The argument that having a human resource (HR) department is a waste of resources overlooks the

vital functions HR performs in organizational success. However to a certain extent this argument
holds true, even though the human resource department is just as important as any other
department in an institution , it indeed has its flaws essentially in terms of it being a waste of the
institution's resources. However I’ll start by more less explaining or examining the importance of this
department, then go into detail on how HR is actually a waste of an organisation’s resources .

We can start by examining:Recruitment and Talent Acquisition: HR departments attract, screen, and
hire the right talent, ensuring a skilled workforce. For instance, imagine a tech company without HR:
chaotic hiring processes could lead to mismatched skills and cultural misfits, costing more in the long
run.

Employee Development and Training: HR oversees training programs to enhance employee skills and
productivity. Without HR, employees might lack essential training, hindering their growth and the
company's competitiveness. Consider a manufacturing firm where HR neglects training: safety
standards could be compromised, leading to accidents and legal issues.

Employee Relations and Conflict Resolution: HR mediates disputes, fosters a positive work
environment, and ensures legal compliance. In a scenario without HR, grievances could escalate,
leading to decreased morale and productivity. For example, in a retail setting, unresolved conflicts
between employees could lead to customer dissatisfaction and loss of business.

Performance Management and Appraisals: HR establishes performance metrics and conducts

evaluations, aligning individual goals with organizational objectives. Without HR oversight,
performance standards could be inconsistent, affecting overall productivity. Think of a consultancy
firm where employees lack clear performance goals: client deliverables might suffer, leading to
reputational damage.Policy Implementation and Compliance: HR develops and enforces policies to
ensure legal compliance and ethical conduct. In an organization without HR,

there could be a lack of clarity on crucial policies, exposing the company to legal risks. For instance,
in a financial institution, without HR's guidance, adherence to regulatory requirements could be
overlooked, leading to severe penalties.These examples illustrate how HR departments play a crucial
role in organizational efficiency, employee satisfaction, and legal compliance. While it's essential to
optimize HR processes to minimize costs, dismissing the entire department as a waste of resources
overlooks its multifaceted contributions to organizational success.
For years almost all businesses have used HR firms, HR software
and/or their own internal HR team to find new talent and screen
out all the job applicants that either don’t have the skills or are
not qualified enough to successfully work in a specific position.
This leaves only the best candidates. Seems to be a logical idea
and makes sense. Right? Maybe? I don’t think it makes complete
sense and here’s why we can further stress the argument:

Job applicants are people and not just another number

Yes. obviously job applicants are human but the process to apply
for a job is not human and quite simply all a company needs is an
awesome human being to help them make great things happen!
The reality is most HR departments are missing this point.

Right now the majority of HR departments will post a job

advertisement to major careers sites such as Indeed.com,
Linkedin.com’s jobs section and countless others. In addition,
companies will most likely post the position to their website so
interested job candidates can review career openings there. This
leads to an applicant applying with their cover letter, resume and
any additional documents they can upload to make their
application more complete. If the applicant picks all the write
keywords that match the description of job they might get in
interview because companies love to scan for key words.
Keywords don’t mean results in the real world. But i’m going to
say this part probably works for the first screening.

This is where it doesn’t:

When an applicant is lucky enough to be chosen for interview
(Only a 4% chance when applying from a job advertisement-
“What Color is Your Parachute, etal, 2001) they now have to
prepare for a series of unknown questions encompassing
behavioral, situational and case-based questions. These don’t
work to identify great candidates. For example, lets say we had
an applicant that has very polished skills answering interview
questions… This might cause an interviewer to get a favorable
perception of the candidate that just by the sound of their voice
overshadows if they can really do the job. The issue is making a
decision based on one characteristic which could be what’s
known as a “Halo Effect” — a generalization from the perception
of one outstanding personality trait to an overly favorable
evaluation of the whole personality Scott, W. R. (1995).Overlooking
the candidate in this area could result in hiring someone that
looks good and sounds good at face value but underneath doesn’t
have what it takes to be successful in the role. On the flip-side, it
can work the opposite way where a candidate is interviewed and
has less attractive looks and sound of their voice. This could
potentially result in missing out on a key area: Does the
candidate genuinely have what it takes to be successful in the
role? and more importantly has the ability to juggle in the real
world. From my experience, some of the best producers and
people that will go into battle for their company are not always
going to sound like the ideal person in your mind because we are
all different. Remember, when your parents told when you were a
kid “ Don’t judge a book by its cover”? Well, this is an example in
adulthood where it still happens.

Why does this happen?

We live in a society that promotes sex appeal, physical looks and

the perception of great speakers as being good at unrelated
areas. We witness seeing celebrities that are the voice of a
product/service when all they stand for is the pay cheque that
was negotiated by their representatives. Fame has a strange way
of promoting concepts without thinking critically about
credentials. Remember, its true potential that matters. Of course
their are famous people that do know about the products/services
they promote but we all need to be careful how we are
influenced. Especially, because we are sub-consciously subject to
many forms of media that can overwhelm us all.

