introduction to hr presentation

HR presentation: The all-in-one guide

Boost your HR skills with our definitive guide to HR presentation. Learn to create engaging slides, foster talent acquisition and improve productivity

Sahul Hameed

Building presentations

Ever felt stuck with how to carry out a flawless HR presentation that not only informs but also engages? Hey, you're not alone! This guide is your go-to resource for nailing that HR presentation, impressing your audience, and truly making a difference within your organization. Buckle up as we embark on this informational journey.

Let's be honest, HR presentations are a cornerstone of modern HR management. They can be a hit or a miss depending on various elements. But worry not! This guide will delve deep into all aspects to help you prepare the best HR presentation of your career. Let's jump right in!

Key roles and responsibilities of HR in an organization

Before we even touch on the high-impact world of HR presentations, it's crucial to lay down some fundamentals. Let's get to know the unsung heroes of any organization: the HR department. What makes them tick? What challenges do they tackle every day?

What does HR do?

HR isn't just a department; it's the backbone of an organization.

They wear many hats, starting with recruitment , where they scour the talent pool to bring in the best fit for the company. Following recruitment, the HR team shifts its focus to onboarding , which is all about integrating new hires into the company culture and operations.

Compensation and benefits are next on the list, comprising both financial rewards and non-monetary perks that help retain valuable employees. HR also takes the lead in fostering employee relations to ensure a positive and productive work environment.

Last but certainly not least, they spearhead training and development initiatives to equip employees for future roles and responsibilities.

Here is a guide on recruitment presentation .

I am convinced that nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people. At the end of the day, you bet on people, not on strategies. - Lawrence Bossidy

What is an HR presentation? (HR management presentation)

An HR presentation is not your run-of-the-mill PowerPoint. It's an essential tool for HR professionals to communicate various HR initiatives, processes, and metrics in an organized and engaging manner. If done professionally, it can hold the attention of your audience and effectively deliver your key messages.

Common presentations prepared by HR

Ah, presentations—the bread and butter of corporate communication.

But wait, don't yawn just yet!

When it comes to HR, presentations are far more than a set of slides; they're dynamic tools that serve a plethora of purposes. They’re the vehicles HR professionals use to download key information into the minds of employees and management. From introducing new hires to the company culture to navigating the intricate web of HR metrics, these presentations are vital cogs in the organizational machine.

Let's break down the "Oscars" of HR presentations, shall we?

Employee onboarding presentations

Imagine the first day at a new job. Exciting yet nerve-wracking, right? Employee onboarding presentations are like the welcome mat at the front door. They cover the company's history, values, and workplace safety, setting the tone for a newbie's journey.

Company culture presentations

If your organization has a personality, this is where it shines. Company culture presentations dig deep into what makes your workplace tick—its mission, values, and environment. It's like a backstage pass into the ethos of the company.

HR strategy presentations

Pop quiz: Who listens to the HR strategy presentations ? That's right—senior leadership. Here, you lay out your grand plan for the year, complete with all the nitty-gritty details on workforce trends and best practices. Consider it your HR manifesto.

Performance management presentations

Alright, managers, gather around. This one's for you. These presentations teach you how to set goals, conduct performance reviews, and give constructive feedback. In other words, they're the rulebook for how to keep your team in top shape.

Training and development presentations

Who doesn't love leveling up? These presentations focus on the XP points of the corporate world—training and development opportunities. They cover everything from training resources to tailored development plans.

Benefits presentations

Ah, the siren call of "perks." Benefits presentations are detailed brochures of what the company offers besides a paycheck. Health insurance, retirement plans, and oh-so-precious PTO—it's all here.

Diversity and inclusion presentations

In a world where diversity and inclusion aren't just buzzwords but necessities, these presentations are the HR equivalent of a TED Talk. They cover unconscious bias, microaggressions, and how to be a good ally.

Employee engagement presentations

Feel like your team's morale needs a boost? These presentations get down to the brass tacks of what keeps employees ticking, from satisfaction surveys to recognition programs.

Change management presentations

Change is the only constant, they say. Well, these presentations are your guidebook on how to manage it. They cover the process of change, effective communication strategies, and employee support mechanisms.

So why are these presentations so pivotal? First off, they're informative, chock-full of valuable information that guides employees and management alike. Secondly, they're strategic, aligning HR department goals with organizational objectives. And don't forget engagement; a well-structured presentation can hold the attention of your audience, facilitating a better understanding and retention of crucial data. If you're an HR professional, you know the magic isn't just in the message but also in how you deliver it.

How to structure an effective HR presentation

An effective HR presentation is not just about stuffing slides with bullet points and charts. It requires a well-thought-out structure.

Not all HR presentations are created equal. Depending on the type, the architecture of your PowerPoint can be as different as chalk and cheese. You wouldn't bring a spatula to a swordfight, would you? Similarly, the structure for a new-hire onboarding presentation is going to look quite different from, say, an HR Strategy Presentation .

Presentation types dictate structure

First things first—your presentation's structure must be tailored to its purpose. For instance, a New hire onboarding presentation should include slides on the company overview, employee policies, code of conduct, and other foundational elements that guide a new employee's journey.

On the other hand, HR strategy presentations are like the "financial quarter reports" of the HR world. Your audience is typically the top brass, and you're expected to present slides related to budgets, future hiring projections, and workforce trends. Don't forget those important charts and graphs that visualize your strategic aims and KPIs.

And let's not overlook Employee benefits presentations . These require slides discussing employee perks, healthcare plans, retirement benefits, and paid time off. In a way, you're acting like a salesperson, making the "benefits" package as enticing as possible to your internal audience.

Feel like diving deeper? Navigate to the specific HR presentation types linked above to explore the unique structure for each.

Tips for crafting awesome slides

Whether you're laying out the corporate welcome mat or spilling the company's future tea, your slides need to be top-notch. Here's how you can polish them:

Design : Make use of high-quality, brand-approved designs. Your slides should be visually engaging without being overwhelming.
Font & text : Choose readable fonts and keep your text crisp and to the point. Remember, less is often more.
Visual elements : Spice up your slides with charts, graphs, and other visual aids. These can serve to break up the text and make your points more digestible.
Customize : Adapt your slides to your audience's specific needs and expectations. Whether you're speaking to new hires or senior execs, tailor your content accordingly.

If the thought of crafting these different types of presentations seems daunting, take a breath. Prezent has got you covered. With features like real-time sharing, a variety of storylines, and brand-approved designs, Prezent streamlines the presentation-making process. You can create tailored, impactful presentations that resonate with your audience, saving time and ensuring brand consistency.

Do's and don'ts of an HR presentation

Before you dash off to dazzle your audience, let's tap the brakes for a sec and chat about some road signs on your presentation highway—your do's and don'ts. Trust me, understanding these can make the difference between an ovation and a snooze-fest.

Rehearse : Knowing your material inside-out will make you a confident presenter. Your audience will thank you for it.
Use templates : A well-designed PowerPoint template can save you time and ensure consistency. And if you're looking for the crème de la crème of templates, platforms like Prezent offer a wide range of brand-approved options.
Engage your audience : Use interactive elements like polls or Q&A sessions to break the fourth wall and get your audience involved.
Provide feedback : Encourage the audience to share their thoughts and opinions. Constructive dialogue only adds value.

Don'ts

Avoid overloading slides : Too much information can be overwhelming. Aim for clarity, not confusion.
Don't read from the slides : This isn't storytime at the library. Your audience can read; they're looking to you for elaboration.
Steer clear of jargon : Unless you're trying to win a corporate buzzword bingo game, keep it simple.
No last-minute changes : Spontaneity may spice up a first date but can derail a presentation. Stick to the plan.

Remember, even the fanciest slides won't save you if you're not prepared. Preparation is key! So, go ahead and knock 'em dead, but not literally, okay?

Summarizing key takeaways

HR presentations can make or break your credibility in the department. And no, this isn't an episode of a reality TV show, although the drama levels might feel similar. From the structure to the visual elements and engagement strategies, every aspect plays a vital role.

Frequently asked questions

1. what presentation tools can hr managers use to streamline their workflow.

HR managers have an array of presentation tools at their disposal. For traditionalists who are comfortable with PowerPoints , Microsoft's offering remains a stalwart choice. For those looking for real-time collaboration, Google Slides is an excellent option. Don't forget Keynote for Apple aficionados. Additionally, platforms like Prezent specialize in providing editable slide templates that help HR professionals save time and maintain brand consistency.

2. How do I choose the right diagrams and graphics for my HR presentation?

Choosing the right diagrams and graphics is essential for capturing your audience's attention and conveying information effectively. A rule of thumb is to use diagrams that simplify complex processes or relationships, making them easier to understand. Diagrams can be especially useful in HR projects that involve workflow processes or organizational hierarchies. Presentation graphics should align with the overall theme and should serve to illustrate or emphasize key points rather than distract.

3. What are some best practices for virtual HR presentations?

Virtual presentations have their own set of challenges, from ensuring everyone can connect to engaging an audience you can't see. First, make sure all your slides are easily viewable in a digital format—this may mean limiting text and focusing more on visual elements. Use interactive features like polls or Q&A sessions to engage your audience. Remember, you're not just sharing information; you're facilitating a conversation. Don't underestimate the power of a well-placed pause or the use of humor to keep people engaged. Virtual tools also offer the advantage of being able to record and distribute the presentation for later viewing.

4. How can a PPT dashboard help HR leaders in employee evaluation?

PowerPoint (PPT) dashboards are invaluable tools that empower HR leaders to track key performance indicators (KPIs) relevant to employee evaluation. For instance, a well-designed dashboard can display productivity metrics, attendance records, and even results from periodic assessments. When you're presenting this data, especially in annual meetings with other department heads or the CFO, it helps to have all these essential metrics showcased in one easily digestible format.

5. How can design teams incorporate SHRM guidelines into new employee onboarding decks?

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) provides a host of guidelines that can be invaluable in the HR area, especially when it comes to new employee onboarding. Design teams can create onboarding decks that incorporate SHRM's recommendations for legal compliance, employee engagement, and benefits information. This not only ensures that the deck covers all the bases but also meets team needs for compliance and quality engagement.

Here is a comprehensive guide on roles and responsibilities presentation .

Create your HR presentation with Prezent

Tired of outdated PowerPoint slides that do more harm than good? Say hello to Prezent, your one-stop solution for HR presentations. With Prezent, you'll have access to 50+ storylines and 35,000+ slides that are 100% on-brand and compliant. Plus, you can save 70% of your time and reduce communication costs by 60%.

‍ Some features that might interest you!

Audience preferences: Create a professional presentation tailored to your audience.
Real-Time sharing: Enable instant sharing and collaboration within your HR team.
Overnight presentation service : Submit by 5:30 PM PST and get a polished presentation by 9:30 AM the next day.

So why settle for less when you can have the best? With Prezent, your HR presentation will be nothing short of a masterpiece.

There you go, folks! Hopefully, you've been armed with the info you need to wow your audience. Now, go out there and make some HR magic happen—or at least a PowerPoint that won't put people to sleep. Cheers!

Get the latest from Prezent community

Join thousands of subscribers who receive our best practices on communication, storytelling, presentation design, and more. New tips weekly. (No spam, we promise!)

What Is Human Resources (HR)?

"It requires more than being a good "people person"—the passion comes from wanting to create a positive employee experience for everyone in the office. . . . If you want to help people look forward to Monday morning, then come join the best profession." — Ryan Archibald

The History of HR

How is hr changing.

Health and wellness. Now more than ever employees are taking measures to live a healthier lifestyle and HR will have to find more ways for the organization to support its employees. For example, organizations could provide mental health services, or flexible work schedules to encourage employee health.
Laws and regulations. Post pandemic, we have seen an influx of new laws and regulations, such as vaccine mandates. These mandates are impacting the workplace; as HR grapples with recruiting and retaining talent. Requests for reasonable accommodations and religious exemptions have spiked. Therefore; it is imperative for HR professionals to stay abreast as to what is happening within the industry. .
Great resignation. The fight for talent continues, and employees are demanding more. In the past, organizations provided employees the benefits typically without any input, now that the tides are shifting HR will need to determine what benefits employees are wanting and how it aligns with the organization's goals.
Engagement. Now that the workforce is shifting to a remote work environment, HR will need to become more creative in keeping its remote employees engaged while maintaining a positive company culture.

Why Is HR an Important Part of Every Business?

Strategic management.

“Find a mentor on the business side. The best HR professionals are the ones that understand the business and can align with HR solutions.” — Katie Dykstra

Wages and Salaries

Benefits administration, mitigating liability issues, training and development, employee satisfaction.

"Human Resources is about the Humans. There is an old stereotype that HR was there to just push papers and make sure the company didn't get sued. Which, partly true, we do a lot of documentation management to help companies not get sued. But we do that by making sure that the company is being fair and treating all employees equally.” — Heather Anderson SHRM-CP

Recruiting and Onboarding

Maintaining compliance, what does an hr department do.

“HR is a challenging yet extremely rewarding career … My advice for early career professionals would be to create a career plan that articulates: what are your assets, what are your aspirations, and what does the market need? When those three sync up it provides clarity to where you should spend your time.” — Kiy Watts, former VP of people and culture for the Atlanta Hawks

Human Resources Planning

Strategic Direction – Understanding key mission goals and future objectives set by organization leadership and how the workforce needs to be aligned to achieve them.
Supply Analysis – Understanding the current workforce and how it is projected to change over time, due to attrition and other trends.
Demand Analysis – Understanding the organization's current and future workforce requirements.
Gap Analysis — Understanding the gaps between workforce demand and supply and defining top priority gaps with the greatest impact on organizational performance.
Solution Implementation — The appropriate workforce interventions and activities to close identified workforce gaps and enable your organization to meet its strategic goals.
Monitoring progress — Monitoring the performance of solutions and their impact on the gaps they were designed to address, and continuously improving the solutions to maximize their effectiveness .

Recruitment and Selection

Performance management, career planning, different roles within hr, workplace safety, talent management, how does hr support employees, creativity and innovation, how to know if hr is the career for you.

You care about people
You enjoy strategizing
You handle conflict well
You enjoy variety

Career Path

"The experience that you have working as a compensation specialist at a large firm will be very different from being an HR department of one at a small start-up. . . . Are you looking at doing more strategic HR or are you wanting to be in the weeds of paperwork and day-to-day HR tasks? Each career path in HR is very different!" — Chris Ruddy

Wendy N. Kelly, MSHRM, PHR, SHRM-CP

Eddy’s HR Mavericks Encyclopedia

Eddy Overview
People Management
Time Tracking
Training Tracking
HR Encyclopedia
HR Mavericks Podcast
Help Center
Contact Support

Faculty Resources

Powerpoints.

A full set of PowerPoint decks is provided for download below. All decks are tightly aligned to the modules in this course. Since they are openly licensed, you are welcome to retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute as desired.

These PowerPoint files are accessible. If you do revise them, make sure to follow these guidelines for creating accessible PowerPoints .

Use the following link to download all PowerPoint decks in a single .zip file (40 MB) , or download each individual deck below:

Module 1: The Role of Human Resources
Module 2: Human Resource Strategy and Planning
Module 3: People Analytics and Human Capital Trends
Module 4: Diversity in the Workplace
Module 5: Workforce Planning
Module 6: Recruitment and Selection
Module 7: Onboarding, Training, and Developing Employees
Module 8: Compensation and Benefits
Module 9: Performance Management and Appraisal
Module 10: Building Positive Employee Relations
Module 11: Employee Termination
Module 12: Employee Rights and Responsibilities
Module 13: Union–Management Relations
Module 14: Safety, Health and Risk Management
Module 15: Corporate Social Responsibility
Module 16: Managing Global Human Resources
Module 17: Managing Human Resources in Small and Entrepreneurial Businesses

Contribute!

Improve this page Learn More

PowerPoints. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
Projector Screen. Authored by : Denis Shumaylov. Provided by : Noun Project. Located at : https://thenounproject.com/term/projector-screen/1211212/ . License : CC BY: Attribution

school Campus Bookshelves
menu_book Bookshelves
perm_media Learning Objects
login Login
how_to_reg Request Instructor Account
hub Instructor Commons
Download Page (PDF)
Download Full Book (PDF)
Periodic Table
Physics Constants
Scientific Calculator
Reference & Cite
Tools expand_more
Readability

selected template will load here

This action is not available.

17.2: An Introduction to Human Resource Management

Last updated
Save as PDF
Page ID 27551

What has been the evolution of human resource management (HRM) over the years, and what is the current value it provides to an organization?

Human resource management over the years has served many purposes within an organization. From its earliest inception as a primarily compliance-type function, it has further expanded and evolved into its current state as a key driver of human capital development. In the book HR From the Outside In (Ulrich, Younger, Brockbank, Younger, 2012), the authors describe the evolution of HR work in “waves”. Wave 1 focused on the administrative work of HR personnel, such as the terms and conditions of work, delivery of HR services, and regulatory compliance. This administrative side still exists in HR today, but it is often accomplished differently via technology and outsourcing solutions. The quality of HR services and HR’s credibility came from the ability to run administrative processes and solve administrative issues effectively. Wave 2 focused on the design of innovative HR practice areas such as compensation, learning, communication, and sourcing. The HR professionals in these practice areas began to interact and share with each other to build a consistent approach to human resource management. The HR credibility in Wave 2 came from the delivery of best-practice HR solutions.

Wave 3 HR, over the last 15–20 years or so, has focused on the integration of HR strategy with the overall business strategy. Human resources appropriately began to look at the business strategy to determine what HR priorities to work on and how to best use resources. HR began to be a true partner to the business, and the credibility of HR was dependent upon HR having a seat at the table when the business was having strategic discussions. In Wave 4, HR continues to be a partner to the business, but has also become a competitive practice for responding to external business conditions. HR looks outside their organizations to customers, investors, and communities to define success—in the form of customer share, investor confidence, and community reputation. HR’s credibility is thus defined in terms of its ability to support and drive these external metrics. Although each “wave” of HR’s evolution is important and must be managed effectively, it is the “outside in” perspective that allows the human resource management function to shine via the external reputation and successes of the organization.

A graphical representation shows the evolution of H R work in four waves.

catching the entrepreneurial spirit

Human Resources Outsourcing—Entrepreneurial Ventures

Human resources is a key function within any company, but not all companies are able to afford or justify full-time HR staff. Over the last decade, HR outsourcing has become a good business decision for many small companies whose current staff doesn’t have the bandwidth or expertise to take on the risks of employee relations issues, benefits and payroll, or HR compliance responsibilities. This has led many HR practitioners to try out their entrepreneurial skills in the areas of HR outsourcing and “fractional HR.”

Human resources outsourcing is very commonly used by smaller companies (and often large companies too) to cover such tasks as benefits and payroll management. This is an area that has been outsourced to third parties for many years. More recent is the trend to have “fractional HR” resources to help with the daily/weekly/monthly HR compliance, employee relations, and talent management issues that companies need to address. Fractional HR is a growing industry, and it has become the service offering of many entrepreneurial HR ventures. Fractional HR is essentially as it sounds—it is the offering of HR services to a company on a part-time or intermittent basis when the company may not be able to justify the cost of a full-time HR resource. An HR professional can be available onsite for a specified number of hours or days weekly or monthly, depending on the company’s needs and budget. The HR professional handles everything from HR compliance issues and training to employee issues support. Also, for companies that are keen on development of employees, the HR resource can drive the talent management processes—such as performance management, succession planning, training, and development—for companies who require more than just basic HR compliance services.

How does a business leader decide whether HR outsourcing is needed? There are generally two factors that drive a leader to consider fractional HR or HR outsourcing—time and risk. If a leader is spending too much time on HR issues and employee relations, he may decide that it is a smart tradeoff to outsource these tasks to a professional. In addition, the risk inherent in some HR issues can be very great, so the threat of having a lawsuit or feeling that the company is exposed can lead the company to seek help from a fractional HR professional.

HR entrepreneurs have taken full advantage of this important trend, which many say will likely continue as small companies grow and large companies decide to off-load HR work to third parties. Some HR companies offer fractional HR as part of their stated HR services, in addition to payroll and benefits support, compensation, and other HR programmatic support. Having a fractional HR resource in place will often illuminate the need for other HR services and program builds, which are generally supported by those same companies. Whether you are an individual HR practitioner or have a small company of HR practitioners and consultants, fractional HR and HR outsourcing can be a very viable and financially rewarding business model. It can also be very personally rewarding, as the HR professional enables smaller companies to grow and thrive, knowing that its HR compliance and processes are covered.

Discussion Questions

At what point should a company consider bringing on a full-time HR resource instead of using a fractional HR resource? What questions should the company ask itself?

Human resource management provides value to an organization, to a large extent, via its management of the overall employee life cycle that employees follow—from hiring and onboarding, to performance management and talent development, all the way through to transitions such as job change and promotion, to retirement and exit. Human capital is a key competitive advantage to companies, and those who utilize their human resource partners effectively to drive their human capital strategy will reap the benefits.

Human resource management includes the leadership and facilitation of the following key life cycle process areas:

Human resources compliance
Employee selection, hiring, and onboarding
Performance management
Compensation rewards and benefits
Talent development and succession planning

Human resources is responsible for driving the strategy and policies in these areas to be in accordance with and in support of the overall business strategy. Each of these areas provides a key benefit to the organization and impacts the organization’s value proposition to its employees.

concept check

In what way do you usually interact with human resources?

