Where next? – Human Resource Management’s role within organisations

Historical overview of Human Resource Management (HRM)

The field of personnel administration first came into being in the 1920s. At least initially, it primarily concerned itself with the straightforward and simple recruitment, training and payment of ‘staff’. There was no unifying paradigm of strategic planning, management of people, employee engagement, or effective anticipation of future changes in individual, group, or organisational performance goals.

Burgeoning economic and social demands – together with rapidly accelerating globalisation – inevitably led to many name changes and an expansion in Human Resources (HR) development. As the world of business and work changed, the role of HR, and its overall approach to new developments, inevitably had to markedly respond, adapt, transform, and continually reinvent its position. As a result, it became a crucial cog in staffing and strategic management, organisational structure, and in relation to organisational targets and performative decision-making.

Complexity within the HR function

Leadership and vision are integral to successful and purposeful achievement in the realm of people management, strategic and organisational behaviour, team dynamics and motivation and retention.

Career development opportunities for HR professionals are limitless; new pathways constantly present themselves as the future of work continually reforms and repositions itself. Former models are superseded by new thinking and interpretation to maximise and optimise performance – at both business and individual levels.

Examples of the myriad and multiple strands of HR incentives include:

• Stakeholders’ inclusivity
• HR managers – e.g. line managers
• Industrial welfare and relations
• Legislation
• Diversity
• Metrics
• Succession planning
• Budgets and fiscal initiatives

The range of any Human Resources Department – and successful business strategy – is immense and all-encompassing, as evidenced by SHRM, the world’s largest HR association.

Personnel management and the impact of the pandemic

Across the world, HR teams have been forced to scramble in response to the changing workplace demands necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic. As well as the immediate issues of logistics and safe working conditions, other interconnected aspects have been dramatically affected: work-life balance and well-being; employee performance; employee satisfaction; talent management; human relations; job satisfaction and more. These issues, and the extra consideration they require from those in HR and across businesses, were seismic across industries, demographics and role types.

Currently – due to newly emerging COVID-19 variants – restrictions and changes to working in both the real and virtual worlds are in a constant state of flux. These, in turn, are hugely impactful in the ways that work and the human capital, labour relations, training programmes and performance management are delivered. As mentioned earlier, ‘traditional’ and existing HR structures and HR practices continue to be chameleon-like, needing to absorb new opinions, ideas, behaviours and systems.

Onboarding: preparing employees for workplace success

The term ‘onboarding’ suggests an active and positive engagement in terms of the systematic and purposeful transformation of promising candidates into top-performing employees.

People, and their contribution, in any work-related organisation are integral to business success. As such, recruiting and inducting new employees must be undertaken in carefully planned and mindful steps, providing new staff with the information, supportive relationships, mentors, training and tools to feel comfortable and confident in their work production. Should ‘onboarding’ not be effectively delivered, both individual performance and organisational image could be impeded, and staff turnover impacted. Successful onboarding implementation generally leads to increased employee productivity, job satisfaction and staff retention.

Upcoming HR trends

Tom Haak is the Founder and Director of the HR Trend Institute, and annually analyses and spots upcoming trends within the industry. Announced in November 2021, his top 10 HR trends for 2022 are as follows:

• From Adaptation to Transformation
• HR as Activists
• HR for the Ecosystem
• The End of the Employee
• Metaverse
• Forgiving Technologies
• Recruiting for Diversity
• Time for some Real Empathy
• Life Coaching provided by Employers
• The Split of HR

The trends show a marked departure from conventional and established models, emphasising the constant need for HR competencies to strategise and evolve. Only in this way can HR departments and professionals ensure competitive advantage and business forecasting, with employee well-being uppermost.

HR and employee mental health

Employee wellbeing continues to rise up the corporate agenda. Cast further into the spotlight by the pandemic, and as highlighted in the HR Trend Institute’s 2022 list, employee well-being and mental health is an area of HR which will undoubtedly drive future working practice, and feature in organisational models.

As illustrated by CIPD’s Health and Wellbeing at Work 2021 report:

• 75% of senior leaders list employee wellbeing among their organisational goals
• There has been a decrease in workplaces being viewed as ‘more reactive than proactive’ with regards to mental health, from 41% to 27%
• 77% of respondents believe their organisations actively promotes good mental wellbeing – although only half believe it is effective in tackling workplace stress or in identifying and managing the mental health risks

With some semblance of ‘normal’ work-return starting to manifest in many industries, emotional sensitivities, anxieties, stresses and uncertainties are already appearing as factors to be considered by human resources departments. The need to adapt from the standpoint of HR has already made itself felt. Interaction and feedback must feature in fostering resilience, open communication, providing mental health resources, and generally incorporating the ‘human’ element into new HR thinking. The world has changed; employee expectations and attitudes to work-life have changed. Likewise, the work environment must also change. Skilled individuals involved in HR strategising and future-proofing – to ensure positive, successful and holistic outcomes – will be in great demand.

Join the forefront of HR management development in the workplace

Are you ready for the fast-paced, complex and diverse nature of human resources management? Interested in upskilling your human resource management practices?

At the University of Lincoln, you could acquire the ever-expanding theoretical and practical knowledge to excel within the human resources profession. Choose our online MSc Management with Human Resources programme, and study alongside other professionals at an accredited, forward-thinking academic institution. 

With access to the latest HRM function management ideas, opinions and ideas – backed up with pedagogical and real-world expertise – we aim to teach you the specialist skills and competencies needed in the modern workplace.