According to Cronk et al (1994:2) “human resources are the people including their skills, knowledge and abilities, who comprise an organisation”. Human resource management refers to the “policies, practices, and systems that influence employees’ behaviour, attitudes, and performance” (Noe et al, 2006:5). In other words human resource management is basically concerned with attracting, motivating and retaining people within an employment relationship. The human resource department within an organisation has many different roles that it performs on a regular basis, as well as many responsibilities. These all depend on how big the organisation is and the industry in which it is in.
Human resource management plays a role in regards to the goal of integration within an organisation, for example the human resources being integrated into strategic plans to further the organisation. According to Walton (1985) the human resource management model “is composed of policies that promote mutuality – mutual goals, mutual influence, mutual respect, mutual rewards, mutual responsibility. The theory is that policies of mutuality will elicit commitment which in turn will yield both better economic performance and greater human development”.
Torrington and Hall (1987) go on to define human resources management as being “directed mainly at management needs for human resources (not necessarily employees) to be provided and deployed. There is greater emphasis on