Course Instructor:

Md Sahidur Rahman
PhD (Chittagong), MScR (Edinburgh), MSc (Dundee),
PGD (London), BCom (Hons), MCom (Dhaka)
Professor
Department of Management
University of Chittagong
Bangladesh 4331
Email: sahidur_cu@yahoo.com

1
Introduction to Human
Resource Management
Chapter 1

2
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

1. Explain what HRM is and how it relates to the

management process.
2. Show with examples why HRM is important to all
managers.
3. Illustrate the HR responsibilities of line and staff (HR)
managers.
4. Briefly discuss and illustrate each of the important trends
influencing HRM.
5. List and briefly describe important trends in HRM.
6. Define evidence-based HRM.

3
 The Management Process
• An organization consists of people with formally
assigned roles who work together to achieve the
organization's goals.
• A manager is the person responsible for
accomplishing the organization's goals, and who
does so by managing the efforts of the organization's
people.
• Most experts agree that managing involves five
functions: planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and
controlling. In total, these functions represent the
management process. Some of the specific
activities involved in each function include:

4
 The Management Process
• Planning. Establishing goals and standards; developing rules
and procedures; developing plans and forecasting.
• Organizing. Giving each subordinate a specific task; establishing
departments; delegating authority to subordinates; establishing
channels of authority and communication; coordinating
subordinates' work.
• Staffing. Determining what type of people you should hire;
recruiting prospective employees; selecting employees; training
and developing employees; setting performance standards;
evaluating performance; counseling employees; compensating
employees.
• Leading. Getting others to get the job done; maintaining morale;
motivating subordinates.
• Controlling. Setting standards such as sales quotas, quality
standards, or production levels; checking to see how actual
performance compares with these standards; taking corrective
5
action, as needed.
 The Management Process

Planning

Controlling Organizing

Leading Staffing

6
 HRM at Work
• We are now going to focus on one of these functions-
the staffing, personnel management, or human
resource management (HRM) function.
• What Is Human Resource Management
(HRM)?
– HRM is the process of acquiring, training,
appraising, and compensating employees, and of
attending to their labor relations, health and safety,
and fairness concerns (Dessler & Varkky, 2011).
– It is the people or personnel aspect of a manager’s
job.
7
 HRM at Work (contd)
– HRM is comprised of the staffing, development,
motivation, and maintenance functions (DeCenzo &
Robbins, 2005).
– HRM is the set of organizational activities directed at
attracting, developing, and maintaining an effective
workforce (DeNisi & Griffin, 2008).
– HRM is the policies and practices involved in
carrying out the “people” or human resource aspects
of a management position, including recruiting,
screening, training, rewarding, and appraising
(Dessler & Varkkey, 2009).
8
 HRM at Work (contd)

Acquisition

Fairness Training

Human
Resource
Management
Health and Safety (HRM) Appraisal

Labor Relations Compensating

9
Personnel Aspects of a Manager’s Job
• Conducting job analyses
• Planning labor needs and recruiting job candidates
• Selecting job candidates
• Orienting and training new employees
• Managing wages and salaries
• Providing incentives and benefits
• Appraising performance
• Communicating
• Training and developing managers
• Building employee commitment

10
Personnel Aspects of a Manager’s Job

• In addition, a manager should know about:

– Employment Law
– Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action
– Employee Health and Safety
– Handling Grievances and Labor Relations

11
 Personnel Mistakes
A manager should not do the following mistakes:
• Hire the wrong person for the job
• Experience high turnover
• Have your people not doing their best
• Waste time with useless interviews
• Have your company in court because of discriminatory actions
• Have your company cited by labor inspectors for unsafe practices
• Have 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 labor practices
12
 Basic HR Concepts
• Many managers have been successful even with
inadequate plans, organizations, or controls.
• They were successful because they had the knack of
hiring right people for the right jobs and motivating,
appraising, and developing them
• The bottom line of managing is getting results.
• Managers will have to get those results through
people.
• HR creates value by engaging in activities that
produce the employee behaviors that the company
needs to achieve its strategic goals.
13
 Line and Staff Aspects of HRM
• All managers are, in a sense, HR managers, because they
all get involved in activities like recruiting, interviewing,
selecting, and training. Yet most firms also have HR
departments with their own top managers.
• Authority is the right to make decisions, to direct the work of
others, and to give orders. In management, we usually
distinguish between line authority and staff authority.
• Line authority gives managers the right (or authority) to
issue orders to other managers or employees. It creates a
superior-subordinate relationship.
• Staff authority gives the manager the right (authority) to
advise other managers or employees. It creates an advisory
relationship.

