Human Resource

Management:
An Asian Perspective
(Second Edition)

Chapter 1

Introduction to
Human Resource
Management

Gary Dessler and Chwee Huat Tan

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd.
All rights reserved.
 The Manager’s Human Resource
Management Jobs

 Management process
– The five basic functions of planning,
organizing, staffing, leading, and
controlling.

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–2

 The Manager’s Human Resource
Management Jobs

 Human resource management (HRM)

– The policies and practices involved in
carrying out the “people” or human resource
aspects of a management position, including
recruiting, training, appraising and
rewarding.

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–3

 HR Aspects Of A Manager’s Job

 Conducting job analyses (determining the

nature of each employee’s job)
 Planning manpower needs and recruiting job
candidates
 Selecting job candidates
 Orienting and training new employees

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–4

 HR Aspects Of A Manager’s Job

 Managing wages and salaries

(compensating employees)
 Providing incentives and benefits
 Appraising performance
 Communicating (interviewing, counseling,
disciplining)
 Building employee commitment

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–5

 HR Aspects Of A Manager’s Job

 Understanding employment laws

 Knowing employee health and safety issues
 Handle grievances and employment relations

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–6

 Personnel Mistakes

 Hire the wrong person for the job

 Experience high turnover
 Your people not doing their best
 Waste time with useless interviews
 Have your company sued for discriminatory
actions

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–7

 Personnel Mistakes

 Have your company fined for unsafe

practices
 Some employees think their salaries are
unfair and inequitable relative to others in the
organization
 Allow a lack of training to undermine your
department’s effectiveness
 Commit any unfair employment practices

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–8

 Basic HR Concepts

 Getting results
– The bottom line of managing

 HR creates value by engaging in

activities that produce the employee
behaviors the company needs to
achieve its strategic goals.

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–9

 Line and Staff Aspects of HRM

 Authority
– The right to make decisions, direct others’
work, and give orders.
 Staff authority (Advisory)
– The authority gives right to the HR manager
to advise other managers or employees.
 Line authority (Superior-Subordinate)
– The authority of managers to direct people in
his or her own department.

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–10

 Line and Staff Aspects of HRM

 Line manager (Line Authority)

– A manager who is authorized to direct the
work of subordinates and is responsible for
accomplishing the organization’s tasks.
 Staff manager (Staff Authority)
– A manager who assists and advises line
managers.

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–11

 Line Managers’ HRM
Responsibilities
1. Place the right person on the right job
2. Orientate new employees
3. Train employees for jobs new to them
4. Improve the job performance of each person
5. Gain creative cooperation and developing
smooth working relationships

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–12

 Line Managers’ HRM
Responsibilities
6. Interpret the company’s policies and
procedures
7. Control costs
8. Develop the abilities of each person
9. Maintain morale
10. Protect employees’ health and physical
condition

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–13

 Functions of the HR Manager

 Carries out 3 distinct functions:-

1. Line function
2. Coordination function
3. Staff function

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–14

 Functions of the HR Manager

 A line function
– The HR manager directs the activities of
the people in his or her own department
and in related service areas (like the plant
cafeteria).

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–15

 Functions of the HR Manager

 A coordinative function
– HR managers also coordinate personnel
activities, a duty often referred to as
functional control.

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–16

 Functions of the HR Manager

 Staff (assist and advise) functions

– Assisting and advising line managers is the
heart of the HR manager’s job.

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–17

 Size of HR Department

 Depends on company size

– Small Company:
 Only a few personnel
– Large Company:
 Full range of HR specialist for each different
function

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–18

 Size of HR Department

 Example of HR department in a small

company:

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–19

 Size of HR Department

 Example of HR department in a large company:

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–20

 Duties of HR Specialists

 Training Specialist
– Plan, organize and direct training
– Advise managers on training
 Job Analyst
– Collect information about jobs
– Prepare job description

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–21

 Duties of HR Specialists

 Recruiter
– Collect information about jobs
– Interview and recommend suitable
candidates
 EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity)
Coordinator
– Investigate EEO grievances
– Examine HR practices for potential
violations

