{"id":3073,"date":"2023-02-19T16:11:25","date_gmt":"2023-02-19T16:11:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/chapter\/introduction-to-human-resource-management\/"},"modified":"2025-05-27T11:45:41","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T11:45:41","slug":"introduction-to-human-resource-management","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/chapter\/introduction-to-human-resource-management\/","title":{"raw":"Learn It 11.1.1: What Is Human Resource Management?","rendered":"Learn It 11.1.1: What Is Human Resource Management?"},"content":{"raw":"<section class=\"textbox learningGoals\">\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li><span data-sheets-value=\"{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Understand what human resource management is&quot;}\" data-sheets-userformat=\"{&quot;2&quot;:15233,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;10&quot;:0,&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:10}\">Understand what human resource management is<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li><span data-sheets-value=\"{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Understand why human resource management is important&quot;}\" data-sheets-userformat=\"{&quot;2&quot;:15233,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;10&quot;:0,&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:10}\">Understand why human resource management is important<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/section>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<h2>Human Resource Management (HRM)<\/h2>\r\n<section class=\"textbox keyTakeaway\">\r\n<h3>human resource management<\/h3>\r\n<p><b>Human resource management<\/b> (<b>HRM<\/b> or\u00a0<b>HR<\/b>) is essentially the management of human resources -- people! It is a function in organizations designed to maximize employee productivity to achieve an employer's strategic objectives.<\/p>\r\n<\/section>\r\n<p>HR is primarily concerned with the management of people within organizations with a focus on policies and systems. HR departments in organizations typically undertake a number of activities, including employee benefits design, employee recruitment, training and development, performance appraisal, and rewarding (e.g., managing pay and benefit systems). HR also concerns itself with organizational change and industrial relations, that is, the balancing of organizational practices with requirements arising from collective bargaining and from governmental laws.<\/p>\r\n<h3>Development of HR<\/h3>\r\n<p>HR is a product of the human relations movement of the early twentieth century, when researchers began documenting ways of creating business value through the strategic management of the workforce. The function was initially dominated by transactional work, such as payroll and benefits administration, but due to globalization, company consolidation, technological advances, and further research, HR to<span style=\"color: #333333;\">day\u00a0includes strate<\/span>gic initiatives like talent management, industrial and labor relations, and diversity and inclusion.<\/p>\r\n<h3>Retaining Talent<\/h3>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_7977\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"200\"]<img class=\"wp-image-7977 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/content-cdn.one.lumenlearning.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/02\/21230041\/pexels-yan-krukau-7793723-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"four people in a business meeting with computers on a table and a presentation board\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" \/> Figure 1. Retaining workers is a key goal of HR.[\/caption]\r\n\r\n<p>Most companies focus on lowering employee turnover and on retaining the talent and knowledge held by their workforce. Hiring a new employee is a costly process and there's always a risk that the incoming employee won't match the performance of the person who previously worked in that position. HR departments strive to offer benefits that will appeal to workers, thus reducing the risk of losing corporate knowledge.<\/p>\r\n<h3>Team Diversity<\/h3>\r\n<p>Businesses are moving globally and forming more diverse teams. It is the role of human resources to make sure that these teams can function and people are able to communicate cross-culturally and across borders. Due to changes in the business environment, current topics in human resources that are receiving attention are diversity and inclusion as well as using technology to advance employee engagement. In short, HR involves maximizing employee productivity for the business.<\/p>\r\n<h3>HR Specialists<\/h3>\r\n<p>Sometimes people who work in HR may focus on a particular aspect of HRM, such as recruiting, training, employee relations, or benefits. It's common in very large organizations to see HR specialists. Recruiting specialists are in charge of finding and hiring top talent. Training and development professionals ensure that employees are trained and receive ongoing professional development. This takes place through training programs, performance evaluations, and reward programs. Employee relations deals with employee concerns and incidents such as policy violations, sexual harassment, and discrimination. <span style=\"color: #333333;\">Benefit managers develop com<\/span>pensation structures, family-leave programs, discounts, and other benefits available to\u00a0employees. At the other end of the spectrum are HR generalists who work in all areas or as labor relations representatives for unionized employees.<\/p>\r\n<section class=\"textbox tryIt\">[ohm2_question height=\"350\"]6488[\/ohm2_question]<\/section>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>","rendered":"<section class=\"textbox learningGoals\">\n<ul>\n<li><span data-sheets-value=\"{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Understand what human resource management is&quot;}\" data-sheets-userformat=\"{&quot;2&quot;:15233,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;10&quot;:0,&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:10}\">Understand what human resource management is<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-sheets-value=\"{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:&quot;Understand why human resource management is important&quot;}\" data-sheets-userformat=\"{&quot;2&quot;:15233,&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:0},&quot;10&quot;:0,&quot;11&quot;:4,&quot;12&quot;:0,&quot;14&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:2,&quot;2&quot;:0},&quot;15&quot;:&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;16&quot;:10}\">Understand why human resource management is important<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Human Resource Management (HRM)<\/h2>\n<section class=\"textbox keyTakeaway\">\n<h3>human resource management<\/h3>\n<p><b>Human resource management<\/b> (<b>HRM<\/b> or\u00a0<b>HR<\/b>) is essentially the management of human resources &#8212; people! It is a function in organizations designed to maximize employee productivity to achieve an employer&#8217;s strategic objectives.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p>HR is primarily concerned with the management of people within organizations with a focus on policies and systems. HR departments in organizations typically undertake a number of activities, including employee benefits design, employee recruitment, training and development, performance appraisal, and rewarding (e.g., managing pay and benefit systems). HR also concerns itself with organizational change and industrial relations, that is, the balancing of organizational practices with requirements arising from collective bargaining and from governmental laws.