14
 Line and Staff Aspects of HRM (contd)
• Line manager
– A manager who is authorized to direct the work of
subordinates and is responsible for accomplishing the
organization’s tasks.
– Responsible for managing functions (like sales or production)
– Can issue orders
• Staff manager
– A manager who assists and advises line managers.
– Run departments that are advisory or supportive (HRM, QC)
– Can advise
• HR managers are usually staff managers. They assist and advise
line managers in areas like recruiting, hiring, and compensation.
However, line managers still have human resource duties.
15
 Line Managers’ HR Duties
1. Placing the right person on the right job
2. Starting new employees in the organization (orientation)
3. Training employees for jobs that are new to them
4. Improving the job performance of each person
5. Gaining creative cooperation and developing smooth working
relationships
6. Interpreting the firm’s policies and procedures
7. Controlling labor costs
8. Developing the abilities of each person
9. Creating and maintaining department morale
10. Protecting employees’ health and physical condition
• In small organizations, line managers may carry out all these
personnel duties unassisted. But as the organization grows, they need
the assistance, specialized knowledge, and advice of a separate HR
staff. The HR department provides this specialized assistance.
16
 HR Managers’ Duties
Line Function Coordinative
Line Authority Function
Implied Authority Functional Authority

Functions of
HR Managers

Staff Functions
Staff Authority
Innovator
Employee Advocacy

17
 HR Managers’ Duties (contd)
• HR manager carries out three distinct functions:
1. A line function. The HR manager directs the activities of the
people in his or her own department, and perhaps in related
areas (like the plant cafeteria).
2. A coordinative function. The HR manager also coordinates
personnel activities, a duty often referred to as functional
authority (or functional control). Here he or she ensures that
line managers are implementing the firm's HR policies and
practices (for example, adhering to its promotion policies).
3. Staff (assist and advise) functions. Assisting and advising
line managers is the heart of the HR manager's job. Three staff
functions include: i) staff authority, ii) innovator, & iii) employee
advocacy.
18
 HR Managers’ Duties (contd)
– i) HR manager advises the CEO so the CEO can better
understand the personnel aspects of the company's strategic
options. HR manager assists in hiring, training, evaluating,
rewarding, counseling, promoting, and firing employees. It
administers the various benefit programs (health and accident
insurance, retirement, vacation, and so on). It helps line
managers comply with equal employment and occupational
safety laws, and plays an important role in handling grievances
and labor relations.
– ii) It carries out an innovator role, by providing up-to-date
information on current trends and new methods for better
utilizing the company's employees (or "human resources").

19
 HR Managers’ Duties (contd)
– iii) It plays an employee advocacy role, by representing the
interests of employees within the framework of its primary
obligation to senior management. Although HR managers
generally can't wield line authority (outside their
departments), they are likely to exert implied authority.
• The size of the HR department reflects the size of the
employer. For a very large employer, an organization chart
like the one in Figure 1-1 would be typical, containing a full
complement of specialists for each HR function. At the other
extreme, the HR team for a small manufacturer may contain
just five or six (or fewer) staff, and have an organization
similar to that in Figure 1-2. There is generally about one HR
manager/employee per 100 company employees.

20
Examples of HRM Specialties

Recruiters

Employment/
Industrial Human Resource
Relations Development
Specialist Specialists
Human
Resource
Specialties
Training
Job Analysts
Specialists

Compensation Employee Welfare

Managers Officers

21
 Examples of HRM Specialties (contd)
• Recruiters. Search for qualified job applicants.
• Human resource development (HRD) specialists. Manage
employee development activities in an integrated manner.
• Engagement and fun specialists. Ensure that the workplace is
fun-filled and enjoyable.
• Employee welfare officer. Take care of welfare amenities for
employees prescribed by law (for example, the Factories Act, 1965)
or otherwise.
• Job analysts. Collect and examine information about jobs to
prepare job descriptions.
• Compensation managers. Develop compensation plans and
handle the employee benefits program.
• Training specialists. Plan, organize, and direct training activities.
• Employment/Industrial relations specialists. Advise
management on all aspects of union-management relations.
22
 FIGURE 1–1,
HR Organization Chart
for a Large Organization