Because of the media-driven environment we live in there is

potential to be influenced by the media on what great sounds like
in reference to good presenters. Communication is important but
action is what really makes the difference and brings
products/services, change, a better economy etc. to the world.
Think worker bees and how hard they work to pollinate so that
we can have many great foods. Companies need to find their
own human worker bees too so they can pollinate (execute)
their ideas into products/services.

What can you do to be better?

 First of all, remember to think of all areas where job

applicants bring value to the position and the company.
Great candidates grow into more the longer they are
around and can provide more value as time goes on.
 Create small projects for all good candidates to complete
and allow them to submit it in a format that they think
highlights their best foot forward. But remember: you
need to look at all facets of the work they complete in the
project. For example, how good they communicated..
could be verbal, could be written but also review the
quality of work whether its creating code, strategy,
 analytics etc. and look for people that can produce and
explain why they did what they did in the project.
Candidates that have thought clearly about why they
make a specific decision ahead of completing the work
have high potential to do the same on other projects. You
want to have a thinker and a doer.
 Have other colleagues interview candidates and look at
each aspect carefully so you don’t overlook an executor
when all they did was tell a good story with no potential
underneath.

Legal Liabilities
When it comes to becoming a human resource manager, there are numerous
types of legal obligations. In this regard, the most essential of which is that the
HR manager must use his or her legal abilities effectively to avoid uncertain
corporate situations.

The duties and responsibilities of human resource management are divided into
three categories: staffing, employee compensation and benefits, and
defining/designing work. As a result, it is critical for employees that the legal
obligation can be addressed to the human resource manager, who can reason
with prospective corporate concerns. So, the primary goal of human resource
management is to increase an organization's productivity by maximizing the
efficacy of its personnel.

Maintaining a Safe Distance

The majority of employees at global corporations believe that their boss is
difficult to grasp, but the truth is that being an HR manager is not as simple as it
appears. Every employee of the organization is given a job description that
outlines all of the duties and behaviors that are required of them.

Moreover, the human resource management Similarly, the HR manager is

supposed to keep a safe distance from his or her staff in order to make sound
corporate judgments.
. Insufficient Information
Human Resource Management systems suffer from a lack of critical information
on their employees. Before adopting these solutions, you will need a good
employee database.

Moreover, some businesses lack the necessary information about their staff. This
system cannot be adequately implemented without enough information and a
database.

Also, a well-thought-out and implemented HRD program is not HRM. HRD is a

subset of HRM, which is a holistic management strategy. Human resource
management may face such kinds of difficulties as well.

Before implementing human resource management, it is necessary to gather,

store, and retrieve data. Many businesses do not keep accurate records of their
employees, necessitating the acquisition, retrieval, and storage of this data.

Lack of Adaptability
To manage the overall activities of any business, the employees need to follow
the rules and regulations of human resource management. Moreover, personnel
systems often adhere to plans and regulations in order to standardize how your
company handles its employees.

Also, human resource management depends on the support of top-level

management. While implementing HRM, a shift in mentality at the top can yield
positive effects.

This work is done by personnel management employees due to a passive

attitude at the top. Nothing exceptional will happen unless top management
changes its approach and attitude

Unpredictability
Another major disadvantage of human resource management is the inability to
forecast external events and people's behavior. HRM requires the complete
support of all employees and senior management in an organization to be
successful.

Moreover, there is no guarantee that the employees you train will remain with
your firm. Also, investing in a human resources program is hazardous since you
can spend money on training employees who don't stay with your company long
enough to repay your investment.

As a result, it may not produce the desired effects if senior management does
not provide adequate support.
Improper Development Programmes
Human resource management offers various career development programs that
will assist to grow your career. For example, career planning, on-the-job training,
development programs, MBO, and counseling, among others. In the workplace,
there is a need to foster a learning environment.

In practice, HRM programs are limited to lecture halls, and the promised
outcomes are not being achieved. So, all of these activities are limited to the
classroom lectures that will undermine this approach in providing the expected
outcomes.

. Expensive to Install HRM Software

To operate the overall operation of human resource management, you need to
integrate the HRM software. But it would be very expensive to install the human
resource management software in your business.

Also, you need to train up the employees to use and about the features of
human resource management software. In this regard, you need to invest the
money to educate your employees about using the latest technology.

Recent Origin
Because of its recent origin, human resource Management lacks a broad
academic foundation. There is no standardization of its vocabulary, and different
people define it differently.

Moreover, HRM is being used to rename organizations' workforce departments,

which may or may not produce real outcomes. It necessitates major shifts in
managerial practices, culture, and philosophy.

