THE RELEVANCE OF HUMAN RESOURCE IN TODAY’S BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Central to the growth of any organization be it private or public, manufacturing or non-manufacturing firms, it is the effective acquisition, utilization and maintenance of the organization’s human resources. Human resources management therefore is a very critical path to the survival of any organization.
Human resources management (HRM) is the strategic management of the employees who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of the strategic objectives of the organization.
It is that part of the process of management that is concerned with the management of human relationship and ensuring the physical well being of the employees so that in turn, the employees will be more dedicated to their work which will in turn increased productivity, hence leading to increased corporate performance. Aiming to enable the organization to achieve its strategic goals by attracting, retaining and developing employees, human resource management functions as the link between the organization and the employees. Consequently, the need to develop and implement human resource management and programs that are workable, motivating and result oriented has become more imperative in order to arrest worker’s apathy, declining motivation and poor work attitude that are presently the order of the day in most of our business organizations.
No matter how efficient and sophisticated your tools, equipments and machines are and no matter how vast your financial resources maybe, somebody who is the human element will have to put them to use. It is a well known fact that an adequate supply of physical and financial resources does not alone ensure the economic development of any organization.
Rather it is the entrepreneurial spirit and executive initiative which can utilize these resources profitably for the organization. This is true because human beings are the center and yardstick of everything.
In this work, the researcher will explain the various techniques of developing and sustaining human resources in an organization.

1.1     BACKGROUND OF STUDY
Modern human resources management as we know it today is of recent origin. It has emerged from a relatively obscure and insignificant position in the early decades of this century to a position of relevance and significance within the purview or scope of management not only in Nigeria but in the world over. In the pre-independent Nigeria for example, activities like production and marketing were the primary concern of management. The management of human resources was generally treated as part of general management of personnel or human resources was generally treated as part of general management or administration and was usually fully entrusted to more important and pressing issues.
For many years, the concern of management was for technical values not human values nor the welfare of the employees. Workers were considered little more than machines and were considered less worthy of attention because the machines were more expensive to replace. No slight thought was given to the welfare or the development of a human organization. The development and practice of personnel management as a  profession in Nigeria has been substantially influenced by host of factors that were world wide in nature. These include the advent of Europeans, scientific management movement, development within universities and the rise of organized labour unions and professional bodies. Human resource management covers a wide variety of activities. The basic ones include:

• Staffing recruitment, selection and placement
• Training and development: Determining training needs, selection of people for training course
• Wages and salaries administration.
• Employee welfare
• Performance appraisal
• Labour relations

If the human resource which is a very vital factor of production in any organization is not well taken care of, all the functions above will be ineffectively carried out. The most effective human resource management that leads to profit in an organization’s efficiency requires senior management support, not only with fund but also with psychological support. Once this is done, it will lead to co-operation between staff and management which will in turn lead to better service and high productivity in the organization.

1. 1. STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Human resources of a company is said to be one of the important capital is playing such an important role in the operation of an organization. Pfeffer (1994) argued that human capital has long been held to be a critical resource in most firms. Companies are now trying to add value with their human resources and human resource (HR) department has been set up in order to manage their human capital, where as organization in last decade, managed their human capital trough personnel department which is only a small division of the company. The process of managing the human capital is called human resource management (HRM). Yet some businesses are yet to understand and maximize the benefit of human resource in their business environment. Although HRM practices has been consider as one of the influential variables seems to increase business performance, most of the private business organization really not practicing HRM into their business (Chew, 2005). It is unclear on how to change the mindset of the business organization practicing HRM into their businesses. In order to understand what influence business performance as well we must first find out the relevance of the HRM practices. Hence the study examines the relevance of human resources in today’s business environment.

1. 1. AIMS OF THE STUDY

The major aim of the study is to examine the relevance of human resources in today’s business environment. Other specific objectives of the study include;

1. To examine human resource management (HRM)
2. To examine Nigerian business environment
3. To examine the impact of human resource on today’s business environment
4. To examine the human resource management practices
5. To examine the relationship between human resource and today’s business environment

1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What is human resource management (HRM)?
2. What is the Nigerian business environment?
3. What is the impact of human resource on today’s business environment?
4. What are the human resource management practices?
5. What is the relationship between human resource and today’s business environment?

1.6 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

Hypothesis 1

H0: There are is no significant impact of human resource on today’s business environment.

H1: There is a significant impact of human resource on today’s business environment.

Hypothesis 2

H0: There is no significant relationship between human resource and today’s business environment.

H1: There is a significant relationship between human resource and today’s business environment.

1.7 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study will be of profound benefits to enlighten business owners on the relevance of human resource in today’s business environment. This study would also be of immense benefit to students and scholars who are interested in developing further studies on the subject matter.

1.8 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The study is restricted to examine the relevance of human resources in today’s business environment.

LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Financial constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview)

Time constraint: The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

1.9 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS

Business: is described as a want satisfying entity, it exists to provide satisfaction irrespective of its size (Adeusi and Kolapo, 2006).

Environment: Webster New Collegiate Dictionary defines the environment as the aggregate of all the external conditions and influence affecting the life and development of organisms.