Roles and Responsibilities of Human Resource Management

Question

Task: Prepare a well-researched and detailed essay addressing the following points:

1: Define human resource management and discuss the responsibilities of the human resources department.

2: There are various acts of Parliament that affect human resource management. Identify and discuss two relevant acts that affect human resource management and how the acts influence the functions of the human resources department.

3: Explain why people behave differently in the work environment.
4: Differentiate between recruitment and selection. As an HR manager, you are task to recruit a public relations officer (PRO). Explain the steps involved in the recruitment and selection processes that you will follow to recruit and select the PRO for your organization.

5: Explain the purpose, principles and processes of effective performance appraisal.
6: Describe the principles and processes of conflict management.
7: Explain the principles and relevance of emotional intelligence for organizations.

Answer

Introduction
In the modern-day business environment, human resource management (HRM) has become an integral part of business operation based on the management of large resources and employees (University of Minnesota, 2016). The rapid globalization and digitalization have allowed companies to expand globally and indulge in international business operations, which have further strengthened the need to manage employees and resources skilfully. Therefore, the main objective of HRM is to keep the working environment of a business absolutely pleasant by making the management and staff aware of the importance of good behaviour and employment law that is a crucial component of HRM. The human resource management that is practiced in today's world is based on several significant inter-related developments that have occurred since the industrial revolution era. Overall, the main focus of HRM is on the function of people within a business so that best business practices can be ensured every time.

This essay will define human resource management along with discussing the responsibilities of HRM. In addition to that, the Parliament acts that affect HRM will also be identified and discussed along with the influence of the acts on HRM functions. This essay will further explain the reason behind people behaving differently and differentiate between the selection and recruitment process. Lastly, this report will explain the principles, purpose and processes of effective performance appraisal along with describing the processes and principles of conflict management and explain the relevance as well as principles of emotional intelligence in organizations.

Definition and responsibilities of human resource management (HRM)
Human resource management (HRM) is the procedure of hiring people, preparing them and compensating them along with establishing policies and strategies to retain them (Narang, 2019). In the past, HRM was confined to processing payroll, sending birthday gifts to employees, arrange outings of companies and ensuring that the company’s forms were filled correctly. Therefore, HRM was defined more from an administrative point of view rather than from a strategic point of view that is critical for the success of an organization. As a field, the aspect of HRM has undergone several changes over the last two decades, and this made the aspect of HRM even more impactful in the context of modern-day business organizations.

The HRM department is primarily accountable for employees’ life cycle management that includes recruitment, firing, hiring, and training and on boarding along with ensuringbenefits of employees. The HRM understands the needs of an organization and thrives to achieve those needs by recruiting the right employee (Lucidchart, 2019). In addition to that, the responsibility of HRM also includes conducting disciplinary actions that can be potentially fit for the company in terms of keeping the business functions on track. Overall, the main responsibility of HRM is related to supporting employees and management as the proper functioning of both employees and management plays a decisive role in the organizational well-being.

Identification and discussion of two relevant acts of Parliament that affect HRM
In modern-day business organizations, HR managers protect the company against discrimination lawsuits by a proper understanding of the discrimination law and then accordingly put policies into the working culture of an organization to avoid discrimination. In South Africa, the two most relevant Acts of Parliament that affects and influences the function of HRM are Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 and the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995.

The Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 has the purpose of achieving equity in the workplace by promoting fair treatment and equal opportunity in employment by eliminating unfair discrimination and affirmative implementation measures of action that helps in redressing the employment disadvantages that are experienced by certain designated groups. In addition to that, this Act ensures equitable representation of all categories of occupation and levels in the workforce. Additional requirements of reporting are also provided by this Act that consists of the additional burden of submitting an Employment Equity Report. According to this Act, all the designated employees must be in terms of Section 21 of the Employment Equity Act of 1998, and thus the HRM gets affected by this Act based on the requirement of hiring employees (SAICA, 2019). Overall, the recruitment and hiring of employees by HRM is tremendously influenced by this Act as it makes it mandatory to designate the employees according to Section 21 of the Employment Equity Act 1998.