Inconsistent Actualisation
It is one of the major disadvantages of human resource management. Employee
training and development needs should be assessed before HRM can be
implemented. People's ambitions and needs should be considered while
developing human resource policies.

Moreover, HRM is only half-heartedly implemented. HRM is regarded to be

implemented when some training programs are organized. Many organizations'
productivity and profitability strategies are unaffected as a result of this.
Time-Consuming
The human resource management department can handle the overall activities
by collecting all required data and information of an organization. Sometimes it
will be very time-consuming to take any step through collecting data and
required information.

Human resource department at its core is or needs good management .If the the
department is being run poorly then indeed the whole relevance of the HR
department will indeed be a waste of organisation resources.Here are some
limitations to human resource management

Human resource management (HRM) is one of the essential topics of

workforce management. Irrespective of the department a manager
belongs to; they must have a basic knowledge of the principles of HRM. As
a manager, you will have to deal with employees one way or the other,
which is why you must understand the limitations of HRM.

While human resource management systems are becoming common, they

still have a long way to truly encapsulate the innate requirements of the
people at the workplace.

Human resource management (HRM) is the practice of recruiting, hiring,

onboarding, and managing workers in a company. Often, HRM is used
interchangeably with human resources (HR). The HR department in the
company is responsible for creating, implementing, and overseeing the
governance policies for the workers and maintaining the organization’s
relationship with its employees.

Simply put, HRM is employee management emphasizing the workers who

are an asset to the business, such as skilled employees. In HRM,
employees are also referred to as human capital. The HRM’s primary goal
is to effectively use the workforce, reduce risks to the business, and
maximize the return on investment

Recent origin

Compared to other social sciences, HRM is of recent origin. It is the reason

why it lacks a universally approved academic base. As a result, different
people have different definitions of the term HRM. Some managers
consider it a new name for personnel management because some
enterprises have renamed their traditional personnel management
department to the human resource management department.
A misplaced understanding of HRM results in wasted efforts. To truly
benefit from the HRM, companies need a fundamental change in their
very management philosophy, attitudes, and approaches. Superficial
actions will not get the required results. Lack of understanding among the
managers is a significant limitation of HRM that can only be overcome by
changing the top management philosophy.

Cost of setting it up and installation

HRM systems have a huge setup cost. If you are a small business,
installing an HRM system can cost you thousands of dollars. Several
expenses are involved in its setup, such as training staff to use it,
software costs, consulting, and intensive time commitment to install and
get the system running.

There are several ways to cut this cost. You can use Software as a Service
or SaaS HRM systems, but you will be spending hours on customer
support, affecting productivity. You can also use automation software like
Truein that can simplify some tasks of HRM.

Time to train to use it

HRM should be implemented only after assessing the training the

development requirements of the employees. As such, an implementation
causes a significant shift in responsibilities, and the aspirations and needs
of the workers should be considered before creating human resource
policies.

Organizations have to make a proper training program to ensure that the

implementation of HRM is successful. The time to train employees to use
HRM causes disturbance in management’s productivity and the
profitability of the organizations.

It is for regular employees and not for the contractual workforce

The human resource management system is designed around the regular

workforce and has little accommodation for the requirements of the
contractual workforce. In most industries, contractual workers make up a
significant part of the workforce, and no dedicated provisions for them are
one of the considerable limitations of HRM.

As the work, attendance, and overtime policies for contractual workers are
different; they must be maintained at a different level than HRM manages
policies for full-time workers. Additionally, there are no features for
contract worker overtime calculation, advanced shift management, and
training programs.

Problematic if you have a surplus of staff

HRM’s go-to approach for dealing with over-staffing problems is to

terminate employees, offer a voluntary retirement scheme, etc. It can
adversely affect the relationship between the organization and its
employees. Workers cannot focus on productivity as the threat of
termination always looms over them. This creates a hostile work
environment and can harm workers’ mental health by putting negative
psychological pressures.

Conclusion
HRM takes work to implement. Even some professionals need to
understand its difference from regular human resources. While the
limitations of human resource management we listed here are a concern,
HRM has a spectacular impact on managerial effectiveness whenever it is
implemented correctly. As a manager, you must find ways to overcome
such limitations in your organization.

REFERENCES
Richard N. Bolles (2001) What Color is Your Parachute Volume 1.

Farnham, D. (2010) Human Resource Management in Context, London, CIPD.

Storey, J., Ed. (2007) Human Resource Management: A Critical Text (3rd edn), London,
Thomson.

Scott, W. R. (1995) Institutions and Organizations, Thousand Oaks, CA., Sage.

Crainer, S. (2003). The Ultimate Business Library. West Sussex:

Capstone Publishing Limited.

Gilley, J.W. & Maycunich, A. (1999). Beyond the Learning

Organization. Cambridge: Perseus Books