List and describe the five broad activities encompassed by human resource management.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Human resource management systems are concerned to some degree with the following five activities: staffing, retention, development, adjustment, and managing change.
Staffing comprises the activities of (1) identifying work requirements within an organization; (2) determining the numbers of people and the skills mix necessary to do the work; and (3) recruiting, selecting, and promoting qualified candidates. Retention comprises the activities of (1) rewarding employees for performing their jobs effectively; (2) ensuring harmonious working relations between employees and managers; and (3) maintaining a safe, healthy work environment. Development is a function whose objective is to preserve and enhance employees' competence in their jobs through improving their knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics; HR specialists use the term "competencies" to refer to these items. Adjustment comprises activities intended to maintain compliance with an organization's HR policies (e.g., through discipline) and business strategies (e.g., cost leadership). Managing change is an ongoing process whose objective is to enhance the ability of an organization to anticipate and respond to developments in its external and internal environments, and to enable employees at all levels to cope with the changes.