Human Resources: Management Theory

Human resource is a term used to describe the individuals who make up the workforce of an organization, although it is also applied in labour economics. For example, business sectors or even whole nations.

Human resources is also the name of the function within an organization charged with the overall responsibility for implementing strategies and policies relating to the management of individuals (i.e., the human resources). This function title is often abbreviated to the initial “HR.”



Human resource is a relatively modern management term, coined as late as 1960’s. The origins of the function arose in organizations that introduced “Welfare Management” practices and also in those that adopted the principles of “Scientific Management.” From these terms emerged a largely administrative management activity, coordinating a range of worker related processes and becoming known, in time, as the personnel function!

Human resources progressively became the more usual name for this function, in the first instance in the united states as well as multinational or international corporations, reflecting the adoption of a mere quantitative as well as strategic approach to workforce management, demanded by cooperate management to gain a competitive advantage, utilizing limited skilled and highly skilled workers.

Purpose and Role
In simple term, an organization’s human resource management strategy should maximize return on investment in the organizations human capital and minimize financial risks.

Human resource managers seek to achieve this by aligning the supply of skilled and qualified individuals and the capabilities of the current workforce, with the organization ongoing and future business plans and requirements to maximize return on investments and scare future survival and success.

In ensuring such objectives are achieved, the human resource function is to implement an organization human resource requirements effectively, taking into account federal state and local labor laws and regulations, ethical business practices; and net cost, in a manner that maximizes as far as possible, employee, motivation, commitment and productivity.

Key functions
Human resource may set strategies and develop policies, standards, systems, and process that implement these strategies in a whole range of areas.

The following are typical of a wide range of organizations:

• Maintaining awareness and compliance with local, state and federal law.
• Recruitment selection, and on boarding (resourcing).
• Employee record-keeping and confidentiality. 

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