Principles of Human Resource Management

Human Resource Management is an organizational function that concentrates on staffing/recruiting, managing, and directing the people who work for a company. The Human Resources (HR) department deals with employee benefits, compensation, performance and reward management, wellness, safety, organizational development, employee relations, motivation, etc. HRD plays a significant and strategic role in managing people as well as workplace culture. It can hugely contribute to a company’s growth and stability if implemented effectively. It is said to be a process of bringing organizations and people altogether in order to meet the goals of both. In this topic, we are going to learn about the Principles of Human Resource Management.

Human Resource Management is an umbrella term that is being used to describe the management as well as the development of the employees in an organization. It designs various HR tools in order to ensure that employee talent is used efficiently and effectively to accomplish organizational goals.

The most important resource a company has is the manpower (people who work for the company). The biggest task is to manage people effectively. This is considered to be the key to organizational success.

Human Resource Development is the backbone of the organization as it deals with each and every aspect of the employees. It is multidisciplinary, incorporating elements of Law, Psychology, Sociology, and Economics. A vital component in modern HR management is the use of digital tools such as an HR portal. This centralized platform streamlines the management of employee data, training, and benefits, significantly enhancing efficiency and accuracy across HR operations.

Nature of HRM

Human Resource Management is pervasive in nature because it is there in all enterprises.
It focuses on the results rather than focusing on the rules and regulations.
It helps the employees in order to develop them in a full-fledged way.
It makes sure that the employees work hard towards their goals.

Though there are many principles of Human Resources, few of them are described here to understand and tips to actively apply the same in an appropriate way.

These principles are very useful for HR practitioners and professionals who use HRIS software. They help to determine how strategic Human Resource Management affects three stakeholders: individual employees, society, and the organization itself.

Four C’s of The Human Resource Management

The Book “Managing Human Aspects” by Harvard University Business School Professors Sir Michael Beer & Sir Michael Walton and Northeastern University Business Professor Sir Bert Spector says that there are four C’s of Human Resource Management, “Commitment, Competence, Cost-Effectiveness, and Congruence.”

1. Commitment

This specifies how committed an employee is towards his job. Job Security is something that demonstrates their commitment to their jobs and job duties. By ensuring that staffing levels are consistent with the business needs, Human Resource Management fulfills the needs. Human Resource Management works in such a way that the employees can reasonably expect that they are going to be the long term employees. The organization always invests in the betterment of its employees in order to make sure that they are committed to their respective jobs. This may include training programs, goal-setting activities, performance evaluations, etc.

2. Competence

This principle is in support of Business Development. It also affects employees’ job satisfaction and how society gets affected by the organization. Successful businesses always rely on competent and committed employees who understand the performance expectations of their respective employers. Human Resource Management provides training and orientation sessions to improve the employees’ skills and knowledge. By doing this, they make sure that the workforce is sustained. Production of reliable products and services is the impact that competence has on society. If competence is not sufficiently taken into consideration, the organizations may end up exposing themselves to legal claims that would be against the products that they are selling or the services that they are providing or rendering.

3. Cost-Effectiveness

Sometimes, a company’s budget may become a barrier in order to support the activities of the Human Resource Department. Budgets may be insufficient to support activities like recruitment of new people, training & development of the existing employees, and employee relations. As we all know, the Human Resource Department is not a revenue-generating department; due to this, the budget might be the first cut for investing in the HR Department. So, it is necessary to make sure that the costs are effectively utilized in the company. HR automation is one strategy organizations can use to cut costs and ensure smooth processes, allowing them to invest more in HR-related activities.

4. Congruence

Along with the business’s overall goals, the attainable workforce management goals must be very much congruent. Goals such as becoming the leader or the head of a particular industry require the focus of HR so that talented and capable workers are being recruited. This would lead to the overall growth of the organization as well as the employee. The employer affects society as it provides various career options/opportunities for the labor market (surrounding) and also high-quality standards for their valuable customers.

Human Resource Principles are a fundamental truth established by research, investigation, and analysis. The following can also be considered as the principles of Human Resource Management:

Principle of Individual Development – To offer an equal opportunity to every employee so as to realize his/her potential and capability.
Principle of the Scientific Selection – To place the right individual in the right job.
Principle of the Free Flow of Communication- To open & encourage upward, downward, formal, and informal communication.
Principle of the Participation – To associate with employees at each and every level of decision making.
Principle of Fair Remuneration- To pay fair and equitable wages & salaries to talented employees.
Principle of an Incentive – To review the performances of the employees and to reward them accordingly.
Principle of the Dignity of Labor – To treat each and every employee with respect and dignity.
Principle of Labor-Management co-operation – To promote industrial relations and labor laws.
Principle of Team Spirit – To ensure cooperation & teamwork amongst the employees.
Principle of Contribution to National Prosperity – To provide a higher work purpose to all the employees and to contribute to the national prosperity and integrity.