Role of the Human Resource Manager

Executive Summary

The following report has discussed about the role of Mr. John Edwards, Human resource manager of Reliance Communication Ltd. The report focuses on the responsibilities and complexity of a person who is performing the role of a human resource manager. Interaction of Mr. Edwards as a human resource manager with other departments of the organization and with people outside the department is also discussed. The report begins with introduction to human resource management and highlights its importance in every business. Introduction is followed by a brief summary of the company. The report provides an analysis of the role of Mr. Edwards, what his priorities are and what he should do to be more effective in his job. The report is concluded with key points discussed in the report and is followed by references.

Introduction

The focus of Human Resource Management (HRM) is on managing people within the employer-employee relationship. It involves the productive use of people in achieving the organization’s strategic business objectives and the satisfaction of individual employee needs (Stone, 2008). The competitive advantage for organizations in the old economy centered on the financial capital and technology, the emerging economy has shifted its emphasis on investment in human capital, knowledge and the commitment of the employees. The focus in the business world has shifted from physical assets to knowledge and information capital. The effective management of human capital poses new challenges in the organisation for leadership and managerial capabilities.

The human resource function has gone from the traditional hire and fire role to a strategic partner with finance, operations and other business departments that are not centers of profit for the organization. The job of HR, as is the job of all such departments, is to ensure that the business gets the most out of its employees. In another words, the human resource management needs to provide a high return on the business’s investment in its people. This makes it a highly complex function (Cascio, 1998).
The following discussion is all about that is discussed above. Discussion will surround around involvement of Mr. Edwards in the company and how he is developing assets for his company.

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Company Profile

Reliance Communications (formerly Reliance Infocomm), along with Reliance Telecom and Flag Telecom, is part of Reliance Communications Ventures (RCoVL). It is an Indian telecommunications company. Reliance Communications is a leader in telecommunications products and consultancy, a privately owned company with over 20 years of service to the business community, and with a reputation for integrity, superior implementation and support. Anil Dhirubhai Ambani controls 66.77 per cent of the company, which accounts for more than 1.36 billion shares. It is the flagship company of the Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, Reliance Energy, Reliance Capital and telecom initiatives of the Reliance ADAG (Company profile).

Role of HR Manager

Staffing:

Key function of Mr. Edwards is to fulfill staffing needs of the company and it can be done in variety of ways, whether to use independent contractors or hire employees to fill these needs. It takes place in two three steps. First step is to identify the requirements of the company and what kind of requirements is being requested. Second step is to determine the number of people and the skills mix necessary to do the work. Final step is to recruit and select the people best suited for the job and then to train them to fit and work efficiently in the organization.

Retention:

one of his critical roles in today’s environment must be to help keep, develop and motivate the good people with scarce skills. This, of course, means knowing who they are and making sure that sufficient time and attention is spent with them. He makes sure that employees are rewarded for performing their jobs effectively, so as to keep them motivated. To make them comfortable he ensures that harmonious relations are maintained between the employees and the company and to maintain a safe and healthy work environment.

Managing change:

The constant evaluation of the effectiveness of the organization results in the need for the HR manager to frequently manage change. Both knowledge about and the ability to execute successful change strategies make him exceptionally valued. He acts as a change agent, serving as a catalyst for change within the organization. He has achieved this by developing problem solving communication and influence skills. He Advise managers on organizational policy matters such as equal employment opportunity and sexual harassment, and recommend needed changes.
Employee Advocate: He acts as an advocate to every employee working in his company, to makes them aware of every information they require. It is his duty to provide current and prospective employees with information about policies, job duties, working conditions, wages, and opportunities for promotion and employee benefits. Serve as a link between management and employees by handling questions, and administering contracts and helping resolve work-related problems interpreting. Analyze training needs to design employee development, language training and health and safety programs (Dolezalek, 2008).
Development: is a function in which his objective is to preserve and enhance employee competence in their jobs through improving their knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics.

Other functions:

Analyze and modify compensation and benefits policies to establish competitive programs and ensure compliance with legal requirements. Plan and conduct new employee orientation to foster positive attitude toward organizational objectives. Maintain records and compile statistical reports concerning personnel-related data such as hires, transfers, performance appraisals and absenteeism rates. Analyze statistical data and reports to identify and determine causes of personnel problems and develop recommendations for improvement of organization’s personnel policies and practices. Plan, organize, direct, control or coordinate the personnel, training, or labor relations activities of an organization. Conduct exit interviews to identify reasons for employee termination (Hofstede, 1980).

