Difference between Human Resource Management and Human Resource Development

Learn about the Difference between Human Resource Management and Human Resource Development

Some writers have used both the terms HRM and HRD interchangeably assuming that they are synonymous. But they are not synonymous.

They are different concepts with different meaning and they are used in different contexts. At the same time, it should be noted that HRD is at the centre of HRM. In other words, HRD has become an integral part of the HRM.

Human Resource Management (HRM) is the planning, organising, directing and controlling the operative functions of procurement, development, compensation, and maintenance of human resources of an organisation’s goals or objectives.

It is responsible for getting the best people, training them, and providing mechanism to ensure that these employees maintain their productivity affiliations with the organisations.

HRD is a continuous process to ensure the development of the employees, competencies, dynamism, motivation, and effectiveness in a planned and systematic manner.

The terms ‘HRM’ and ‘HRD’ are used interchangeably but both have different meanings. HRM is a wider term and HRD is only a part of it.

Human resource management (HRM or HR) is the strategic approach to the effective and efficient management of people in a company or organization such that they help their business gain a competitive advantage. It is designed to maximize employee performance in service of an employer’s strategic objectives.[1][need quotation to verify] Human resource management is primarily concerned with the management of people within organizations, focusing on policies and systems.[2] HR departments are responsible for overseeing employee-benefits design, employee recruitment, training and development, performance appraisal, and reward management, such as managing pay and employee-benefits systems.[3] HR also concerns itself with organizational change and industrial relations, or the balancing of organizational practices with requirements arising from collective bargaining and governmental laws.[4][need quotation to verify]

The overall purpose of human resources (HR) is to ensure that the organization is able to achieve success through people.[5] HR professionals manage the human capital of an organization and focus on implementing policies and processes. They can specialize in finding, recruiting, selecting, training, and developing employees, as well as maintaining employee relations or benefits. Training and development professionals ensure that employees are trained and have continuous development. This is done through training programs, performance evaluations, and reward programs. Employee relations deals with the concerns of employees when policies are broken, such as cases involving harassment or discrimination. Managing employee benefits includes developing compensation structures, parental leave programs, discounts, and other benefits for employees. On the other side of the field are HR generalists or business partners. These HR professionals could work in all areas or be labour relations representatives working with unionized employees.

HR is a product of the human relations movement of the early 20th Century, when researchers began documenting ways of creating business value through the strategic management of the workforce.[6] It was initially dominated by transactional work, such as payroll and benefits administration, but due to globalization, company consolidation, technological advances, and further research, HR as of 2015 focuses on strategic initiatives like mergers and acquisitions, talent management, succession planning, industrial and labor relations, and diversity and inclusion. In the current global work environment, most companies focus on lowering employee turnover and on retaining the talent and knowledge held by their workforce.[citation needed] New hiring not only entails a high cost but also increases the risk of a new employee not being able to adequately replace the position of the previous employee. HR departments strive to offer benefits that will appeal to workers, thus reducing the risk of losing employee commitment and psychological ownership.

Human Resource Development “HRD” refers to employee training, career development, performance development, mentoring, coaching, tuition assistance and other activities that are related to developing a workforce. HRD is considered the key to higher productivity and better productivity because it helps employees develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes an employer wants in its employees. It can also increase job satisfaction for employees and open lines of communication among team members.

You have two options for human resource development: formal training or informal training.

There are Some Basic Differences between HRM and HRD:

They are:

1. Human Resource Management is mainly a service function responding to the demands of the organization. But HRD is proactive function.

2. In HRM, salary, wages, incentives and job simplification are considered to be the main motivation. But, HRD deals on job enrichment, job challenge, informal organization, autonomous work groups and creativity for motivating people.

3. Human Resource Management as a set of independents sub-function. And HRD is a sub­system of a larger system of the organization.

4. Human Resource Management is narrow in scope and aims at developing and administering to the people only. But in the HRD, its scope is wider and it aims at developing the total organization. The basic focus of Human Resource Management is on increasing the efficiency of people. But the focus of HRD is on building the right organizational culture.

5. Human Resource Management is main res­ponsibility of the human resource department. But HRD is regarded as the responsibility of all managers in the organization.

Basic feature of HRD:

1. Human Resource Management has both micro and macro aspects. At the micro level, HRD is deals with improving the skills, attitudes and behaviour of employees in organization. But at the macro level, HRD involves improving the quality of life of people in the country.

2. Human Resource Development is an inter­disciplinary concept. It involves the ideas from many sciences. So that, sociology helps to growth and development of human system through the study of families, communities and other groups.

3. Human Resource Development is a planned and systematic approach to the development of people.

4. Human Resource Development is a continuous process of developing. In the Human Resource Management, there is no end to the development of an individual and learning continues throughout life.

5. It helps to develop an organisational culture where superior-subordinate relationships.

Main Grounds of Differentiation

Both are very important concepts of management specifically related with human resources of organization.

1. The human resource management [HRM] is mainly maintenance oriented whereas human resource development [HRD] is development oriented.

