Definition of human resource Basics
Human resource basics refer to the concepts or elements that are considered as cornerstones for effective human resource management. However, executive development in HRM, planning and development are a few important human resource basics closely related and are studied below:
What is Human Resource?
While talking about what is human resource, we get to know that the term refers to people within the business overall workforce, who lend their talents and skills to the company for achieving the goals. To improve the organisation, when a person wishes to trade their time, knowledge or labour in return for the effort with compensation is human resource.
They can be full time, part-time, contract or freelance employees. Also, humans need more management as compared to other resources and altogether a different approach for which there is a human resource department. It majorly focuses on conflicts or setting up human resource basics retirement plans.
Briefly, what is human resource basics explains managing people, their pay and the training required. Earlier, it was commonly termed as personnel administration that focussed on hiring, evaluation and managing people. While it missed the part of systematic relationships between any parties which led to a lacked unifying paradigm.
Human Resource Responsibilities
The responsibilities of human resource basics include updating or preparing employment records relating to transferring, hiring, terminating and promoting. The duties involve posting job ads, planning, evaluating the performance of employees, recruitment and selection process, organising job applications, scheduling interviews and checking background.
Other jobs can be coordinating the employee relation activities and programs. The last one is maintenance that ensures the update of Human resource databases and files. This maintains employee status, benefits and benefits related reconciliations. Few functions are as follows:
- Needs of the staff
- Do’s and don’ts
- Upgrade the learning and training of employees
- Recruit and supervise the work
- To establish a discipline work culture
- Application of human resource basics software to make work easy
- Ignore politics of the office
- Prepare personal policies and employee records
- With unions perform collective bargaining and manage employee relations
- Ensure equality and deal with discrimination
- Mediate disputes and motivate employees
- Disseminate information to benefit the growth
- Ensure human resource basics practices conform to regulations
Major Human Resource Basics
A part of human resource basics is human resource management which is required to keep the human capital in order. Therefore, there are a few elements that are referred to as cornerstones for effective management. These cornerstones are discussed as follows:
- Recruitment & selection
- Performance management
- Learning & development
- Succession planning
- Compensation and benefits
- Human Resources Information Systems
- HR data and analytics
Recruitment and Selection
The most significant components of human resource basics. It involves interviewing and choosing the best candidates who can work for the company which is the responsibility of HR. Finding the best that fits according to the task associated. Often when new hires are required, human resource basics uses different instruments to recruit the best person such as interviews, reference checks, assessments and methods of recruitment.
In case there are a bundle of candidates, preselection tools may be used to chaff the cream or suitable employees. In short, Recruitment is a positive process that collects (from external or internal resources) a pool of applications from candidates. While the selection is a negative one that shortlists from that bunch.
Performance management
After the employees become a part of the company, performance comes into existence being the second basic. It explains helping employees for effective work at their job. Also, Employees are given certain responsibilities which enables them to receive feedback on their skills or performance to attain the standards.
However, the methods to estimate or check the performance appraisal are 360-degree feedback( that accounts for the evaluation of clients, peers, seniors and subordinates), management by objective, accounting centres etc for human resource basics.
Measuring actual performance, comparing it with standards and communicating the deviations refers to the process of performance management. It further categorizes the employees into high or low potentials which adds to the profit margins of the company.
Learning and development
Human resources learn from life experiences. As a result, this step of human resource basics ensures that employees adapt to changes in technology, processes, legal, societal shifts and personal mistakes. It aids in reskilling and upskilling of the employees that advance to the long term goals.
There can be on the job and off the job training methods (like mentoring, job rotation, vestibule training, internships etc) that add to different knowledge and experience. Also, Budgets are set with trainees, future leaders and high potentials for learning and development activities that bridge the skill gaps.
Succession planning
This step of human resource basics is the process of planning contingencies for the situation if the key employees leave the business or there is employee retention. For example, a senior sales manager quits the company, and there is a replacement ready. Also, This will ensure continuity and saves significant money for the company. Succession planning is mostly based on L&D and performance ratings.
It provides the company with candidates who are well qualified and skilled to fill up positions in need. As a result, nurturing and building this pipeline leads to the path of good people management.
Compensation and benefits
The next step involves fair compensation that acts as a key role in retaining and motivating employees. Moreover, This fundamental is concerned with pay ensuring fairness and equity in human resource basics.
The process of granting satisfying benefits or compensation according to the talent may be balanced with the profit margins and budget of the company. Therefore the pay audits may also be carried to monitor increment of the pay scale and set standards of merit.
There are two ways of compensation, mainly primary and secondary. Primary compensation involves the basic pay or salary of the employee which is directly paid for work. Secondary compensation includes non-monetary rewards like day-care, flexible working hours, pensions, etc. Therefore, the main idea lies here is to motivate people through monetary and non-monetary benefits.
Human Resource Information System
This human resource basics is not a practice but a tool to make the human resource better. The human resource information system supports all the cornerstones above by keeping an Applicant Tracking System that keeps a record of employees and hires.
In the case of performance management, a track of individual goals and ratings is noted. While for learning and development, HRIS is used for distribution of content, keeping budgets and training approvals. The compensation areas are equipped with a payroll system that enables effective succession planning as well.
