Importance of HR Functions in Organizational Success
Human resource management is one of the most critical functions in any organization. The people associated with the business are effective resources and it is imperative that they are managed in an efficient manner (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014). Human resource management entails several responsibilities including recruitment, selection of employees, compensating employees, performance evaluation and ensuring employee satisfaction, retention and performance. The primary function of human resource management is to increase the effectiveness and contribution of employees towards attainment of organizational goals. Through this course, I have been able to understand how several HR functions work towards attaining this primary goal. This report highlights upon the purpose of various HR functions as well as their impact in the organization. This course has also helped me gain a deeper insight about the importance and the role played by effective human resource management within any organization. I am certain that the impact of the course would be reflected upon my career including my present workplace. My learning from the course has also been highlighted in the report.
Effective HR management entails various functions. HR management takes the first step towards building human resources within a firm through recruitment and selection of employees. Recruitment is the process of inviting candidates for the selection process in order to work for the firm. Recruitment and selection are crucial processes that set the appropriate backbone towards organizational success. While the recruitment process, HR managers ensures that the candidates selected for the job not only fulfil the basic requirement but are also fit for the job (Bratton & Gold, 2017). Such efforts in the first step lead to long term employee satisfaction. Effective recruitment ensures that people who are selected for a particular job are willing to work there and possess the right skill set to perform at that job. In the longer run, this will lead to employee efficiency as well as ensure that they contribute towards the accomplishment of organizational goals.
Equal employment opportunity and affirmation action are human resource management functions that ensure ethical functioning of the business and management of people associated with the business. EEO aims to ensure that people coming from all genders, races, religions, sexual orientations or castes have the exact same opportunity for employment (Lewis, 2018). The only thing that differentiates two people is their own skill set and qualifications. Affirmative action is essentially a remedy to address the past practices of discrimination. Women, blacks, Hispanics and similarly several other minorities have been discriminated against in the past. In order to bring them to a level playing field affirmative action is introduced. This does not imply that managers should hire unqualified minorities. Both the practices are aimed at curbing any form of discrimination and promoting equality among all. Such practices create a positive working culture and address issues of inequality and unfairness eventually leading to improved performance and high contribution from employees. If an employee experiences discrimination then it will not be easy for that employee to deliver excellence in performance. Therefore human resource management in the organization ensures equal opportunities, level playing field for all and fairness throughout all business functions. A high level of fairness and honesty that comes through EEO and AA also allow employees to trust their top management and build faith within the values of the organization (Jain et. al., 2015). With such trust and faith comes an increased will to perform and deliver better.
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and Affirmative Action (AA)
Human resource development function in any organization is aimed at developing employees of the business in terms of several professional or personal skills (Collings et. al., 2018). This may include trainings and workshops that would help employees in improving their skill set. HRD function not only aims to develop employees better but also tries to motivate them. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs states that upon fulfilment of an individual’s physiological and social needs, esteem needs come into the picture. By the development of human resources and offering employees with opportunities to learn new things, the organization aims to motivate them (Bailey et. al., 2018). Increased learning within the business will also help employees in building trust towards the organization. This will lead to improved performance and long term association of employees with the business thereby encouraging increased contribution towards accomplishment of organizational goals.
Effective human resource management ensures that all employees are motivated to work hard. There are several factors that contribute towards employee motivation. The primary one being compensation offered to employees followed by working culture, rewards and recognition practices and interest in the job. HR management includes efficiently managing employee performances and ensuring that they are consistently learning (Albrecht et. al., 2015). Such efforts by the organization towards employee development ensure increased level of motivation, trust and hence higher contribution towards accomplishment of organizational goals.
Rewarding employees and recognizing their efforts is crucial towards employee motivation. This makes employees feel valued and cared for. It is an important function of effective human resource management to ensure that employees associated with the firm are motivated and their efforts are recognized (Marchington et. al., 2016). Such consistent efforts result in improved employee efficiency.
An important function of HR management is to ensure that employees associated with the organization are safe at any given point of time. This includes safety in terms of health as well as safety in terms of job security. Employees that feel safe within the firm owing to strong safety policies of the business tend to stay associated with the firm in the longer run. They are able to trust the organization better and hence perform effectively.
