Purpose and Functions of Human Resource Management

A contemporary umbrella term which can be utilized for describing or defining the management and development of workforce within a business corporation has been referred as human resource management. It can also be termed as an integrated or strategic approach to managing the employees of a business corporation (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014). This approach can also be known as personnel or talent management. The mechanism is held responsible for recruiting and selecting potential individuals and further providing induction, training and development. Various operations are executed under this management system which is related to bringing developments and advancements in the performance level of an individual within a firm and thus ensuring increased productivity level. The below-presented reanalysis has been executed on the given case study and is related to the different aspects of HRM (human resource management). Further, the report will also discuss the various factors and components of HRM which are considered significant for the business entity and are also held liable for stimulating the organization.

Human resource has been considered as one of the empirical assets for any of the business entity and the same is with Enterprise Rent-a-Car (Bach and Edwards, 2013). And hence management of the human resource is one of an integral task and that should be executed with efficiency. Numerous functions and operations are executed for management of the workforce which assists the firm in an efficient execution of HRM. The prime functions and purpose of HRM at Enterprise Rent-a-Car are mentioned as below:

Development of High level of performance culture: One of the main purposes of the system of managing the human resource is to bring enhancement in the quality of performing and thus ensuring an increase in productivity (Blanpain and Bisom-Rapp, 2014). This has been considered as one of the prime and an integral task which is required to be executed efficiently. HRM plays a crucial role in hiring potential and professionals and which will enable Enterprise Rent-a-Car in maintaining and developing the culture of high-performance level.

Attainment of organizational objectives: Managing and maintaining human resource effectively will ensure an increase in performance and will be proven beneficial for the business corporation (Bratton and Gold, 2012). The HRM approach will provide training and development techniques to the employees and which will motivate them in providing higher productivity and will also enable in attaining personal goals and targets. An increasing productivity and attainment of the personal targets of individuals within an organization will lead to the accomplishment of the organizational objectives.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Development of positive and ethical employment relationship: One of the most crucial tasks of any of the business organization is maintaining, managing and retaining the workforce (Costen and Salazar, 2012). And this can be only done by developing a positive working environment and the employment relationship. For developing employment relationship employee friendly and positive business environment should be created within the workplace. Moreover, HR professionals and managers should take initiative towards the employees by indulging them in meetings and asking their ideas and thoughts for decision-making processes. Involvement of the management or superior authorities in the daily operations and also taking feedbacks of the workforce will make them feel valued. Further, the business entity can execute specific business activities that will assist the entity in reinforcing the relationship among the employees. For instance, Enterprise Rent-a-Car can promote and motivate its workforce to participate in practices which involves career opportunities and develop positive employment relationship.

Functions

The prime HRM functions at any of the business corporation are not only managing the existing employees but also to plan for the future recruited individuals (Costen, 2012). These functions have various impacts on the future planning for the requirements of the potential candidates. The below are some of the prime functions which are executed at Enterprise Rent-a-Car are mentioned:

Recruitment and selection are the major and prime functions which are executed by any of the HRM at a business corporation. This function is executed when the business entity develops a need to fill the vacancies of the workforce (Tansel and Gazîo?lu, 2014). The function is segmented mainly into two divisions, from which first is recruitment and selection is the second one. Recruitment comprises of the attracting and inviting the pool of potential candidates for interview by making use of various means. Once the HR managers are done with the recruitment process they further start sorting the selected candidates as per their profiles and take interviews for final selection. The selection consists of interviewing the sorted candidates by making use of various methods of interviews. This process includes utilization of various means and mechanisms for selecting and interviewing the potential candidates based on their qualities. Recruitment and selection process at Enterprise Rent-a-Car is executed by making use of various contemporary approaches and mediums (Torrington. 2011). These approaches and mediums make both the functions and the outcomes more effective. This process provides the business entity with a pool of efficient and potential workforce that offers the firm with a high level of productivity and leads towards high peaks of growth and success.

Effectiveness of the Key Elements of Human Resource Management

Strengths

• Enterprise Rent-a-Car makes use of the campus placements for hiring and recruiting. These consultancy associations aid the entity in attracting the high quality of the pool of potential candidates at UK universities (Walsh, 2015). This also offers and provides various opportunities to the students of visiting the workplace and production units and also provides the training and makes them aware of the various functions of the business.  
• The business corporation is also making use of contemporary means for recruitment and selection process and which is enable the business firm to execute the process more effectively and efficiently.
• Making use of social media and other means has offered the recruitment and selection process a boost. The entity makes use of business magazines, newspaper’s, social media websites etc.  