The Labour Relations Act, 66 of 1995, regulates trade unions' organizational rights by promoting and facilitating collective bargaining at the workplace level. In addition to that, this Act also deals with lockouts and strikes along with the alternate resolution of disputes and forums of the workplace. The establishment of CCMA, Labour Appeal Court and Labour Courts as superior courts is done with exclusive jurisdiction to decide the matters that arise from the Act (West Cape Government, 2013). The main objective of this Act is to promote collective bargaining. A greater authority is generally possessed by employers over the employees based on their managerial prerogative that forms a collective framework of bargaining. This Act affects the concepts of HRM as the main concern of HRM is to create a better relationship between employers and employees that tends to create greater stability of a business organization. The Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 influences the functions of HRM by collective bargaining that tends to hold together the relationship between employee and employer.

The reason behind people behaving differently in the work environment
People's behaviour at work is determined by their feelings about being at the workplace. Thus, it is essential to make sense of people's behaviour that will also help in understanding their attitudes towards work. In the context of the work environment, employees meet people with different cultural backgrounds and based on the standards of HRM; it is important to behave in an ethical way so that there is a sense of mutual respect among all the employees (Pandey, 2015). It is the natural tendency of people to abide by the values of their organization as there is an expectation from organizations towards the people to behave in a certain manner. The main difference is that when people are with their families or in society, they behave in a certain way as compared to when they are in a working environment where they behave more professionally.

Therefore, people behave differently in the work environment to maintain a level of professionalism because they expect to create a self-image that can be beneficial in terms of their career and growth. Overall, psychology and its principles are diverse in nature, and there is no specific theory to govern the patterns of behaviour, so the different behaviour of people in the work environment is difficult to be associated with any specific theory.

Difference between recruitment and selection along with steps involved in the recruitment and selection process of a PRO
Recruitment refers to the process of finding candidates for a position that is vacant, along with encouraging the candidates to apply for the vacant position (Lievens and Chapman, 2019). The process of recruitment searches out potential candidates that are inspiring to apply for the vacated position. The main objective of recruitment is to invite more candidates to apply for the vacant position, and the key factor associated with this process is advertising the job. Selection, on the other hand, is the process of hiring employees from the list of candidates that have been shortlisted for the sake of providing a job in the organization (Lievens and Chapman, 2019). The process of selection is negative as it involves the rejection of the candidates from the list. Therefore, the main objective of the selection process is picking up the most eligible candidate by rejecting the list, and the key factor associated with the process of selection is the appointment of the suitable candidate. Overall, selection involves contract creation between employee and employer.

The recruitment and selection process of a Public Relations
Officer (PRO) is extremely challenging, and there will be involvement of several steps. The first step will be to draft a better job description that will garner the attention of talented PROs. In the modern-day world, social media holds tremendous significance based on its popularity among the masses, so posting an attractive job description on social media will play a decisive role in terms of attracting the top talents (Heald, 2020). The next step will be to widen the recruiting net as positing of job-listing through conventional means is not effective anymore. Therefore, it will be important to involve a brand ambassador for the employees, and this can be achieved by including a referral bonus based on which talented PROs can be referred to the interviews (Heald, 2020). The third step will be to prepare the recruiter as it will be unrealistic to expect an in-house recruiter to possess the relevant skills required for hiring a PRO based on the area of specialization. The fourth step will be to create an interactive but short process of application. It is a well-known fact that top-level employees will find it difficult to make it for the interview during office hours, so adding features like video conferencing will tremendously enhance the application of top-level candidates. The fifth and final step will be to prepare an interview team for the recruitment and selection of a PRO. Despite the idea of team interviews sound intimidating, there are ample opportunities to highlight the best skill level of the candidates aspiring to hold on to the position of PRO.

The purpose, processes and principles of effective performance appraisal
The main purpose of effective performance appraisal is the evaluation of the employees' performance in terms of their duty. Effective performance appraisal assists in keeping a proper record of the job performance of individual employees that includes the efforts that have been made by them to achieve the performance appraisal. Evaluation tends to differentiate employees on the basis of job performance along with various factors such as behaviour, personality, etc. (Businesstopia, 2018).

