Human Resource Management

• Author: Bert Spector
• Profession: Professor of Strategy at Northeastern University
• Pages: 47-57

Human Resource Management 47

CHAPTER4

HUMAN RESOURCE

MANAGEMENT

Discussions of human resource management—the management of people

in organizations—often focus on matters of legal compliance. These are

the types of issues—regu lations relating to equitable treatment, health and

safety, wages and benefits, employee rights to privacy, drug testing, and so

forth—that are most likely to be on the plate of in-house and outside coun-

sel who work with corporations in the people management arena. Legal

compliance issues are vital, of course. The issues discussed in this chapter,

however, focus on the underlying rationale for a company’s human resource

policies and practices.

Human Resource Management

All businesses face the challenge of attracting, motivating, compensating,

developing, promoting, and occasionally removing employees. Of course,

all of these activities must be approached with a watchful eye on legal

requirements. The goal of human resource management (HRM), however,

is broader than compliance. The main purpos e is to manage people in a way

that maximizes performance and advances the company’s strategic goals.