Responsibilities of Mr. J. Edwards

Tasks What he Do What he Doesn’t Do Skills Required Skills not Required
Provide expert guidance, perspective, and support to enable managers and supervisors to make appropriate pay decisions Yes
Communicate programs and guidelines to help managers and supervisors understand all aspects of the compensation program Yes
Identify, collect, and analyze external market data in order to ensure alignment Yes
Maintain the competitiveness of the staff compensation structure by reviewing the market trends annually and, when appropriate, making adjustments to the structure to reflect market pay levels Yes
Evaluate and determine appropriate job family, level, title, exempt/non-exempt classification and salary range for each new position and for each request for reclassification Yes
Hiring, supervising, training, monitoring and firing of staff. Yes
Maintain performance management tools for each staff position on campus Yes
Ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations Yes
Effective communication Yes
Ethical behaviour Yes
Persuasiveness and the ability to influence others. Yes
Strategic thinking and critical/analytical thinking Yes
Organizational skills Yes

Interdependencies

Human resource manager works with different types of people and groups within and outside the organisations. Without interacting with these groups he won’t be able to do achieve his goals with efficiency. Thus he is very much interdependent on these groups to bring the best out of him and the people his is supervising. Following chart shows the various departments he is related to:

= outside organisation

= within organisation

Top management: HR manager links the employee with the company. If there is demand made by the employees such as change in pay structure, working conditions or resolving disputes between them, he gets in touch with the management and tries to resolve the issue as soon as possible. In return top management sets the guidelines and objectives which are to be followed by the employees. He makes sure that if there is any change in the guidelines for the employees, they are implemented.
Sales department: sales department of Reliance communication is very big and have different branches. There are sales people who manage the sales process and there are others who complete the sale. Both the branches require people with different skills. Sales department will inform the HR manger about their requirements for personnel and it is the responsibility of Mr. Edwards to fulfill it on time. He may do it by directly recruiting people or if it is an emergency, he may approach any recruiting agency to meet his requirements.

Production Department:

He maintains a constant touch with the production manager and provides him with staff that is required to fulfill the department. In this case it is his duty to guide employees of workplace safety and other safety measures.

Marketing Department:

Mr. Edwards play a very important role when dealing with the marketing department. He not only recruits people for them but also discusses the need of skills that are feasible for promoting the company and accordingly sets out the criterion for selection.

Accounts department:

he prepares an estimated budget, which will be required for the purpose of hiring and training new employees. In return he hires people for the accounts department when required.

There are few interactions which are similar with every department. He takes initiative to motivate employees in every department and makes sure that he is in constant touch with employees who are facing any problems or having any issues while working. He sets up programs at regular basis to interact with employees of every department to know their problems and inform them if there are any changes required by the top management (Mujteba, 2006).

Recruiting agencies:

he contacts these agencies when there is an urgent need to employ people and it is not viable to go through the process of recruitment because of its time consuming feature. He will inform them with his requirements and in return they will provide with people of required skills.

Conclusion

The role of the HR manager must parallel the needs of his or her changing organization. Successful organizations are becoming more adaptive, resilient, quick to change direction and customer-centered. Within this environment, the HR manager, who is considered necessary by line managers, is a strategic partner, an employee sponsor or advocate and a change mentor. According to Dickson (1998), most important function of HR manager is to provide a support system to its employees; it can be emotional or physical. In today’s organizations, to guarantee their viability and ability to contribute, HR managers need to think of themselves as strategic partners. In this role, the HR person contributes to the development of and the accomplishment of the organization-wide business plan and objectives. The HR manager contributes to the organization by constantly assessing the effectiveness of the HR function. He also sponsors change in other departments and in work practices. To promote the overall success of his organization, he champions the identification of the organizational mission, vision, values, goals and action plans. Finally, he helps determine the measures that will tell his organization how well it is succeeding in all of this. Managing people is one of the most difficult aspects of organizational management; it means dealing with people who differ physically and psychologically (Mendenhall, 2007).

References:

 Stone, R. J., (2008). Human Resource Management, 6th edition. Pg. 3. John Wiley publication.
 Dickson, R. (1998). Huaman Resource Management 2. Retrieved from http://www2.prestel.co.uk/rossticle/essays.htm, retrieved on 12th August, 2009.
 Company Profile. Retrieved from www.reliancecommunications.com. Retrieved on 12 August, 2009.
 Cascio, W. F. (1998). Managing Human Resources. Pg 46. Irwin McGraw Hill.
 Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related values. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.
 Mendenhall, Mark E.; Oddou, Gary R.; and Stahl, Gunter K. (2007). Readings and Cases is International Human Resource Management – 4th ed. Routledge Publishers, Taylor & Francis Books.
 Mujtaba, B. G. (2006). Cross Cultural Change Management. Llumina Press, Tamarac, Florida.
 Dolezalek, H. (2008). Good Job! Training, 45(6), pp. 32-34.