Various HR functions are performed within all organizations on a day to day basis. It is rightly said that it is the people of the business that form the backbone of the business. Management of human resources thereby becomes one of the most important functions at any organization. Different HR functions perform different roles in the business (Storey, 2014). There is no way of knowing if any of the HR functions is more or less important that the other functions. Every function plays a different role during a different time and at a different stage in the organization. For a new business, recruitment and selection are more important so that the business can have employees that can associate with the firm. If an organization is facing a high attrition rate, then the HR department must focus on enhancing employee motivation. If safety standards of the organization are below par then that area of the human resource management must be dealt with on a priority basis. If a new technology or function is introduced in an established organization, then training and development must be the prime focus areas of the HR management. Therefore all HR functions have a different role to play and depending upon the stage as well as the current ongoing situation of the business, different functions become more or less important than other functions.
Human Resource Development (HRD)
In order to ensure increased levels of employee efficiency and contribution towards the organization, several aspects play an important role. Employee’s work culture, leadership abilities of the managers, performance evaluation practices adopted by the firm, level of security and safety in the business and strategies adopted to recruit, select, train and develop employees of the organization are important aspects of human resource management (Brewster, 2017). All these factors come together in order to create such an environment wherein employees can perform to the best of their abilities and ensure high levels of employee contribution and efficiency. HR management works towards bringing these aspects together and ensuring high levels of employee satisfaction with the workplace. This would ensure improved efficiency and contribution towards accomplishment of business goals.
I have been associated with my current organization since the last one and half years. This is my first job and I was excited when I joined. The job has been a major source of learning and growth for me. Through this course I learnt several aspect of human resource management that are applicable in my current workplace too. For some time I have been feeling a lack of motivation towards work.
Through this course, I understood the importance of having clear goals and how they provide employees with a future course of action. I realized that I did not have a clear goal and this is what was making me feel de motivated. Instead of yearly target, I started breaking up my targets in a weekly manner. I set a new goal for every week and worked towards that. I discussed the same with my manager and requested him to guide with the same. He was extremely supportive and proposed that I email him my weekly goals every Monday and send him an email on Friday stating if or the goal has been achieved. I have been doing this for the last two months and it has completely changed my outlook towards the job. I feel immense clarity regarding the efforts that I am supposed to put every day at work. Not only has this helped me be clear about my day but has also helped me in performing better.
The course has had a positive impact on me. I am sure that in my future as well, as I get promoted to a leadership position, I will adopt the same strategy with my team members as well. The course helped me understand the importance of effective human resource management and how employees can be motivated to work hard. A high attrition rate is something that most organizations are facing at this time. We conducted several activities and discussions in class that helped me in widening my horizon. Initially I was of the opinion that if an employee leaves the organization then there is nothing that the organization can do about it. Today, I understand that efforts can be put to not only reverse an employee’s decision to leave the organization but also ensure high levels of employee retention within the business.
Conclusion
Human resources form a solid base for a successful business and thereby human resource management becomes an important function in any organization. Different functions of HR management work towards ensuring high levels of employee motivation, satisfaction, retention, performance and association. This course helped in identifying these different functions as well as assisted in gaining a deeper understanding about how these functions can help improving employee efficiency as well as level of contribution towards accomplishment of organizational goals.
References
Albrecht, S. L., Bakker, A. B., Gruman, J. A., Macey, W. H., & Saks, A. M. (2015). Employee engagement, human resource management practices and competitive advantage: An integrated approach. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 2(1), 7-35.
Armstrong, M., & Taylor, S. (2014). Armstrong’s handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers. United Kingdom.
Bailey, C., Mankin, D., Kelliher, C., & Garavan, T. (2018). Strategic human resource management. Oxford University Press. United States.
Bratton, J., & Gold, J. (2017). Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave. United States.
Brewster, C. (2017). The integration of human resource management and corporate strategy. In Policy and practice in European human resource management (pp. 22-35). Routledge. United /kingdom.
Collings, D. G., Wood, G. T., & Szamosi, L. T. (2018). Human resource management: A critical approach. In Human Resource Management (pp. 1-23). Routledge. United Kingdom.
Jain, H. C., Sloane, P., & Horwitz, F. (2015). Employment Equity and Affirmative Action: An International Comparison: An International Comparison. Routledge. United Kingdom.
Lewis, G. B. (2018). Equal employment opportunity and the early career in federal employment. In Diversity And Affirmative Action In Public Service (pp. 75-91). Routledge. United /kingdom.
Marchington, M., Wilkinson, A., Donnelly, R., & Kynighou, A. (2016). Human resource management at work. Kogan Page Publishers. United /kingdom.
Storey, J. (2014). New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals). Routledge. United Kingdom.
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