Human Resource Management

(24 reviews)

ISBN 13: 9781946135117

Publisher: University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing

Language: English

Formats Available

Conditions of use.

Learn more about reviews.

Reviewed by Steve Custer, Professor, Oakland City University on 11/17/23

This text covered a wide range of HR competencies. At first, I was not expecting to find such a comprehensive text, particularly in light of the fact that the copyright was 2016 - well before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, I was pleasantly... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I found the text to contain a high degree of accuracy in addressing the fundamental elements of human resource management inherent to most organizations.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Aside from some name changes in functional areas that have occurred in recent years (safety and health to risk management, compensation and benefits to total rewards, training and development to learning and development - just to name a few), the essence of the content remains pertinent to today's organizational culture.

Clarity rating: 5

This text was easy to read and should be very understandable to both undergraduate and graduate students in either traditional or adult learner formats.

Consistency rating: 5

The text was consistent in its definitions of the functional areas of HRM and in the resources provided.

Modularity rating: 5

It would be very reasonable to devise a schedule of learning activities from the contents of this text.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

This material is grouped in a logical fashion and could be tailored to fit a variety of course delivery options.

Interface rating: 5

This reader did not experience any issues in this regard.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

This reader did not note any grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The text places a priority on respecting diversity and devotes significant coverage to this important realm.

As a certified HR professional, I found this text helpful in guiding students to a greater understanding of human resource management.

Reviewed by Sungdoo Kim, Associate Professor, Northeastern Illinois University on 5/9/23

It covers all major HR topics. It even includes chapters on communication and motivation that are not typically included in traditional HRM textbooks. One issue, though, it is too lean on some major topics like job analysis, HR planning, benefits,... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

I do not see any issues in accuracy.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 2

I think the biggest issue with this book is the content update. As the role of HR is complying with and adapting to rapidly changing work environment like new legislations, new developments in training and staffing, etc., it is critical that HR book needs to be updated frequently. That being said, given so many benefits open books can offer students, I think instructors can supply up-to-date knowledge through separate materials (exercise, cases, assignments, news articles), supplementing the book.

The book is written in an easy to understanding manner with many real-world examples. Those who have a difficulty understanding traditional textbook would have a better time with this book as it focuses less on abstract concepts but more on practical use of those concepts.

Yes, this book is well organized from the start to the end, starting with the broad overview of HRM and trends to end with topics such as labor relations and international HR which is typical in other HRM textbooks. The book is consistent across all the chapters in terms of its components (topic discussions, key takeaway, cases, and team activity).

Each chapter consists of several sub units that are well fit together and help readers understand the topic in a step-by-step manner. At the end of each chapter, key takeaway section looks like a good wrap-up and the cases and team activity assignments are very useful in teaching students hands-on knowledge.

Each chapter is presented in a logical, clear fashion.

Interface rating: 4

I do not see any glaring issues on this, though I think they may use more images to illustrate hear and there.

No grammatical errors noticed.

No issues on this aspect. Actually, this book, unlike other traditional HRM books spend more space on diversity and multiculturalism (see ch.3).

Reviewed by Robert Eliason, Lecturer, James Madison University on 4/12/23

This professionally prepared textbook offers a wide overview of the management of Human Resources. Although over 10 years old, the book is up-to-date enough to serve as a primary textbook or a supplemental resource for a Human Resource Management class. This text covers a wide range of topics in the Human Resource Management field. Created as a published textbook, it has examples, illustrations, pictures, graphs, and charts to enhance the content. It generally covers tests, assessments, and software but does not go into specific tools in these areas. The text fails to provide an index or glossary.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

The overall content is high quality and free of errors. It has a quality fitting a professional textbook in the HRM field. Being over a decade old, it does not reflect Generation Z or many minority groups in society.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 3

The text was written in 2011 with a publishing edition in 2016. The publisher does not want to receive attribution. Updates and improvements are not likely. The content remains basically sound but fails to include any content from the last decade. Additional content could easily be added and fit into the framework provided.

Clarity rating: 4

The text does contain a large amount of technical language that is well defined and easily understood. Key terms are bolded but the text is not consistent in providing definitions nor is there a directory of key terms with definitions.

As a professionally constructed textbook, it is well organized with chapters that are all structured on the same order, layout, and boxes.

The text is structured with defined chapters and subchapters allowing the content to be delivered in any order desired. Each chapter is followed by cases and problems related to that chapter. The text provides a summary at the end of each chapter.

The chapters do flow in an acceptable structure that has special topics at the front, follows employee paths from recruitment to termination, and then adds additional topics at the end. It could have been structured better if it gathered relevant topics together. The text does make it easy to assign chapters in a more logical order.

Links to videos mostly work. Clearly the book was created as a printed text so navigation within the text does not work. Links to other sections in the text do not work in the PDF version.

The text contains no grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 3

The text does discuss diversity and multiculturalism. The photos throughout the book largely portray white males and females in workplace settings.

This textbook would work well as a supplemental source or as a primary text if you add additional content to bring it up-to-date.

Reviewed by Donala Kawaauhau, Associate Professor, Hawaii Community College on 12/12/22

The text covers all topics associated with the appropriate performance of a Human Resource Manager. It also introduces the reader to additional elements associated with strategic planning and performance focused on legal compliance. read more

The text did a great job explaining and describing the various tasks and performance measures of and in the field of Human Resource Management. The discussion of and on racial situations were perspective based and read as an outlier in an otherwise legally driven field focused on quantifiable employee performance and compensation, but the rest of the text did an excellent job preparing its reader for and on what to expect if and when employed in the field of Human Resources or in the field of general management.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The text provided an up to date analysis of Human Resource Management and presented the reader with tools that can assist them in their preparation for work in the field.

Clarity rating: 3

The text did an excellent job presenting multi-dimensional topics in a clear and comprehensive way. Steps were broken down and connected appropriately to assist with reader comprehension. The chapter on multiculturalism confused the clarity of the topic of EEO compliance. The topic of multiculturalism is of great importance in the field and should be discussed within the realm of equal employment expectations to ensure the avoidance of illegal activity (accidental or otherwise) in the recruiting and hiring process.

Consistency rating: 4

The topics in the text were exceptionally consistent throughout. The only outlier is the section on diversity and multiculturalism, which brought in statements that could be seen as legally problematic in both public and private sector Human Resource environments.

The text segments topics well and allows for comprehensive learning at both the micro and macro level.

Topics in the text are organized well with generalized introductions that are further dissected and broken down in later chapters. Chapters make references to one another and all tie together well.

The interface was excellent. The text loaded appropriately and all images appeared without incident.

The text was well written. No significant grammatical errors were found.

This is a very difficult topic to discuss in general but it is next to impossible to appropriately discuss in the field of Human Resource Management. Human Resource Managers are expected and required to ensure that the most qualified employees are hired, that all employees are treated equally, and that discrimination or preferential treatment does not exist at or on any level within the organization. Having to balance that requirement with the essential discussion of diversity means that language must be purposeful and devoid of any possible misinterpretation to ensure consistent legal compliance. Human Resource Management is required to follow the law and even a hint of predetermined prejudice can cost a company millions even if coming from a place of good intentions. The chapter on diversity and multiculturalism fails to make mention of that and contains language that may cause a learner to carry with them misunderstandings of and on the field of Human Resources that could lead to their eventual termination. Statements on the truth of the field as it stands is essential and should be added to the chapter to ensure that learners understand what can happen if they get ahead of the law when working in the field.

A substantial amount of work went into the creation of this text, which is full of important and useful information on the processes and tools of and in the field of Human Resource Management.

Reviewed by Angela Hayslett, Lecturer, James Madison University on 9/18/22

This book covers most key HR areas with just enough depth. This book could benefit from including a wider array of HR policies affecting employee rights and restrictions. read more

This book covers most key HR areas with just enough depth. This book could benefit from including a wider array of HR policies affecting employee rights and restrictions.

Content seems to be consistent with other similar texts.

This book addresses generational differences in HR management, and a chapter on diversity and multiculturalism, both of which are timely and should be relevant for years to come.

Keywords and terminology are defined and examples are used to help with understanding of text.

Each chapter follows a similar structure.

The book design uses sections, headings, bold text, enumeration, bullets, etc. to help organize and structure the topics. It is easy to follow and digest.

Some chapters are organized in a logical order of the chronological stages of HR management. Each chapter consistently concludes with case studies and problems.

It was not immediately apparent how to navigate to the next page. Instead of a task bar at the bottom of the website, a next page button at the bottom of the reading or something similar to the scroll up arrow that hovers over the text would be more obvious. Hyperlinks allow readers to easily navigate to videos and different sections of the book. There is an effective search feature that allows you to search by keywords. Images are clear.

No grammatical issues were observed.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

Some of the examples given may show a bias to who is reading the text, but care is given to provide background to the issues of how bias and discrimination impact the workplace.

This is a great option to orient students to the function and role of human resource professionals. Relevant examples are included and information is presented in an easy to read format.

Reviewed by Elizabeth C. Orozco Reilly, Professor, Loyola Marymount University on 2/18/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

This book covers the basics of HRM and is suitable as an introduction to the vast array of topics in the field. It provides a professor with competent summaries of each chapter at the end, which could also be used to frame the chapters. The principal limitations of this text are the dated references, broken links, and lack of discussion of how diversity, equity, and inclusion is fundamental to achieving socially just organizations.

Content Accuracy rating: 3

Insofar as this book provides a fundamental overview of the broad functional areas of HRM, it presents accurate information about what each area is. As references are quite dated by 2022, which is when this review is written, there are more current examples that would resonate better with students.

Because of the changing nature of HRM and the sheer number of professional settings for which this work is applicable, all topics should be supplemented with relevant and timely case studies to personalize students’ experiences of the topic. For example, there are no cases relevant to educational settings, yet all educational institutions have HR departments or divisions—and it is applicable subject matter for all educators, whether K-12 or higher education.

Most of the author’s references cited are a decade or older old at this point, requiring the professor to provide newer research to supplement or build on more background that is frequently aged. The diversity, equity, and inclusion theme is missing for the most part, and this warrants extensive discussion in many of the topics covered. For example, implicit bias is a natural topic for HRM courses.

Many examples are provided for the principles of each functional area. For example, in the chapter on communication (Chapter 9), explanations are fulsome and then the charts and opportunities for students to consider their own circumstances, help build deeper understanding.

The book has a standard format that is internally consistent. Narrative is frequently enhanced with tables, graphs, charts, etc., and this is very helpful to summarize concepts.

Modularity rating: 4

My view is that these chapters are stand-alone topics that, for the most part, could easily be taught in any order, or prioritized or eliminated for shorter modules within a more global course on business functions.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3

Overall, the book is well organized and easy to follow. Learning Objectives, Key Take-Aways, Exercises, Case Studies, and References are very helpful to get the professor started on their lessons, presentations, and application of the content. The links in the digital PDFs link back to topics within the book as well as to external topics. One issue is that when you click on an external link, you cannot then easily get back to the section of the book you were reading, as the default is back to the beginning of the book. In addition, many links are broken, which occurs enough so as to affect the flow. As mentioned, references are very dated, so professors should check topics for updated content, research, case law, etc.

Interface rating: 2

The links in the digital PDFs link back to topics within the book as well as to external topics. One issue is that when you click on an internal or external link, you cannot then easily get back to the section of the book you were reading, as the default is either not available for internal links or sends you back to the beginning of the book with external links. In addition, many links are broken, which occurs enough so as to affect the flow.

The book is free of grammatical issues.

Cultural Relevance rating: 2

I am waiting for an HRM book that has diversity, equity, and inclusion as a through line for each functional area and topic. With the exception of Chapter 3, which is only six pages, DEI is missing and is not presented or revisited as issues relevant to the many facets of HRM, and yet its relevance warrants extensive discussion in many of the topics covered in the book. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are key issues in HR and the topic demands addressing and requires relevant, current content.

I have reviewed and used a variety of HRM books over the years, and while the fundamentals of the functional areas are present in all of them, including this text, one of the challenges of keeping this field relevant and rigorous for our students is presenting current examples, laws, policies, and trends to supplement the basics. While this book can provide some of these basics, professors would do well to supplement with generous amounts of additional materials. I do appreciate that is is open access, as students can learn the basics without paying for a really expensive textbook.

Reviewed by Steven Dickson, Adjunct Professor, Southern Oregon University on 1/2/22

This is an excellent open-source text for use in any business course with a focus on human resources as an occupation or a function. Student reception of the text was in the affirmative for courses Strategic Staffing and Principles of Human... read more

The foundational content of the book is good; however, there exists a need for a text revision due to changes in the working environment.

The content of the text is applicable across small to large business operations. Great introductory text.

The text was easy to read and the content is applicable to practice.

The text is consistent with the theme specific to the practice of human resources throughout.

The text is easily divided into sections into strategic learning/teaching sections.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The framework of the text is easily followed and has a clear flow. Some of the subunits may need to be reorganized based on the course focus.

The text is a PDF that is easily navigatable and searchable.

No significant grammatical errors were seen.

No significant culturally discrepant material was noted; however, an update/revision of the text may be warranted.

Reviewed by Kevin Knotts, Assistant Professor, Marshall University on 10/28/21

The textbook provides an overview of most key areas in HRM that would be covered in an introductory or survey course. Any introductory HRM textbook should cover HRM strategy, diversity/EEOC, recruitment and selection, comp and benefits, turnover, training and development, and performances with additional focus where the author feels it needs to be devoted - communication, safety, international HRM, etc. This textbook provides coverage of most major HRM areas and there is no truly lacking areas that needed to be completely added.

There are some areas that could have a bit more detail provide or additional chapters provided on that material. For example, EEOC should potentially have its own chapter to fully provide the context and understanding of the different laws. Another example is that compensation and benefits are combined into a single chapter. There are so many different areas that have to be considered in the context of these two areas that separation of them into two chapters would allow for a more comprehensive coverage of both key HRM issues.

Overall, there was not many errors throughout the text and it appears to be mostly unbiased. There were some definitions that were proposed by the textbook that could have discussion on the specifics of the text; however, for the most part the content was accurately conveyed with few errors.

This is probably the area of the textbook that I am the most concerned about as an instructor. Per the nature of the content covered in HRM with the everchanging landscape and adjustments that have to be made, the structure and framing of the textbook give me concerns over my ability to use it for a longer period of time without having to make major adjustments. There are a multitude of different change to legislative actions that occur every year that would impact different elements of these chapters. One way to potentially address this is through updating of supplementary materials to provide instructors with more current information. If I were to use this, I would assume that I would need to bring in a large amount of outside materials to make the material be as up to date and relevant as possible for the students in the course.

The clarity of the textbook was well done. I did not see any major issues that I would run into when having students use this text. While there is some jargon that is used throughout the textbook, it is relevant to the field and the terminology that would be used - that is, when working students would need to know this jargon anyways and the textbook provides the introduction to that.

The text is generally consistent with terminology and framework, following a similar pattern throughout chapters. Additionally, most of the terminology is comparable to what would be used outside of the context, however, with the everchanging landscape of HRM, there are obviously changes to terminology that are not captured due to the older materials used. This would be a relatively easy item for an instructor to incorporate into the materials they were covering.

The modularity of the textbook is well done. The material is broken down into smaller, readable sections that a reader can easily get through or digest in smaller components. The information is also prepared in a way that would be easy to move the material around within a course to adequately compose the course in the instructor's desirable manner.

The topics are presented in a logical manner. For the most part, there is a order in which material should be covered. This text covers it in that manner. In the very few instances that it is not, the modularity of text would allow the items to be moved around.

Interface rating: 3

There were no major concerns regarding interface, but there was several items that did not seem to work properly for links and the layouts sometimes seemed to not be clear. This isn't a total problem, but there is the possibility for improvement to make sure that all video links are up to date and work, proper formatting of tables/figures, etc.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

There did not appear to be any major grammatical errors. As I reviewed the grammar, I came across a few minor errors, but they were few and far between. I may have missed more grammatical errors, but for the most part, I did not notice major errors throughout the text.

There was adequate coverage to cultural elements throughout the text by having both a chapter on diversity/multiculturalism and international HRM. These are two major areas that help to provide a cultural understanding within the context of HRM. A separate chapter on EEOC laws could have been included to help strengthen the arguments and framing. The language did not appear to be culturally insensitive or offensive in any way - a suggest, similar to my prior comments would be to update the material as need be to be more up to date with current terminology.

Reviewed by Satoris Howes, Professor, Oregon State University on 8/17/20

The main content includes areas that are of most importance for HR practitioners, although some areas are missing and/or under-represented. I think this is to be expected of most any book, and completely understand and appreciate the difficulty in creating a truly comprehensive yet reasonable-length book. Overall, there is much to like, and most of the main topics that are usually covered (and those covered for SHRM certification) are included. In terms of some specifics, I liked that there was a section on alternate dispute resolution when discussing performance management issues. I don’t see that in all HR books but it is quite valuable. The section on employee separation – I personally don’t like the term “rightsizing” as I think it likely has negative “PR” connotations. In addition, in today’s world, I think a discussion of furloughs is needed, as they are quite prevalent. I feel like HR has gotten much more savvy in recent times in terms of possible ways to deal with economic woes, and examples that are more recent (e.g., related to how companies have handled things during the COVID-19 pandemic) would be helpful. Given that many of the references/examples are from 2011, this is an area where much supplementation would be necessary. In Chapter 11 (on Employee Assessment) there are also areas I would feel the need to supplement. For example, given the animosity associated with performance appraisals, I typically like to discuss the reasons for / purposes of performance appraisal and link it more clearly to strategic imperatives. I like how motivational theories are brought into the section on compensation (termed pay theories in this book) as I think that is a key element of compensation that is not always considered. I didn’t see any mention of corporate social responsibility and felt the discussion of ethics was a bit short, so those would also be areas I’d supplement. In sum, the basic comprehensiveness is fine for a standard undergraduate HR text. I would feel the need to supplement in many areas, whether wholly (e.g., CSR issues, HRIS, impact of AI, ) or to bring in more detail (e.g., ethics). In order to make room for this during a term, I’d likely not use the chapter on communication, as we cover that in our OB course and there wasn’t really anything in that chapter that seemed HR-specific.

Most of the information is accurate. However, due to the outdated nature of some of the information (the book was originally published in 2011 and this version was adapted/published in 2016 yet it seems like things weren’t updated beyond 2011…), there is some misinformation within the text that an instructor would want to be aware of. For example, Table 10.1 shows the various employment-at-will exceptions by state. Unfortunately, there are several that appear to be wrong. At the very minimum, I would recommend alerting students to the need to check on their state’s requirements and restrictions when it comes to any law as legal issues are quite fluid. To be fair, this is an issue that any textbook would have after a couple years. In addition, some links to YouTube videos no longer work so that is something to also be aware of (though the ones that do work are valuable and/or fun in many cases).

This book was originally produced in 2011 and adapted/published to the current version in 2016. While much of the basic information is still very much relevant (basic terminology and general HR concepts) some things are simply out-of-date (e.g., legal findings mentioned earlier) or haven’t updated to be fully reflect today’s realities (e.g., furloughs, gig work, AI). As I noted earlier, this is a fine basic text with most content areas included, but you should definitely plan to supplement the content to ensure you’re up-to-date with what you’re covering. This is true for any HR book that is over 3 years old. Unfortunately, given most of the information in this book is from 2011, with just a few updates in 2016, there is much to update. Is it worth compiling all of that separately versus going with a more recent/updated text? I’m not sure.

This is a clear positive for the book. I like that it is clear and there are light-hearted / funny examples that I think would appeal to students (e.g., Jack Sparrow and Barbossa negotiation video link). The cases, while sometimes a bit simplistic, are good ways to engage students in a discussion, though again with the simplicity they are likely somewhat shorter discussions (or well-suited to an online forum perhaps?). Overall, the text is well-suited for an undergraduate course (again, if supplemented content-wise), but would be far too simplistic for a graduate course.

No problems with consistency. The layout of the chapters were fine and consistent with one another. Some chapters felt far shorter with less information than others though, so it might be worth combining the chapters when covering them (e.g., Chapters 10 and 11 – both on performance management).

I have no problems here either. The chapters essentially stand on their own so you can teach them out of order, and there are links to related material in other chapters in case more explanation is needed. The text is also easily searchable, and Table of Contents easy to decipher, so the book seems easy in that respect.

The author(s) is(are) upfront about the point that there is not a separate chapter focused on HRM laws, and that instead the laws are presented in the relevant chapters. I typically like to cover a separate section on legal issues as many laws cut across HR activities and I don’t want students to be confused. I find that many students already think that many laws only apply to the hiring of people and not to things like training and development opportunities or performance management. I like to talk about them early in the course and briefly refer back to that when we get to various chapters / content. So I feel like I would be supplementing this book with a separate section just on legal issues, and it may become overly redundant when presented again later. Alternatively, it could be seen as a great reminder / refresher of information. Regardless, I’d be supplementing beyond what is here to discuss HRM laws as a separate unit/section. Job analysis is in the section on recruitment. I have never taught it there, so that’s odd for me. And no mention of O*NET? That’s a clear miss IMHO. This said, the general organization is fine if you’re okay with legal things being interspersed, etc. – and like I noted earlier, the text is easily searchable and there are links throughout that take you to areas in other parts of the text that are relevant, so that’s nice.