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–22

 Duties of HR Specialists

 Compensation Manager
– Develop compensation plans
– Handle employee benefits program
 Employment relations specialist
– Advise managers on ER issues
– Negotiate with unions

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–23

 Cooperative Line and Staff HR
Management
 Differentiating HR duties to be carried out
by line managers and HR managers:
– No standard rule for all organizations

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–24

 Cooperative Line and Staff HR
Management
 Some common practices:

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–25

 The Changing Role Of
HR Management
 Strategic Planning
– The company’s long-term plan for how it
will balance its internal strengths and
weaknesses with its external opportunities
and threats to maintain a competitive
advantage.
– 3 questions in strategic planning
• Current business position
• Future business position expected to be
• How to get to expected future business
position

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–26

 The Changing Role Of
HR Management
 Strategic HRM
– Formulating HR policies and introducing
practices that produce staff competencies
and behaviors that the company needs to
achieve its strategic goals.

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–27

 The Changing Role Of
HR Management
 Strategic HRM
– HR managers today are more involved in
partnering with their top managers in
both designing and implementing their
companies’ strategies
– Top management wants to see, precisely,
how the HR manager’s plans will make
the company more valuable.

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–28

 The Changing Role Of
HR Management
 Outsourcing HR Activities
– Computer-based systems easy to
outsource HR activities by providing
access to service providers to the
company’s HR information database
– E.g. Payroll, Benefits, Wellness Programs
and Employee Training

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–29

 The Changing Role Of
HR Management
 Measuring HRM Team’s Performance
– Metrics
• A set of quantitative performance measures that
HR managers use to assess their operations
• E.g. of HR Metrics
– Absence Rate
[(Number of days absent in month) ÷ (Average
number of employees during mo.) × (number of
workdays)] × 100

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–30

 The Changing Role Of
HR Management
 Measuring HRM Team’s Performance
– Metrics
• E.g. of HR Metrics (cont)
– Cost per Hire
(Advertising + Agency Fees + Employee Referrals
+ Travel cost of applicants and staff + Relocation
costs + Recruiter pay and benefits) ÷ Number of
Hires

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–31

 The Changing Role Of
HR Management
 Measuring HRM Team’s Performance
– Metrics
• E.g. of HR Metrics (cont)
– Health Care Costs per Employee
Total cost of health care ÷ Total Employees

– HR Expense Factor
HR expense ÷ Total operating expense

Sources: Robert Grossman, “Measuring Up,” HR Magazine, January 2000, pp. 29–35; Peter V. Le Blanc, Paul Mulvey, and Jude T.
Rich, “Improving the Return on Human Capital: New Metrics,” Compensation and Benefits Review, January/February 2000, pp. 13–
20;Thomas E. Murphy and Sourushe Zandvakili, “Data and Metrics-Driven Approach to Human Resource Practices: Using Customers,
Employees, and Financial Metrics,” Human Resource Management 39, no. 1 (Spring 2000), pp. 93–105; [HR Planning, Commerce
Clearing House Incorporated, July 17, 1996;] SHRM/EMA 2000 Cost Per Hire and Staffing Metrics Survey; www.shrm.org.

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–32

 The Changing Role Of
HR Management
 Measuring HRM Team’s Performance
– HR Scorecard
• Measures the HR function’s effectiveness and
efficiency in producing employee behaviors
needed to achieve the company’s strategic goals
• Concise and simple measurement system

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–33

 The Changing Role Of
HR Management
 Measuring HRM Team’s Performance
– HR Scorecard
• Use to measure:
– HR activities (testing, training, compensation and
safety)
– Employee behaviors resulting from such
activities
– Organizational outcomes of those employee
behaviors (higher performance, and company
profit)

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–34

 Sample

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–35

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–36
© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–37
© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–38
© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–39
 The New HR Manager

 New Proficiencies
– HR proficiency
– Business proficiency
– Leadership proficiency
– Learning proficiency

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–40

 The New HR Manager

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–41

 Strategy and the Basic HR
Process

© 2009 Pearson Education South Asia. All rights reserved. 1–42