Human Resource Management: Definition, Objectives & Responsibilities

Human Resource Management Defined

Alvin is the vice president of human resources for a large kitchen appliance company headquartered in Colorado. Human resources are people, and human resource management (HRM) is the process an organization undergoes to manage people in order to achieve its goals.

Objective of HRM

Every organization has goals. As a for-profit company, Alvin's organization's overarching goal is to make a profit for the company's owners. In order to make this profit, the company wants to make the best appliances possible at the lowest cost for the greatest profit margin. The company also wants to capture the greatest share of the kitchen appliance market as possible. And it needs human resources to accomplish these goals.

Alvin's company needs engineers, researchers, marketing professionals, accountants, production workers, managers and sales people just to name a few different types of employees necessary to accomplish his company's goals. The objective of any human resource department is to make sure the company has and retains people with the skills necessary to accomplish the company's goals. Let's see how Alvin does this.