I had no problems with the basic interface. I was disappointed there was no subject index, but at least there is the possibility of searching in the text. Some searches are just funky (e.g., searching for ONET, it gave me “monetary” and I got nothing for O*NET, so it may be there and I just overlooked it and am not choosing the right search term). Many videos on YouTube have been removed so that’s no good, but within the text itself the links appear to work.

I may have missed some, but I didn’t see any problems here. Things were clear and easy to read, unlike some open source texts I’ve seen that feel like they were thrown together with typos and poor grammar.

Given the importance of diversity and inclusion in today’s world, and for HR in particular, I think this chapter could really be expanded on. Certainly, the surface of this issue is covered, but there is a lot more that could be done to discuss this topic. Many HR managers are struggling to update their DEI policies and create a diverse workforce, so more tangible discussions of ways to ensure equity beyond the four-fifths rule is needed. In addition, the reference to research in this chapter was a bit light, and the recommendations seemed a tad trite at times. Again, it’s great there is a chapter and the material is broached, but more depth would be ideal. In addition – the stock photos most definitely do not reflect a diverse population and should be updated accordingly so that students can relate to the profession.

If you’re looking for a basic, inexpensive option for an undergraduate HR course, and you’re willing to supplement (in some cases considerably) in order to bring in important topics and ensure the material is up-to-date, this book works. There are definitely things to like about the book, and aspects that deserve kudos. Unfortunately, as with any textbook, there are things that are missing and/or don’t work for my particular style of teaching an HR course. With some updating, I think I’d love this option. With it being so outdated, I just can’t bring myself to be excited about it as an easy option to adopt.

Reviewed by Julia Carr, Professor, James Madison University on 7/30/20

The topics covered by the book are comprehensive and reflect the areas an HR manager would deal with on a daily basis. The book begins with a very good overview of human resources with sets the stage for the information to follow. It is well organized and the Key-Takeaways will be very helpful for students as well as the way the important vocabulary is called out in bold.

The content is accurate, error-free and unbiased. It provides a good foundational knowledge for those seeking an introduction to human resource management and development. It does need to be updated with present day statistics. It does indicated that it was updated in 2016, however most of the references were from 2010 or 2011 or earlier. In addition, I would recommend a more robust group of references to deepen the content presented.

The general content covered is good and relevant to a person learning about the basics of human resource management. It hits the major functional areas if HR that I am teaching in an Introduction to HR type of class. Much of the data presented is coming from statistics gathered in 2011 or earlier. In addition there are topics where significant changes have been made since 2011, such as web-based training delivery platforms, employment law, challenges of labor unions and examples shared related to sexual orientation. That being said it is tough to keep this information up to date. There are many areas that are presented that would be very helpful to student with no background in human resource management such as the introduction of a SWOT analysis and then the practical example that follows and the forms presented such as in the section on job analysis

The text is written in an organized fashion that is easy to follow. Technical terminology is bolded and definitions are provided for additional clarity.

The text is consistent in the framework and it is very easy to follow. In addition, as an instructor, it is helpful because each chapter has the same flow and consistent ancillary items.

The design of the text lends itself to a flexible course design. It would be easy to change the organizational structure to cover things in a different order or to leave a section out if it was not relevant to course objectives. However, the topic order that the text follows work well as is and does not need much, if any adaptation.

The topics in this text were sequenced well and very easy to work though. The organization was such that it built on the basic introductory topics to the more technical concepts.

There were no significant interface issues that I encountered. I did use mainly the printable PDF version because from past experience I thought that is what my students would primarily use. There are some videos that require additional login credentials.

I did not see any glaring issues here. I do think a more robust discussion of these topics could be presented. As I said previously, much has occurred in this area since 2011. It is stated that this textbook was updated in 2016, but the references in the Diversity and Multiculturalism chapter are from 2010 and 2011. This is a chapter given the present state of our society that I feel warrants expansion and deeper coverage of the areas presented.

This textbook provides a solid foundation in human resource management and development. I would consider adopting it for my class if the information was updated and brought into present day terminology and issues/challenges. I love the organization, key takeaways and may of the exercises. I also appreciate the cases and the connection between many of the concepts to practical workplace examples.

Reviewed by Lauren Maguire, Professor, Bunker Hill Community College on 5/27/20

The text provides a solid overview of the tenants of HR Management. It is somewhat technical in its approach, but touches on all important areas of a introductory review. read more

The text provides a solid overview of the tenants of HR Management. It is somewhat technical in its approach, but touches on all important areas of a introductory review.

Content is accurate, error-free and unbiased.

The approach to the subject matter is broad and offers examples across the spectrum.

The reading level is fairly high. The text uses some business jargon and occasionally refers to concepts that may not be readily understandable to entry level students.

The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework.

The material is broken down within each chapter. Each concept is addressed individually and also as a whole.

The text manages the information in a clear and effective manner.

The text is free of significant interface issues, including navigation problems, distortion of images/charts, and any other display features that may distract or confuse the reader.

The text discusses a variety of corporate situations and managerial tools. It assumes a formal business structure which does not always address the many different cultural and personality issues which complicate HR Management.

A solid option and valuable OER resource.

Reviewed by Joshua Jensen, Adjunct Professor, SHRM-SCP, George Fox University on 4/3/20

This textbook addresses a wide range of important topics relevant to human resource management today. The text covers most of the key areas that should be considered in an undergraduate course on human resource management. Strengths of the text include content related to the strategic role of HR (Chapter 2), which is placed toward the front of the text (as it should be), along with content related to HR’s role in retention of top talent (Chapter 7). A weaknesses of the text relates to the inclusion of a chapter on successful employee communication (Chapter 9). This is indeed an important topic but one that is often covered in other undergraduate courses. Another weakness of the text is that it is very thin on any content related to Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS), which in today’s global business environment is a critical component of an effective human resource management function. On a final note, a considerable difference between this text and most other HR texts is that it addresses applicable HR/employment laws within each respective section of the text, whereas many other human resource management texts dedicate an entire chapter to HR/employment laws. The approach of this text makes more sense as these concepts are often first exposure for many students in an undergraduate human resource management course.

The content of the text is accurate and relatively free from error. The text does a good job of providing sources for most information. However, I would recommend inclusion of more rigorous, academic sources to complement the existing professional sources referenced throughout the text. Several of the URLs and links provided throughout the text are broken and need updated. Human resource management changes so frequently and any textbook on the subject must also be updated frequently, as discussed below.

Human resource management is a highly dynamic subject matter. Just this week Congress and the President enacted significant new legislation related to human resource management and employment matters due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a good example of just how fast things can change in the field of human resource management. While I wouldn’t expect a textbook on human resource management to be updated in real-time, I would expect that it be reviewed at least every two years, if not every year. Some content of the text is outdated and in need of refreshing. Many of the data points and sources used throughout the text are outdated – some by nearly 10 years. The text does not provide adequate coverage of Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS), which is a critical component of any human resource department today. On a final note, in the discussion regarding skills necessary for human resource management, the discussion on HR certification only covers the Human Resource Certification Institute’s (HRCI) PHR, SPHR, and GPHR certifications. The text makes no mention of the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) HR certifications which came on the scene over 5 years ago. The SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP today are highly recognized and sought-after standards in the human resource field.

The text is well written with regard to clarity. Human resource management is a complex subject matter, yet the text does a very good job of addressing difficult topics in a clear, easy to understand manner. It provides the perfect balance of informal and technical language.

The text is internally consistent in terms structure and style. The terminology, framework, and flow of the text is very good. Chapters are sequenced in a logical format, and chapters have a similar look and feel. No inconsistencies were noted.

The modularity of the text provides for ease of breaking down concepts and looking at individual components within chapters. The Table of Contents guides the reader to particular sections within each chapter which is helpful. The text is organized by relevant chapters and then each chapter is organized with multiple sections that are of reasonable length with appropriate section headings that are easy to follow. Overall the book is easy to navigate.

Overall the text is organized very well, the structural consistency is good, and the content flows in a very effective manner. Organization is critical to a complex subject matter, and this text provides that.

The text is laid out well and is visually appealing. It is more “exciting” from a visual perspective than many e-texts I have come across. Sections are properly titled and they are chunked into sections that contain manageable amounts of information. However, as mentioned previously, many of the URLs and links throughout the text are broken and don’t work. Many of the video links do not work as well.

The text is well-edited and relatively free from grammatical and typographical errors.

I appreciate the fact that the text had a separate chapter on Diversity and Multiculturalism (Chapter 3). That said, it could be more robust, and include other forms of bias not mentioned (such as unconscious bias). In general, the discussions on diversity and inclusion are well laid out. One issue that I would point out is that while there are few images and pictures sprinkled throughout the text, these images do not portray much diversity – they mostly reflect individuals of Caucasian decent with very little cultural diversity reflected. Consideration of updating the images and pictures to reflect the more current diverse workforce is recommended.

Overall, this open textbook on Human Resource Management is a good open textbook that is a viable alternative to expensive big-publisher textbooks on the subject matter for an undergraduate class. While the textbook is not perfect (and no textbook is), I support adoption of this open textbook for undergraduate human resource management courses facilitated by a human resource management professional who can supplement the text with updated materials and cases to give students a relevant and current overview of the human resource management field.

Reviewed by Jiwon Suh, Assistant Professor, University of Texas at Arlington on 2/5/20

The author covers pretty much every topic that should be covered in HR management. Especially, I like that the author places Strategic HR management upfront. Additionally, I like that the author has a chapter 9: Successful Employee Communication... read more

I did not come across any inaccuracies. But, I found some tables do not have references.

This textbook needs to be updated. Tables are mostly from 2010 - 2011 which are perceived old. For example, Table 14.2 Top Global 100 Companies is based on 2010 data. We all know that the contents in the table are no longer true. Also, youtube videos should be replaced with more recent examples.

This textbook is written concisely, and I believe students would easily be able to read and understand.

The structure and style are great and consistent. I also like the cases that are included at the end of the each chapter. It will be easily used by instructors.

The content is adequately divided into small pieces. Yes, the modularity is great.

The organization of the chapters are good, easy to follow, and very logical.

No serious issue, but some minor issues as I mentioned earlier. Some tables do not include references.

I did not come across any grammatical errors.

I did not notice any cultural insensitivity. Diversity and cultural perspectives are a very important topic in HR management and the textbook successfully includes the topic.

Generally, this textbook is in excellent shape and I am considering to adopt. However, I strongly recommend to update or publish the next version.

Reviewed by Patturaja Selvaraj, Assistant Professor, Gettysburg College on 3/14/19

The textbook covers the most important topics in Human Resource Management. Diversity is vital for the success of organizations. A full fledged chapter covers the aspects of diversity and multiculturalism. The following topics could have been covered in detail: Equal Employment Opportunity and the legal environment, Employee Benefits, HR Analytics (could have been a separate chapter), Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) and Talent Management. Employee engagement is emerging as an important area in HRM. A separate chapter about employee engagement would have added great value. Subject index at the end would be of great help.

I did not come across any inaccuracies in the textbook. The information and examples provided is accurate and unbiased. Some of the practical aspects of HRM are justified using theories. It provides an opportunity for the participants to know about the theoretical underpinnings as well.

Constant changes in laws and regulations make it difficult to incorporate the amendments, as and when it takes place. Some of the examples are dated. The text is simple, hence incorporating updates will not be an issue.

The content is simple and well structured. The examples provided for the concepts would help students to learn the concepts clearly and grasp it quickly. The cases provided at the end of every chapter is also very helpful.

I found the textbook to be consistent. There is not much of overlap between chapters. The book chapters are arranged in a logical chronological order , which provides an opportunity for the students to built on the concepts learnt in earlier chapters.

The textbook is divided into different sections and organized very well. It is easy to read and understand each section. The table of contents provide link to different sections, which makes it easy to access the particular section in the textbook.

The content and topics are arranged in a logical order. Students would be curious to know about the benefits that they would be entitled for, as an employee. It would help to provide more details about employee benefits.

There is a scope for improvement, although I did not encounter major issues. 1) some of the links require login credentials. 2) Some of the video links did not work. for examples the link provided in page 125 (Silly Job interviews: Monty Python) did not work. 3) issue with page lay out for tables and figures. for example In page 35. the table heading appears in page 35 whereas the table appears in page 36.

The textbook appears inclusive. It is neither insensitive nor offensive. It has a separate chapter dedicated towards diversity and multiculturalism.

This is a good text book for a beginner to understand the basic functions of Human Resource Management and it also provides practitioner focus. The book is very practical and interesting. The cases and video links provided would help the students to understand the concept in a better way. The text book can covers some topics in greater detail like - In the job analysis topic, detailed coverage of techniques for collecting data for job analysis and also mention about different job analysis technique could have incorporated. Similarly, in Chapter 2, the author could have mentioned how HR practices change depending on the strategy of the organization like cost leadership, differentiation and focus. While discussing about different techniques of selection, discussing about group discussion, case method, case competition conducted by different organizations would have helped students to know more about different and contemporary techniques. While discussing about pay for performance , it would have helped to know about advantages and disadvantages of pay for performance and conditions in which it can/cannot be used. Overall, it is a comprehensive textbook.

Reviewed by Lee Myers, Faculty, Linn-Benton Community College on 2/13/19

The (2016) content is appropriate for a survey course in Human Resources Management. It is geared toward helping current and future supervisors and managers understand the functions, roles, and practices needed to manage employees. While the practical examples and applications are dated (2011) key HRM terms are relevant and are clearly communicated. The specific sections of the text that are limited and could use more detail:

1. Laws, regulations, and policies. Laws have been amended, legislation has been passed and agency regulations have changed since 2011 (e.g., the Affordable Care Act, FSLA, Privacy Law, OSHA, IRS (tax) and Labor Law)

2. Include a new section on HRM digital technology, (e.g., Talent websites, social media, video job interviewing, mobile apps and optimization, cloud-based record management, analytics, and predictive modeling, real-time and always-on feedback systems)

The text is relatively free from errors. Authors have taken care to represent several sources and practices applicable to various public and private organizations as well as industries and company size. Relevance and reflection of recent research are a greater concern.

Specific content reflecting "current practices" and organizations dated. Updates would be time-consuming in order to replace existing content. Most examples are from resources dated 2011 or prior.

The writing style is conversational and has limited jargon. It is appropriate for most students at the community college level.

Consistency rating: 3

The framework is consistent from section to section. The section content does build upon previously discussed and defined terminology.

The content is broken down in a format where cross-reference links are embedded into section areas. While the intention is to help the reader either skip to a section or review content from an earlier section, it be may not be all that helpful to the reader. A possible alternative to this formatting would be: 1. Including a glossary of terms and subject index. 2. Including a typeface whereby the key terms are not only bolded but the definition of the term is also designated by italics or linked to a lookup feature.

Modularity rating: 3

Most Human Resources Management activities do not happen in a vacuum, therefore, the difficulty of creating a text that is modular reflect this challenge. The text is broken down according to basic HR functions and concepts and has some potential of reorganization and standalone capability.

There are some distortion and sizing issues with images and charts. Some video quality is marginal.

Most resource direct links are currently available, though have not been updated with current material. (e.g., Dictionary of Occupational Titles -could be updated to using O*Net Online, YouTube videos could be searched for more current content and higher quality video, SHRM resources replaced by sources that do not require access rights or logins.)

Few grammatical, word usage or typographical errors were noted.

To be more reflective and sensitive to the current workforce and cultures, additional content would make the text more inclusive. (e.g., gender identity, sexual orientation, single parenting and caregiving, biculturalism, veteran status, and disabilities.)

The basic structure (headings and numbering) allows users to navigate throughout the document and appear to be conducive to assistive technology. YouTube videos allow for closed captioning and transcripts increasing accessibility.

Reviewed by Huh-Jung Hahn, Assistant Professor, Winona State University on 5/21/18

The textbook is very comprehensive, covering various subjects adequately. Unlike most other HRM textbooks, some unique chapters (e.g., Chapter 3 and Chapter 9) are included. However, some areas can be improved by adding more explanations or detailed information. My overall impression about the contents is that they are short and simple. This is fine for a survey textbook, but can be too brief for students wanting to study the topics in depth. Furthermore, it would help to have an index or glossary at the end.

Overall, the content is conveyed accurately with a neutral tone.

Some of the HR content (e.g. laws and regulations) requires continuous updates due to constant changes. Considering that the textbook was written several years ago, an update is recommended in terms of the content and the supplementary materials.

The author did an excellent job on clarity of the content. The content was very straight-forward and well-guided for readers.

The textbook has a high-level of consistency in terms of terminologies, interfaces, and organizations.

The textbook's modularity is excellent. The content is adequately divided into smaller chunks.

The topics are arranged in a logical order. Also, chapters throughout the textbook did a great job on connecting different topics by referring to other chapters appropriately. This may help students understand the interconnectivity of contents.

There were no significant interface issues. The textbook's interface was easy to follow and consistent throughout the chapters. However, I recommend addressing an issue regarding page layout for tables or figures. Specifically, several pages do not present tables or figures despite showing only their titles. For example, the title of a table is placed on page 254, while the actual table is shown on page 255. Similar issues are found on pages 269-270 and pages 295-296.

I did not notice any grammatical errors.

I did not notice any cultural insensitivity or offensiveness in the content. Rather, the textbook puts the importance of cultural perspectives as one of the key fundamentals for good HR practice; this was done by placing the subject of diversity and multi-culturalism at the front of the textbook while other HR textbooks do not.

The author did an excellent job on making the content very practical and interesting. Each chapter has a good balance of containing both general information and the necessary how-to's for particular, real-world situations. Human Resources Recall, cases, and exercises at the end of each chapter are very critical and thought-evoking - one of the best that I have ever seen. Lastly, this book leaves a very positive impression in regards to the quality of open textbooks. This reviewer hopes the use of open textbooks becomes more mainstream throughout universities and other teaching institutions.

Reviewed by Joseph Frank, Adjunct Instructor / Manager HR Reporting and Compliance, Fontbonne University on 5/21/18

The book covers a wide variety of topics related to human resources management. There is 1 brief mention of analytics for candidate sourcing, but much more discussion of HR analytics is needed in order to bring this forward to present day. The... read more

The book covers a wide variety of topics related to human resources management.

There is 1 brief mention of analytics for candidate sourcing, but much more discussion of HR analytics is needed in order to bring this forward to present day. The HR analytics subfield has grown dramatically in its significance to the field during the past decade. Also the related subfield of HR Information Systems is barely mentioned at all. A solid understanding of HR practice requires knowledge of how these subfields work and how they relate to the other subfields such as recruitment, training, compensation, benefits, etc.

The content is somewhat accurate but not always unbiased. For example, the discussion of how we define diversity vs multiculturalism is not necessarily how I would have constructed it. Another example is Table 2.2. It is a good summary of the 4 stages in business lifecycle but “Seattle University presentation” is not the original source of this! That’s like the kind of citation an undergraduate student might use in a paper. The citations URLs overall – when they are not broken links -- are from random local news and other types of websites that are rather dated (like jobs.aol.com) way too often. These are the kinds of sources that disappear quickly. Academic citations would be much more stable, but admittedly less digestible for the average student. However, more solid academic citations would be more useful as resources to give students for writing their own academically rigorous papers.

HR is a difficult topic to keep up-to-date. The activities are actually really good and pretty much timeless, especially the suggested group activities (although most of those would be hard to do in an online class, could be useful face-to-face).

I have several concerns in the discussion of generational differences. The “Generation Y” case study reads really outdated. Millennials now make up a slight majority of the workforce. Would be more compelling as a discussion of how Generation Z – the group really entering the workforce and college in the next 5 years – as Digital Natives differs from Millennial, Gen X, Baby Boomer and the earlier generations work styles. Lots of articles are out there now that could be cited about “the 5 generations now in the workforce.” This quote is also outdated and conflicts with current reality: "It is expected that over the next ten years, over 40 percent of the workforce will retire, and there will not be enough younger workers to take the jobs once held by the retiring workforce (Fernandez, 2007)". In fact, Baby Boomers – and some of the older generation too -- have stuck around. Because of the 2009 recession, many could not afford to retire when they planned. As an instructor with this book I would have to supplement with more current articles.

The section about PHR, SPHR and GPHR is now outdated since SHRM is now offering their own competing credentials. That’s a confusing landscape even for seasoned HR pros – needs some explanation for students to understand how and why to pursue those HRCI credentials instead of SHRM-CP, etc.

Also I have several concerns in the areas of compensation and benefits. The ACA discussion is very, very outdated. Section 6.4 should be called Benefits instead of Other Types of Compensation, and the title of Chapter 6 should be Total Rewards in order to be current with the jargon typically used today in the professionals of compensation and benefits.

Also policies and employee relations matters need updating. Sections about social media recruiting are very outdated (reflecting a 2011-12 timeframe). Issues with mobile device usage by nonexempt workers (i.e., Chicago Police Department) and overtime eligibility not addressed. Map of “right-to-work” states is also outdated given the political debates in several states on this issue. Internet usage policy is mentioned but nothing specifically about employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act (even in non-union employers) to conduct protected concerted activity online. This has in practice limited the legal scope of Internet acceptable use and social media policies.

The writing is accessible, conversational without being unprofessional, and generally clear even when addressing complex, confusing jargon-laden HR topics. This is where this book excels!

The framework and terminology used are generally consistent without the textbook, although not always consistent with the terminology actually used by current-day HR practitioners.

It would be pretty easy for me as an instructor to pick and choose chapters from this book to utilize and not stick with the textbook order. For example, I would pretty much scrap Chapter 6 (compensation and benefits) and replace with more current articles that reflect current practice in Total Rewards, particularly the impacts of the Affordable Care Act. But much of the other content I could use without too many changes and without much concern that the chapter refers to the previous chapter a great deal.