23
FIGURE 1–2 HR Organizational Chart (Small Company)

24
 New Approaches to Organizing HR
• Some employers organize their HR services around four
groups:
– The transactional HR group focuses on using centralized call
centers and outsourcing arrangements with vendors (such as
benefits advisors) to provide specialized support in day-to-day
transactional HR activities (such as changing benefits plans and
providing updated appraisal forms) to the company's employees.
– The corporate HR group focuses on assisting top management in
"top level" big picture issues such as developing the company's
long-term strategic plan.
– The embedded HR unit assigns HR generalists (also known as
"relationship managers" or "HR business partners") directly to
departments like sales and production, to provide the localized
HRM assistance the departments need.
– The centers of expertise are like specialized HR consulting firms
within the company - for instance, providing specialized
assistance in areas such as organizational change.
25
 Cooperative Line and Staff HRM
• The most important generalization is that the line-
staff relationship is generally cooperative. For
example, in recruiting and hiring, the line manager
describes the qualifications employees need to fill
specific positions. Then the HR team takes over.
They develop sources of qualified applicants, and
conduct initial screening interviews. They administer
the appropriate tests. Then they refer the best
applicants to the line manager, who interviews and
selects the ones he/she wants. In training, the line
manager again describes what he/she expects the
employee to be able to do. Then the HR team
devises a training program, which the line manager
then (usually) administers.
26
 Trends Shaping HRM

Globalization Trends

Technological Trends
Changes and Trends
in Human Resource
Management
Trends in the Nature of Work

Workforce Demographic Trends

27
 Trends Shaping HRM (contd)
• Globalization and Competition Trends: Globalization refers to
the tendency of firms to extend their sales, ownership, and/or
manufacturing to new markets abroad. For examples, Toyota
produces the Camry in Kentucky, while Dell produces PCs in
China. Free trade areas - agreements that reduce tariffs and
barriers among trading partners - further encourage
international trade. NAFTA, EU, SAARC are the examples.
• Indebtedness ("Leverage") and Deregulation: In many
countries, governments stripped away rules and regulations.
In the United States and Europe, for instance, the rules that
prevented commercial banks from expanding into new
businesses such as stock brokering were relaxed.

28
 Trends Shaping HRM (contd)
• Technological Trends: Technology changed what businesses do
and how they do it. Technology (in the form of Internet-based
communications) enabled Dell and thousands of other employers
to offshore call center jobs to India. The retailer Zara doesn't need
expensive inventories. Zara operates its own Internet-based
worldwide distribution network, linked to its checkout registers
around the world.
• Trends in the Nature of Work: One implication is that technology
has also had a huge impact on how people work, and on the skills
and training today's workers need.
– High-Tech Jobs: More and more traditional factory jobs are going
high-tech. "knowledge-intensive high tech manufacturing in such
industries as aerospace, computers, telecommunications, home
electronics, pharmaceuticals, and medical instruments" is replacing
factory jobs in steel, auto, rubber, and textiles.
29
 Trends Shaping HRM (contd)
– Service Jobs: Technology is not the only trend driving the
change from "brawn to brains." Today over two-thirds of the
U.S. workforce is employed in producing and delivering
services, not products. Between 2004 and 2014, almost all
of the 19 million new jobs added in the U.S. will be in
services, not in goods-producing industries.
– Knowledge Work and Human Capital: Automation and JIT
manufacturing jobs require more reading, mathematics, and
communication skills than before. Human capital refers to
the knowledge, education, training, skills, and expertise of a
firm's workers. HR managers recently listed "critical
thinking/problem-solving" and “IT application" as the two
applied skills most likely to increase in importance.
30
 Trends Shaping HRM (contd)
• Workforce and Demographic Trends:
– Demographic Trends: In spite of the recession and job
losses, workforce demographic trends are making finding and
hiring good employees more of a challenge around the world.
– Retirees: Many HR professionals from the West call "the
aging work force" the biggest demographic trend affecting
employers. The basic problem is that there are not enough
younger workers to replace the projected number of older-
worker retirees.
– Nontraditional Workers: There has been a shift to
nontraditional workers. Nontraditional workers include those
who hold multiple jobs, or who are "contingent" or part-time
workers, or who are working in alternative work arrangements
(such as a mother-daughter team sharing one clerical job). 31
 Trends Shaping HRM (contd)
• Economic Challenges and Trends: Economic trends will
undoubtedly turn positive again. It is doubtful that the
deregulation, leveraging, and globalization that drove
economic growth for the previous 50 years will continue
unabated. That may mean slower growth for many countries.
This means challenging times ahead for employers. The
challenging times mean that employers will have to be more
creative in managing their HRs than perhaps they have been
in the past.

