Nature and Features of HRM

The nature of HRM can be understood through the following features:

• A continuous/never-ending process — HRM does not end once employees are hired. Planning manpower needs, training people, appraising and rewarding performance, and maintaining good relations with employees is an ongoing activity that continues for as long as the organisation exists.
• People-oriented — HRM is concerned with people at work, both as individuals (their skills, aspirations, and problems) and as members of groups and teams; it tries to get the best out of people while also being fair and humane towards them.
• Pervasive function — HRM is not confined to a single "HR department." Every manager — whether in production, finance, marketing, or any other department — has to recruit, guide, motivate, and appraise the people working under them. In this sense, HR is part of every manager's job, and the specialised HR department exists to assist and advise line managers, not to replace their own HR responsibilities.
• Action-oriented — HRM focuses on taking practical action to solve employee-related problems, rather than merely keeping records or maintaining files about them.
• Development-oriented — HRM aims to continuously develop the potential of employees so that they can grow and contribute more to the organisation, rather than treating an employee's skill level as fixed.
• An integrating mechanism — HRM tries to build and maintain cordial relations among people working at various levels in the organisation, integrating individual, group, and organisational goals so they work together rather than in conflict.
• Both an art and a science — HRM is a science in that it is based on a systematic, organised body of knowledge, principles, and techniques (for job analysis, wage-fixation, performance appraisal, and so on); it is also an art because applying this knowledge successfully in a real workplace requires skill, judgement, and sensitivity to individual human behaviour — no formula can substitute entirely for a manager's own tact and experience in dealing with people. …