Therefore, all the functions can be performed by this single information system. As a result, there is a digital element to the working of human resource basics.
HR data and analytics
The human resource basics have now become more data-driven. This step is the last element that is a part of the information system in the discussion above. It includes the content in those systems for better-informed decisions. Therefore, a simple way to track the critical data is HR metrics or HR KPIs.
The human resource basics reporting or company’s performance on a given measurement focus on the past and current state of the company. The human resource basics data analytics also helps in predictions like employee turnover intention, workforce needs etc. these decisions made from analytics are more objective which becomes easier for management support.
At last, these basics interact and affect each other. Where the strong management of one contributes to the strength of the next one. Therefore, these human resource basics or fundamentals enable the workforce to perform at its highest efficiency.
Human Resource Planning
Human resource planning or Manpower planning is systematic planning to achieve optimum use of quality employees continuously which adds up value to the organisation. It ensures the best that fits between jobs and employees while avoiding manpower surpluses or shortages.
HRP becomes an important investment as it allows companies to remain profitable and productive both. It also refers to workforce planning that helps the companies to evaluate their plans and needs ahead. Moreover, human resource planning must be flexible to adapt according to the changing situations in the business for meeting the short term staffing challenges.
Importance and Need
Following are a few pointers that highlight the need and importance of human resource planning in the company:
- Acts as a foundation for other human resource management functions
- It helps to assess the future personnel needs
- Investment perspective
- Coping with change
- Employee turnover
- Diversification and expansion plans
- International expansion strategies
- Conformity with government guidelines
- Highly talented manpower inventory
Objectives of HRP
Human resource planning forms an integral part of the business aiming at both short and long term growth. Therefore, it is not necessary that the HRP fulfils all the objectives but initially start with a few to the way of achieving the following goals:
- Anticipate surplus or deficient manpower and taking the required action
- Analysing human resource basics needs of future
- Manage dynamic nature occurring due to restructuring, modernization and re-engineering
- Create talented workforce
- With proper planning, reduce the costs linked with personnel
- Facilitate the realization by choosing the right type and number of personnel
- Determine future skill requirements
- Implementing a successful onboarding process
- Mitigating risk
Steps of Human Resource Planning
There are 5 steps or stages of the process that follows for successful human resource planning as discussed further:
Organisational strategy
One must start with the theory of analysing its plans and goals of the organisation. Therefore with the strategies as a key point, companies craft general human resource basics mission statement working on different departments with issues of Recruitment, Benefits, Employee relations, and Retirement. As a result, when a strategy is ready the company can aim at reaching its desired goals and objectives.
Current human resources
After knowing the strategy, the next step for human resource basics is to gather the current human resources. Therefore, it investigates variables like:
- Who works for the department?
- Performance reviews
- Members in a team to be employed
- Skills of every employee
- Individual as well as team potential
With the desired requirements the company makes sure that the workforce is skilled and large to meet current demands before moving ahead.
Forecast future of the workforce
Forecasting explains prediction, planning and preparing for the future. It incorporates the resemblance of the workforce for the future which includes expansion, new services, new offerings, vendor-supplier relations, labour costs and costs of goods sold. This study until now gives an estimate to the company where it stands and where it wants to be.
Estimate gaps
The whole estimations describe the gaps in the human resource basics strategy which are present. The question of any requirements of the employee, if yes then how many and with what skills and talent etc. Once the company gets to know the areas of error or gaps in future and estimated strategies, there we move ahead where brainstorming and planning come to fruition.
Action plan
The action is the corrective measure from all the analysis of the deviations from the standards. This step will be different for every business where some might need recruitment while others need training of employees, transition or promote the existing workforce.
As a result, with these steps, one can implement an effective and efficient human resource planning system, without neglecting the foundation of talented employee relations, scheduling and communication.
Human Resource Development
The human resource development concerning the organisation is a continuous process in which the employees of the company develops concerning skills, knowledge, learnings etc. To acquire or sharpen capabilities for the job with their expected future or present roles.
Develop as individuals and exploit inner potentials or purposes. Moreover, Develop an organisational culture where teamwork, superior-subordinate relationships, and collaboration are strong contributing to well-being.
Features of Human Resource Development
- Develop concerning their present jobs and expected future role.
- Promotion of team spirit among employees.
- Developing better inter-personal relations
- Develop competencies for a healthy climate
- Create a sub-system that inter-relates
- Forms on employee welfare and quality of work-life
- Examine employee needs and meets them at the best possible extent
- Inter-disciplinary concept
- Based on ideas and principles of sociology, concepts, economics, psychology, etc
- Continuous and systematic learning process since development is a life long process, which never ends
Human Resource Development Goals
The core concept involves the improvement of the human being or human resource basics working for the organisation. Also, These programs help them to renew their behaviour according to the changing environment. Hence, the goals of human resource development are to develop:
- Capabilities of every individual as compared to their present role
- Relationship of the supervisor and its employee
- Collaboration with different departments of the company
- The essence of functioning and team spirit in every organisational unit
- The company’s overall self-renewing and health capabilities increase reliance on teams, individuals and groups.
- Performance of every employee concerning future role.