The content generally flows well, although some of the "key takeaways" call-out boxes could be shorter and more succinct.

Most of the video links did not work for me, and the ones that did were pretty low-quality videos. Maybe that's just a function of my connection speed, but could use enhancement. Many of the images were stock photos of questionable relevance to the content.

The grammar and the writing style were generally easy to follow and there were few typographical errors.

The discussion of multiculturalism vs diversity is a good one, but leaves out the most common diversity and inclusion training concept in U.S. corporations today: unconscious bias. Also the imagery is still mostly white faces in this chapter, which is also problematic. Aspiring HR practitioners are in my experience more diverse than the general student population. Overall, the book has too many white faces in its imagery (whether stock photos or cartoons) which is problematic given the increasingly diverse U.S. student body and workforce. A textbook about HR matters including diversity and Equal Employment Opportunity needs to be especially cognizant of this.

Many videos required a login; and many of the URLs deep-linking to specific articles from HRE, SHRM, etc don’t work anymore.

Reviewed by Mussie Tessema, Professor, Winona State University on 5/21/18

The textbook covers most HR topics that are found in other HRM textbooks. Although many issues related to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) were discussed in different chapters, it would have been good if an entire chapter had been devoted to EEO. Besides, compensation and benefits were discussed in one chapter (chapter 6), which should have been discussed under two separate chapters given the size, variety, and importance of employee benefits. Unlike other HRM textbook, however, the textbook includes full-fledged chapters on communication (chapter 9), and diversity and multiculturism (chapter 3), which are both important in effectively managing an organizational workforce.

The content of the textbook is accurate and unbiassed. It covers fair presentation of the theoretical and practical aspects of HRM and includes references of all sources used, which also improve their verification and credibility.

The content of the textbook is relevant to the respective HR topics/issues, although some of the data/information are not updated. The textbook was originally published in 2011/2012 and used sources from 2005-2010. Since its publication, there have been some legislative (laws and regulations) changes which have impacted some HR practices. Overall, the textbook is written in such a way that makes future updates relatively simple.

The textbook is written clearly and offers good examples and explanations of HR concepts and terminology.

The style and presentation of the content of the textbook is consistent across all 14 chapters, which makes it easy to follow.

The 14 chapters are divided into HR topics and sub-topics, which are also arranged in manageable sizes for the reader. Such presentation also makes navigation and assigning readings to students easy and straightforward.

The textbook presented the 14 chapters in a logical and straight forward manner. It assigned learning objectives for each chapter and section, which allow students what to expect from each chapter/section.

The textbook is free of any issues with the interface or distortion of images/charts, and any other display features that may distract or confuse the reader. The only problem I encountered was with some links that required login credentials (e.g. video link: Chapter 2.2- How Would You Handle This).

The textbook does not contain grammatical errors that would be distracting to students. I only found a few typo-errors, which could be easily corrected. For example, on page 23, “… and expectations are different(Capezza, 2010).” There is no space between the word ‘different’ and ‘(Capezza)’. Also, there is no space between ‘200,000’ and ‘total’ on page 393, “… incidence rate=number of injuries and illness × 200,000total hours worked by all employees…”.

The textbook does not have insensitive or offensive examples. Unlike other HRM textbooks, it dedicated a chapter to “diversity and multiculturism” (chapter 3), which is also presented fairly. It also makes a good point in that while diversity is about the ingredients, the mix of people and perspectives, inclusion is about the container, the place that allows employees to feel they belong, to feel both accepted and different. Cultural sensitivity is a critical issue in managing people in an organization.

It is one of the best textbooks I have used. It presents both the theoretical and practical aspects of HRM in appealing and convincing way. Overall, it is clear and easy to follow and is a great textbook for course in HRM for undergrad students. My two comments are: Adding two more chapters: Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and employee benefits and updating the text with most recent laws and regulations.

Reviewed by Denise Potosky, Professor, Penn State University on 2/1/18

The textbook covers most of the main topics typically associated with HRM and includes a "linked" table of contents. The definition of HRM in Chapter 1 (“the process of employing people, training them, compensating them, developing policies relating to them, and developing strategies to retain them”) is used to set up most of the subsequent chapters in the text. But this definition is narrower and more basic than the implied definition of HRM according to Ulrich’s model presented in Chapter 2, in which a manager of HR needs to be a strategic partner, change agent, administrative and functional expert, human capital developer, and an employee advocate. I wish the text were organized to address the latter definition, as it would be more comprehensive and suitable for advanced undergraduate and graduate level students interested in managing human resources and/or becoming HR managers.

The depth of coverage varies for each topic. The information on compensation, for example, is quite detailed and interesting, but the information on selection tends to "mention" ideas rather than develop details.

In Chapter 4, the section on job analysis seems peculiar. First, figure 4 provides a very simple process model (e.g., select the jobs to study, determine information needed, identify sources of data…), but then quickly introduces forms and questionnaires. Where are students of this course supposed to get the questionnaires? Then task vs. competency-based approaches are described, but there is no mention of worker-based job analysis approaches. If a competency approach focuses on KSAOs, is it still a job analysis?

And why not use O*Net to help identify essential tasks of common jobs?

A lot of the information presented is general and most information is accurate, albeit dated in places.

Some of the information provided is incorrect. For example, in the context of selection tests in Chapter 5, the author states, “Personality tests such as Meyers-Briggs and the “Big Five” personality factors may be measured and then compared with successful employee scores.” The Meyers Briggs measures personality style and preferences, not personality traits, and is not valid for use in selection.

In other places, the presentation of information is peculiar and somewhat misleading, if not incorrect. For example, when presenting cognitive ability tests, the author writes, “A cognitive ability test measures intelligences, such as numerical ability and reasoning. The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is an example of a cognitive ability test. It is important to note that some cognitive ability tests can have disparate impact. For example, in EEOC v. Ford Motor Co. and United Automobile Workers of America, African Americans were rejected from an apprentice program after taking a cognitive test known as the Apprenticeship Training Selection System (ATSS)1. The test showed significant disparate impact on African Americans, and it was then replaced by a different selection procedure, after costing Ford $8.55 million. Some sample test categories might include the following…”

The SAT is considered as an entrance exam by some universities, and the ATSS showed disparate impact against African Americans. In fact, many if not most cognitive ability tests administered in the U.S., including the SAT, are associated with disparate impact. This is an important consideration, but is it part of the definition of what cognitive ability tests are? Why not have a separate paragraph about disparate impact in selection tests, which would include considering how interviews and various tests might create adverse impact?

Another example where accuracy can be questioned is the statement “Most expatriates go through four phases of adjustment when they move overseas for an assignment.” (Chapter 14). A few studies have found some support for the culture shock model of adjustment, but several studies have found that this model is not very accurate. Further, expatriation is only one type of global assignment, and is not necessarily the most popular type of global work performed in organizations today. More recent research evidence would really help to update the material presented.

An HRM textbook can be difficult to keep up-to-date, and the author has done a good job in terms of the many laws and changes to HR systems that have occurred since the 1980s. That said, the underlying assumptions and research evidence for the different recommendations regarding key HR practices do not always reflect current thinking in the field. There is so much to cover and keep up-to-date, it might be helpful to have co-authors from different areas of expertise in the different HR functional areas work on this textbook.

In addition, some of the actitivities seem dated. For example, in chapter 1 the exercise reads: "In a group of two to three people, research possible career paths in HRM and prepare a PowerPoint presentation to discuss your findings." In an online course (likely to use an online textbook), student teams are likely to use other, newer presentation technology and formats.

The language used throughout the book is professional and accessible, but sometimes the author assumes that little to no explanation is necessary for examples or key points. For example, I watched the Wendy’s 1989 training video (Chapter 8), but whatever the author implied was excellent about this training video was not obvious to me. The author states, “This excellent training video was used at Wendy’s to teach employees how to grill the perfect burger. Although the video is over twenty years old, the concepts used in it are still true today.” What concepts? Why is this video excellent?

The author writes, "this book is equally important to someone who wants to be an HR manager and to someone who will manage a business," but for the most part this book assumes that the reader is a student looking to begin a career as an HR manager. All of the information and cases put the reader in the role of an HR manager or consultant. For example, in chapter 1, "You have just been hired to work in the human resource department of a small company. You heard about the job through a conference you attended, put on by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)." Why would anyone not already pursuing a career in HRM attend a SHRM conference?

For someone going into HR, some of the scenarios make it seem deceptively easy to change an organization's culture or people's attitudes towards, say, training or performance. In several places, key information is presented more like "do's and don'ts" advice than evidence-based guidelines.

The overall format of the book is very consistent, with key concepts presented at the beginning and summary definitions and exercises presented at the end of each chapter. Some of these exercises and cases seem quite good and interesting.

This is a difficult criterion to evaluate because certain concepts and practices in HRM would be difficult to move around in a 100% modular fashion in a course. For example, job analysis and specification needs to come before recruitment, which logically precedes information on selection, training, and performance appraisal. Overall, this textbook does a fairly good job addressing so many different but related concepts and practices in separate chapters, and as such could probably be reorganized to some extent.

One thing that could be improved, however, is the fact that in the first five chapters, the author often mentions that other topics will be covered later in the book. For example, several legal concepts are embedded in the material for different chapters, but sometimes this information seems "too little, too late" in that students may not have the opportunity to develop an overall understanding of the U.S. legal framework for employment. By the time they get to international HRM in Chapter 14, it may not be obvious why the managers in the case about operating in Peru were unable to anticipate cultural and legal differences.

The opening case for chapter 4, similar to the one used in the other chapters, seems to refer to a 50-employee company. Is the author recommending a job analysis for 50 employees? Wouldn’t employees in a smaller firm have more overlap between jobs? What about person-job fit or person-organization fit?

Most of the opening chapter cases put the reader in the role of an HR manager in a small firm, but chapter 7 abruptly tells the reader to change roles to an “HR consultant.”

The overall organization and flow of the chapters is clear.

The interface is ok. There aren't many images or figures. The figures are fairly small on the screen, and it would be good to have a "click to enlarge" link associated with some of them.

Most of the video links return the message, "“Flash-embedded videos are no longer supported…but you can watch on YouTube.” The video on "Stereotypes and the Effect on Privilege" in chapter 3 is no longer available on YouTube.

Grammatical Errors rating: 3

The use of second person and especially second person commands adds a “preachy” tone. For example, “Make sure that job announcements aren’t posted only for your Facebook friends to see; post them in a variety of places to gain the largest and most diverse response.”

Although the sentences are grammatically correct, it is not appropriate to change person and verb tense and voice so frequentialy within paragraphs. For example, “Once you have developed your recruitment plan, recruited people, and now have plenty of people to choose from, you can begin the selection process. The selection process refers to the steps involved in choosing people who have the right qualifications to fill a current or future job opening. Usually, managers and supervisors will be ultimately responsible for the hiring of individuals…”

I did not find this text to be insensitive or offensive. In chapter 3, the author perhaps approaches inclusiveness to a fault. multiculturalism is not defined, but focuses on inclusiveness, understanding, and respect, “looks at” unequal power and privilege, i.e., whether “advantages are based on a system in which one race, gender, and sexual orientation is predominant in setting societal rules and norms.” Although the author claims that “the idea of power and privilege is not about “white male bashing” but understanding our own stereotypes and systems of advantage so we can be more inclusive with our coworkers, employees, and managers.” Yet, in a U.S. business school classroom context, it is difficult to imagine that a white, heterosexual, male student won’t view this as some sort of intervention. At the end of the chapter, the focus on inclusiveness and respect seems to fade into the background: “Multiculturalism is a term that is similar to diversity, but it focuses on development of a greater understanding of how power in society can be unequal due to race, gender, sexual orientation, power, and privilege.” In the chapter on selection, a few of the example interview questions are confusing and may suggest an implicit bias. For example, “You can’t ask direct questions about marital status or ages of children. An alternative may be to ask, ‘Do you have any restrictions on your ability to travel, since this job requires 50 percent travel?’” This example made me pause, as it seems to imply that readers assume that a job candidate's willingness to travel is somehow connected to their marital status or family situation. Why is a question about travel an alternative to a question about marital/family status?

I appreciate and admire the effort that went into preparing this text, as I believe it is a tremendous endeavor in a rapidly changing field that functions in so many different ways in different types of organizations.

The exercises and case examples are a strength and they reflect the author's commitment to students application of course concepts and their development of critical thinking skills.

Reviewed by Valerie Wallingford, Professor, Bemidji State University on 4/11/17

The majority of the HRM topics included in most HRM textbooks. That being said there area few areas that were left out or could be elaborated upon: Equal Employment Opportunity should have an entire chapter devoted to it. Workforce, jobs, and job analysis should have an entire chapter devoted to it. Training & development were combined in one chapter and possibly should have a chapter devoted to each topic. Compensation & benefits were combined in one chapter and possibly should have a chapter devoted to each topic. There should be a chapter devoted to employee rights and responsibilities. A new release is probably due to discuss changes in healthcare, etc.

Content was accurately represented (just needs to be updated with most recent laws and regulations), error-free, and unbiased with good examples and links that support the content.

The most recent reference source noted was 2012 which is already 5 years old. A newer release would be good to make sure that recent changes in laws and regulations are covered such as with healthcare requirements.

The text was written so that students would easily be able to read and comprehend the material.

All chapters utilized consistent terminology, style and structure which makes it easy to follow.

It is consistent in that chapter concepts are introduced and further expanded upon, therefore, I see no disruption to the reader so yes the book's content has modularity.

I think the organization is for the most part good. However, equal employment opportunity should be covered early on and as I mentioned in #1 there are chapters that combine two important topics that should be in separate chapters, etc.

Some videos required additional login information that I was not able to view. For the most part the book's interface was good.

There were no grammatical errors that I found.

The content was written with no biases, it utilized good examples that were inclusive. I did not perceive anything to be insensitive or offensive.

I teach a senior undergraduate level HRM course and this course needs to cover the latest in rules and regulations which this text does not in some case. Therefore, I would not adopt this text for my course but it may be appropriate for lower level HRM courses.

Reviewed by Kathy Milhauser, Professor, Concordia University Portland on 12/5/16

The text covers most of the necessary material to support an introductory course in Human Resource Management for undergraduate business students. One topic that I don’t always see emphasized in textbooks that was included here was Retention of employees (Chapter 7) and Communication (Chapter 9) which I believe could be left out, since this is covered in lower division courses on organizational behavior and communication. The only thing I didn’t see that is included in the text I am currently using was a chapter on Job Design.

I didn’t see any accuracy issues, other than issues with the use of data and sources that are a few years old that may no longer be accurate. Details in the Relevance section.

I didn’t find all of the videos to be as helpful as I would have liked, and didn’t feel that they were tied in very well with the key points in the text (i.e. Dilbert Video in Chapter 1). Text uses data from 2010 census that should be updated (Figure 1.6). Generational differences article was from 2005.

The book was primarily written to the potential HR Manager. I prefer a perspective that speaks to any potential/future manager in a way that holds each accountable for managing human resources, not looking to a formal HR Manager to do so. Sections on how to develop an HRM Plan, for example, would not be relevant to managers of other functions, even though the tasks in the HRM Plan might represent valuable work for any manager to perform.

I really like some of the examples and explanations of concepts. Section 3.2 does an especially good job of defining and illustrating issues of privilege that can be encountered in the workplace. Chapter 4 on Recruitment is also very clearly laid out and would be simple for students to follow. Good integration of motivational theories to help students think about various compensation plans in Chapter 5.

I found the style and structure of the text to be consistent.

The text could easily be aligned to a 10 week term or 15 week semester course, as the chapters can be assigned singly or in pairs to students and support classroom activities and projects. Chapters could also be assigned and used out of order.

I thought the flow of the text was fine. I can see following the flow of the chapters in a course, or changing the order of some of the chapters, and don’t see any issues with this in the design of the text.

Getting back to the text after watching a video required using the back button – it would be easy for students to be distracted by the additional videos offered, and not go back to their reading. There were also some links that required a user. i.d. and password that I wasn’t able to access (api.wistia.com . . .). There were also YouTube videos linked to the text that are no longer available (i.e. Chapter 3). Video in Chapter 4 on Top Interview Questions wanted viewer to click on Subscribe.

I saw only a few very minor grammatical errors that would not be distracting to students.

There was a very good chapter on Diversity and Multiculturalism (Chapter 3) and another on International HRM (Chapter 14) that were very good and added to the global relevance and cultural issues in organizations.

I think this is a great book, and could be an asset to a course in Human Resource Management for undergrad students. It is well written and provides clear, easily usable activities, exercises, and cases. My only issues are that there are some issues with some of the videos and quite a few of the resources need to be updated to ensure relevance.

Reviewed by Tom Zeni, Assistant Professor, West Virginia University on 12/5/16

The book includes all of the major HR functional areas and topics included in most HRM textbooks. To their credit, the author choose to include several additional sections (such as communication, management & leadership styles, and multiculturalism) that are not found in traditional HRM texts. There have been several key legislative changes which have impacted the field of HRM since the text's last update. Discussions surrounding the Affordable Care Act and recent changes to the FLSA should be added to subsequent releases. I was not able to locate an index or glossary per se, however, a list of references is provided at the end of each major topic.

I did not observe any inaccuracies in reading the text and the language used is objective and neutral.

The book is definitely arranged to make future updates relatively simple. In my earlier comments, I suggested several potential updates which could be (along with all others) seamlessly integrated into the existing work.

The author does an excellent job of keeping the text readable, particularly when addressing topics that can sometimes get bogged down in legalese and other jargon (we love or acronyms). The author introduces the language of HR in a way an everyday reader can interpret.

The text follows a general format throughout making it easy to navigate on all platforms.

In its current form, the text is reasonable modular. Chapters are broken into topics and these are referenced in the Table of Contents making navigation straightforward. Within each topic are various subtopics. These are arranged and blocked in manageable sizes for the reader. As a recommendation for improvement, the author may wish to consider revisiting the topics/subtopics. In many cases throughout the text, the number of subtopics under and topic heading are fairly large. It would benefit the reader to either have more topics with fewer subtopics, or to have subtopics referenced in the Table of Contents for easy navigation.

The topics are presented in a fairly standard fashion that mimics the flow of human capital through an organization. Many HR areas overlap, and I commend the author on the introduction of topics when necessary to fully explain a concept, while indicating the topic will be discussed in further detail later (see, for example, the treatment of EEOC concerns in Chapter 3 on Diversity & Multiculturalism and how it is revisited again in Chapters 4 and 5). This is a glaring omission in many other works, and it serves to make the concepts feel isolated and distinct when they are very much interrelated. Bravo!

I did not observe any issues with the interface or distortion. I will note that at least one video link I attempted to follow required login credentials and I was therefore not able to view it (see Chapter 2.2 "How Would You Handle This?).

I did not notice any grammatical errors in the book.

The text includes a chapter on the front end devoted to Diversity and Multiculturalism. I see this as an improvement over many texts that do not have a devoted chapter on the subject, or that "tuck it away" towards the end. Cultural sensitivity is an important issue in HR and General Management, and introducing the topic up front allows the reader to consider cultural issues throughout the remainder of the text. The author does a noticeably good job of selecting images and stories the reflect cultural diversity as well.

One of the more comprehensive (yet readable) HR textbooks I have encountered. Each chapter opens with a short vignette that puts the reader into a lifelike and highly probable scenario, engaging their interest in what's to come. This is a refreshing change over the traditional chapter opening highlighting a corporate operating lesson. Beyond the text, the book is embedded with external resources that are both interesting and relevant, improving the reader's overall experience. Each section is organized by learning objectives, chapters close with summaries and exercises... this book delivers everything a traditional textbook has to offer and then some!

Reviewed by Valerie Barnett, Instructor, Kansas State University on 8/21/16

The textbook covers some topics in depth, but leaves key elements out of other topic areas. For example, the section related to workforce planning in chapter 2 does not completely cover supply and demand and does not discuss actions that can be taken to respond to anticipated surpluses and shortages. Background and reference checks were not covered in the chapter on selection. Employment laws were covered briefly in chapter 3 and interspersed throughout the text. It felt like a piecemeal approach.

The textbook included complete chapters on employee communication, retention and motivation, and safety and health. These are topics I normally reference, but do not cover in depth in my course.

I did not find any inaccuracies. However, I found that in some places the author used different terminology than what is normally used by human resource management professionals.

The textbook was originally published around 2011 and key cases and laws are not included in the text. Many of the YouTube videos are available, but are dated.

The book provides good examples and cases to explore the concepts and terminology.

Modularity rating: 2

The book incorporates the practice of introducing a topic and then indicating that the topic will be explored further in later sections and chapters of the textbook. This practice would make it hard to assign chapters out of order.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 2

The chapters are not organized in the order I normally teach the topics and topics are covered in more than one chapter. Compensation and benefits are discussed in the same chapter. Typically I use texts that include separate chapters for pay structure, incentive pay and benefits and I cover the topics in more depth.

The interface is fairly clean. Several of the videos required an access authentication code. However, most of the links to videos worked.

I did not find any problems with the grammar in the textbook.

I did not notice any insensitive or offensive examples or references in the text.

This book does not fit my needs. According to the preface, "competing books are focused on the academic part of HRM, which is necessary in a university or college setting. However, the goal with this book is not only to provide the necessary academic background information but also to present the material with a practitioner’s focus on both large and small businesses." I needed the book to go into more depth in some areas and include less information on other topics.

