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The management of Human Resources has now assumed strategic importance in the achievement of organizational growth and excellence. As globalization advances and we move into the information age, organizations need to adapt to the changes in technology and the changing issues in management of people.

Some critical issues have clearly emerged - planning, acquisition and development of human resources, responding to the demands of the work place and, above all, evolving a strategy of dealing with industrial conflict. As a management practice, it covers all the conventional areas of personnel management and industrial relations, as well as the relatively new areas such as communication, counseling, training and development, and job enrichment. An attempt has been made in this paper to point out the experiences on the emerging issues in managing human resources.

The Changing Nature of HRM Function

Today, competitive advantage is based on the successful application of knowledge. Managing people, as an HRM function, has broadened, to include managing organizational capabilities, relationships, learning and knowledge. These functions include four generic areas, i.e.,
(i) Roles,
(ii) Relationships,
(iii) Strategic focus, and
(iv) Learning focus.
These areas are different from each of the economy functions, like traditional, transitional and knowledge.

Innovate HRM