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.

How to Find Candidates

Whether you search inside or outside the organization, you need to publicize the opening. If you're looking internally in a small organization, you can alert employees informally. In larger organizations, HR managers generally post openings on bulletin boards (often online) or announce them in newsletters. They can also seek direct recommendations from various supervisors.

Recruiting people from outside is more complicated. It's a lot like marketing a product to buyers: in effect, you're marketing the virtues of working for your company. Starbucks uses the following outlets to advertise openings:

  • A dedicated section of the corporate Web site ("Job Center," which lists openings, provides information about the Starbucks experience, and facilitates the submission of online applications)
  • College campus recruiting (holding on-campus interviews and information sessions and participating in career fairs)
  • Internships designed to identify future talent among college students
  • Announcements on employment Web sites like Monster.com, Vault.com, Glassdoor.com, and SimplyHired.com
  • Newspaper classified ads
  • Facebook and Twitter
  • Local job fairs
  • In-store recruiting posters
  • Informative "business cards" for distribution to customers"

When asked what it takes to attract the best people, Starbucks's senior executive Dave Olsen replied, "Everything matters". Everything Starbucks does as a company bears on its ability to attract talent. Accordingly, everyone is responsible for recruiting, not just HR specialists. In fact, the best source of quality applicants is the company's own labor force.