The organization of the topics and the flow of the textbook also does not work with the way I teach my class.

However, I will use this textbook as a source for my teaching. The text includes excellent cases, discussion questions, tables, videos, etc. that I can use to enhance the class.

Reviewed by Marilyn Byrd, Assistant Professor, University of Oklahoma on 1/12/15

The author covered the most commonly discussed topics that are found in HRM textbooks. Setting this textbook apart from others was the inclusion of a standalone chapter on communication. This is sensible since communication is critical to managing people. The inclusion of a section on workplace bullying and workplace violence is also timely and not commonly provided in detail to which the author presented. Also I was pleased to see a discussion on career development and succession planning these items are often missing from HRM textbooks.

The author included discussion of SIGs, professional organizations, and conferences as a useful way for professionals to enhance their professional expertise and as a source for jobs. This is another discussion that is timely and well needed.

Based on the other HRM textbooks I have used, the author gives an accurate presentation of HRM. By using examples like the Fortune 500 Focus and links to resources that support the discussion, the author gives credibility to the content.

It can be taken into consideration that the time lapse between writing the content and the actual publication there may be more updated information available. I did not necessarily discover that in this text, although I did note the latest reference sources were 2012.

Clear and reader friendly.

The textbook was consistent in layout and presentation of content across all 14 chapters.

The author sectioned each chapter and assigned learning objectives for each section. This is a technique I have not encountered widely and sets this textbook apart from others. It also makes it easier to assign readings to students.Assigning learning objectives for each section allows students to self-check before moving on to the next section.

Organization and structure of the textbook was clear and easy to follow. In some places, the author highlighted or numbered items and this makes it easier for points to "jump out." It is often a challenge to encourage students to read--this technique may be more motivating.

Visually, the book was appealing and I did not note issues that would confuse the reader. The one thing I noted was the need to have spacing between paragraphs. There was not a distinguishable separation in most cases.

I encountered no grammatical errors.

Chapter 3 was devoted to topics of diversity and culture. This textbook presented a realistic discussion of diversity that is not encountered in most of the HRM textbooks I have used. The discussion of power and privilege was most needed. Most HRM textbooks omit this discussion. Instead other textbooks will present diversity from the perspective of "diversity is appreciated" but lack a discussion of cultural sensitivity. I also appreciate how the chapter addressed diversity training with an emphasis on power and privilege---this is an approach lacking (in general).

This book delivered what the author promised---a textbook that is practitioner focused. Human resource management is a course that needs a "how to" approach as well as a conceptual approach so that students can see how to perform tasks. I have used and read several HRM textbooks--this one is the most useful I have found. For example, the author described for students how to design training programs and how to make relevant. The author gave examples of types of issues that might be causing performance issues--this is particularly useful for students who have not been in management positions. These types of examples places the content into context. The author described how to design a performance appraisal system and how to write job descriptions. The author described practical examples of theory--for example instead of stating what a Theory X manager might do, the author gave an example. The "how to" approach and designing the textbook for the HRM practitioner is what makes this HRM textbook unique. The cases, scenarios, team activities, and video examples are what students need to make the concepts come to life.

Chapter 1: The Role of Human Resources
Chapter 2: Developing and Implementing Strategic HRM Plans
Chapter 3: Diversity and Multiculturalism
Chapter 4: Recruitment
Chapter 5: Selection
Chapter 6: Compensation and Benefits
Chapter 7: Retention and Motivation
Chapter 8: Training and Development
Chapter 9: Successful Employee Communication
Chapter 10: Managing Employee Performance
Chapter 11: Employee Assessment
Chapter 12: Working with Labor Unions
Chapter 13: Safety and Health at Work
Chapter 14: International HRM

Ancillary Material

About the book.

Human Resource Management teaches HRM strategies and theories that any manager—not just those in HR—needs to know about recruiting, selecting, training, and compensating people.

Most students will be managing people at some point in their careers and not necessarily in a human resource management capacity. As businesses cut back, they may outsource HR duties to outside vendors. Or, in smaller businesses, the HR department is sometimes small or non-existent, and managers from other departments have to perform their own HRM. Therefore, teaching HRM from the perspective of a general manager, in addition to an HR manager, provides more relevance to students' careers and will give them a competitive advantage in the workplace.

This text also provides practical applications of theory relevant to today's workplace. You won't find discussions about “posting vacancies on a job board” or “sending memos.” In the real world, HRM leverages technology in every aspect of the job—from online training modules to technology for better managing flex-time workers and telecommuters.

Consider how most companies have gone “paperless” with pay stubs by using software. While such technology has made HRM easier, it has also created a new set of challenges. For example, how does a manager actually implement a new pay system? Therefore, it's important for students to understand what kinds of platforms exist in today's workplace to enhance their effectiveness as future managers.

The conversational style of Human Resource Management engages students, while the academic rigor of its content provides them with the tools that any manager needs—whether they work in HR or a different department. PLUS it offers an array of supplements that gives them practice creating real HR documents and role-playing real HR scenarios. Add value to your students' education, enhance the relevance of your curriculum, and make your students more employable by adopting this book for your HRM class. Read it now online today!

Contribute to this Page

Introduction & Overview

Hr 101: exploring hr responsibilities.

Welcome to the HR 101 Guide. If you’re here because you’re starting up a business, you’re thinking about a career in HR, you did a random Google search, or for any other reason, you’ve come to the perfect place to learn all things HR. If you already know what HR is, why it’s important, and all about HR responsibilities and careers, you can go ahead and skip to the next chapter . But for those of you looking for the basics, we’ll give you the HR 101 breakdown, so even if you start not knowing what the letters “H” and “R” stand for, you’ll finish with an understanding of and appreciation for the many hats of an HR professional.

What Is HR?

HR stands for human resources. Within a business, human resources is the department responsible for the development, hiring, and training of employees. Every company’s most important asset is its people, so it makes sense to dedicate part of your business to cultivating the employee/employer relationship. Depending on the size of the company, the HR department may consist of one person or many. While some assume HR duties are only administrative tasks, human resources professionals take on a wide range of strategic roles and responsibilities.

What Do HR Professionals Do?

So what are those HR roles and responsibilities? We will cover each of these topics in detail in later chapters, but as an overview, HR departments generally oversee and manage the following:

Jump to Chapter 2:

Company Culture and the Employee Experience

Talent Acquisition

Jump to Chapter 3:

Optimizing the Talent Acquisition System

Onboarding & Offboarding

Jump to Chapter 4:

Employee Onboarding & Offboarding

Performance Management

Jump to Chapter 5:

Grow Employees and Your Organization with Performance Management

Compensation & Benefits

Jump to Chapter 6:

Compensation and Benefits Strategy

Time Tracking

Jump to Chapter 7:

Efficiently Managing Time Tracking and Time Off

Jump to Chapter 8:

The Importance of Payroll for HR Professionals

HR Reporting & Analytics

Jump to Chapter 9:

HR Analytics & the Advent of Data-Driven HR

Conflict Resolution

Jump to Chapter 10:

How to Resolve Workplace Conflict with Conflict Resolution Strategies

HR Compliance

Jump to Chapter 11:

HR Compliance—Key Laws for Fairness, Diversity, and Inclusion

HR Software

Jump to Chapter 12:

Getting the Most from HR Software

Why Is HR Important?

Rarely do HR professionals get to be the face of the company. They usually act as behind-the-scenes champions. An excellent HR team keeps things running smoothly, nurtures positive relationships between employees and the organization, and is crucial to a company’s success.

Why Human Resources Is So Important

Free Infographic

Download Now

As you saw above, HR juggles a lot of responsibilities. When time tracking is running smoothly, incredible new hires are joining the company, payroll is accurate and on time, and the business is in compliance with state and federal laws, it can be easy to forget the people behind the curtain making all that happen.

These types of tasks don’t manage themselves. For example, HR is crucial for not only knowing laws and regulations, but training employees, communicating standards, and enforcing policy to keep their organization compliant with those laws and regulations. In 2018, there were over 76,000 discrimination and harassment charges filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and legal disputes regarding workplace harassment cost U.S. companies 505 million dollars in settlements. But with a highly-trained HR teams careful guidance, companies can keep themselves out of hot water.

Another way HR supports your business is by creating, analyzing, and revising time tracking processes or training programs. For example, when organizations have poor time tracking capabilities, employees take on average three days of unreported PTO. Or consider that 76 percent of new employees say they want on-the-job training. HR can create engaging, effective onboarding processes that get new hires started the right way.

While these are only a few examples of how HR supports your business, later chapters will dive further into important HR responsibilities.

There are two main career paths for an HR professional: generalist or specialist.

HR Generalist

This is a Jack- (or Jill) of-all-HR duties type HR professional. They have a broad range of HR knowledge and may be in an entry-level position, such as an HR assistant that supports the entire department, or they may be running the HR department as the manager, chief HR officer, or people services manager. HR generalists are found in organizations of all sizes, but especially in small and medium-sized businesses where HR departments may not be big enough to have a large team with different specialties. But, in order to get a master of one particular discipline, you need a specialist.

juggling onboarding, payroll, compensation, reporting and analytics

HR Specialist

HR specialists are often found in large organizations where HR departments have employees dedicated to specific HR responsibilities. The Society for Human Resource Management ( SHRM ), one of the largest HR professionals association in the world, outlines the five most common areas of HR specialty:

1. Workforce Planning and Employment

These specialists are usually interviewers or recruiters. Their main focus is on creating a smooth recruitment and hiring process by doing tasks like:

Screening and interviewing candidates
Conducting background checks
Managing promotions and terminations

These HR pros may hold roles like:

Chief talent manager
Recruitment and retention specialist
Staffing specialist

76 percent of new employees say they want on-the-job training.

2. people development.

Companies who require a significant amount of employee training will often want an HR specialist with a title like:

Employee development manager
Organizational development specialist
Onboarding specialist

These HR responsibilities include:

Conducting training sessions
Administering training programs
Tracking employee training participation
Examining existing programs for efficacy

3. Total Rewards

Compensation and benefits are two of the most essential HR roles and responsibilities, so even a smaller organization may choose to hire someone in this role:

Benefits or compensation analyst
Compensation manager
Salary administrator

Those specializing in total rewards have HR duties such as:

Write job descriptions
Conduct and analyze their organization’s compensation strategy
Develop benefits programs
Perform job evaluations

Try the #1 HRIS for SMB, for free.

Free Trial of BambooHR

4. Employee and Labor Relations

This specialization changes based on the presence of unions. For those who work in industries or locations with unions, their HR responsibilities may include:

Interpret union contracts
Negotiate with unions
Resolve issues between an organization and a union

But those who do not work with unions will focus on:

Employee complaints
Employee engagement

Those specializing in employee and labor relations often have titles like:

Labor or employee relations specialist
Employee advocate
Manager of labor relations

5. Risk Management

Your standard office environment generally doesn’t include the need for HR duties beyond monitoring basic employee safety guidelines, but industries that involve manual labor, heavy equipment, or high-risk environments like construction sites or warehouses need to be especially mindful of safety compliance.

A safety officer, risk management specialist, or OSHA manager is in charge of:

Creating health and safety programs
Managing accident reports
Conducting safety inspections

Beyond physical safety, risk management specialists may also be involved in security. A security specialist may be in charge of protecting confidential information or creating a secure work environment.

“An HR pro needs to do things with purpose, be thoughtful, and have a business sense.”

—Ben Peterson, Co-Founder, BambooHR

What Do CEOs Look For in an HR Professional?

No matter which HR career an HR professional chooses, they need to know their stuff. For example, what are the rules and regulations in the states where you have employees and in your industry? Those laws and practices change and evolve frequently, and you have to stay on top of them or risk your company getting in major trouble (and probably risk losing your job).

But understandably, you can’t expect everyone to be an HR wiki—or at least, not at first. On-the-job learning is especially important for those in HR. “Not every HR person has every skill set and every level of experience they need,” says Cassie Whitlock, director of HR at BambooHR. “It’s being willing to figure it out. If you’ve never built a compensation model before, go figure it out. Research, talk to people, take a class.”

To be a true MVP in the field of HR, you need to be able to contribute to business strategy. “An HR pro needs to do things with purpose, be thoughtful, and have a business sense, “ says Ben Peterson, co-founder and former CEO of BambooHR. “...[It’s] so much more than policies and procedures. Everything from payroll , which is super technical, to working on culture , which is super broad.”

To demonstrate you are staying on top of HR trends and able to contribute to business growth, you can get an HR certification . HRCI and SHRM are the two most common HR certification providers, and both offer multiple certifications at different levels of experience to help train HR professionals on additional skills and further their careers. All certifications require an exam administered through HRCI or SHRM, and most require recertification credits to maintain the certification. Recertification credits can be earned through activities like on-the-job experience, volunteer work, webinars, and conferences. While many HR jobs don’t require you to have a certification, having one or more is a definite boost on your resume and helps you keep up with new ideas in the HR field.

Does My Organization Need an HR Team?

Why would an organization need a full HR team when they can purchase software to manage HR responsibilities? Because software can’t do it all. HR software can eliminate a lot of the busywork involved in HR, but software can’t do the people work—such as informing business strategy, negotiating benefits packages for employees, creating onboarding programs, or recruiting new talent. Plus, a software doesn’t actually interact with your people and foster a stronger culture creating a better work environment.

Get the scoop on HR tech with our HR Technology Guide

Startups and businesses with only a handful of employees often aren’t ready for some of the programs and major initiatives that HR handles, so HR software can reasonably manage the necessities like time tracking. In small organizations, people work happens naturally as all members of your small team interact daily and recognize the value of each other’s work. But as a business grows and divides into specialized departments like IT, sales, and marketing, it takes more than software to maintain productive personal connections between coworkers and between the employees and employer.

While there is no magic number of employees when a business needs to bring in an HR person or team, if you’re seeing signs of subcultures develop, it’s probably time for HR. You may also consider hiring HR when you notice that traditional HR responsibilities are being neglected as executives or others are no longer able to manage them as part of their day-to-day. When HR is enabled and empowered to bring their full value to an organization, it is clearly an essential part of any business.

You’ve read the guide. Now try the #1 HRIS for SMB, for free.

Start your Free Trial of BambooHR today!

Chapter 2: Culture

Got any suggestions?

We want to hear from you! Send us a message and help improve Slidesgo

suicide prevention

8 templates

computer network

75 templates

spring season

28 templates

cybersecurity

6 templates

46 templates

18 templates

Human Resource Management

Human resource management presentation, free google slides theme and powerpoint template.

Download the "Human Resource Management" presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides. The world of business encompasses a lot of things! From reports to customer profiles, from brainstorming sessions to sales—there's always something to do or something to analyze. This customizable design, available for Google Slides and PowerPoint, is what you were looking for all this time. Use the slides to give your presentation a more professional approach and have everything under control.

Features of this template

100% editable and easy to modify
Different slides to impress your audience
Contains easy-to-edit graphics such as graphs, maps, tables, timelines and mockups
Includes 500+ icons and Flaticon’s extension for customizing your slides
Designed to be used in Google Slides and Microsoft PowerPoint
Includes information about fonts, colors, and credits of the resources used

How can I use the template?

Am I free to use the templates?

How to attribute?

Attribution required If you are a free user, you must attribute Slidesgo by keeping the slide where the credits appear. How to attribute?

How to Add, Duplicate, Move, Delete or Hide Slides in Google Slides

How to Change Layouts in PowerPoint

How to Change the Slide Size in Google Slides

Premium template

Unlock this template and gain unlimited access

7 Resources to Better Manage Study Time presentation template

Blog – Creative Presentations Ideas

infoDiagram visual slide examples, PowerPoint diagrams & icons , PPT tricks & guides

Top 7 Recommended PowerPoint Templates for HR Presentations

Last Updated on April 11, 2024 by Anastasia

Working in the human resources department of middle or bigger companies involves effectively communicating various HR processes, and analyzing & presenting organizational structures. Explaining these rather complex HR concepts can be a lot easier when you use clear visuals.

For you, we’ve handpicked some recommendations of PowerPoint slide deck examples that can be a source of graphical inspiration for you.

You can get any example presented here as editable PPT files. Click on the slide pictures to see and download the source illustration. Check the full collection of Human Resources PowerPoint templates here .

Let’s explore our selection of presentations covering the major HR management presentation topics:

HR Metrics Dashboards with PowerPoint Data Charts
Recruitment, Selection, and Hiring Processes
HR Talent Management Concepts
Employer Branding Essentials

Payroll, Compensation, and HR Administration

Company Organizational Structure Charts
Company Roles and Department Structure

Dashboard Template with HR Metrics PowerPoint Charts

Do you need to report HR-related KPI metrics in a clear presentation? Show it in the form of a dashboard presentation.

An HR dashboard is a presentation type that visually displays major key performance indicators on one or more slides. Check this HR Metrics Dashboard Data Charts PowerPoint template with places for displaying the KPI measures. For example: employee profiles, remuneration structure, skills, or satisfaction. There you can find slides for reporting employee performance and retention, as well as HR project status and progress.

hr-metrics-dashboard-data-chart-ppt-template

Where you can use those HR dashboards:

Presenting your employee skills matrix evaluating key competencies
Illustrate your recruitment & onboarding metrics
Visualize your remuneration changes year-over-year
Create your employee retention dashboard

Recruitment, Selection, and Hiring Processes PowerPoint HR Diagrams

If you want to present recruitment steps or the onboarding processes in a visually attractive format, then have a look at this set of Recruitment, Selection, and Hiring HR diagrams .

Using creative visuals to illustrate the steps to fill the job post helps you to communicate those processes to your peers.

recruiting-selection-hire-onboarding-hr-process-diagram-ppt-template

You can use these HR presentation graphics to:

Illustrate the overall process of hiring employees
Show the candidate selection roadmap
Visually compare hiring journeys with or without pre-onboarding

HR Diagrams for Presenting Talent Management Concepts

This is another HR area that can benefit from using a visual method of communication. If you need to present talent management processes, check this pre-designed HR Talent Management slide deck .

It includes layouts for presenting talent management definition, performance process cycle, and goal management from an organization and individual perspective, and more.

talent-management-process-components-hr-diagrams-ppt-template

You can use it as a library of eye-catching diagram templates to explain HR concepts within your organization. Also, check our icon ideas to illustrate talent management , even 1 symbol can make a difference to your slide.

Employer Branding Essentials Presentation

If you are working with employer branding frameworks and roadmaps, explore this Employer Branding HR Process Diagrams PowerPoint template . It includes a dozen diagram slides to illustrate the process of employee life-cycle or employee value proposition.

A well-designed employer branding roadmap helps to implement relevant activities for improving the employer’s image.

employer-branding-process-hr-diagram-ppt-template HR diagrams

Examples of using Employer branding graphics:

Presenting employer branding framework areas
Showing employer branding stages
Visualizing employer EVP offerings (employee value propositions)

Need to present a compensation and benefits scheme inside your organization?

Here’s a Payroll, Compensation, and HR Administration PowerPoint library of slide graphics covering these topics.

There you can find editable diagrams illustrating benefits management, salary determination, and payroll processes.

hr-administration-payroll-process-compensation-management-diagram-ppt-template

These HR diagrams can be used in a broad spectrum of contexts:

Presenting the scope of HR administration management
Showing and analyzing your company’s compensation and benefits scheme
Describing your salary determination process
Visualizing stages of the payroll process

Template for Company Organizational Structure Charts

Do you need to quickly create a creative organization map in PowerPoint?

This Company Organizational Structure Charts slide deck includes company structure organograms as well as matrix management structures for several projects spanning multiple departments.

corporate-structure-org-chart-ppt-diagram HR diagrams

There are 16 pre-designed org charts editable in PowerPoint, for example:

Hierarchical organization charts with pictures of the CEO and department managers
Diagrams for flat organization structures, tree parallelograms, vertical and horizontal flow org charts
Hand-drawn matrix organizational charts for creative scribbled org chart
Vector icons for various roles, project teams, and company departments

Creating your own organizational chart in PowerPoint allows you to get a unique-looking org chart and make flexible changes to reflect organizational fluctuations. Replacing, adding, or removing a position or department is a matter of fast shape modification.

How you can use this template:

Clearly present the organization management flows, company size, and personnel structure.
Introduce people managing a company in a personal way, adding a person’s photograph or role icon only.

Company Roles and Departments PowerPoint Icons Collection

Need to illustrate various senior management roles or specific departments? Have a look at this presentation with Company Roles and Department Structure PPT icons .

There you will find 32 outlined symbols of company positions such as CEO, CFO, COO, CMO, HR head, or Chief Sales Officer. There are also icons representing corporate product-related departments, sales-related issues, back-office, and various product development steps.

company-roles-outline-icons-department-structure-org-chart-ppt

You can reuse the icons and organizational chart templates for presenting your company hierarchy, from the board through to the CEO and directors to specific department heads.

Feel free to explore these and reuse visualization ideas if they fit your work.

With the help of PowerPoint templates full of HR diagrams and role icons, you can enrich your existing slides or create a professional presentation from scratch.

Thanks to the PowerPoint format you can edit all content – change descriptions, expand diagrams, replace icons as you need, etc.

Having such templates allows you to create your own do-it-yourself toolbox that can speed up your presentation preparation. You can also import those slides to Google Slides or Keynote presentation software if that is a presentation tool you use.