Weakness

• Sometimes making use of contemporary means and mediums for recruiting and selecting candidates is proven expensive and which can be a problem for the business organization.
• There can be problems of employee retention in case of trainees and internships, the students or the candidates may leave the organization after the completion of internship (Humanresourcesedu 2018).
• The business entity may also face the problems of ignorance, as many candidates may consider the emails sent by the consultancy firms as a fake one.

One of the main functions of managing the workforce within the business corporation is providing them training and developing their skills. Training and development of the employees are one of the crucial and an integral function through which the firm can bring enhancement in the skill and capabilities of an individual and thus bring a hike in their performance and productivity level. Enterprise Rent-a-Car can make use of various training sessions and development practices for bringing the required increase in the candidates. The training sessions and business practices will enhance their skills and capabilities and will also motivate the employees to work harder so as to attain personal targets and goals (Beardwell and Thompson, 2014). The existing employees and the senior authorities provide these training sessions which is proven cost-effective for the business entity.

Development employee relations are one of the most significant aspects of any of the business entity and the same is for Enterprise Rent-a-Car. This has been considered as one of the significant function which is required to be executed by the business entity with an efficiency and effectiveness for the attainment of growth and success. The employee relations can also be considered as one of the biggest factors which will enable the entity in successfully attracting and retaining the employees (Therith 2009). Positive and healthy employee relation is one of the biggest reasons for workforce satisfaction and an increase in their performance and productivity and also increases employee retention.

The business entity is required to make adoption and implementation of some of the prime elements of HRM that are considered as integral players for the attainment of the goals and targets. Utilization of various approaches and models can be done for evaluating the effectiveness and success of these characters. Enterprise Rent-a-Car can also make use of various approaches and HRM theories for attaining growth and success (Din et al., 2014). The business entity can make use of various available options of approaches and models of HRM practices and the same are described as follows:

HR department is held responsible for offering training sessions to the newly hired recruits and development sessions to the existing employees for bringing advancement in their skills and capabilities. The training sessions for the new recruits can include the induction programs including the details and information of the process and procedures executed within the business corporation (Rees and Smith, 2017. In case of Enterprise Rent-a-Car, the business entity has been making use of training and development sessions for bringing advancements in the skills and capabilities and thus ensuring a high level of performance provided by the employees. Moreover, the business firm can also offer the training sessions for making the employees deal with the changing marketing trends such as globalization and technological trends, changes in political and legal norms and regulations. Kirkpatrick’s Model of training evaluation can be considered as one of the best theory which can be adopted by Enterprise Rent-a-Car for evaluating the effectiveness of the training sessions. The theory has been described in details as follows:

Reaction: The reactions of the individuals and the selected candidates are analyzed at this stage in relations to the training sessions (Al Ariss, Cascio & Paauwe, 2014). This step indicates that the training sessions were proven favorable. The training sessions are providing to match the competency level of the individuals for their job roles.

Learning: Training and development sessions offered at Enterprise Rent-a-Car will enable the candidates in the attainment of the skills and capabilities and bring an enhancement to their potential. The trainers monitor and scrutinize the level of the degree of intended knowledge and skills.

Behavior: Implementation of learning to the real-life organization is made measurable to the business organization at this model (Boxall & Purcell, 2011). Enterprise Rent-a-Car makes an evaluation, whether the trained candidates have learned or not. This model will also indicate the satisfaction level of the employees.

Results: Results are the outcomes which are observed and analyzed at the end or after the completion of the training sessions (Budhwar & Debrah, 2013). The performance level and an increase or decrease in the productivity will be considered as the results of the training sessions. This will also enable the business corporation that the selected candidates will be able to perform further or not.

The training and development sessions are proven beneficial for both the employees and the employers. The training sessions have led the employees at Enterprise Rent-a-Car to bring an enhancement in the skills and capabilities (Buller & McEvoy, 2012). The employee is benefited in terms promotions after an increase in their performance level and in monetary terms as rewards. These sessions motivate the employees and will bring a hike in the dedication level towards their job.

Employers are also benefited from the training and development provided to the employees. These sessions bring an increase in the performance level of the individuals within the organization and which will be proven beneficial for the entity in terms of increased productivity and profitability. The skilled employees will aid in attaining the organizational objectives in more efficient and effective manner (Caldwell et al., 2011). On the basis of the analysis done on the given case study, it has been noted that the investment done on the training and development sessions will be assisting the Enterprise Rent-a-Car in retaining and recruiting the employees.