<\/p>\n<h3>Development of HR<\/h3>\n<p>HR is a product of the human relations movement of the early twentieth century, when researchers began documenting ways of creating business value through the strategic management of the workforce. The function was initially dominated by transactional work, such as payroll and benefits administration, but due to globalization, company consolidation, technological advances, and further research, HR to<span style=\"color: #333333;\">day\u00a0includes strate<\/span>gic initiatives like talent management, industrial and labor relations, and diversity and inclusion.<\/p>\n<h3>Retaining Talent<\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_7977\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7977\" style=\"width: 200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-7977 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/content-cdn.one.lumenlearning.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/02\/21230041\/pexels-yan-krukau-7793723-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"four people in a business meeting with computers on a table and a presentation board\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/content-cdn.one.lumenlearning.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/02\/21230041\/pexels-yan-krukau-7793723-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/content-cdn.one.lumenlearning.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/02\/21230041\/pexels-yan-krukau-7793723-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/content-cdn.one.lumenlearning.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/02\/21230041\/pexels-yan-krukau-7793723-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/content-cdn.one.lumenlearning.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/02\/21230041\/pexels-yan-krukau-7793723-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/content-cdn.one.lumenlearning.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/02\/21230041\/pexels-yan-krukau-7793723-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https:\/\/content-cdn.one.lumenlearning.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/02\/21230041\/pexels-yan-krukau-7793723-1200x1800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/content-cdn.one.lumenlearning.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/02\/21230041\/pexels-yan-krukau-7793723-65x98.jpg 65w, https:\/\/content-cdn.one.lumenlearning.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/02\/21230041\/pexels-yan-krukau-7793723-225x338.jpg 225w, https:\/\/content-cdn.one.lumenlearning.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/02\/21230041\/pexels-yan-krukau-7793723-350x525.jpg 350w, https:\/\/content-cdn.one.lumenlearning.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/02\/21230041\/pexels-yan-krukau-7793723-scaled.jpg 1707w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-7977\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Figure 1. Retaining workers is a key goal of HR.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Most companies focus on lowering employee turnover and on retaining the talent and knowledge held by their workforce. Hiring a new employee is a costly process and there&#8217;s always a risk that the incoming employee won&#8217;t match the performance of the person who previously worked in that position. HR departments strive to offer benefits that will appeal to workers, thus reducing the risk of losing corporate knowledge.<\/p>\n<h3>Team Diversity<\/h3>\n<p>Businesses are moving globally and forming more diverse teams. It is the role of human resources to make sure that these teams can function and people are able to communicate cross-culturally and across borders. Due to changes in the business environment, current topics in human resources that are receiving attention are diversity and inclusion as well as using technology to advance employee engagement. In short, HR involves maximizing employee productivity for the business.<\/p>\n<h3>HR Specialists<\/h3>\n<p>Sometimes people who work in HR may focus on a particular aspect of HRM, such as recruiting, training, employee relations, or benefits. It&#8217;s common in very large organizations to see HR specialists. Recruiting specialists are in charge of finding and hiring top talent. Training and development professionals ensure that employees are trained and receive ongoing professional development. This takes place through training programs, performance evaluations, and reward programs. Employee relations deals with employee concerns and incidents such as policy violations, sexual harassment, and discrimination. <span style=\"color: #333333;\">Benefit managers develop com<\/span>pensation structures, family-leave programs, discounts, and other benefits available to\u00a0employees. At the other end of the spectrum are HR generalists who work in all areas or as labor relations representatives for unionized employees.<\/p>\n<section class=\"textbox tryIt\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"ohm6488\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/ohm.one.lumenlearning.com\/multiembedq.php?id=6488&theme=lumen&iframe_resize_id=ohm6488&source=tnh&show_question_numbers\" width=\"100%\" height=\"350\"><\/iframe><\/section>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"menu_order":4,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Introduction to Human Resource Management\",\"author\":\"Linda Williams and Lumen Learning\",\"organization\":\"\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Electrical workers on electrical poles\",\"author\":\"Skeeze\",\"organization\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/en\/workers-training-electrical-pole-659883\/\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc0\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"meeting\",\"author\":\"Yan Krukau\",\"organization\":\"Pexels\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pexels.com\/photo\/people-having-a-meeting-in-a-conference-room-7793723\/\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"part":3070,"module-header":"learn_it","content_attributions":[{"type":"original","description":"Introduction to Human Resource Management","author":"Linda Williams and Lumen Learning","organization":"","url":"","project":"","license":"cc-by","license_terms":""},{"type":"cc","description":"Electrical workers on electrical poles","author":"Skeeze","organization":"","url":"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/en\/workers-training-electrical-pole-659883\/","project":"","license":"cc0","license_terms":""},{"type":"cc","description":"meeting","author":"Yan Krukau","organization":"Pexels","url":"https:\/\/www.pexels.com\/photo\/people-having-a-meeting-in-a-conference-room-7793723\/","project":"","license":"cc-by","license_terms":""}],"internal_book_links":[],"video_content":null,"cc_video_embed_content":{"cc_scripts":"","media_targets":[]},"try_it_collection":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/3073"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/3073\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9584,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/3073\/revisions\/9584"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/3070"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/3073\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=3073"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=3073"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=3073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}