Being Human in Human Resources (Essay Sample)

Being Human in Human Resources
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Being Human in Human Resources
Human Resource Management is a term, which is widespread in business, and it describes all the organizational activities that include practices such as employment relations, recruiting and selecting, training and development, performance management, reward management, people resourcing and human resource development among many other activities. However, human resource management is particularly central to describing approaches of managing people, and in another context, describing a distinctive approach to manage people, which are much different from the traditional personal management practices (Franics, & Keegan 2006).
In addition, although HRM has currently received considerable attention in the literature, the concept is not new at all. It is not a strange phenomenal in the modern business field. This is because, even historically, people did own human enterprises, and they did provide other people with work. The desire for the enterprise to continue into the future as a viable economic and social unit shows that the human resource management applied, but it might have applied unconsciously (Franics, & Keegan 2006).
In the current situation, however, human resource management, is central to the attempts to assign work tasks within social groups, and tries to compel members of the social groups to make best use of the capabilities, behaviors and knowledge to enhance or allow for prosperity. In comparison to the historical application or view of human resource management, there is substantial variation; in that, historically, human resource management was to enhance growth and gain competitive advantage. In fact, development of human resource management to entail the concept of being human is becoming significant in literature, and it is the central idea in this paper.
Being human depicts the concept of humanity, and in this matter, it is central to the ethics in human resource management. Humanity, therefore, is a comprehensive concept, which can apply in any field. In this regard, being human encompasses activities from the human resource department, which portray aspects of humanity. The concept of humanity, often, finds itself in conflict, especially when a company puts efforts to achieve financial goals, improve profits, and the same time ensure it is “human” to its employees (Vickers 2005).
In such a case, the organization might focus on achieving the financial objectives, and fail to ensure it is considerate in its course. This means that employees can be working under extreme pressure at the expense of realizing the company’s financial objectives (Buckley 2001). Alternatively, being human involves the judging of the ethical implications of an action in relation to the results generated by the action. If the results provide a positive basis, then, it can be conclusive that it is on a humanistic approach, but if it is the other way round, then again, it can be concluded that it is inhuman.
For example, consider a case scenario whereby the employer opts to hide from his or her employees the dangerous nature of some chemicals used in the course of production. In such a case, the employer is inhuman, but if the employer provides the nature of the impending danger, then, he or she is human (Schuman 2001). The tactic of achieving a motivated workforce lies on the capability of the management to manage and value the workforce. This is in the sense of appropriate personal management in terms of rating employees for appraisal, rewarding their efforts and providing a safe workplace and many others.
Human resource in this matter is central to the appropriate management to the employees, which serves as an incentive for high performance and job satisfaction (Hope, Farndale and Truss 2005). The advent of human resource was central to the significance of workers in an organization, and it served to unite employees and the organizational needs. This is because the human resource is a vital actor in the employment relationship, and they do this through designing and implementing apposite HRM practices, which provide employees with an opportunity to develop, as they develop the organization (Vickers 205).
Actually, the concept of “humanity” applies in human resource, considering the shift observed in the strategic role of the human resource, which has resulted to ignorance to the best practices. Therefore, if human resource is to take the term “human” literally, then it would know the main objective of the human resource department. In addition, the human resource has a variety of roles, but most of them are central to employees (Palomino and Martinez 2011). For instance, they are to serve as guardian of ethics, and enhance ethical leadership within an organization.
In the human resource management context, being human is central to the judgment of the actions of either the employer or an employee, in relation to ethical considerations. This is further explained as the considerations given to employees in relation to their workplace. For example, providing a safe working environment is considered human, whereas the opposite fits the inhuman concept (Hope, Farndale and Truss 2005). In fact, it is a literal meaning of the term human, but it is central to ethics, moral and good, which all contribute to best practice in organizations. Human resource is the body in an organization that reflects or addresses the “human” nature of their employers or organizations, and when they do so, they predispose the organization to the development.
On the other hand, the human resource has to provide the humanistic values of care, equality and justice to their employees in order to qualify as human. It is, however, impossible for organizations to function without the human resource, mainly because the human resource looks at issues central to the employees. In addition, it was the initial intended purpose of the human resource to adopt the “human” nature, prior to the shift witnessed, which saw to the human resource being strategic to the develo...