TABLE OF CONTENTS After studying this chapter, students should be able to describe:
the importance of human resources (HR) to organisations;
the nature and evolution of human resource management (HRM);
the significance of people policies, the HR department and people management;
the role and functions of the HR department;
the essentials of good practice in key HR tasks, especially appointments, training and development and rewarding employees;
the features of the two sides of the employee employer relationship with a focus on trade unions;
the major theories of human motivation.
People are one of the key inputs into organisations. The input provided by people to organisations constitutes one of the factors of production, along with capital, land and the physical inputs of stock and equipment. Factors of production are those inputs that are needed to make an organisation productive, to enable it to maintain a normal level of performance.
There is, however, uniqueness about the human factor of production, unlike the others, people think and are able to make their own decisions, to withhold their input, to argue and disagree and to make costly mistakes. Of course, it is equally true that this factor of production is also able to make a unique contribution to an organisation s success by generating ideas, by working productively, by managing others and by contributing intellectual and creative power for the benefit of the organisation.
It is a simple fact that all organisations need people. It is an organisation s...