Resource: HR Diagrams and Template s for PowerPoint

Explore the complete set of presentation graphics about human resources and personnel development topics. If you find it useful you can download all the source illustrations for commercial use and free modifications. All these resources are available in the infoDiagram collection of presentation graphics:

HR Management Diagrams & Icons Decks Collection

Further inspiration for HR presentations

Explore more blog posts to find the right infographics and visuals for presenting your ideas:

How to Present Employee Engagement Factors
Use Attention-Grabbing Graphics for Your Next Remote Work Presentation and Visual Metaphors to Illustrate Work From Home Concepts
7 Design Ideas for Group Development Chart Slide
Use Symbols to Show 6 HR Management Areas
Illustrate Needs and Values with icons

To try out how these PPT diagrams work, get a free sample of PowerPoint diagrams and icons that you can use to play with this kind of presentation graphic.

Topic 1: Introduction to Human Resources Management

Human Resource Management was originally known as personnel or people management. In the past, its role was quite limited. Within any company or organization, HRM is a formal way of managing people. It is a fundamental part of any organization and its management.

The main responsibilities of the personnel department include hiring, evaluating, training, and compensation of employees. The human resources department deals with any issues facing the staff in their working capacity within an organization. HR is concerned with specific work practices and how they affect the organization’s performance.

Today, Human Resources Management deals with:

Anything related to managing people within a company or organization. This means decisions, strategies, principles, operations, practices, functions, activities, and the methods used to manage employees.
The type of relationships people have in their places of employment and anything that affects those relationships in a positive or negative way.
Ensuring that employees are satisfied with the conditions of their employment. This leads to better services and production of goods and helps the company’s success.

When we talk about human resources in a business situation it means the workforce, i.e., the employees of a company and what skills and energy they bring. This includes any ideas, creativity, knowledge, and talents that employees bring with them and use to help the organization be successful. In other words, the resources a person has or the knowledge and experience developed over the years.

HRM focuses on bringing in (recruiting) new employees with new talents for the company and managing employees. Another function is to guide and help said employees by providing direction when necessary. In a large organization, with a lot of people, it is important to have a department that specifically focuses on staff issues. These issues are things like hiring, performance management, organizational development, training, occupational health and safety, motivation incentives, communication, workplace culture, and environment.

Human Resource Management is now a vital part of any organization. Every company or organization is required to have this department. It helps with increasing the morale of workers by working on relations between employees and their employers and constantly striving to make them better. The HR department also provides any support employees need to assist them improve their performance.

The HRM function extends to assessing the productivity and/or success of every department in an organization or business. It assists each department and helps them improve their work. It also intervenes

when necessary to help solve any problems that might arise with regards to employees’ work. Getting better results from the company’s workers is another job of HRM.

When a business has valuable, rare, and/or unique human resources it will always have a competitive advantage over other similar organizations.

Below are the criteria used in Human Resource Management – when using these effectively, a company can make an impact in its particular field.

– Value Building : People who try hard to decrease costs and to provide a service or product unique to customers, can increase their own value as employees and that of the company. Organizations also use empowerment programs, quality initiatives, and strive for continual improvement in order to increase the value that employees bring to the company.

– Rarity : When the skills, knowledge, and abilities of employees are not equally available to all companies in the same field, the company that has these people, has a very strong advantage. This is why top companies endeavor to hire and train the best and the brightest employees. This way they gain advantage over their competitors. In some cases, companies will even go to court to stop other organizations from taking away their valued employees. This proves that some companies have clearly identified the value and the uniqueness of certain employees.

– Incomparability : Employees give their companies competitive advantage when their capabilities and contributions cannot be reproduced by others. That is, the knowledge and skills that they bring to the organization are unique and not easily found elsewhere. Certain corporations such as Disney, Southwest Airlines, and Whole Foods have, over the years, developed very distinctive cultures that get the most from employees. These cultures are difficult for other organizations to imitate. Southwest Airlines, for example, rewards the employees who perform well. It is also able to maintain employees’ loyalty through offering free airfares and profit sharing in the company.

– Organized work force : People with unique talents can help a company achieve a competitive advantage when they can easily be reassigned to work on new projects without much notice. In order for this to happen teamwork and co-operation are needed and the creation of an organized system.

The criteria above show the importance of people power and also the link between human resources management and performance management. Many high-functioning organizations now know that their success depends on the knowledge and skills of their employees, or, their human capital. Human capital is aligned with the economic value of employees with the right knowledge, skills, and abilities. Their knowledge and skills have economic value. Managing human capital properly is imperative for any organization wanting to maintain a competitive advantage. In some ways it is the most important part of an organization’s human resource function.

The Objectives of HRM

The objectives of HRM are the goals of an organization. Individual or group activities are then organized in such a way so as to achieve those objectives or goals. Organizations and companies aim to secure and manage certain resources, including human resources, to achieve the specified goals.

Human resources must therefore be managed in a way that uses their resources to achieve the organizational objectives/goals. Basically, the objectives of HRM come from and contribute to achieving organizational objectives.

Objectives of HRM:

To establish and use a workforce that is able and motivated, in order to achieve the goals of an organization.
To create the desirable organizational structure and working relationships among all the members of the organization.
To integrate individuals and/or groups within the company by matching their goals with those of the company.
To ensure individuals and groups have the right opportunities to develop and grow with the organization.
To use what human resources a company has in the most effective way to achieve organizational goals.
To ensure wages are fair and adequate and provide incentives and benefits thereby satisfying both individuals and groups. Also, to ensure ways of allowing recognition for challenging work, prestige, security and status.
To have continual high employee morale and good human relations by establishing and improving conditions and facilities within the organization.
To improve the human assets by providing appropriate training programs on a continual basis.
To try to effect socio-economic change in areas such as unemployment, under-employment and inequality by distributing income and wealth. This way society can benefit. Added employment opportunities for women and the disadvantaged will also be impacted in a positive way.
To offer opportunities for expression.
To ensure that the organizational leadership works in a fair, acceptable and efficient manner.
To ensure a good working atmosphere and employment stability by having proper facilities and working conditions.

Functions of Human Resource Management (HRM)

Human resource management must plan, develop, and administer policies and programs that can make the best use of an organization’s human resources. This is the part of management’s role which deals with people at work and their relationships within the organization. Its aims are:

To use human resources as effectively as possible;
To ensure the best possible working relationships among all members of the organization; and
To assist individuals to reach their highest potential.

In Human Resource Management, there are four major areas:

Employee development, and
Employee maintenance.

These four areas and any associated functions share a common aim. That is to have enough competent employees with the skills, abilities, knowledge, and experience needed to achieve further organizational objectives. Each human resource function (above) can be appointed to one of the four areas of personnel responsibility but there are also other functions that are designed for different purposes. For example, performance evaluation processes provide a stimulus and guide employee development. They are valuable for salary administration purposes also. The purpose of the compensation function is as a stimulus to keep valuable employees and also to attract potential employees. Below is a description of the typical human resource functions

Human Resource Planning

The human resource planning function serves to determine the number and type of employees needed to achieve the company’s goals. Research is performed in this function because planning requires information to be collected and analyzed for the forecasting of human resource supplies and the prediction of future human resource needs. Staffing and employee development are key human resource planning strategies.

Job Analysis

Job analysis is deciding on the job description and the human requirements that are needed for said job. The job description should include the skills and experience needed to perform the job. A job description clearly sets out work duties and activities that employees will be expected to perform. Job descriptions are essential because the information they provide to employees, managers, and personnel people influences personnel programs and practices.

Recruitment and selection of human resources (people) is what staffing is mostly concerned with. Human resource planning and recruiting is done before selecting people for positions. Recruiting is the personnel function of finding and hiring the best qualified applicants to fill job vacancies.

The selection function is used to choose the most qualified applicants for hiring from those attracted to the organization by the recruiting function. During the selection process, human resource staff are involved in assisting managers to decide which applicants to select for the given jobs and which ones to reject.

Orientation

Orientation is done in order to introduce a new employee to the new job and the employer. It is a way for new employees to get to know more intimate aspects of their job, including pay and benefits, working hours, and company policies and expectations.

Training and Development

Training and development is used as a means of providing employees with the skills and knowledge to do their jobs well. It must be provided to all employees. In addition to providing training for new or inexperienced employees, organizations often provide training for experienced employees as well. This may be because their jobs are undergoing change or the company needs them to work more effectively. Development programs are also done to equip employees for higher level responsibilities. Training and development programs are ways of making sure that employees can handle the stresses of their jobs and perform well.

Performance Appraisal

Performance appraisal is an evaluation of an employee and his/her performance to make sure that said employee is working well and at acceptable levels. Human resource personnel are usually responsible for developing appraisal systems. The actual assessment of employee performance is done by supervisors and managers. Performance appraisal is necessary because the results of the appraisal can be used to motivate and guide employees’ performance. It also provides a basis for pay, promotions, and any disciplinary action if necessary.

Career Planning

Career planning is a process where an employee explores his/her interests and abilities and strategically works towards job goals. It has come about partly because many employees’ feel the need to grow in their jobs and to advance in their careers.

Compensation

It is the HR department that determines how much employees should be paid for certain jobs using a system of assessment. Compensation costs companies a lot so it is something that needs serious attention in the human resource planning stage. Compensation affects staffing because people generally want to work for an organization that offers more pay in exchange for the work done. It provides an important motivation for employees to achieve more in their jobs and reach higher levels. As such, it is related to employee development.

Work benefits are also referred to as fringe benefits. They are non-wage compensation that employees get in addition to their usual wages. Benefits are legally required items but employers can also more at their discretion. The cost of benefits is so high that they have become a huge consideration in human

resources planning. Benefits are mostly related to the maintenance area because they provide for many basic employee needs.

Labor Relations

Labor relations relates to the practice of managing employees who are members of a union. Unions provide employees with strength in numbers and have representatives who can advocate on their behalf if necessary, to deal with any discrepancies in pay, benefits, working conditions, and other work aspects. HR personnel are responsible for negotiating with unions and resolving any disputes.

Record-keeping

Record-keeping is essential and the most basic function of HR. Recording, maintaining and retrieving employee information when needed is done by the HR personnel. The type of records kept are related to the employees and include employment history, resumes, medical records, promotions, transfers, working hours, and lateness, etc. Keeping records up-to-date is a vital HR function. Employees today want to know what is in their personnel records and why certain things are there or not there.

Personnel records provide the following:

a) Up-to-date information about employees.

b) Procedures for comparing employees and their work to other employees.

c) Procedures for recruiting new employees, e.g. by showing the rates of pay.

d) Record of previous action taken regarding employees.

e) Statistics which check and guide personnel policies.

f) Information regarding legal requirements and how to comply with them.

Personnel Research

Research activities are an essential function of HR personnel. Research is done with the aim of obtaining personnel specific information in order to develop programs that work for an organization. Planning and reviewing are vital. Areas, such as recruitment, employee turnover, training, and terminations are all important areas to be researched. Employee opinions are also very important and can be obtained through surveys about wages, promotions, welfare services, conditions, job security and the like.

Even though research is so important, many companies neglect it because personnel people are too busy dealing with other more immediate problems.

Research is not done to deal with problems but to prevent them from occurring in the first place. The responsibility for research lies initially with the HR department but line supervisors and executives at all levels of management should assist. Trade unions and other organizations can give some assistance also and it should be made use of.

HR functions also include managing change, introducing new technology, innovation and diversity. Regular social audits of HR functions are necessary because of the large role HR plays within any organization. HR’s ultimate goal is to provide a link between the organization and the employees because the organization needs employees’ commitment. Employees need to be made aware of things like sales growth, restructuring plans, sharp price movements and any challenges facing the country and their organization in particular. This can be done by videos, films, lectures and booklets.

The main responsibilities of a human resource manager are:

– To fully develop knowledge of corporate culture, plans and policies.

– To initiate change where necessary and act as a facilitator.

– To actively participate in formulating company strategy.

– To be a consultant to change.

– To ensure communication remains open between the HR department and individuals and groups inside and outside the organization.

– To identify and advance HR strategies that match the company’s business strategy.

– To develop particular organizational teams and assist in the effective working relationships between the teams and individuals.

– To ensure the organization’s goals are achieved by effective co-operation of employees.

– To identify any problems, particularly in the HR area, and to find effective solutions.

– To contribute to the co-ordination and support services for HRD programs.

– To assess the effectiveness of HRD programs and to do research in order to find out how the HRD has affected (improved or otherwise) individual or organizational performance.

Pat McLagan is an award-winning author, speaker and coach of leadership development and management. She has identified nine new roles of HR.

To bring the issues and trends concerning an organization’s external and internal people to the attention of decision-makers, and to recommend long-term strategies to support organizational excellence and endurance.
To design and prepare HR systems and actions for implementation so that they can produce maximum impact on organizational performance and development.
To facilitate the development and implementation of strategies for transforming one’s own organization by pursuing values and visions.
To create the smoothest flow of products and services to customers; to ensure the best and most flexible use of resources and competencies; and to create commitment among the people who help us to meet customers’ needs whether those people work directly for the organization or not.
To identify learning needs and then design and develop structured learning programs and materials to help accelerate learning for individuals and groups.
To help individuals and groups work in new situations and to expand and change their views so that people in power can participate in leadership.
To help people assess their competencies, values, and goals so that they can identify, plan, and implement development actions.
To assist individuals to add value in the workplace and to focus on the interventions and interpersonal skills for helping people change and sustain change.
To assess HRD practices and programs and their impact and to communicate results so that the organization and its people accelerate their change and development.

In recent years, Human Resource Management has received increasing attention. Its importance has been recognized and its role has changed from the traditional personnel management role to a more human resource management role.

“The Borgen Project is an incredible nonprofit organization that is addressing poverty and hunger and working towards ending them.”

-The Huffington Post

Inside the borgen project.

Board of Directors

Get Smarter

Global Poverty 101
Global Poverty… The Good News
Global Poverty & U.S. Jobs
Global Poverty and National Security
Innovative Solutions to Poverty
Global Poverty & Aid FAQ’s

Ways to Help

Call Congress
Email Congress
30 Ways to Help
Volunteer Ops
Internships
The Podcast

1. introduction to hrm

1. 1 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (HRM)
2. Introduction 2  Organization is a group of people established either formally or informally for the attainment of certain objectives.  So, people are the foundation of any organization.  In societal context, organization need people and people need organization.  It is people who staff, lead and control organizations.  Persons involved in an organization are referred as human resource.  Simply, the overall management of such personnel in an organization is called human resource management (HRM).
3. Who are Human Resource? 3  In organizational context, the personnel involved in different activities of an organization are the human resources of that organization.  Such type of personnel (referred as human resources) have one thing common i.e. fulfillment of their assigned duties & responsibilities in order to achieve the organizational goal and objectives.  People become human resource when they involved in any organization with physical strength, energy and competencies. Competencies consists of knowledge, skill, attitudes and potential for growth.  Human resources are effectively mobilized by the organization for the achievement of desired results.
4. Human Resource Management 4  An essential function of management; and also an important part of every manager’s job.  HRM is concerned with managing people in organizations.  It is concerned with philosophy, principles, policies and practices related to human aspect of management.  It aims at achieving organizational objectives through the efficient and effective mobilization of human resources.
5. Contd… 5 According to Donnelly and Gibson,  HRM is the process of accomplishing organizational objectives by acquiring, retaining, terminating, developing and properly using the human resources in an organization. According to Gary Dessler,  HRM refers to the policies and practices involved in carrying out the people or human resource aspects of a management position, including recruiting, screening, training, rewarding and appraising.
6. 6  Human Resource Management (HRM) is a process concerned with the management of personnel along with their energies and competencies for the achievement of organization objectives by the process of acquiring, developing and utilizing such personnel.
7. Evolution of HRM 7  A number of academics and practitioners in the past have contributed a great deal to the development of HRM.  The history of its development goes back to the early management pioneers, Robert Owen (1771 – 1858) and Charles Babbage (1792 – 1871).  Similarly, other developments such as the industrial revolution, the principles of scientific management, the classical organization theory and more recently, the behavioral science movement and the organization development movement have influenced the development of personnel management and HRM.
8. Contd… 8  The trend of the development of HRM in the past can be explained through following periods.  Early Scientific Management  Scientific Management  Human Relations Movement  The New HRM Era
9. Early Scientific Management 9  The history can be traced back to the Origin of Personnel Management. In the beginning of 18th century, many masons, carpenters, leather workers and people of other crafts organized themselves into guilds.  In the later part of 18th century, the Welfare Concept was developed by some prominent family business houses in the UK.  Industrial Revolution started from the late 18th century. Labor was treated as commodity to be bought or sold. There was strict system of punctuality and rigorous working rules.
10. Scientific Management 10  F.W. Taylor invented principles of scientific management in the 19th century.  He suggested to plan work and gave methods to maximize productivity and minimize inefficiencies.  In his studies, he explained less about humanization of workplaces and focused more on output from the workers.
11. Human Relations Movement 11  Elton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger investigated the causes of low productivity different from Taylor’s perspective.  The Hawthorne studies (1927 – 1932) laid the foundation for the human relations movement and explain why human elements are important to rise productivity.
12. The HRM Era 12  It was by 1920s, personnel management began to taught at university level in US.  At the period of 1920s, a number of large companies established personnel departments.  During 1930 – 1950, many instances of exploitation of labor appeared.  Subsequently, a labor relations movement in the form of Labour Unions and collective bargaining emerged and remained successful during 1935 – 1960.  Personnel department started to work in collaboration with union representatives.
13. Contd… 13  The HRM era, began in 1950s, comprises  the work of pioneers,  human capital concept,  concept of corporate culture and  the new HRM.
14. 14 The Work of Pioneers  Peter F. Drucker is the main inventor of HRM concept. He had suggested how an effective management contributes to direct all managers towards a common goal.  Douglas McGregor emphasized the strategic importance of personal policies and their integration with business objectives.
15. 15 Human Capital Concept  T. Schulz invented human capital theory and cited example of how qualified and committed human resources contributed in the post war economy of Germanny and Japan.
16. 16 Concept of Corporate Culture  The book “The art of Japanese Management” by R. Pascale and A. Athos in 1981 stated that shared values of management and workers are the secret of Japanese Management.  The book “In search of excellence” written by T.J. Peters and R. Waterman in 1982 named 43 successful companies in the U.S. that were driven by the managers’ values and achieved productivity by paying close attention to the needs of their people.
17. 17 The New HRM  Traditional American personnel management and industrial relation systems were challenged by the process of globalization, rapid technological advances, shorter product lifecycles and changing customers and investors demands.  Many US industries were facing the under-utilization and unemployment of human resources.  The reasons for such problems were: adverse union- management relations, low employee motivation & trust in management, hierarchical management, restrictive work practices and, finally, resistance of
18. 18  Promoted by this challenges, American business has begun to place greater emphasis on the management of human resources to improve productivity and quality and thus to be competitive internally and externally.  In academic literature, at least, the terms ‘personnel management’ and ‘personnel administration’ have been virtually replaced by the term ‘HRM’.  In UK, the concept of HRM arrived around 1985 – 86, when the British industry was suffering from restructuring effects due to recession & loss of competitiveness.  Anti-union legislation of the Thatcher government encouraged firms to introduce new labor practices and re-order their collective bargaining arrangements.
19. Nature of HRM 19 Human Focus  People concern, develops & utilize human potential, regard people as an important asset of organization Management Function  Applies mgmt principles & functions, perform by all level of managers Dynamic  Affected by changes in envn (political-legal, economic, socio-cultural & technological) Mutually oriented  Mutuality between employer and employees. Continuous-ongoing activity
20. Components of HRM 20  Human Resource Planning  Recruitment & Selection  Performance Management  Training and Development  Employee – Management Relation  Management Information System
21. HRM Process 21  The process of HRM involves attracting, developing and maintaining a talented and energetic workforce.  The basic goal of HRM is to build organizational performance capacity by raising human capital, to ensure that highly capable and enthusiastic people are always available.  The 3 major responsibilities of HRM are D.Attracting a quality workforce E.Developing a quality workforce F.Maintaining a quality workforce
22. Contd… 22 Attracting a quality workforce  Involves human resource planning, employee recruitment and selection. Developing a quality workforce  Involves employee orientation, training & development and performance appraisal Maintaining a quality workforce  Involves career development, work life balance, compensation and benefits, retention and turnover, and labor-management relations.
23. Attracting a quality workforce 23  Human Resource Planning   Recruitment   Selection. 
25. Developing a quality workforce 25  Induction/orientation   Training and Development   Performance Appraisal 
26. Maintaining a quality workforce 26  Career Development   Work-life Balance   Compensation and Benefits   Retention and turnover   Labor-management Relations 
27. Elements & Model of HRM 27
28. Functions of HRM 28  Human Resource Planning  Acquisition of Human Resources  Utilization of Human Resources  Development of Human Resources  Maintenance of Human Resources  Control of Human Resources  Harmonious Employer-Employee Relationship  Attainment of organizational objectives
29. System Model of HRM 29 Input Process Output • Human energy Organizational • Acquisition & competencies • Goals achievement • Organizational • Development • Quality of work life • Utilization Plan • Productivity • HR Plan • Maintenance • Readiness for change • HR Inventory Personal • Job Analysis • Commitment • Competence • Congruence Feedback
30. Challenges to HRM 30  Globalization  Technological Advances  Nature of work  Size & composition of the workforce.  Rising employees' expectations  Life-style changes  Less attached/temporary employees  New HRM concerns  Learning organizations  Impact of new economic policy.  Political ideology of the Government.
31. Trends and Issues of HRM 31 Issues of HRM in Nepal  Corporate Planning and Objectives  Human Resource Planning  Recruitment, Selection and Placement  Employee training and development  Performance Evaluation  Salary and other benefits  Job Design  Employee Relations
32. Barriers to Development of HRM in Nepal 32  HRM in Nepal is mainly concerned with utilizing human energies.  It is least concerned with developing human competencies and potential for growth of employees.  Its focus is on achieving organizational goals without much regard to personal goals of employees.  HRM has not assumed a strategic role in Nepalese management.  People are not considered as a source of competitive advantage and important assets.
33. Contd… 33  HRM is not given a strategic role. It lacks clear cut vision, mission and goals.  The attitudes of top management are not favorable towards HRM. Human resources are viewed as a cost rather than assets by management.  HRM is considered as a firefighting job to deal with labor grievance and indiscipline.  Line managers do not feel ownership for HRM.  Lack of mutual trust between labor and management.  Multiplicity of unions, union challenges, politicialization of unions and negative attitude of management towards labor unions.
34. Contd… 34  HR aspects are not considered in policy and plan formulation.  Human resource development has remained an area of low priority. This has retarded professionalism in HRM. Performance based HRM practices are lacking.  Legal framework has remained weak and largely welfare oriented.  HRM is short range oriented. It is least concerned with future potential development of employees.