2. Organization structure in case of human resources management [HRM] is independent whereas human resource development [HRD] creates a structure, which is inter-dependent and inter-related.

3. Human resource management [HRM] mainly aims to improve the efficiency of the employees whereas [HRD] aims at the development of the employees as well as organization as a whole.

4. Responsibility of human resource management [HRM] is given to the personnel/human resource management department and specifically to personnel manager whereas responsibility of HRD is given to all managers at various levels of the organization.

5. HRM motivates the employees by giving them monetary incentives or rewards whereas human resource development [HRD] stresses on motivating people by satisfying higher-order needs.

HRM has come to be celebrated as an important factor in the successful management of an organization and so the emphasis on effective human resource management has increased in the recent times.

With the growing importance of knowledge workers in organizations and the mounting expectations of employees, it is essential to have a good human resource development system with Human Resource Management System in place. Many Organisations are still not clear about what constitutes development and so it is important to differentiate between the two.

 HRM:

1. Objectives – Social, Organizational, Functional, and Personal Objectives like Union Management Relations, Employee Relations, Placement & Orientation, Employee Assessment, Compensation etc.

2. Perspective – Short run and current.

3. Functions – Acquiring, developing, motivating and retaining human resources.

4. Activities – Human resource planning, Staffing, Training and deve­lopment, Performance appraisal and compen­sation.

5. Challenges – Globalization, Corporate Re-organizations, and New Organizational forms, Changing Demographics of Workforce, Changed employee expectations, New Industrial Relations Approach.

 HRD:

1. Objectives – Career planning, talent management, motivation, stress management, work- life balance, TQM.

2. Perspective – Long run.

3. Functions – Need Analysis, HRD audit, developing career enhance­ment strategies, designing, implementing and evaluating HRD Programs.

4. Activities – Coaching, counselling, mento­ring, and mapping performance, job enrichment.

5. Challenges – Meeting aspirations of Em­ployees, Keeping pace with changing socio-economic and technological environment.

1. Meaning:

HRM is a set of policies, practices and programmes designed to maximize both personal and organisational goals. It is a process by which people and organisation are bound together in such a way that both of them are able to achieve their objectives whereas HRD is an essential ingredient of any human resource system poised to achieve productivity, quality, efficiency and effectiveness.

2. Status:

HRD is at the centre of HRM. Therefore, HRM is wider in scope as compared to the HRD. HRM includes the strategies relating to identifying and developing persons, retaining suitable persons, creating work culture, educating managerial personnel etc. on the other hand HRD is an integrated system consisting of interdependent sub systems of performance appraisal, potential appraisal, counselling and monitoring, training, building morale, development of team work etc.

3. Aims:

HRM aims for the selection of right type of personnel for right jobs, it helps to build a team spirit where employees satisfy their aspirations by developing themselves and contribute to the accomplishment of organisational goals whereas HRD aims to develop employee in accordance with his aspirations and potentialities on one hand and the company’s requirements on the other hand. HRD programmes are described as training and development programmes.

4. Responsibility:

HRM is the responsibility of HR manager whereas HRD is the responsibility of all the managers in the organisation.

5. Tools and Techniques:

The tools and techniques used under HRM are, identifying and developing persons, retaining suitable persons, creating work culture, educating managerial personnel on the other hand the tools and techniques of HRD are – performance appraisal, potential appraisal, counselling and monitoring, training, building morale, development of team work etc.

6. Aspects:

HRM has three aspects like Personnel, Welfare and Industrial Relations Aspect. On the other hand the HRD has two aspects Micro and Macro.

7. Orientation:

HRM is basically employee oriented. It does not mean that employees do not benefit by it. It only means when employees feel satisfied after meeting their needs and aspirations, they will whole heartedly work for the accomplishment of organisational goals on the other hand HRD is concerned with employees as individuals as well as groups. It deals with the development of potentialities and skills of the employees.

1.  Johnason, P. (2009). HRM in changing organizational contexts. In D. G.Collings & G. Wood (Eds.), Human resource management: A critical approach (pp. 19-37). London: Routledge.
2. ^ Collings, D. G., & Wood, G. (2009). Human resource management: A critical approach. In D. G. Colligs & G. Wood (Eds.), Human resource management: A critical approach (pp. 1-16). London: Routledge.
3. ^ Paauwe, J., & Boon, C. (2009). Strategic HRM: A critical review. In D. G. Collings, G. Wood (Eds.) & M.A. Reid, Human resource management: A critical approach (pp. 38-54). London: Routledge.
4. ^ Klerck, G. (2009). “Industrial relations and human resource management”. In D. G. Collings & G. Wood (Eds.), Human resource management: A critical approach (pp. 238-259). London: Routledge.
5. ^ 1928-, Armstrong, Michael (2009). Armstrong’s handbook of human resource management practice. Armstrong, Michael, 1928- (Eleventh ed.). London: Kogan Page. ISBN 9780749457389. OCLC 435643771.
6. ^ Obedgiu, Vincent (2017-01-01). “Human resource management, historical perspectives, evolution and professional