HRM: Critical Imperative for Organizational Growth

Human resource management is one of the most complex and challenging fields of modern management.  A human resource manager has to build up an effective, workforce, handle the expectations of the employees and ensure that they perform at their best.  He/she also has to take into account the firm's responsibilities to the society that it operates in.  Traditional approaches to personnel management emphasize command and control.  These have now given way to new approaches characterized by greater freedom and support to the employee.  This transformation is almost complete and many successful companies today empower their employees to manage most aspects of their work.

 

Before the 1980s, personnel administration was characterized by standardization, and consistency and conformity were the hallmarks of the management policy.  However, today flexibility has become a significant aspect of a company's human resource strategy.  Though an organization's physical assets are major factors in determining its success, it has now been accepted that its employees or human resources, are equally critical assets.  The successful management of an organization's human resources is an exciting, dynamic and challenging field, especially at a time when companies are globalizing, and employing increasingly larger number of knowledge workers.

 

In the changing times, it has become evident that it is the human resources of an organization or a country that can lead it on the path of success.  It is the competencies and attitudes of the human resources that can make or break a business.  The business of attracting and retaining talent and nurturing it has become imperative for the development of an organization.  Innovative and proactive HR managers have been defining new boundaries of HRM.  The turbulent and dynamic markets and the changing values and expectations of the workforce have made the earlier concepts of personnel management irrelevant. A new strategic role has emerged for HRM – that of a key player, to make the organization survive and succeed in a highly competitive business environment.

 

The human resources of a country play a vital role in determining its progress and prosperity.  Even a nation with rich physical resources will not develop, if its human resources are inadequate.  A nation rich in its human resources can develop fast and a developed nation enriches the quality of its human resources; this is cyclic process.  In this modern age of technology and globalization, quality human resources is an important contributor to the well-being and development of a nation.

 

Business has become knowledge based, service oriented, competitive and more dynamic in this new age.  The quality of human resources has become an essential factor in determining the success of any organization.  Human resources of an organization is an unique asset to the organization and is essential for a business to gain competitive advantage over its competitors.  Hence, human development is imperative for organizational growth.

 

Human development relates to the development and growth of the employees in an organization through a systematic process.  This development is future oriented and prepares managers for a career of valuable contribution to the organization.  It is concerned with the learning and development of the employees.  It helps in the development of the intellectual, managerial and people management skills of managers.  It trains managers to understand and analyze different situations, and to arrive at and implement the correct solutions.  Human development is a key component of an organization's efforts to prepare its employees to successfully handle new challenges.  Management development helps managers to understand new cultures and customs that have become an integral part of the global market.  It helps managers equip themselves with the latest technologies, tools and techniques for improved quality and performance. 

 

In the modern growing industrial world, human development has become a critical imperative as explained above, the growth of human resource management and human development can also be summarized as under:-

 

*         Technical factors like the industrial revolution which introduced many revolutionary changes in the methods and techniques of industrial products; new experiments and researches in other areas such as psychology and behavioral sciences; the use of science in industries; the rapid advancement in technology and techniques

*         Awakening among workers and employees due to the political movements as well as other reasons

*         Favorable government attitude, protection policy, emergence of welfare states

*         Cultural and social changes, spread of education, the population problems, change in the social value of labour, the cross-border movement of employees and the 'brain-drain' syndrome

*         Increased size of the business developed the principles of division of labour and specialization

*         Changes in the attitude of management

*         Problems of coordination and control

*         Importance of knowledge management in modern organizations

*         Continual emphasis on quality

 

Objectives of human development are improving human performance, enabling employees to have an overall perspective about the organization, equipping them with the necessary skills, identifying employees with talent and developing them, motivating them to perform more effectively, updating them from time-to-time on the latest changes and developments, improving the analytical and logical skills of employees, providing insights into conceptual issues relating to economic, technical and social areas and improving human relations skills and encouraging creative thinking.