objectivity
of significant decisions
† to justify potentially unpleasant decisions
Duncan Wood in Rudman
(2002)

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Arguments against the large-scale
outsourcing of HR functions and
activities
† A significant proportion of HR work is
central to the culture and strategic
objectives of the organisation.
† The need for services may be
unpredictable.
† There is no specific market for a full HR
service.

Fowler in Rudman
(2002)

The HR department’s aims

and activities
Strategic HR management
† Environmental scans
† Labour market forecasts
† HR management trends
† HR management strategies and policies

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The HR department’s aims
and activities
HR planning and staffing
† HR needs forecasts
† Work organisation, job design and job analysis
† Recruitment
† Selection
† Placement
† Employment agreements
† Succession planning
† Promotion
† Equal employment opportunities
† Terminations
† Retirement planning

The HR department’s aims

and activities
Training and development
† Employee induction
† Needs analysis
† On-job training
† Off-job training
† Management development
† Performance management
† Career development

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The HR department’s aims
and activities
Employee and labour relations
† Legislative compliance
† Corporate culture and climate
† Employee relations policies and practices
† Discipline and grievances
† Employee communications
† Employment agreement negotiations
† Union relations

The HR department’s aims

and activities
Remuneration and benefits
† Job evaluation and classification
† Market remuneration surveys
† Incentive programmes
† Employee benefits
† Payroll management
† Superannuation schemes

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The HR department’s aims
and activities
Safety, health and welfare
† Legislative compliance
† Hazard management
† Accident investigation
† Medical and health facilities
† Employee health and welfare

The HR department’s aims

and activities
HR data and systems
† Employee records and data
† Manuals
† Policies and procedures
† HR audits
† Attitude surveys

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 Code of Professional
Behaviour
† Confidentiality;
† Equal opportunities;
† Equity and fairness;
† Self-development;
† Development of others;
† Advice and information;
† Councelling;
† Integrity;
† Consultants;
† Legality;
† Professional behaviour.

8 roles that HR specialists play in

situations where ethical questions
arise:
† Monitor actions and behaviour to ensure there
is compliance with laws and policies;
† Investigate situations and complaints;
† Defend the organisation’s actions when
questioned by external agencies;
† Advocate on behalf of employees and protect
them from management reprisals;
† Advise members of the organisation on ethical
policies and standards;
† Educate members of the organisation on ethical
policies and standards though training and
distributing information;
† Question the ethical dimensions of decisions
made by the organisation or managers;
† Model appropriate behaviour as a way of
encouraging ethical behaviour by others.

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Questions are welcomed

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