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up modern assembly lines, using highly sophisticated accounting controls, etc but wo
uld fail by hiring the wrong person and not motivating subordinates. Managers can o
nly be successful if they have the knack for hiring the right people for the right jobs a
nd motivating, appraising, and developing them.
Growing Importance of HRM
The success of organizations increasingly depends on people-embodied kn
ow-how- the knowledge, skill, and abilities imbedded in an organization's
members. This knowledge base is the foundation of an organization' core
competencies (integrated knowledge sets within an organization that disti
nguish it from its competitors and deliver value to customers).
Factors Contributing to the Growing Importance of HRM
a. Accommodation to workers' needs
Workers are demanding that organizations accommodate their personal n
eeds by instituting such programs as flexible work schedules, parental lea
ve, child-care and elder-care assistance, and job sharing. The human reso
urce department plays a central role in establishing and implementing poli
cies designed to reduce the friction between organizational demands and
family responsibilities.
b. Increased complexity of the Manager’s job
Management has become an increasingly complex and demanding job for
many reasons, including foreign competition, new technology, expanding
scientific information, and rapid change. Therefore, organizations frequent
ly ask human resource managers for assistance in making strategic busin
ess decisions and in matching the distinctive competencies of the firm's h
uman resources to the mission of the organization.
Executives need assistance from the human resource department in matt
ers of recruitment, performance evaluation, compensation, and discipline.
c. Legislation and litigation
The enactment of state laws has contributed enormously to the proliferati
on and importance of human resource functions. The record keeping and r
eporting requirements of the laws are so extensive that to comply with th
em, many human resource departments must work countless hours and of
ten must hire additional staff.
Four areas that have been influenced most by legislation include equal em
ployment, Compensation, safety, and labor relations. An organization's fail
ure to comply with laws regulating these areas can result in extremely cos
tly back-pay awards, class action suits, and penalties.
d. Consistency
Human resource policies help to maintain consistency and equity within a
n organization. Consistency is particularly important in compensation and
promotion decisions. When managers make compensation decisions witho
ut consulting the human resource department the salary structure tends t
o become very uneven and unfair promotion decisions also may be handle
d unfairly when the HR department does not coordinate the decision of ind
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ividual manger.
e. Expertise
Now a days there exist sophisticated personnel activities that require spec
ial expertise. For example, researchers have developed complex procedur
es for making employee-selection decisions; statistical formulas that comb
ine interviews, test scores, and application-blank information have replace
d the subjective interviews traditionally used in making selection decisions.
Similarly, many organizations have developed compensation systems wit
h elaborate benefits packages to replace simple hourly pay or piece rate i
ncentive systems
f. Cost of Human Resource
Human resource activities have become increasingly important because o
f the high cost of personal problem. The largest single expense in most or
ganizations is labor cost, which is often considerably higher than the nece
ssary because of such problems as absenteeism tardiness and discriminati
on.