32
 Important Trends in HRM
• The New HR Managers: Globalization, competition,
technology, workforce trends, and economic upheaval confront
employers with new challenges. In that context, they expect
and demand that their HR managers exhibit the competencies
required to help the company address these new challenges
proactively. In practice, this boils down to three things for HR
managers.
– They Focus More on Big Picture Issues: The first change is that
today's new HR managers are involved in more "big picture"
issues. They don't just do transactional things like signing
onboard new employees. Employers want them to be the
firms' internal consultants, identifying and institutionalizing
changes that help employees better contribute to the
company's success, and helping top management formulate
and execute its long-term plans or strategies.
33
 Important Trends in HRM (contd)
– They Find New Ways to Provide Transactional Services:
The new HR managers must be adept at offering those
traditional "bread and butter" transactional HR services in new
ways. For example, they use technology to enable employees
to self-administer benefits plans. (Table 1-2 lists some
important ways employers use technology to support their HRM
activities).
– They Have New Proficiencies: Despite employee selection,
training, and compensation HR managers require broader business
knowledge and proficiencies. For example, to assist top
management in formulating strategies, the HR manager needs to be
familiar with strategic planning, marketing, production, and finance.
Top management & CFOs recognize the critical role HRM can play in
achieving a company's strategic goals (Figure 1.8).
34
TABLE 1–2 Technological Applications for HR
Application Service Providers (ASPs) and technology outsourcing
Web portals
PCs and high-speed access
Streaming desktop video
The mobile Web and wireless net access
E-procurement
Internet- and network-monitoring software
Bluetooth
Electronic signatures
Electronic bill presentment and payment
Data warehouses and computerized analytical programs

35
FIGURE 1–8 Effects CFOs Believe Human Capital Has on
Business Outcomes

36
 Important Trends in HRM (contd)
• Strategic HRM: SHRM means formulating and executing HR
policies and practices that produce the employee competencies
and behaviors the company needs to achieve its strategic aims.
• High-Performance Work Systems: A high-performance work
system is a set of HRM policies and practices that together
produce superior employee performance. For example, the high-
performance plants paid more, trained more, used more
sophisticated recruitment and hiring practices, and used more
self-managing work teams. These plants also had the best
overall performance, in terms of higher profits, lower operating
costs, and lower turnover.

37
 Important Trends in HRM (contd)
• Evidence-Based HRM: It is the deliberate use of the best-
available evidence in making decisions about the HRM
practices a manager is focusing on. The evidence may come
from actual measurements, existing data, or published
research studies.
• Managing Ethics: Ethics means the standards someone uses
to decide what his or her conduct should be. The chronic
nature of ethical scandals should give all managers pause.
Six of the ten most serious workplace ethical issues -
workplace safety, security of employee records, employee
theft, affirmative action, comparable work, and employee
privacy rights - were HRM related.
38
 Important Trends in HRM (contd)
• HR Qualifications: The HR manager's job becomes more
demanding, HRM is becoming more professionalized. In the
U.S., the Society for Human Resource Management's
(SHRM) professional certification tests the professional's
knowledge of all aspects of HRM, including management
practices, staffing, development, compensation, labor
relations, and health and safety. Those who successfully
complete all requirements earn the SPHR (Senior
Professional in HR) or PHR (Professional in HR) certificate.
HRM specialization is popular at business schools at
BBA/MBA levels. HR education at the BBA/MBA or equivalent
level is provided by all B-Schools/Institute in Bangladesh (for
example, IBA-DU, JU, & RU, FBS-DU, FBA-CU, BIM, etc).
39
 KEY TERMS
management process globalization
human resource management human capital
(HRM) strategy
authority strategic plan
line manager outsourcing
staff manager ethics
line authority strategic human resource
staff authority management
implied authority high-performance work
functional control system
employee advocacy
40