Human resource management

Human resource management 人力资源管理 (HRM) is the part of a business that looks after its people. Good HRM makes sure the firm has enough staff, with the right skills, who are well trained and motivated.

Managers plan and organise the workforce — the core of human resource management.

The main roles of HRM are:

• workforce planning 人力规划 — working out how many staff, and what skills, the business will need in the future.
• recruitment 招聘 and selection 甄选 — finding people to apply for jobs, then choosing the best.
• training 培训 and development 培养 — improving staff skills now and helping them grow for the future.

Workforce planning looks at the firm's plans, then at the staff it already has, to find the gap. The gap may be filled by hiring, training, or moving staff.

Recruitment: describe the job, advertise, then select the best applicant

To recruit, the firm first writes:

• a job description 职位描述 — the title, duties and tasks of the job.
• a person specification 人员规格 — the skills, qualifications 资格 and qualities the right person should have.

The firm can recruit from inside or outside:

• internal recruitment 内部招聘 — filling the job with someone who already works there. It is cheaper and faster, and the person is known, but no new ideas come in.
• external recruitment 外部招聘 — hiring someone from outside. It brings new skills and ideas, but costs more and is slower.

Selection methods include reading application forms and CVs, interviews 面试, tests, and group tasks.

Training improves the skills staff need to do their jobs well. Common types are:

Three kinds of training: induction, on-the-job and off-the-job

• induction training 入职培训 — given to new staff so they learn how the firm works.
• on-the-job training 在岗培训 — learning while doing the real job.
• off-the-job training 脱产培训 — learning away from the workplace, such as a course.

Training costs time and money, but it raises quality, productivity 生产率 and motivation, and helps keep staff.

Sometimes a worker has to leave.

• redundancy 裁员 happens when the job itself is no longer needed — for example, when a machine replaces it. It is not the worker's fault.
• dismissal 解雇 happens when a worker is made to leave because of poor work or bad behaviour.

Both sides have rights and duties. The employer 雇主 must follow the law on pay, safety, working hours and unfair dismissal. The employee 雇员 must work as agreed and follow safe, fair rules. These rights 权利 protect both sides.

Businesses change often — new technology, new markets, or restructuring 重组. The management of change 变革管理 in HR means planning the change, explaining it clearly, training staff for new roles, and listening to worries, so staff accept the change instead of resisting it.

Two simple measures help managers judge how the workforce is doing.

Labour turnover 员工流失率 shows the percentage of staff who leave in a year:

High labour turnover can mean low pay, poor motivation or weak management. It raises the cost of recruiting and training.

Worked example. A firm employs $200$ people on average, and $30$ leave during the year. Find its labour turnover.

Labour productivity 劳动生产率 shows the output made by each worker:

Higher labour productivity lowers the cost of each unit, so the firm can compete better.

Worked example. A team of $8$ workers makes $2400$ units in a week. Find the labour productivity.

Motivation 激励 is the desire to work hard and do a good job. Motivated staff produce more and better work, take fewer days off, stay longer, and give better service. So motivation lowers costs and raises quality.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs, with workplace examples at each level.

Several thinkers tried to explain what motivates people. You should know the main idea of each.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Maslow said people try to meet lower needs first, then move up:

1. physiological needs 生理需求 — food, water, rest (met by pay).
2. safety needs — a safe job and workplace.
3. social needs — friendship and being part of a team.
4. esteem needs 尊重需求 — respect and recognition 认可.
5. self-actualisation 自我实现 — reaching your full potential.

Maslow's hierarchy: people meet lower needs before higher ones

Herzberg's two factors

• hygiene factors 保健因素 — things like pay, conditions and rules. If they are poor, staff are unhappy; but fixing them does not truly motivate.
• motivators 激励因素 — things like achievement, responsibility and recognition. These give real, lasting motivation.

Hygiene factors stop unhappiness; only motivators give real, lasting motivation

Financial motivators 经济激励 are rewards paid in money:

• wages 工资 — pay by the hour or week, often for manual work 体力劳动.
• salary 薪水 — a fixed yearly amount, paid monthly.
• piece rate — pay for each unit made.
• commission 佣金 — pay based on how much you sell.
• bonus 奖金 — an extra payment for good results.
• profit sharing 利润分享 — staff get a share of the firm's profit.
• performance-related pay 绩效工资 — extra pay for those who meet targets.
• fringe benefits 附加福利 — non-cash extras, such as a company car or health care.

Non-financial motivators 非经济激励 reward staff without extra money, by making work more interesting and giving more control:

• job enrichment 工作丰富化 — giving more challenging tasks and responsibility.
• job rotation 工作轮换 — moving between different tasks to reduce boredom.
• job enlargement 工作扩大化 — adding more tasks at the same level.
• empowerment 授权 — letting staff make their own decisions about their work.
• teamworking 团队合作 — organising staff into teams that share goals.

Motivators are either financial (money) or non-financial (better, fuller work)

Management 管理 means getting work done through other people to reach the firm's objectives.

Fayol said managers carry out five functions:

Fayol's five functions of management form a repeating cycle

Mintzberg said managers also play ten roles 角色 in three groups: interpersonal (working with people), informational (sharing information), and decisional (making decisions). This shows that real management is busy and varied, not just the five neat functions.

Leadership 领导 and management are not the same.

• a manager plans, organises and controls the day-to-day work.
• a leader sets a vision 愿景, inspires people, and guides change.

A manager runs the day-to-day work; a leader sets direction and inspires — the best people do both

The best managers are also good leaders. Effective management matters because it raises productivity, keeps good staff, helps the firm adapt to change, and turns plans into real results.

• Calculate and interpret labour turnover and labour productivity; high turnover raises recruitment and training costs.
• Link a motivation theory to a method: Maslow (needs), Herzberg (hygiene vs motivators), Taylor (pay).
• Distinguish financial (piece rate, bonus) from non-financial (job enrichment, empowerment) motivators.
• Distinguish leadership from management and match a style (autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire) to the situation.