Human Resources From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "Human resource" and "Manpower" redirect here. For other uses, see Human resource (disambiguation) and (disambiguation) and Manpower (disambiguation). (disambiguation). his article needs additional citations for verification . !lease help improe this article by article by adding citations to reliable sources. sources. #nsourced material may be challenged and remoed. (October 2013)
organi$ation,, Human resources is the set of indiiduals who make up the workforce of an organi$ation business sector , or economy economy.. "Human "Human capital" capital" is sometimes used synonymously with human resources, although human capital typically refers to a more narrow iew (i.e., the knowledge the indiiduals embody and can contribute to an organi$ation). %ikewise, other terms sometimes used include "manpower", "talent", "labour", or simply "people". he professional discipline and business function that oersees an organi$ation&s human resources is called human resource management (H'M, management (H'M, or simply H')
Overview The term in practice From the corporate obectie, employees are iewed as assets to the enterprise, whose alue is enhanced by deelopment. *+ Hence, companies will engage in a barrage of human resource management practices management practices to capitali$e on those assets. n goerning human resources, three maor trends are typically considered*. emogr em ograph aphics ics-- the characteristics of a population/workforce, for e0ample, age, gender or social class. his type of trend may hae an effect in relation to pension offerings, insurance packages etc. 1. i iers ersity ity-- the ariation within the population/workplace. 2hanges in society now mean that a larger proportion of organi$ations are made up of " baby3boomers baby3boomers"" or older employees in comparison to thirty years ago. 4docates of "workplace diersity" adocate an employee base that is a mirror reflection of the make3up of society insofar as race, gender, se0ual orientation etc. 3.
5k ills 5kil ls and 6ualifications 6ualifications-- as industries moe from manual to more managerial professions so does the need for more highly skilled graduates. f the market is "tight" (i.e. not enough staff for the obs), employers must compete for employees by offering financial rewards, community inestment, etc.
n regard to how indiiduals respond to the changes in a labour market, the following must be understood-
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7eographical spread- how far is the ob from the indiidual8 he distance to trael to work should be in line with the pay offered, and the transportation and infrastructure of the area also influence who applies for a post. 9ccupational structure- the norms and alues of the different careers within an organi$ation. Mahoney *:;: deeloped < different types of occupational structure, namely, craft (loyalty to the profession), organi$ation career (promotion through the firm) and unstructured (lower/unskilled workers who work when needed). 7enerational difference- different age categories of employees hae certain characteristics, for e0ample, their behaior and their e0pectations o f the organi$ation.
Concerns about the terminology 9ne maor concern about considering people as assets or resources is that they will be commoditi$ed and abused. 5ome analysis suggests that human beings are not "commodities" or "resources", but are creatie and social beings in a productie enterprise. he 1=== reision of 59 :==*, in contrast, re6uires identifying the processes, their se6uence and interaction, and to define and communicate responsibilities and authorities. n general, heaily unionised nations such as France and 7ermany hae adopted and encouraged such approaches. 4lso, in 1==*, the nternational %abour 9rgani$ation decided to reisit and reise its *:>? 'ecommendation *?= on Human 'esources eelopment,1+ resulting in its "%abour is not a commodity" principle. 9ne iew of these trends is that a strong social consensus on political economy and a good social welfare system facilitates labor mobility and tends to make the entire economy more productie, as labor can deelop skills and e0perience in arious ways, and moe from one enterprise to another with little controersy or difficulty in adapting. 4nother important controersy regards labor mobility and the broader philosophical issue with usage of the phrase "human resources". 7oernments of deeloping nations often regard deeloped nations that encourage immigration or "guest workers" as appropriating human capital that is more rightfully part of the deeloping nation a nd re6uired to further its economic growth. 9er time, the #nited @ations hae come to more generally support the deeloping nations& point of iew, and hae re6uested significant offsetting "foreign aid" contributions so that a deeloping nation losing human capital does not lose the capacity to continue to train new people in trades, professions, and the arts.<+