HRM (Human Resource Management) is the approach of treating people as a management resource that creates value and managing everything from hiring through placement, development, evaluation, compensation, and retention in a consistent way.
HRM (Human Resource Management)
Evaluation (e.g., MBO)
Development (e.g., CDP, reskilling)
Use and retention (e.g., talent management, retention)
Supporting technology and policy (e.g., HR Tech, DE&I)
People are treated not merely as a labor cost to keep down, but as a resource whose abilities can be grown and tied to the company's business goals. The other terms in this unit are methods or policies that support individual areas of HRM, such as evaluation, development, use, and retention.
AnalogyLike a sports team's front office that handles everything from signing players to training, choosing who plays in each game, and renewing contracts under one policy.
How to rememberOf the management resources of people, goods, money, and information, remember that HR (Human Resource) is the one in charge of people.
Exam points
Mix-upHRM is a broad framework covering all management of people, while MBO and talent management (タレントマネジメント) are individual methods within it that serve specific purposes.
MBO (Management by Objectives) is a management method in which employees set their own objectives for a period after discussing them with their manager, and are evaluated by their degree of achievement.
Agree on objectives with the manager
Work out how to proceed during the period
Review achievement at period end
Reflect results in evaluation, compensation, and the next objectives
The degree of achievement feeds into evaluation and compensation, and the review informs the objectives for the next period.
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Because employees take part in setting their objectives instead of having them assigned from above, they find it easier to accept and commit to them. Individual objectives are set to connect with department and company goals, and the results are reviewed at period end to shape the next objectives.
AnalogyLike choosing your own destination and schedule before a trip, then checking afterward whether you covered everything as planned.
How to rememberManagement by Objectives means managing "by objectives". The idea was put forward by the management thinker Peter Drucker.
Exam points
Mix-upThe abbreviation MBO can also mean a management buyout (マネジメントバイアウト), in which executives buy their company's shares to gain control, so tell the meanings apart by whether the topic is HR or a corporate acquisition.
CDP (Career Development Program) is a system that develops each employee by combining job rotations and training in a planned way, along the employee's long-term career goals.
Match the employee's wishes with the company's talent needs
Plan assignments and training over several years
Carry out the plan and review it regularly
The plan is carried out and adjusted to the employee's growth and changes in the business.
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The employee's wishes and the kind of talent the company will need are matched through interviews and similar means, then turned into a development plan spanning several years. OJT, where skills are gained through doing the actual work, and training taken away from the workplace (Off-JT) are tools used within this plan. The plan is not fixed once and for all, but is revised as the employee grows and the business changes.
AnalogyLike deciding the route to the summit and the huts along the way before a climb, then adjusting the path as the weather changes.
How to rememberThe P stands for Program. Think of it as a development schedule spanning many years, not a one-off training session.
Exam points
ExamOJT is a training method in which skills and knowledge are gained through taking on and doing actual work, while CDP is a system that combines such training and courses in a planned way to fit long-term goals.
Mix-upMBO deals with objectives and achievement within one review period, while CDP deals with career building that looks several years ahead, so the two differ in the time span they cover.
Reskilling (リスキリング) means acquiring new skills needed when taking on a new job, or when the skills your current job requires change significantly.
It often takes place when the spread of digital technology changes the content of work, with the company giving employees time and opportunities to learn. What is learned is knowledge and skills the person has not used in their work until now.
AnalogyLike a craftsperson who made paper maps learning to edit digital map data and moving to a new department.
How to rememberre (again) + skill. Picture swapping out the contents of your toolbox as the work changes.
Exam points
Mix-upRecurrent education (リカレント教育) is the idea of alternating between periods of work and study after entering the workforce. Reskilling (リスキリング) refers to acquiring the skills needed as a job changes.
HR Tech (HRテック), a word combining HR (human resources) and technology, refers to methods and services that apply IT such as AI and the cloud to HR work such as hiring, evaluation, placement, and development.
For example, AI may help sort job applications, or attendance and evaluation records may be managed in one place in the cloud. Besides cutting clerical work, another aim is to use the accumulated people data in decisions on placement and development.
AnalogyLike replacing a handwritten attendance sheet with an app that tallies attendance automatically.
How to rememberOne of the "field + Tech" coinages: FinTech for finance, EdTech for education, and HR Tech for HR.
Exam points
ExamThe purpose of HR Tech (HRテック) is not limited to cutting clerical work; it also includes raising the value of what the HR department itself does.
Talent management (タレントマネジメント) is an initiative that gathers and centrally manages people data such as each employee's skills, experience, and aptitudes, and uses it for strategic placement and development.
Gather data on skills, experience, and evaluations
Manage it centrally and make it visible
Use it in decisions on placement, promotion, and development
The visible information is used in decisions on placement, promotion, and development.
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Making visible who has which abilities makes it easier to find people inside the company who suit a new business or a key post. Collecting and analyzing people data often relies on HR Tech systems.
AnalogyLike a coach who checks a roster recording each player's best position and results, and picks the best lineup for each game.
How to rememberTalent means ability. Remember that people are managed by the abilities they have, not as headcount.
Retention (リテンション) is the general term for measures that encourage needed staff to stay with the organization instead of leaving.
Examples include revising evaluation and pay, offering flexible work arrangements, and providing chances to grow and places to talk about concerns. When experienced people leave, the money and time spent hiring and training them are lost, so companies put as much effort into keeping people as into hiring new ones.
AnalogyLike plugging the hole in a leaky bucket before you keep pouring water in.
How to rememberRetain means to keep or hold on to. It is the same word as in retention period, the length of time data is kept.
Talent management vs. Retention
Aspect
Talent management
Retention
Key differenceAim
Make people's abilities visible and use them for the best placement and development
Prevent staff from leaving and keep them in the organization
Main means
Central management and analysis of people data
Revising compensation, work arrangements, and growth opportunities
When it applies
When deciding on placement, promotion, and development
When addressing dissatisfaction or burdens that could lead people to quit
DE&I is the approach of valuing 3 things as organizational policy: diversity (ダイバーシティ), equity (エクイティ), and inclusion (インクルージョン).
Element
Meaning
Diversity
A state in which people differ (attributes, background, values, and so on)
Equity
Support fitted to each person's situation, so everyone has the same conditions for gaining opportunities
Inclusion
Welcoming people as members of the organization so they can contribute
It can be seen as an extension of diversity management (ダイバーシティマネジメント), which accepts people with differences and puts them to use in the business, with the perspectives of equity and inclusion added. Because simply gathering diverse people makes it hard for them to perform well, it stresses equal conditions for gaining opportunities and also building systems on the side of the organization that welcomes them.
AnalogyLike handing spectators of different heights not identical step stools but ones of the height each needs, so everyone can see the game, and then welcoming them all into the same cheering section.
Exam points
ExamDiversity (ダイバーシティ) is the word for a state in which attributes, background, values, and so on differ from person to person.
ExamDiversity management (ダイバーシティマネジメント) is a management approach that accepts differences among people and puts them to use in the business to strengthen the organization.
Mix-upEquity (エクイティ) is a different idea from equality, which gives everyone the same thing; it changes the kind of support to fit each person's situation.
HRM is the approach of treating people as a management resource and managing them consistently from hiring to retention.
In MBO, employees take part in setting their objectives and are evaluated at period end by how far they achieved them.
Reskilling means acquiring new skills as a job changes, and companies often drive it by providing chances to learn.
Once HR Tech lets HR information be handled with IT, it becomes easier to carry out talent management, which uses people data for placement and development.
DE&I goes beyond accepting diversity: through equity and inclusion, it also builds an environment where every person can perform.