Book a Speaker

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vivamus convallis sem tellus, vitae egestas felis vestibule ut.

Error message details.

Reuse Permissions

Request permission to republish or redistribute SHRM content and materials.

How to Explain HR to Managers

A woman giving a presentation in front of a group of people.

Best-selling author Martin Yate, a career coach and former HR professional, takes your questions each week about how to further your career in HR.

Y ou are taking responsibility for accomplishing a more collaborative relationship between HR and management, resulting in improved profitability of the entire organization—a benefit for everybody.

Set up a series of talks with small groups of leaders from around the organization and give your presentation. Keep track of who attends and follow up with those who don't.

Use PowerPoint to create your presentation and begin each slide with a headline, followed by the topics you'll address; all should be focused on how an HRBP and a generalist each help the company's managers. Here is some sample language to get you started. You can add in your own observations and make it specific to your organization.

Slide 1: Managers' Deliverables and Responsibilities

A company is a complex piece of money-making machinery. Every department is an important cog in that machinery.
Every organization constantly seeks ways to improve profitability.
To maximize profitability, all departments need to interact smoothly to reach common goals.
More interaction between departments with very different bodies of knowledge will have to occur.
The prime responsibility of every manager is to get work done through others to meet departmental goals and support corporate objectives.
These issues all impact your personal success.

Slide 2: HR Deliverables That Help Managers and the Organization

HR has a responsibility to do everything it can to support corporate goal achievement, helping you get work done productively with peers and through direct reports.
Think of HR as the oil that helps all departmental cogs run smoothly, supporting many different interests that help the enterprise operate efficiently.
HR must always ensure that all operations are executed in the ways that minimize the likelihood of costly legal issues.
Managers' success can be leveraged by differentiating and using the functions of the HR generalist and the HRBP appropriately.

Slide 3: HR Generalists' Deliverables to Managers

Generalists are responsible for recruiting new hires and managing the staffing process in a timely manner. This can only happen with managers' support and timely involvement, and this supports managers' personal success.
They also are responsible for the staff's professional development, including onboarding, career development and training. Managers are not relieved of responsible involvement, because none of this development can happen without them.
Generalists oversee employee welfare, safety, wellness, health and counselling.
They also facilitate performance review and management.
Generalists develop compensation and benefits systems that are legal and keep the company competitive in the recruitment arena.
Generalists develop and implement policy documents and handbooks that are legally responsible and in line with corporate goals.

Depending on company structure, there may be one or many HR generalists supporting these and other initiatives.

Slide 4: HRBPs' Deliverables to Managers

The HRBP only climbs the rungs of the HR career ladder by exhibiting superior performance with all the deliverables of the HR generalist.

The experience and maturity that come with this journey enable the HRBP to interact with senior management, looking at a range of issues from multiple viewpoints while focused on a common goal: protecting the company's best interests.

The HRBP is a professional able to define enterprise-wide business goals and align them with legal concerns. The HRBP helps create the HR framework needed to deliver on those goals while maintaining or upgrading the HR capabilities necessary for their achievement.

HRBP capabilities include:

Understanding business mandates and communicating in business terms.
Helping line and staff management connect business goals with the strategies, tactics and manpower to achieve them.
Identifying stumbling blocks to these goals and suggesting ways around them.
Explaining the HR legal requirements that will be encountered as businesses work toward their goals, how to efficiently meet the goals, and how to navigate the HR framework as the goals are achieved.
Developing and managing any necessary new pay plans, benefits programs and performance appraisal systems.
Using HR metrics to support new initiatives.

Slide 5: The Takeaway

Line and staff managers who witness this presentation will understand the different ways HR makes their lives easier and careers more successful, actively supports an organization's success, and benefits everyone. They will know that the entire HR function exists to encourage the company's success, and by extension, the success of every individual manager.

You should encourage questions and, time allowing, break into small groups to discuss a new or current initiative. Then, especially after those first couple of events, talk to each participant individually about what they gained and what they'd like to hear more about.

Rising Demand for Workforce AI Skills Leads to Calls for Upskilling

As artificial intelligence technology continues to develop, the demand for workers with the ability to work alongside and manage AI systems will increase. This means that workers who are not able to adapt and learn these new skills will be left behind in the job market.

A vast majority of U.S. professionals think students should be prepared to use AI upon entering the workforce.

Employers Want New Grads with AI Experience, Knowledge

A vast majority of U.S. professionals say students entering the workforce should have experience using AI and be prepared to use it in the workplace, and they expect higher education to play a critical role in that preparation.

Artificial Intelligence in the Workplace

An organization run by AI is not a futuristic concept. Such technology is already a part of many workplaces and will continue to shape the labor market and HR. Here's how employers and employees can successfully manage generative AI and other AI-powered systems.

HR Daily Newsletter

New, trends and analysis, as well as breaking news alerts, to help HR professionals do their jobs better each business day.

Success title

Success caption

HR Powerpoint Templates and Google Slides Themes

Discover a wide range of professionally designed presentation templates tailored specifically for HR professionals to captivate and engage your audience effortlessly.

Explore Free HR Presentation Templates

Geometric Interview Tips & Preparation

Elevate your interview game with our modern, geometric-patterned presentation template, perfect for business professionals looking to make a memorable impact. ... Read more

Gradient Minimal Company Pet Friendly Policies

Unlock the potential of a pet-friendly work environment with our minimalist gradient presentation template, tailored for business professionals advocating for ... Read more

Illustrated Employee Benefits & Perks

Elevate your corporate presentations with our Modern Illustrative presentation template, designed specifically for business professionals. This sleek slideshow template, adorned ... Read more

Bold Minimal Skill Assessment Presentation

Unlock the potential of your team with our vibrant, orange-themed presentation template, designed specifically for business professionals. This bold, geometric ... Read more

Modern Geometric Meet the Team

Introducing our latest Green Modern Geometric slideshow template, perfect for business professionals looking to showcase their dynamic team. Ideal for ... Read more

Cute Minimal How we Hire Recruitment Process

Elevate your hiring strategy with this sleek, modern minimal UI template, perfect for HR professionals aiming to streamline their recruitment ... Read more

Illustrated Customer Service Online Training

Elevate your team’s customer service skills with our engaging, illustrated template designed specifically for business professionals looking to enhance their ... Read more

Minimal Human Resources Resume

Invest yourself in the vibrant world of human resources with our Corporate HR PowerPoint Template. Designed to impress with a ... Read more

Modern Recruitment Process How We Hire

Capture your audience’s attention and simplify your company’s hiring ups and downs with our dark blue, modern, illustrated business PowerPoint ... Read more

Corporate Leadership Training Event

Discover our modern, minimal Powerpoint and Google Slides templates, perfect for corporate professionals. With a sophisticated black and green gradient ... Read more

Minimal Human Resources

Embrace the perfect blend of professionalism and aesthetics with our Blue-Green Modern Minimalist Corporate Presentation Template. Ideal for businesses looking ... Read more

Minimal New Hire Onboarding Meeting

Emphasize the importance of your corporate meetings with our Minimalistic Business Template. Perfect for PowerPoint presentations and Google Slides, this ... Read more

Gradient Internship Report

Designed specifically for business use and college interns, our Eco Corporate templates are a top choice for those looking to ... Read more

Illustrated Presentation Skills Workshop

Make an engaging visual impact in your next webinar or marketing seminar with our Yellow and Black Minimal Geometric Powerpoint ... Read more

Minimal Business Meeting Agenda

Harness the power of simplicity with our professionally designed Powerpoint templates and Google Slides templates tailored for corporate agendas. This ... Read more

Professional designs for your presentations

SlidesCarnival templates have all the elements you need to effectively communicate your message and impress your audience.

Suitable for PowerPoint and Google Slides

Download your presentation as a PowerPoint template or use it online as a Google Slides theme. 100% free, no registration or download limits.

Google Slides
Editor’s Choice
All Templates
Frequently Asked Questions
Google Slides Help
PowerPoint help
Who makes SlidesCarnival?

Powerpoint Templates

Icon Bundle

Kpi Dashboard

Professional

Business Plans

Swot Analysis

Gantt Chart

Business Proposal

Marketing Plan

Project Management

Business Case

Business Model

Cyber Security

Business PPT

Digital Marketing

Digital Transformation

Human Resources

Product Management

Artificial Intelligence

Company Profile

Acknowledgement PPT

PPT Presentation

Reports Brochures

One Page Pitch

Interview PPT

All Categories

Human Resource Orientation Powerpoint Presentation Slides

Introduce new hires to their jobs with our content ready Human Resource Orientation Powerpoint Presentation Slides. The induction presentation for new employee contains pre-made templates such as company profile, vision & mission, our history, financial highlights, company revenue growth, locations, our achievements, attendance portal, leaves & holidays, office timings, office dress code, office rules& regulations, major roles & responsibilities, salary & package, employee stock options, targets & incentives, medical insurance & benefits, employee awards, training schedule, team introduction, require documents for HR processes, facility & welfare, emergency procedures, questions & feedback etc. Give your new employees important information about their workplace, pay benefits & dress code using employee orientation PPT visuals. Furthermore, all slides given in HR introduction PPT deck are fully editable, users can change text, color, style as per their needs. Download steps of the orientation process in HRM PowerPoint slideshow to make your presentation more attractive. Croon away with our Human Resource Orientation Powerpoint Presentation Slides. Gently get your point across.

These PPT Slides are compatible with Google Slides

Compatible With Google Slides

Google Slides is a new FREE Presentation software from Google.
All our content is 100% compatible with Google Slides.
Just download our designs, and upload them to Google Slides and they will work automatically.
Amaze your audience with SlideTeam and Google Slides.

Want Changes to This PPT Slide? Check out our Presentation Design Services

Get Presentation Slides in WideScreen

Get This In WideScreen

WideScreen Aspect ratio is becoming a very popular format. When you download this product, the downloaded ZIP will contain this product in both standard and widescreen format.

Some older products that we have may only be in standard format, but they can easily be converted to widescreen.
To do this, please open the SlideTeam product in Powerpoint, and go to
Design ( On the top bar) -> Page Setup -> and select "On-screen Show (16:9)” in the drop down for "Slides Sized for".
The slide or theme will change to widescreen, and all graphics will adjust automatically. You can similarly convert our content to any other desired screen aspect ratio.
Add a user to your subscription for free

You must be logged in to download this presentation.

Do you want to remove this product from your favourites?

PowerPoint presentation slides

Presenting this set of slides with name - Human Resource Orientation Powerpoint Presentation Slides. This exclusive deck with fifty-three slides is here to help you to strategize, plan, analyze, or segment the topic with clear understanding and apprehension. Our PPT designers have worked tirelessly to craft this deck using beautiful PowerPoint templates, graphics, diagrams, and icons. On top of that, the deck is 100 percent editable in PowerPoint so that you can enter your text in the placeholders, change colors if you wish to, and present in the shortest time possible. Download PowerPoint templates in both widescreen and standard screen. The presentation is fully supported by Google Slides. It can be easily converted into JPG or PDF format.

People who downloaded this PowerPoint presentation also viewed the following :

Business Slides , Flat Designs , Concepts and Shapes , Strategic Planning Analysis , Complete Decks , All Decks , Human Resource Management , Strategic Planning , Strategic Management , Proposals , HR , HR Proposal
Human Resource Orientation ,
Human resource management ,
Hr Orientation

Content of this Powerpoint Presentation

Slide 1 : This slide introduces Human Resource Orientation. State Your Company Name and begin. Slide 2 : This slide shows Contents of the presentation. Slide 3 : This slide highlights the Content Company profile. Slide 4 : This slide shows the executive summary of the company. You can make changes to this slide accordingly. Slide 5 : This is Vision & Mission slide describing the companies Values, Mission and Vision. Slide 6 : This slide displays Our History with the help of a timeline. Slide 7 : This slide shows the key financial highlights of the company. You can edit the graph accordingly. Slide 8 : This slide displays the Growth attained by the company in recent years. Slide 9 : A wholistic view of the company headquarter along with various locations in US are displayed in this slide. Slide 10 : This is Our Achievements slide with related imagery and text boxes. Slide 11 : This slide highlights the Content work policies. Slide 12 : This slide displays Monthly Employee attendance portal. You can edit this slide accordingly. Slide 13 : This slide shows different types of Leaves and Holidays in the organisation. Slide 14 : This slide describes various office timings. You can make changes accordingly. Slide 15 : This slide describes the dress code followed in the office premise. Slide 16 : This is another slide showing Office Dress Code. Slide 17 : This slide highlights the Content Office rules & regulations. Slide 18 : This slide shows Office Rules and Regulations with a complete list od Do's and don'ts. Slide 19 : This slide highlight the Content Major Roles & Responsibility. Slide 20 : This slide presents Major Roles & Responsibilities with related imagery and text boxes. Slide 21 : This slide highlights the Content Compensation & Benefits. Slide 22 : This slide represents Salary and Package with a detailed of the salary and other benefits offered by the firm. Slide 23 : This is another slide describing Salary and Package. Slide 24 : This is another slide continuing Salary and Package. Slide 25 : This slide displays the breakdown of Employee Stock option in a tabular form. Slide 26 : This slide displays the various Targets that are to be provided to the team and along with it various benefits to be given with them. Slide 27 : This slide shows Medical Insurance and Benefits provided by the firm. Slide 28 : This slide presents categories of Employee Awards and Accomplishments given by the firm. Slide 29 : This slide highlights the Content Training Schedule. Slide 30 : This slide shows Training Schedule with different stages and order of the training provided. Slide 31 : This slide highlights the Content Team Introduction. Slide 32 : This slide presents Team Introduction with names and designation. Slide 33 : This is another slide on Team Introduction. Slide 34 : This slide highlights the Content Required Documents for HR Process. Slide 35 : This slide shows the Required Documents for HR Process. Slide 36 : This slide highlights the Content Facilities and Welfare. Slide 37 : This slide displays Facility and Welfare with a wholistic view of the office premise and facilities like pantry work stations has been displayed here. Slide 38 : This slide highlights the Content Emergency Procedures. Slide 39 : This slide shows Emergency Procedures describing various steps to be followed in case of an emergency. Slide 40 : This slide highlights the Content Questions & Feedback. Slide 41 : This slide shows a series of doubts and questions that the new employees might have regarding the workplace policies. Slide 42 : This slide reminds about a 15 minutes Coffee Break. Slide 43 : This slide is titled as Additional Slides for moving forward. Slide 44 : This is About Us slide to show company specifications etc. Slide 45 : This slide is titled as Post it. Post your important notes here. Slide 46 : This is a Puzzle slide with text boxes. Slide 47 : This is a Bulb or Idea slide to state a new idea or highlight information, specifications etc. Slide 48 : This is a Venn slide with text boxes to show information. Slide 49 : This is a Lego slide with additional text boxes. Slide 50 : This is a Financial slide. Show your finance related stuff here. Slide 51 : This slide shows Mind Map for representing entities. Slide 52 : This is a Comparison slide to state comparison between commodities, entities etc. Slide 53 : This is a Thank You slide with address, contact numbers and email address.

Human Resource Orientation Powerpoint Presentation Slides with all 53 slides:

Use our Human Resource Orientation Powerpoint Presentation Slides to effectively help you save your valuable time. They are readymade to fit into any presentation structure.

Ratings and Reviews

by Edwardo Wheeler

December 31, 2021

by Drew Alvarado

by Earnest Carpenter

Introduction to HRM

Mar 29, 2019

450 likes | 662 Views

Introduction to HRM. Human Resource Management - S ession 1 Suhel Khan. Aims. By the end of the session students will be able to: 1) Demonstrate an understanding role of HR . 2) Understand the factors influencing the HRM. What is HR?.

Share Presentation

different view
management interests
affirmative action employee health
human resource strategies
japanese people management

Presentation Transcript

Introduction to HRM Human Resource Management - Session 1 Suhel Khan

Aims By the end of the session students will be able to: 1) Demonstrate an understanding role of HR. 2) Understand the factors influencing the HRM.

What is HR? • Human Resources is the part of the organization that deals with people • Managing the human resource • This means acquiring developing and supporting staff as well as ensuring they fulfill their role at work

Define HRM • Torrington et al “ It is a series of activities which; first enables working people and the organisation which uses their skills to agree about the objective and nature of their working relationship and secondly, ensure that the agreement is fullfilled.”

HRM • The Policies and practices in carrying out the “people” or human resource aspects of a management position including, recruiting, screening, training, rewarding and appraising. (Dessler G) • The Charted Institute of Personnel Management “ The design, implementation and maintenance of strategies to manage people for optimum business performance including the development of policies and process to support these strategies”

Continue So the Human Resource Manager job includes: • Conducting Job analysis ( determining the nature of each job) • Planning labour needs and recruiting job candidated • Selecting Job candidates • Orienting and training new employees • Managing wages and salaries (compensating employees) • Providing incentives and benefits • Appraising performance • Communicating ( interviewing, counselling, disciplining) • Training and development

Cont. • Training and Developing managers • Building employee commitment And what a HRM Manger should know about Equal opportunity and affirmative action Employee health and safety Handling grievances and labour relations

Personnel Management V Resource Management • Personnel Management is ‘workforce’ centred • HR is resource centred • Does not identify with Management interests • Directed at management needs for deployment • People have the right to proper ‘treatment’ • Focus is on individuals and needs and potential • Intervene between manager - subordinate relationships • Planning, monitoring and control rather than mediation

Introduction to HR • The 1980’s and 90’s saw ‘Human Resource Management’(HRM) replace ‘Personnel Management’ • fashionable term • re-organisation of work of personnel department • distinctively different with new management approach • Long term rather than short term perspective • Psychological contract of commitment • Self-control rather than external controls • Management integration • Maximum utilisation of resource

Why is it Important? • Staff are the largest revenue cost of any organisation. • Staff are a volatile resource, they can leave you any time. • Staff are a store of corporate knowledge and the means of service delivery. • Retaining and developing good staff allows you to use skills and develop as a business. • Individuals should contribute more than they cost. • In the industry customer care critical and delivered by staff as representatives.

Hard and Soft HRM • 'Storey (1989) has distinguished between hard and soft forms of HRM, typified by the Michigan and Harvard models respectively. 'Hard' HRM focuses on the resource side of human resources. It emphasizes costs in the form of 'headcounts' and places control firmly in the hands of management. Their role is to manage numbers effectively, keeping the workforce closely matched with requirements in terms of both bodies and behaviour. 'Soft' HRM, on the other hand, stresses the 'human' aspects of HRM. Its concerns are with communication and motivation. People are led rather than managed. They are involved in determining and realizing strategic objectives.'

Hard and Soft HRM • Hard HRM: A different view of HRM is associated with the Michigan Business School (Fombrun, Tichy and Devanna, 1984). There are many similarities with the Harvard 'map' but the Michigan model has a harder, less humanistic edge, holding that employees are resources in the same way as any other business resource. People have to be managed in a similar manner to equipment and raw materials. Thay must be obtained as cheaply as possible, used sparingly, and developed and exploited as much as possible.

The Michigan model is also known as the 'matching model' or 'best-fit' approach to human resource management. In essence, it requires that human resource strategies have a tight fit to the overall strategies of the business. As such, it limits the role of HR to a reactive, organizational function and under-emphasizes the importance of societal and other external factors. For example, it is difficult to see how the current concern for worklife balance could be integrated into this model.

The Matching Model of HRM Internal Inter-linked components: Mission and Strategy Organisation Human Resource Structure management External forces: Political forces Economic forces Cultural forces Devanna et al., 1984 Emphases the ‘tight fit’ between HR strategy and business strategy

Harvard Model • A large part of this section is devoted to the Harvard 'map' of HRM. This is probably the most seminal model of HRM and has had a major influence on academic debate on the subject. • 'We noted that the Harvard Business School generated one of the most influential models of HRM. The Harvard interpretation sees employees as resources. However, they are viewed as being fundamentally different from other resources - they cannot be managed in the same way. The stress is on people as human resources. The Harvard approach recognizes an element of mutuality in all businesses, a concept with parallels in Japanese people management, as we observed earlier. Employees are significant stakeholders in an organization. They have their own needs and concerns along with other groups such as shareholders and customers.'