Offering rewards based on the performance of the employees has been considered as one of an integral HRM practice. This practice should be effectively executed by the managers and the decisions should be based on the true evaluation of performance. This approach has been considered as one of the management tools which is proven very much effective for enhancing the and developing relationships between the employees and the employers (Fairlie, 2011). Enterprise Rent-a-Car can make use of performance and reward management system for offering performance based appraisals and rewards to the employees for motivating them. The rewards can be in monetary and non-monetary terms for the current performance and bring an enhancement in the future performance of an individual.

The HRM functions and operations are affected by number f internal and external elements. Enterprise Rent-a-Car is also getting impacted by such two factors that are employee relations and employee legislation respectively (Huselid & Becker, 2011). Both factors are described as follows in an elaborated form:

Employee relations are considered as one of the significant factors which are able in stimulating the decision-making process within the business organization. This approach can also be considered as one of the ways of communicating with each other and also enhances the understanding level among the employees. Maintaining positive working environment and positivity in employee relations will minimize the chances of rising disputes. Moreover, it will also offer various benefits to the business entity such as it brings advancement in morale and overall productivity of the business corporation (Inyang, Awa & Enuoh, 2011). There are various ways which can be utilized for bringing improvements in the employee relations at Enterprise Rent-a-Car:

Career development opportunities for employees are the practices which can be adopted by the business corporation for bringing the reduction in the chances of employee turnover.

The management is required to increase engagement of the employees so as to ensure that the individuals should start feeling their priority and also that their efforts are valued.

Sharing vision will enable the business entity to develop a transparency in the management practices and also between the employees and employers.

Apart from all of these, there are some other factors which are used by Enterprise Rent-a-Car for bringing improvements in the employee relations (Wright & McMahan, 2011). The mentioned are some of the strategies which can be adopted by the business entity for bringing advancement in this aspect:

• Employee engagement can be evaluated by executing surveys.
• Encouraging the employee engagement and indulgent in the managerial activities and operations
• By managing HRM effectively a positive employment relationship can be developed

After the emergence of the concept of industrialization, the employment law came into effect internationally. Various changes have been introduced due to the laws and norms of employment legislation. Mediating the relationship between the employees, employers and the governing authorities has been considered as one of the prime objectives of this approach. The law protects and prevents the employees from the unfair business practices conducted by a business corporation. The legislation works as an external factor which is held liable for affecting the HRM decision making process. The below described are some of the laws which stimulate HRM at Enterprise Rent-a-Car:

Workplace Equality Act: As per this act all the employees are required to be treated equally and equal opportunities are required to be provided to them on the basis of their performance (Petty 2016).

Health and Safety Act: According to this law the business entity is required to make provisions for health and safety. Proper training sessions should be provided by the management for ensuring safety measures and health.

The designation of HR manager is chosen for the application of HRM practices in work-related context. The job description and CV of the for HR manager are presented below:

Job advertisement 

Job description and person specification

Curriculum Vitae

Making use of the varied range of mediums and channels the Enterprise Rent-a-Car can make the implementation of recruitment and selection in practice. Contemporary means and mechanisms play an integral role in this process. Making use of modern means has brought developments in the process at Enterprise Rent-a-Car. For instance, the business entity is making use of online means and social media for recruiting and selecting the candidates. The better and improved recruitment and selection process has provided the business entity with a pool of professional and expertise recruits and individuals. These selected candidates are experts at their pre-determined job roles and responsibilities. A pool of professional workforce will enable the entity in reaping desired outcomes. And due to this the business entity will be experiencing a hike or boost in the performance level and which will lead to an increase in the productivity level, The increased productivity and enhanced performance level will make easy attainments and accomplishments of the determined goals and targets. And for doing the same business entity is required to make adoption of appropriate approaches and mechanism of recruitment and selection. Relevant methods and tools should be used for effective outcomes through the adopted process of recruiting and selecting the individuals. The business entity can make use of various contemporary and traditional mechanisms for recruiting and selecting the individuals. The below mentioned are some of the practices or techniques which can be adopted by the HR professional of Enterprise Rent-a-Car for ensuring a successful recruitment and selection process.

• Emphasis should be made focused on culture
• A proper track should be maintained of each and every candidate.
• Safety and privacy for the details of the candidates should be maintained.

Conclusion

After summing up the above-executed analysis it has been inferred that the HRM plays an integral role in the development, success, and growth of a business corporation. Enterprise Rent-a-Car is making use of the varied range of business practices and approaches for managing the human resource within the business corporation.

References

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