The process of effective performance appraisal is based on the establishment of key evaluation areas such as teamwork, job skills, communication skills, flexibility, reliability, etc. These areas can be rated according to the company's desire, and this process is much easier to complete a massive number of reviews while saving money and time. In addition to that, providing 360-degree feedback is another efficient process of effective performance appraisal that can be done via interview or survey depending upon the scope of outside involvement.

The principles of effective performance appraisal include establishing rapport, as this will create a private and relaxed environment where both parties feel comfortable (Alumbaugh, 2019). In addition to the principle of an effective performance, an appraisal will also include avoiding argument and confrontation. It is important to keep the discussion open and free despite the differences in opinions. Lastly, the most important principle will be to ensure the employee leaves in a positive frame of mind after the performance appraisal.

The processes and principles of conflict management
When a conflict arises in the working environment of an organization, it becomes necessary to resolve the conflict as early as possible. The first step of the conflict management process is to gather complete information about the conflict so that the conflict can be managed skillfully (Department of Navy, 2015). The second step is to diagnose the issue behind the conflict as the person who is entrusted to manage the conflict must know the issues that gave rise to the conflict. The third step of the conflict management process is to avoid the appearance of conflict or not to permit the conflict to get surfaced. The last step is to indulge in mutual problem solving based on which the parties involved in conflict management can try to resolve their differences by themselves.

The first principle of conflict management consists of crucial conversations that help to manage the core of the conflict based on several elements. The next principle of conflict management is differences in opinion, which is an obvious element (Jones, 2016). The third principle of conflict management is high stakes, as in terms of crucial conversations, the stakes are high. The fourth or the last principle of conflict management is high emotions, as it is easier to see how emotions ramp up the difficult conversations.

The relevance and principles of emotional intelligence for organizations
Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize and control emotions as the skills involved in emotional intelligence are self-regulation, self-awareness, social skills, empathy and motivation. Emotional intelligence is relevant for organizations as it gives the ability to manage and understand emotions effectively. The ability of emotional intelligence can provide several benefits in the workplace as it can help in developing a career in the workplace (Mindtools, 2019). If an individual applies emotional intelligence in the workplace, then it can generate the ability to create better relationships with co-workers and clients that can help in promoting a positive work environment for the whole team. Overall, being emotionally intelligent will provide the ability to understand non-verbal communication, and this skill can be adjusted to the behaviour before it becomes an issue for a co-worker or a client.

The first key principle to the implementation of emotional intelligence for organizations is that silence cannot be misquoted. Sometimes silence in a workplace gives an indication of feeling certain elements of behaviour that needs to be considered with tremendous importance (PMI, 2019). The second key principle is that when fatigue walks in, competency and efficiency leaves as the tired mind does not make good decisions. The overall principles are self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, social skills, and these principles are equally important for employees, organizational leaders and managers towards the goal of the organization.

Conclusion
In the end, it can be concluded that human resources are a key element in the failure or success of monitoring programs that help in meeting the objectives. Without proper HRM strategies, it is not possible to attract high calibre staff that determines the efficiency of business functions. HRM plays a vital role in terms of organization as in the context of modern-day business organizations; HRM has added significant value in the development of organizations. Staff practices and management of employees enable the successful carrying of the organization. Therefore, HRM is all about enabling the employees to utilize their qualities and fulfill their contribution based on the aims and objectives of an organization. The aspect of goof HRM is crucial for organizations that want to hold and entice top employees. This also indicates that based on human resource management, business organizations are able to reduce the risks associated with their reputation and staff. In addition to that, HRM also effectively reduces cost as organizations can recruit more staff that can carry their jobs more efficiently. A good performance management system ensures that business organizations are able to achieve the best from their employees. Overall, this essay has reflected on various aspects of human resource management that include activities like recruiting, training, satisfying the needs of the employees, along confirming management and personnel practice. HRM also consists of a management approach that provides the employees with benefits and compensation. The selection and recruitment process of HRM has also been mentioned in this essay that plays a vital role in terms of assisting the employee and resource management.

References
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