PRINCIPLES

The Government establishes four main principles which guide us in our work. We have adopted the following additional principles to guide departments in their Human
Resource Management work:

• The Government should be a good employer; 

• People are our most important asset; staff are recruited and their careers managed on the basis  of merit;

• Staff should take their share of responsibility for developing their potential; 

• Staff management is the responsibility of all managers;and

• Departmental Human Resource Management plans must be guided by departmental plans and objectives.

AIMS AND PRINCIPLES

Aims

The Government exists to serve the community : it seeks to provide the services the community needs and the leadership Hong Kong needs to go on succeeding. 

Serving the Community is the Government's single most important aim, to which all civil servants should be committed.

It requires the Government to provide the services the community needs, and to provide the leadership Hong Kong needs to go on succeeding. To do so, we act in the public interest to:

·  foster stability and prosperity,
·  improve the quality of life for the whole community,
·  care for those who need help,
·  protect the rights and freedoms of the individual,
·  maintain the rule of law, and
·  encourage people to play their part in the community.

Principles

• BEING ACCOUNTABLE
• LIVINGWITHIN OUR MEANS
• MANAGING FOR PERFORMANCE
• DEVELOPING OUR CULTURE OF SERVICE 

 

AIMS

It is as true for the Government as for any other organization that we depend on our staff at all levels to achieve our aims. It is therefore important that we set these out so that staff have a clear sense of direction for their work, and know how their performance will be judged.

 
The Government's aim of Serving the Community is a simple concept, readily understood by civil servants. In support of this, departmental missions help staff focus their efforts on performing to their best in their particular area of work.

 
Human Resource Management is a planned approach to managing people effectively for performance. It aims to establish a more open, flexible and caring management style so that staff will be motivated, developed and managed in a way that they can and will give of their best to support departments' missions.

MANAGING PEOPLE BETTER

Management Framework
BEING ACCOUNTABLE

 
·  Answering to the Legislative Council
·  Keeping the Community Informed
·  Providing Access to Information

LIVINGWITHIN OUR MEANS

 
·  Applying Fiscal Guidelines
·  Assessing Community Needs
·  Planning
·  Resource Allocation
·  Reviewing Performance

MANAGING FOR PERFORMANCE
 

·  Refining Performance Measures
·  Managing by Programme
·  Improving Efficiency
·  Managing Public Finances
·  Managing Human Resources
·  Managing Support Services
·  Developing Departmental Plans
·  Reviewing Progress

DEVELOPING OUR CULTURE OF SERVICE
 

·  Making Performance Pledges
·  Using Feedback to Improve Services
·  Securing Staff Commitment

Human Resource Management is a long-established task within the Government's Management Framework. Through this task the Governmentmeets its obligation to be a good employer; seeks to secure staff commitment; and develops and manages staff to give of their best to help the Government serve the community. The need to respond to
changing community expectations means that the task of managing our staff better is more important than ever - it is the staff who deliver the service, and it is through a new
emphasis on staff management that a customer service and performance oriented culture will gradually evolve.

The Civil Service Branch carried out a review in 1993 to determine what changes were needed in implementing Human Resource Management so that it could best
complement and support the new focus on devolving authority, on customers and on raising service standards.

The outcome of the review has established the direction for Human Resource Management. First the Civil Service Branch is now concentrating more on its strategic
role, determining policy, setting guidelines and rules, and advising branches and departments on implementation. Within this, the Branch is delegating as much authority
as possible to departments, and simplifying rules and procedures. Second, the emphasis is now more on the management of people rather than the administration of rules. Third, branches and departments are expected to review and develop their own Human Resource Management plans to help them meet their operational requirements.

While the Civil Service Branch encourages the implementation of Human Resource Management initiatives, it appreciates that change cannot happen overnight, and that many effective staff management practices are already occurring. It is for departments to build upon these and show continuous improvement over time.

This booklet explains how Human Resource Management works in the Hong Kong Civil Service. It describes the core principles and values of the Government; where responsibilities lie; and the key management tasks that must be addressed.

