Q."HRM is a pervasive function." Explain what this means, and how it relates to the idea that HRM is "part of every manager's job."

This feature is one of the most important to understand correctly, because it explains why an HR department exists alongside, rather than instead of, every other manager's own HR responsibilities. …

Calling HRM a pervasive function means that HR-related activities are found throughout the entire organisation, at every level and in every department — not confined to a single specialised "HR department." A production manager has to recruit, train, motivate, and appraise the workers under them, just as a finance manager or a marketing manager has to do the same for their own staff.

This is exactly why HRM is described as part of every manager's job: whatever department or function a manager heads, managing the people who work for them is an inseparable part of that manager's own responsibilities — they cannot simply hand this off entirely to someone else. The specialised HR department that exists in most organisations plays a different, complementary role: it acts mainly in an advisory or staff capacity, developing HR policies, providing expertise (e.g. designing appraisal systems, framing training programmes, handling statutory compliance), and coordinating HR practice across departments — but it does not replace a line manager's own day-to-day responsibility for the people directly working under them. …

Assuming that because an organisation has a dedicated HR department, only that department is responsible for HR activities — the pervasive feature specifically corrects this, …