9.1: Human Resource Management

Human resource management (HRM) is the strategic practice of managing an organization’s workforce to achieve its goals effectively and efficiently. It encompasses the recruitment, training, development, and retention of employees, ensuring their skills and contributions align with the organization’s objectives. HRM involves a range of functions, including workforce planning, performance management, employee relations, compensation and benefits, compliance with labour laws, and fostering a positive organizational culture. By focusing on both employee well-being and organizational needs, HRM aims to maximize employee performance, satisfaction, and productivity, driving overall business success.

Employees at Starbucks are vital to the company’s success. They are its public face, and every dollar of sales passes through their hands.^[1] According to Howard Schultz, an American businessman best known for transforming Starbucks into a global coffee empire, employees can make or break the company. If a customer has a positive interaction with an employee, the customer will come back. If an encounter is negative, the customer is probably gone for good. That’s why it’s crucial for Starbucks to recruit and hire the right people, train them properly, motivate them to do their best, and encourage them to stay with the company. Thus, the company works to provide satisfying jobs, a positive work environment, appropriate work schedules, and fair compensation and benefits. These activities are part of Starbucks’s strategy to deploy human resources in order to gain a competitive advantage. The process is referred to as human resource management (HRM) and consists of all actions that an organization takes to attract, develop, and retain quality employees. Each of these activities is complex. Attracting talented employees involves the recruitment of qualified candidates and the selection of those who best fit the organization’s needs. Development encompasses both new-employee orientation and the training and development of current workers. Retaining good employees means motivating them to excel, appraising their performance, compensating them appropriately, and doing what’s possible to keep them.

Media Attributions

“Starbucks, Seattle, Coffee image” by iccmande, used under the Pixabay license.