Clarifying Some Terms -- Human Resource Management, Human Resources, HRD, Talent Management

Clarifying Some Terms -- Human Resource Management, Human Resources, HRD, Talent Management

The Human Resource Management (HRM) function includes a variety of activities, and key among them is responsibility for human resources -- for deciding what staffing needs you have and whether to use independent contractors or hire employees to fill these needs, recruiting and training the best employees, ensuring they are high performers, dealing with performance issues, and ensuring your personnel and management practices conform to various regulations. Activities also include managing your approach to employee benefits and compensation, employee records and personnel policies. Usually small businesses (for-profit or nonprofit) have to carry out these activities themselves because they can't yet afford part- or full-time help. However, they should always ensure that employees have -- and are aware of -- personnel policies which conform to current regulations. These policies are often in the form of employee manuals, which all employees have.

Some people distinguish a difference between HRM and Human Resource Development (HRD), a profession. Those people might include HRM in HRD, explaining that HRD includes the broader range of activities to develop personnel inside of organizations, e.g., career development, training, organization development, etc.

The HRM function and HRD profession have undergone tremendous change over the past 20-30 years. Many years ago, large organizations looked to the "Personnel Department," mostly to manage the paperwork around hiring and paying people. More recently, organizations consider the "HR Department" as playing a major role in staffing, training and helping to manage people so that people and the organization are performing at maximum capability in a highly fulfilling manner. There is a long-standing argument about where HR-related functions should be organized into large organizations, eg, "should HR be in the Organization Development department or the other way around?".

Recently, the phrase "talent management" is being used to refer the activities to attract, develop and retain employees. Some people and organizations use the phrase to refer especially to talented and/or high-potential employees. The phrase often is used interchangeably with HR -- although as the field of talent management matures, it's very likely there will be an increasing number of people who will strongly disagree about the interchange of these fields.

Many people use the phrase "Human Resource Management," "Human Resource Development" and "Human Resources" interchangeably, and abbreviate Human Resources as HR -- HR has become a conventional term to refer to all of these phrases.

Thus, this Library uses the phrase "Human Resources" and the term "HR," not just for simplicity, but to help the reader to see the important, broader perspective on human resources in organizations -- what's required to maximize the capabilities and performance of people in organizations, regardless of the correct phrase or term to be applied when doing that.

Human Resource Guidelines Apply to For-Profits and Nonprofits

Human Resource Guidelines Apply to For-Profits and Nonprofits

The vast majority of resources in this topic apply to nonprofits as well as for-profits. There's a misconception that there is a big difference in managing human resources in for-profit versus nonprofit organizations. Actually, they should managed similarly. Nonprofits often have unpaid human resources (volunteers), but we're learning that volunteers should be managed much like employees -- it's just that they're not compensated with money; they're compensated in other ways. Managing volunteers is very similar to paid staff -- their roles should be carefully specified, they should be recruited carefully, they should be oriented and trained, they should be organized into appropriate teams or with suitable supervisors, they should be delegated to, their performance should be monitored, performance issues should be addressed, and they should be rewarded for their performance. Also, organizations should consider the risks and liabilities that can occur with volunteers, much like with employees. So nonprofit organizations should consider the resources in this topic as well.

Human Resources and Talent Management

Introduction

 

• Human Resources Applies to Any Size of Organization

• Human Resource Guidelines Apply to For-Profits and Nonprofits

• Clarifying Some Terms -- Human Resource Management, Human Resources, HRD, Talent Management

 

 

Human Resources Applies to Any Size of Organization

All organizations have people -- they have human resources.  Regardless of the size of an organization or the extent of its resources, the organization survives -- and thrives -- because of the capabilities and performance of its people. The activities to maximize those capabilities and that performance are necessary regardless of whether the organization refers to them as Human Resource Management, Human Resource Development or Human Resources -- or has no formal name for those activities at all.

Those activities are the responsibility of all people in the organization. Thus, members of organizations, regardless of size or resources, will benefit from using the resources referenced from this topic.

 

 

BUILDING EMPLOYEE TRUST AND PRODUCTIVITY

The Personnel Manager

Many small businesses cannot afford a full-time specialist to deal with human resource problems. However, as a business grows, its structure becomes more complex and personnel problems increase in number and potential cost. At a certain point in the typical small business, it becomes apparent that a full-time or part-time personnel manager is needed. Conditions that indicate the necessity of a personnel manager include

• The firm has more than 100 employees.

• Employees are represented by a union.

• Turnover is very high (and costly).

• The need for skilled or semiskilled labor creates problems in recruitment or selection.

• Employee morale is low.

• Competition for good personnel is especially keen in the market area.