The Role of Human Resource Management

Human resource management (HRM) could be the most critical managerial duty for a business. Consider this: if a business cannot recruit, train, develop, motivate and appraise their human resources (read employees), they are likely wasting money and cutting into their profit. Read this section and pay close attention to the introduction to get an overview of the scope of HRM.

Recruiting Qualified Employees

Armed with information on the number of new employees to be hired and the types of positions to be filled, the HR manager then develops a strategy for recruiting potential employees. Recruiting is the process of identifying suitable candidates and encouraging them to apply for openings in the organization.

Before going any further, we should point out that, in recruiting and hiring, managers must comply with antidiscrimination laws; violations can have legal consequences. Discrimination occurs when a person is treated unfairly on the basis of a characteristic unrelated to ability. Under federal law, it's illegal to discriminate in recruiting and hiring on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability. (The same rules apply to other employment activities, such as promoting, compensating, and firing.) The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces a number of federal employment laws, including the following:

  • Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Sexual harassment is also a violation of Title VII.
  • The Equal Pay Act of 1963, which protects both women and men who do substantially equal work from sex-based pay discrimination.
  • The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1964, which protects individuals who are forty or older.
  • Title I and Title V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which prohibits employment discrimination against individuals with disabilities.