What Is Human Resource Management (HRM)? Areas, Careers, and Getting Started

Key takeaways

• Human resource management (HRM)—sometimes simply called human resources (HR)—involves managing a company's employees in ways that advance larger business and work culture goals.

• HR is made up of many different parts, and an HRM career may focus on one part exclusively, such as compensation, training, or performance, or a combination of related parts.

• HRM is important for any company because a supported and motivated workforce will often contribute more effectively to company goals.

Learn more about human resource management, its areas, and the different careers you can explore. Afterward, build your HR skills with the HRCI Human Resource Associate Professional Certificate, where you'll learn about acquiring talent, fostering talent, compensation, and more.

What is human resource management (HRM)? 

HRM focuses on effectively organizing, coordinating, and managing a company's employees. This includes various actions, including recruiting, hiring, onboarding, training, compensating, retaining, and motivating. 

HR professionals also develop and enforce policies and procedures that help ensure employee safety, including adhering to federal and state laws that may work to protect employees’ private information and ensure their physical safety and mental and emotional well-being.

Why is HRM important?

HRM's methodology—sometimes called human capital—is based on the principle that employees bring value to a company. Investing in employees and strategically supporting their needs can improve employee satisfaction and motivation. Employees who are well-trained, competent, valued, and supported by their employers will likely have the skills and incentives necessary to carry out the company's goals and contribute to larger successes.

Some ways HRM supports employees include:

• Developing employees' skills: HRM aims to create a highly skilled workforce and boost confidence and competence so that employees are motivated to contribute more productively to business goals. To achieve that, HR might provide on-the-job training, mentorships, career development programs, and supportive benefits programs.

• Fostering workplace culture: HRM focuses on company culture and job satisfaction. Much of what motivates employees comes from the culture in which they work. Employee feedback opportunities can alert HR professionals to areas that are going well and others that may need improvement, and employee engagement programs can foster an inclusive and collaborative workplace culture.  

• Protecting employees: HRM also protects employees. HR professionals manage legal documents, policies, and regulations, identify what applies to their organization, and find effective ways to educate employees and enforce company policy. HRM aims to be an ally or partner to employees. HRM emphasizes employee development while protecting employees from discrimination, workplace hazards, and unfair compensation. 

5 key HRM areas

The human resource management field is expansive, touching on many parts of what it means to work at a company. It often includes:

1. Recruitment 

An effective recruitment process is the foundation of HRM. If you can recruit strong talent, you can build on their skills and invest in employees for years to come as they add value to the organization.

Equally important is company culture. You want employees who add to the organization's culture. Some common recruiting tools HRM may use include job aggregators like Indeed or SimplyHired, video interviewing, or even social media sites like LinkedIn. 

2. Evaluation and performance management  

HRM uses important HR tools and information systems (HRIS) to track employee performance and ensure a highly trained and capable workforce. The data compiled can also be used to change staff training methods, implement a merit-based system for raises, and more. HRM professionals use formal measures like performance reviews and informal methods like interviews or surveys. 

3. Compensation 

Compensation can mean salary, commission, benefits, time off, and other non-monetary benefits. HRM sets salary rates, commission rates, and benefits according to the industry standard. This ensures fairness and allows for a consistent company standard. Some organizations may use performance reviews to adjust an employee’s salary, among other measures. 

4. Employee development and learning 

Engaged employees are effective employees. Most employees also want opportunities for advancement and to feel competent and valued in what they bring to an organization.

Part of HRM is providing these learning opportunities to employees. This might include tuition reimbursement programs, on-the-job training options, conferences, conventions, or certification programs. Aside from individual learning, HRM can also use employee development and learning to help employees adapt to organizational changes, such as system upgrades, technology shifts, and new policies. 

5. Employee health and safety

The safety and well-being of a company's employees are critically important aspects of HRM. Employee health and safety covers a lot, such as safety against harassment, discrimination, or bullying in the workplace. It can mean physical safety that would involve building fire code compliance. It can also mean adherence to labor laws that protect an employee's rights in the workplace.

Protecting all aspects of employees’ health and safety is crucial, and HRM professionals are responsible for ensuring that protection. Some ways HRM professionals may go about this are installing security cameras, enforcing internet usage rules, implementing a zero-tolerance policy, or creating restricted access areas.

HRM careers: entry-level to advanced

HR professionals have important jobs that can be both rewarding and fulfilling. There are many different teams that make up an HR department, so it's useful to think about which team might be the best fit for you. Perhaps you like talking to people and identifying their talents (recruitment) or working with data to determine appropriate pay levels (compensation).

Some of the more traditional teams include:

• Recruitment

• Training

• Pay as you earn (PAYE) and payroll

• Performance management

• Employee relationship management

• Employment law and contracts

• Health and safety

3 entry-level HR roles

Working in HR will require building experience before you advance to the roles we outline a bit further down. Some common entry-level HR jobs include:

• Payroll specialist: Whether a company is small or large, payroll requires an organized professional overseeing a vast amount of data. Payroll specialists process payroll, which may include inputting direct deposit information, adjusting salaries or wages based on promotions, printing physical checks, and more.

• HR coordinator: In this role, you'll support the larger efforts of an HR team and ensure its success. This can include all manner of duties—and may depend on the area you support—but this work can include identifying talent, adjusting employee benefits documentation, supporting performance improvement initiatives, and more.

• Recruiting coordinator: Similar to the support an HR coordinator offers, a recruiting coordinator assists the mid- and senior-level members of a recruiting team. They may set up job postings, parse resumes, identify talent, and help set up interviews.

3 advanced HR roles

Once you've gained three to five years of experience in HR, you may be eligible for the following managerial roles.

• Training and development manager: A training and development manager oversees employment training and implements training initiatives to build employee skills. This role may also be responsible for communicating a company's mission and values and creating the training itself.

• Human resources manager: An HR manager oversees an entire HR department or portion of an HR department, depending on the company’s size. This role hires HR staff, implements policies, oversees payroll and benefits, and advises managers or other supervisors from other departments.

• Benefits manager: A benefits manager oversees a company's benefits program, which often entails health care, retirement, maternity and paternity leave, and much more. Benefits managers may be responsible for finding new benefits vendors to align with budget needs, reviewing budget plans for areas of improvement or new offerings, and developing communications around benefits.  

How to get started in human resources management

There are different options for beginning an HRM career. Let's review some of the more common pathways.  

Consider a degree.  

Sixty-seven percent of HRM professionals hold a bachelor’s degree in human resources, business, psychology, or a related field, and 14 percent have a master’s [1]. Common HR degree coursework includes workplace diversity, business ethics, labor relations, strategic HR, and workforce planning. Some programs may also require internship experience. 

Build HR skills.

It's important to develop your HR skills in areas such as leadership, business strategy, and analytics. In addition, you may want to familiarize yourself with popular HR software programs like ADP Workforce Now, Bamboo HR, and Workday.

Gain HR experience.

Get HR experience through internships and entry-level positions, such as those we outlined above. In these entry-level roles, you’ll assist in the major duties of HR and build experience to keep advancing. You may also want to join professional organizations and attend networking opportunities, like conferences and conventions, to gain HRM knowledge and connections. Learn more about how to become an HR manager.

Invest in professional development.  

Consider certificates or HR certifications to enhance your skill set and strengthen your resume. Many different HR organizations offer these kinds of training. Conduct research to identify which would be beneficial for your goals.  

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