ABSTRACT:
The need of an hour is that human resources is all about maintaining a positive and
productive work environment, best practices helps to make sure that employees feel good
about the company they work for. There is a growing recognition today that the strategic
importance of HR is crucial to corporate success. In yesteryears was merely an
administrative and supporting function of the organisation. Today it is the lynchpin of
competitive advantage. Top organisations today are talking about “people before
strategy”“, underscoring Peter Ducker long-held contention that “people are a resource, not
a cost”“. HR today has moved beyond merely an administrative to a strategic role. HR
managers are increasingly making their case for a seat on the board as they strive for the
HR function to be recognized for the value it adds to the bottom line. The internal
customers ought to be given the priority and how to romance them like the way you
romance your external customers.
The paper entails new HR trends and practices adopted by the various organizations
focusing on the factor of employee exhilaration. The study is an attempt in invigorating the
need of “Employee Focus”“ and its impact on performance of the employee as well as the
organization. The functions like Manpower Planning, Performance Management, Training
and the role of Performance appraisals in the field of strategic HR are being laid
emphasized on. Hence it is an endeavour in revealing the mounting significance of such
facets of HR.
EVOLUTION OF HRM
The expression Human Resource Management (HRM) is a relative recent title for all
aspects of managing people in an organisation. It represents a broad based understanding
of the problems of people and their management in view of the development of
behavioural science knowledge. A formal beginning of HRM functions in India was made
in 1929, when Royal Commission of Labour was set up by the Government of India. Two
years later the Commission submitted its report recommending the appointment of Labour
officers to look after the employment and dismissal of workers as well as their working
conditions. The scope of the function of Labour officers was widened during the Second
World War, when such facilities as housing medical and recreational activities were added
to existing responsibilities. In the process the labour officer got designated as Welfare
Officer (WO),. The enactment of Industrial dispute act 1946 and factories at, 1947 further
added the management of leaves, wages, bonus and retirement in the scope of the function
of W.O.
Growth in the business, competition and increasing size during sixties and seventies led to
the need of attracting and retaining talented people. Hence formulating policies on Human
Resource Planning, recruitment and selection, training and development, performance and
potential appraisal, internal ability and compensation management etc. also become a part
of W.O. who now became the personnel manager. With the increasing recognition of the
importance of human resources and their contribution to the survival of the organisations,
personnel function has now been called as Human Resource Management Function. Some
of this transitions have been the increasing the cost of labour, periodic stoppage of work,
government legislation, changes in production and distribution methodologies, information
technology and strategic use of employees contribution (Saiyadin 1992). Today the HRM
function can be seen as the amalgam, of organisational behaviour, personnel management,
industrial relations and labour legislation.
Increasing organisational size and its complexity, transitional from traditional to
professional management, changing social and cultural norms globalization of industry and
availability of information technology are constantly changing the profile of HRM
functions HE has to play a more dynamic .Today HRM manager cannot survive in the
security of past. He has to play a more dynamic role in not only performing the
maintenance function, but should think of more creative ways to satisfy human aspirations
to provide the competitive edge, to organisations on a sustainable basis. Human Resources
Management by Mirza S Saiyadain
The people in the organisation, the human resources, are perhaps the most important aspect
of any enterprise. The age of informational technology has popularized the word human
capital. Earlier we were talking human resources and equating people along with the raw
materials, financial resources and physical resources as an input for the enterprise.
Now-a-days each and every process has its own management methods and personnel for
managing that process. The basic principle remains the same as planning, organizing,
staffing, directing, and controlling to achieve the goal by using the human, financial and
material resources. Increasingly the firms are considering the adoption of new work
practices such as problem solving teams, enhanced communication with workers,
employment security, flexibility in job assignments, training workers for multiple jobs, and
greater reliance on motivational tools.
Organisations are increasingly looking at human resources as a unique asset that can
provide sustained competitive advantage. The changes in the business environment with
increasing globalization, changing demographics of the workforce, increased focus on
profitability through growth, technological changes, intellectual capital and never ending
changes that organisations are undergone have led to increased importance of managing
human resources.(Devanna, Fombrum and Tichy,1981;Wright, 1998).Youndt and Snell
(1996) find that firms employing HR practices according to the stated strategy are regarded
to have better perceptual performance.
The human resource management that aims to improve the productive contribution of
individuals while simultaneously attempting to attain other societal and individual
employee objectives has undergone drastic change with the passing of years.
We all know that HRM is concerned with the “people” & keeping the fact in mind that
HRM helps in acquiring, developing, stimulating & retaining the outstanding employees as
