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Human Resource Management
(and Talent Management)

Written by Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD of Authenticity Consulting, LLC

Introduction

The Human Resources Management (HRM) function includes a variety of activities, and key among them is deciding what staffing needs you have and whether to use independent contractors or hire employees to fill these needs, recruiting and training the best employees, ensuring they are high performers, dealing with performance issues, and ensuring your personnel and management practices conform to various regulations. Activities also include managing your approach to employee benefits and compensation, employee records and personnel policies. Usually small businesses (for-profit or nonprofit) have to carry out these activities themselves because they can't yet afford part- or full-time help. However, they should always ensure that employees have -- and are aware of -- personnel policies which conform to current regulations. These policies are often in the form of employee manuals, which all employees have.

Note that some people distinguish a difference between HRM (a major management activity) and HRD (Human Resource Development, a profession). Those people might include HRM in HRD, explaining that HRD includes the broader range of activities to develop personnel inside of organizations, e.g., career development, training, organization development, etc.

There is a long-standing argument about where HR-related functions should be organized into large organizations, eg, "should HR be in the Organization Development department or the other way around?"

The HRM function and HRD profession have undergone tremendous change over the past 20-30 years. Many years ago, large organizations looked to the "Personnel Department," mostly to manage the paperwork around hiring and paying people. More recently, organizations consider the "HR Department" as playing a major role in staffing, training and helping to manage people so that people and the organization are performing at maximum capability in a highly fulfilling manner.

Recently, the phrase "talent management" is being used to refer the activities to attract, develop and retain employees. Some people and organizations use the phrase to refer
especially to talented and/or high-potential employees. The phrase often is used interchangeably with the field of Human Resource Management -- although as the field of talent management matures, it's very likely there will be an increasing number of people who will strongly disagree about the interchange of these fields. For now, this Library uses the phrases interchangeably.

Sections of This Topic Include:

Basic Overviews of Human Resource Management
Getting the Best Employees
Paying Employees (and Providing Benefits)
Training Employees
Ensuring Compliance to Regulations
Ensuring Safe Work Environments
Sustaining High-Performing Employees

Also see
Role of the HR Manager

Also see the
Library's Human Resources Blog

Basic Overviews of Human Resource Management (and Talent Management)

The reader might best be served to first get a sense for the scope and depth of the field of Human Resource Management by reading materials at some of the following links in this Overview, and. then read information at the subtopics listed later on below in this overall topic in the Library.

Overviews of Human Resource Management

Management Quiz - Part 1
Employee Relations Quiz - Part 2
Employee Relations Quiz - Part 3
Employee Relations Quiz - Part 4
Lexicon for the HR Novice (tongue in cheek)
Avoiding Employee Relations Pitfalls In Smaller Businesses
When an HR Department is Necessary
When is the Right Time for an HR Expert?
What’s What

"Talent Management" - New Movement in Human Resource Management?

The following subtopic in the Library describes how many people and organizations are beginning to use the phrase "Talent Management" to refer to the activities of attracting, developing and retaining employees.

Talent Management

General Resources About Human Resource Management

Additional Information for Nonprofits
Capterra's listing of HR software
Internet Resources for Human Resources
Do You Really Know Your Contractors? – The Hard Evidence for Contractor Screening and Employment Background Check Searches
Human Resources and the Internet
HRIM Mall
Human Resources Management and Employer Resources Online Information
Human Resource Management Basics
Dr. John Sullivan's List of Articles
Checklist to Review Nonprofit Human Resource Practices
Management and HR articles
Human Resources IQ
Emerging Trends in Managing Human Resources

Getting the Best Employees

Staffing -- Workforce planning
Staffing -- Specifying Jobs and Roles
Staffing -- Recruiting
Staffing -- Outsourcing (having services and functions performed by non-employees)
Staffing -- Screening Applicants
Staffing -- Selecting (Hiring) New Employees
Is the War for Talent Over?

Paying Employees (and Providing Benefits)

Benefits and Compensation

Training Employees

Career Development
Employee Orientation
Leadership Development
Management Development
Personal Development
Supervisoral Development
Training and Development

Ensuring Compliance to Regulations

Personnel Polices and Records
Employee Laws, Topics and Issues
Ethics - Practical Toolkit

Ensuring Safe Work Environments

Diversity Management
Dealing with Drugs in the Workplace
Employee Assistance Programs
Ergonomics: Safe Facilities in the Workplace
Dealing with HIV/AIDS in the Workplace
Personal Wellness
Preventing Violence in the Workplace
Ensuring Safety in the Workplace
Supporting Spirituality in the Workplace
Diversity Management

Sustaining High-Performing Employees

Employee Performance Management
Group Performance Management
Interpersonal Skills
Personal Productivity
Retaining Employees

Role of the HR Manager

Seven Ways to Build Credibility
Human Resources: Ten Things to Ask Yourself
Overcoming the Myth of the Paper Trail #1
Overcoming the Myth of the Paper Trail #2
Top 5 HR Process Integrations That Drive Business Value

Learn More in the Library's HR Blog

The Free Management Library provides a very useful blog hosted by an expert in human resources who writes an article two times a week, including from guest writers. The blog also links to 100s of free resources related to human resources. Read more about human resources, share an article or opinion, or ask a question in the
Library's Human Resources Blog!

For the Category of Human Resources:

Recommended Books

For-Profit

Nonprofit

For-Profit

Field Guide to Leadership and Supervision in Business: by Carter McNamara, published by Authenticity Consulting, LLC.
Includes step-by-step guidelines, tips and tools to effectively lead:
1. Yourself
2. Other individuals in the business
3. Groups and teams in the business
4. Business organizations
5. As well as all functions within the business organization.

Many of the Library's materials about business, leadership and management are adapted from this book. Just click on the title of the book above to see the Index and Table of Contents.

The following books are recommended because of their highly practical nature and often because they include a wide range of information about this Library topic. To get more information about each book, just hover your cursor over the image of the book. A "bubble" of information will be displayed. You can click on the title of the book in that bubble to get more information, too.

Nonprofit

Field Guide to Leadership and Supervision With Nonprofit Staff: by Carter McNamara, published by Authenticity Consulting, LLC.
Includes step-by-step guidelines, tips and tools customized for personnel in nonprofits to effectively lead:
1. Yourself
2. Other individuals in the nonprofit
3. Groups and teams in the nonprofit
4. Nonprofit organizations
5. As well as all functions within the nonprofit organization.

Many of the Library's materials about nonprofit leadership and management are adapted from this book. Just click on the title of the book above to see the Index and Table of Contents.