The Importance of Human Resource Management

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Human resource management governs the most important asset of any organization: the employees. Human resources, or the employees of an organization, ‘both as labor and as a business function, has traditionally been viewed as a cost to be minimized and a potential source of efficiency gains’ (Becker and Gerhart, 1996, pp. 780). Organizations tend to overlook the fact that human resources is the backbone of any organization.

Every one of us has our own personal skill sets, knowledge and experiences. We come from different backgrounds and different aspects of life. This attributes contributes greatly to the success and failure of an organization (Turban and Greening, 1997, pp. 658--672). A company may benefit in terms of upcoming productivity based on the employees that they hire. They may be replaced by another, but their abilities might differ. One may be systematic and hardworking but if he or she is replaced with another, who is hardworking but has no creativity, the company might suffer in the long run.

Physical assets, or capitals of a company are equally important. Things such as tools, machines, property, materials and money are considered as important as human capital (Schultz, 1961, pp. 1--17). I might agree to this to a certain extent. Human capital, the employees, are the ones that keeps the engine going, despite the physical capital. They are the one running day to day activities, undertaking the goals and objectives set by the company to boost its productivity and successes. Without the people, the above mentioned would not exist, it would not progress. Having the right people in the right job will boast the company’s capabilities and also enable the company to have a competitive edge in the market or industry....

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