Human Resource Management. The Writer

¶ … Human Resource Management. The writer explores the field and illustrates the differences that the industry can make when it comes to the smooth operation of a company. There were five sources used to complete this paper.

The field of Human Resource Management has become one of the hottest majors in universities today. Those who leave school with a degree in the field anticipate not only fulfilling work but an extremely satisfactory financial ladder to climb as well. The reason the field is exploding is because it is a field that has benefited the work industry significantly and promises to continue doing so in the future.

WHAT IT IS Whether it is the recruiting and training of new employees, the overseer of benefit packages or the distasteful task of organizing massive layoffs, the Human Resource Management field is an interesting one that plays an important role in the overall organizational effectiveness of an organization.

Before one can determine that effectiveness one should have an understanding about the field and what it involves.

Human Resources Management is a department within an organization that is responsible for the manpower of that company. Whether it is a company that makes a million widgets a year, or a company responsible for the design of the next nuclear bomb the Human Resources Management team provides the workforce, the benefits, the labor dispute assistance and the training for the company to run more smoothly.

Long before the field of Human Resources Management became popular companies had to keep track of the many details involved with hiring, training, raises, vacations and termination of employees. As governmental mandates moved into the picture with regards to work environment, required training and other elements of production those tasks became overwhelming for companies to deal with.

Today the policies of Human Resources Management make a tremendous difference in the operations of a company. In addition, those policies and programs have an overall positive impact on the effectiveness of the organization.

A recent study examined the measurable impact that Human Resources Management had on the companies that were part of the study. The study looked at 175 Dutch high performance companies and found that the policies and programs provided by Human Resources Management departments helped maintain the smooth operation and high performance of those participant companies (Hartog, 2004).

Another recent study examined the value of Human Resources Management as an industry (Becker, 2003).

Using a human benchmark system the study explored the effectiveness that the department has on the outcome of the organizations that use HRM.

The researchers outlined the fact that they believed using external factors as benchmarks was the wrong avenue to take as it would not be a true measurement of the success or failure of HRM within a company (Becker, 2003).

Because of this belief the study focused exclusively on the internal human benchmark system to accurately determine whether HRM is something that provides a value benefit to the company that it is in.

Using a mapping system the study examined several areas of interest that could strategically place HRM within the mapping system and use a measurable ability to determine the success of failure of using HRM as a resource (Becker, 2003).

Strategic performance measurements were taken and the conclusion indicates that HRM is of a value benefit to the companies it is used in, of course this relies on the belief that each company is using HRM to its fullest advantage and abilities.

A third study that examined the effectiveness in organization of companies using HRM's in the field of high technology came in with mixed results and was not able to definitively credit the use of HRM with more effective organizational ability.

In all of the studies it became apparent that the ability to examine the effectiveness of organization that use HRM departments the driving force behind the study was the measurable elements of effectiveness that could be given a value and then measured against other valued criteria (Lee, 1989).

When ascertaining the importance of a HRM department the largest corporations in America are giving weight to the importance of utilizing the polices and programs that HRM provides. In a recent roundtable discussion at Starbucks headquarters the CEO of Starbucks summed it up when he said:

Human resources has to have a seat at every table of every strategic discussion that we talk about, whether it's growing our margin, whether it's growing our store base, whether it's succession planning, whether it's staffing. We hire 300 people a day, 365 days a year. We have got to have human resources -- we call it partner resources -- sitting right next to me each and every time we have a meeting (Top, 2006)."