The Harvard Map or model outlines four HR policy areas: • 1 Human resource flows - recruitment, selection, placement, promotion, appraisal and assessment, promtion, termination, etc. 2 Reward systems - pay systems, motivation, etc. 3 Employee influence - delegated levels of authority, responsibility, power 4 Work systems - definition/design of work and alignment of people.

Which in turn lead to the 'four C's' or HR policies that have to be achieved: • Commitment • Congruence • Competence • Cost effectiveness

Factors Affecting HR • Legislation • The Economic environment • The global economy • The structure of the labour market • The Political environment • Changes in technology • Need to constantly retrain staff

Legislation • In the EU employment law is highly complex • In the UK changes made twice a year • The contract of employment is key to the employer/employee relationship

The Policy Decisions • The formalities to bargain with Government legislation, trade unions and workers council consultations • The decision to minimise external power and influence • Encompass management and employee group interaction

The Role of HR in Tourism • Support and advise line managers • Ensure staff available to meet organisational needs • Provide developmental support • Appraisal • Training • Promotion • Ensure pay and benefits in line with expectations. • Deal with problem staff • Develop • Dismissal

The Changing Nature of Hotel Work • Greater level of overseas travel • Technology room bookings etc • Larger number of multinational groups • Greater job mobility • Higher customer care expectations • Reduction in seasonal differences • Health and Safety • Greater need for Multi-skilling

Factors Affecting Hotel Work • Disposable income levels • Customer expectations • Travel options consider 911 • Technology • Staff availability • Status many hotels are importing labour • Flexibility of supply e.g. Students in summer • Career expectations

HRM Function • The company rather than the state or trade union provide employee security and welfare • HRM focuses on achieving organisational goals through individual achievement • Providing the right person in the right place • Directing positive employee communication and involvement • Optimise co-operation and loyalty • Imposition of different forms of control to develop management

Moving with the Times • Forces interact in complex ways to move and change markets, businesses and the economics of regions. • The changing expectations of a growing population. • a greater sense of self-determination • expectation of rewards and recognition for efforts expended • a growing appetite for a better life.

Business Changes • HRM equipped with strategy - a new set of tools and measures • People issues are now recognised as being central to the success of any organisation • as a consequence, human resources has assumed a higher profile. • senior management meeting address concerns • staffing levels, • recruitment, • management development • retention.

Mutualitybetween Employers and Employees • The theory that policy will elicit commitment which in turn will yield better economic performance and greater human development • Mutual goals • mutual influence • mutual respect • mutual rewards • mutual responsibility • Walton, 1985

Reference • http://www.hr-topics.com/introduction-to-hrm/defining-hrm.htm • Armstrong M Handbook of HRM practices(Kogan Page 1999) • OTHM Presentation of Travel and Tourism • Laurie J. Mullins Management and Organisational Behaviour seventh edition

More by User

HRM. Today class coverage…. What is HRM Who is responsible for HRM Course Objectives & Coverage. Evaluation. Code of conduct. Learning from previous term. Your expectations. Course objectives. Course Evaluation. Quizzes Group Assignment – Best Practices Presentation Midterm

366 views • 11 slides

Introduction to Professional HRM

Introduction to Professional HRM. Expected Outcomes. By the end of today, participants should... . Understand the state’s vision and why it has resulted in the need to introduce professional human resources management (HRM)

545 views • 44 slides

INTRODUCTION TO HRM

INTRODUCTION TO HRM. HRM TODAY. Business is about making money; and having employees (human resources) is about getting work done for the business. Individual and organizational behaviors will determine how employees contribute to organizational performance. Human Capital.

5.1k views • 23 slides

Introduction to HRM - Factors Influencing the Nature of Work in Hotels

Introduction to HRM - Factors Influencing the Nature of Work in Hotels. Human Resource Management - S ession 1 Suhel Khan. Aims. By the end of the session students will be able to: 1) Demonstrate an understanding role of HR within the industry .

810 views • 29 slides

HRM. Today class coverage…. Skill – will matrix HR Effectiveness model Role of line Manager as HRM Manager Role of HRM Deptt & HRM Manager Deloit Campus recruitment Video film Leader Talk Leadership passage & competency at two levels Next class – Recruiting – The Cisco Way.

490 views • 29 slides

Introduction to Human Resource Management (HRM)

Introduction to Human Resource Management (HRM). Human Resource Management (HRM). The focus is on managing people within the employer–employee relationship It involves the productive use of people in achieving: the organisation’s objectives the satisfaction of individual employee needs.

473 views • 17 slides

HRM. Today class coverage…. What is HRM..Who is responsible for HRM,Course Objectives & Coverage, Evaluation. Code of conduct. HR Effectiveness model GD – Warren Buffet & Conditions for Human Excellence Deloit Campus recruitment Video film Leader Talk Talent matrix.

374 views • 17 slides

Introduction to HRM. Anne S. Tsui September 2, 2002. HRM and OB . OB is about understanding behavior of individuals and groups in organizations. The psychological, sociological and economic reasons for actions and decisions by individuals, groups, or even the firm.

271 views • 6 slides

HRM. Labour Relations, Collective Bargaining and Contract Administration. Labor management relations. the ongoing economic and social interactions between labor unions and management in organizations. labor union. An officially recognized Association

535 views • 27 slides

Introduction to HRM. Introduction to HRM. People are vital for effective operation of an organization. It is people, not buildings that make a company successful. Assets make things possible but people make things happen.

588 views • 22 slides

Introduction to Human Resource Development Moving from HRM to HRD

Introduction to Human Resource Development Moving from HRM to HRD. What is HR?. Human Resources is the part of the organization that deals with people Managing the human resource This means acquiring developing and supporting staff as well as ensuring they fulfill their role at work.

1.42k views • 63 slides

HRM 323 Tutorials / HRM 323dotcom

HRM 323 is an online course which provides you to get best results.

216 views • 10 slides

HRM 420 Tutorials / HRM 420dotcom

HRM 420 is an online course which provides you to get best results.

273 views • 17 slides

Introduction Of HRM in AX Recruitment Process.

Microsoft Dynamics AX is a professional software solution for global companies that support business specific operational processes with a complete ERP (enterprise resource planning) functionality for HR process-flows and automated financial transaction processing.

177 views • 11 slides

HRM 300 MART Introduction Education--hrm300mart.com

FOR MORE CLASSES VISIT www.hrm300mart.com This Tutorial contains 2 Papers for each Assignment HRM 300 Week 1 Apply HR Roles Mind Map (New Syllabus) (2 Papers) HRM 300 Week 1 Practice Making a Mind Map

425 views • 42 slides

HRM 326 TUTORIALS Introduction Education--hrm326tutorials.com

is a truly special teacher is very wise and sees tomorrow in every studentu2019s eyest

389 views • 38 slides

HRM 548 TUTORIAL Introduction Education--hrm548tutorial.com

is a truly special teacher is very wise and sees tomorrow in every studentu2019s eyes

152 views • 14 slides

HRM 531 Introduction Education--hrm531.com

For more course tutorials visit www.hrm531.com HRM 531 Week 1 Apply Employment Strategy (2 Papers) HRM 531 Week 2 Apply Organizational Restructuring Memo (2 Papers)

387 views • 38 slides

Introduction to HRM. What is it….?. Outline. Exercise: Top 10 workplace complaints Purpose of the HR Department Employment Cycle Your experience Outside influences HRM conducted by Managers. Top 10 Workplace Complaints. In teams, list what you think are the most common complaints.

415 views • 30 slides

HRM- INTRODUCTION

HRM- INTRODUCTION. 17-Oct-2017. The facilitator: Abdisamad Abdullahi Abdulle, MBA. START UP SESSION. Class Introduction Course objective To introduce what human resource is all about and how it works inside organizations Teaching Methodology

305 views • 20 slides

Introduction to Employee Training and Development Programs in HRM

Employee Training and Development Programs refers to a companyu2019s continuous efforts to boost its employeeu2019s productivity. It pertains to pushing an employee to learn new skills and develop them for better roles in the organisation.

215 views • 4 slides

Search Results

Presentation of the ECB Annual Report 2023 to the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament

Introductory remarks by luis de guindos, vice-president of the ecb, at the econ committee of the european parliament.

Brussels, 18 April 2024

Introduction

I am pleased to appear before this Committee to present the ECB’s Annual Report for 2023 [ 1 ] , a year in which the ECB consolidated progress in its fight against inflation. As well as assessing economic developments in the euro area in 2023, our Annual Report gives an account of the Eurosystem’s monetary policy and other activities conducted by the European System of Central Banks (ESCB). In response to European Parliament resolutions, it also includes a box explaining how the ECB’s secondary objective is considered in the conduct of the ECB’s monetary policy and reporting activities.

Today we are also publishing our written feedback statement, which provides responses to the European Parliament’s resolution on our previous Annual Report. [ 2 ]

In my remarks today, I will start by focusing on the economic outlook for the euro area and the monetary policy decisions taken at our recent monetary policy meeting. I will then briefly update you on our current financial stability assessment before going on to discuss the importance of a resilient financial system.

The euro area economy and our monetary policy

As detailed in the Annual Report, euro area growth slowed to 0.4% in 2023 after expanding by 3.4% in 2022. This slowdown was to some extent attributable to the economic repercussions of Russia’s war against Ukraine. The impact of higher interest rates alongside spillover effects from the weak industrial sector to services also weighed on growth.

Euro area headline inflation declined by 6.3 percentage points over the course of 2023 to reach 2.9% at the end of the year. The decline was broad based across all the main components of inflation, reflecting the fading impact of previous large supply shocks, lower energy commodity prices and tight monetary policy.

This year, economic indicators suggest that activity has got off to a weak start and will recover only gradually. Consumer spending is set to remain sluggish in the near term but should strengthen as real disposable income continues to recover. Private investment is expected to show continued weakness in the period ahead before the impact of weak final demand and tight financing conditions starts to fade.

Inflation has fallen further this year and is expected to continue declining in the medium term, but at a slower pace. Measures of underlying inflation have been easing but domestic price pressures remain elevated. Wage growth has remained strong amid robust labour markets but has been moderating recently, while profits are absorbing part of the effects of wage increases on prices.

The ECB reacted forcefully to heightened inflation: it raised its key policy rates by a cumulative 450 basis points between July 2022 and September 2023 and has kept them unchanged since then. We are determined to ensure that inflation returns to our 2% medium-term target in a timely manner. At our most recent monetary policy meeting on 11 April 2024 we considered that the key ECB interest rates are at levels that are making a substantial contribution to the ongoing disinflation process. Our future decisions will ensure that our policy rates will stay sufficiently restrictive for as long as necessary. If our updated assessment of the inflation outlook, the dynamics of underlying inflation and the strength of monetary policy transmission were to further increase our confidence that inflation is converging to our target in a sustained manner, it would be appropriate to reduce the current level of monetary policy restriction. In any event, we will continue to follow a data-dependent and meeting-by-meeting approach to determining the appropriate level and duration of restriction, and we are not pre-committing to a particular rate path.

Let me also give you a brief update on the operational framework review we concluded in March, which you have discussed on previous occasions with the ECB President. [ 3 ] The changes will affect how central bank reserves will be provided as excess liquidity gradually declines. The Governing Council will continue to steer the monetary policy stance by adjusting the deposit facility rate (DFR) and short-term interest rates are expected to evolve in the vicinity of the DFR with tolerance for some volatility. Liquidity will be provided through a broad mix of instruments, including existing regular refinancing operations as well as – at a later stage – new structural longer-term credit operations and a structural portfolio of securities. Our existing regular refinancing operations will continue to be conducted through fixed-rate tender procedures with full allotment against broad collateral, and the interest rate on the main refinancing operations will be adjusted later in the year to 15 basis points above the deposit facility rate. The key parameters of the framework will be reviewed in 2026 or earlier if necessary.

The importance of a resilient financial system

Let me now turn to our assessment of the financial sector.

During my last appearance before this Committee, we discussed the importance of maintaining a resilient financial system following the banking sector turmoil in the United States and Switzerland.

Since then, the euro area financial system has remained strong, aided by declining inflation. Confidence in euro area banks has benefited from strong rules and supervision. Banks have maintained sizeable liquidity and capital buffers, and non-performing loan ratios remain close to historically low levels. At the same time, firms and households have shown resilience in the face of rising debt servicing costs resulting from higher interest rates.

However, this positive outlook for financial stability in the euro area should not be taken for granted. It could face significant challenges if growth prospects weakened, inflation stayed above target for a longer period or further geopolitical risks materialised.

We are also closely monitoring developments in euro area real estate markets as tighter financing costs, a move towards hybrid working practices as well as environmental, social and governance requirements are likely to continue to put pressure on this market segment. Although mild signs of asset quality deterioration are becoming visible in commercial real estate (CRE) lending, risks to this asset class are broadly contained given that banks’ CRE exposures, standing at around 5% of total assets, are limited. Our Financial Stability Review, which is due to be published mid-May, will provide more details of our assessment on this.

To support continued financial sector resilience, legislators still have a lot of work to do in the coming years to close the gaps in our banking union. Besides urgent reform of the bank crisis management and deposit insurance framework, we must set up a European framework for liquidity in resolution and, most importantly, a fully-fledged European deposit insurance scheme. We also need a solid institutional and policy framework for the non-bank financial sector and we welcome the European Commission’s forthcoming macroprudential framework review.

Moreover, during the next EU institutional cycle, the level of ambition and commitment devoted to the capital markets union (CMU) agenda must finally match the urgent need to make progress. Completing CMU is key to strengthening resilience, enhancing EU competitiveness, growing our economy and achieving the EU’s policy objectives, such as funding the green and digital transitions. In this spirit, the ECB Governing Council recently published a statement on advancing CMU. [ 4 ]

As this parliamentary term comes to an end and a new one begins in a few months’ time, let me reiterate that the ECB is counting on this Parliament to support these efforts with ambition and commitment.

Thank you for your attention. I now stand ready to answer your questions.

ECB Annual Report 2023 .

Feedback on the input provided by the European Parliament as part of its resolution on the ECB Annual Report 2022 . This feedback statement provides responses to the issues raised and requests made by the European Parliament in its resolution on the previous year’s ECB Annual Report. The statement, which is structured by topic, serves to better explain the ECB’s policies and promote dialogue with the European Parliament and the public regarding the important issues highlighted by the Members of the European Parliament. The ECB has been publishing such feedback statements since 2016 following a suggestion by the European Parliament.

ECB (2024), ECB announces changes to the operational framework for implementing monetary policy , press release, 13 March.

ECB (2024), Statement by the ECB Governing Council on advancing the Capital Markets Union , press release, 7 March 2024.

European Central Bank

Directorate general communications.

Sonnemannstrasse 20
60314 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
+49 69 1344 7455
[email protected]

Reproduction is permitted provided that the source is acknowledged.

Our website uses cookies

We are always working to improve this website for our users. To do this, we use the anonymous data provided by cookies. Learn more about how we use cookies

We have updated our privacy policy

We are always working to improve this website for our users. To do this, we use the anonymous data provided by cookies. See what has changed in our privacy policy

Your cookie preference has expired

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

View all journals
My Account Login
Explore content
About the journal
Publish with us
Sign up for alerts
Open access
Published: 22 April 2024

Clinical associations with a polygenic predisposition to benign lower white blood cell counts

Jonathan D. Mosley ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-6421-2887 1 , 2 ,
John P. Shelley 2 ,
Alyson L. Dickson ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3404-3802 1 ,
Jacy Zanussi 1 ,
Laura L. Daniel ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3143-5915 1 ,
Neil S. Zheng 1 , 3 ,
Lisa Bastarache 2 ,
Wei-Qi Wei ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4985-056X 2 ,
Mingjian Shi ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1569-9822 2 ,
Gail P. Jarvik 4 , 5 ,
Elisabeth A. Rosenthal ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-6042-4487 5 ,
Atlas Khan ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6651-2725 6 ,
Alborz Sherafati 7 ,
Iftikhar J. Kullo ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6524-3471 7 ,
Theresa L. Walunas ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-7653-3650 8 ,
Joseph Glessner ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5131-2811 9 ,
Hakon Hakonarson ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2814-7461 10 ,
Nancy J. Cox 1 ,
Dan M. Roden ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6302-0389 1 , 2 , 11 ,
Stephan G. Frangakis 12 ,
Brett Vanderwerff 13 ,
C. Michael Stein 1 , 11 ,
Sara L. Van Driest 1 , 14 ,
Scott C. Borinstein ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1721-1520 14 ,
Xiao-Ou Shu 1 , 15 ,
Matthew Zawistowski ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3005-083X 13 ,
Cecilia P. Chung 16 &
Vivian K. Kawai 1

Nature Communications volume 15 , Article number: 3384 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

Metrics details

Genetic association study
Predictive markers
Risk factors

Polygenic variation unrelated to disease contributes to interindividual variation in baseline white blood cell (WBC) counts, but its clinical significance is uncharacterized. We investigated the clinical consequences of a genetic predisposition toward lower WBC counts among 89,559 biobank participants from tertiary care centers using a polygenic score for WBC count (PGS WBC ) comprising single nucleotide polymorphisms not associated with disease. A predisposition to lower WBC counts was associated with a decreased risk of identifying pathology on a bone marrow biopsy performed for a low WBC count (odds-ratio = 0.55 per standard deviation increase in PGS WBC [95%CI, 0.30−0.94], p = 0.04), an increased risk of leukopenia (a low WBC count) when treated with a chemotherapeutic (n = 1724, hazard ratio [HR] = 0.78 [0.69−0.88], p = 4.0 × 10 −5 ) or immunosuppressant (n = 354, HR = 0.61 [0.38–0.99], p = 0.04). A predisposition to benign lower WBC counts was associated with an increased risk of discontinuing azathioprine treatment (n = 1,466, HR = 0.62 [0.44−0.87], p = 0.006). Collectively, these findings suggest that there are genetically predisposed individuals who are susceptible to escalations or alterations in clinical care that may be harmful or of little benefit.

Introduction

White blood cell (WBC) counts (the number of WBCs present within a volume of blood) are routinely measured in clinical settings to survey health, ascertain for drug toxicities and identify causes of illness. The counts are evaluated with respect to a reference interval of values expected in a healthy population 1 , 2 , and a measurement that falls outside of the interval may prompt investigations to exclude conditions such as infections, diseases of the bone marrow, autoimmune disease, and toxicities due to medications such as chemotherapeutics and immunosuppressants 3 . A low WBC count may also prompt clinical action due to concerns that an individual may have an immunodeficiency that could limit an effective response to infections 4 .

A genetic predisposition toward benign lower WBC counts can impact clinical care. For instance, the rs2814778-CC genotype is common among individuals of African ancestry and is associated with lower WBC counts in the absence of underlying disease 5 , 6 . Carriers of this genotype are more likely to undergo diagnostic investigations, including a bone marrow biopsy, and to have medications stopped due to concerns for toxicity 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 . These actions are driven, in part, by the use of WBC count reference ranges that are not calibrated to this genotype 11 , 12 . While the rs2814778-CC genotype is not prevalent among European ancestry (EA) populations, numerous common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with WBC count variation have been identified in this group 13 , 14 . Whether a polygenic predisposition toward benign lower WBC counts could have similar clinical consequences in this population is unknown.

We constructed a polygenic score for WBC counts (PGS WBC ) which measures the burden of SNPs associated with WBC count that an individual carries. SNPs located near loci associated with clinically significant diseases within the differential diagnosis of a low WBC count were excluded to ensure that the PGS WBC measures benign WBC count variation. We examine a diverse range of clinical outcomes and settings to characterize the consequences of a polygenic predisposition to benign lower WBC counts.

Development and validation of a benign PGS WBC

We developed a polygenic risk score for WBC count (PGS WBC ) using SNP weightings derived from a large genome-wide association study (GWAS) of WBC counts 15 . A linkage-disequilibrium reduced ( r 2 < 0.01) set of independent SNPs was selected ( p < 5 × 10 −6 , minor allele frequency>0.01, imputation r 2 ≥ 0.7). To ensure that SNPs associated with clinically significant diseases were not included in the PGS WBC , SNPs located in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genomic region, which is associated with multiple autoimmune diseases 16 , or near loci associated with hematological malignancies or systemic lupus erythematosus 17 were excluded (see “Methods” section for full details). After exclusions, there were 1739 SNPs in the PGS WBC . The PGS WBC was normalized to have a mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1, and a lower PGS WBC value reflects a polygenic predisposition to lower WBC counts. Thus, an inverse association between the PGS WBC and an outcome indicates that a predisposition to lower counts increases the risk of the outcome.

To verify that the PGS WBC did not associate with clinically significant diseases that are in the differential diagnosis of a low WBC count, we tested for associations between the PGS WBC and hematological malignancies ( n = 15 diagnoses) and autoimmune diseases ( n = 21 diagnoses) that were prevalent among 71,078 European Ancestry participants from BioVU, a DNA biobank linked to a de-identified electronic health record. There was one nominal inverse association ( p < 0.05) with a diagnosis of psoriasis vulgaris, an autoimmune skin condition (Supplementary Fig. 1 and Supplementary Table 1 ).

There were also 4 nominal positive associations ( p < 0.05) with hematological malignancies, suggesting a that predisposition to higher WBC counts could be associated with the risk of these diagnoses. To determine whether associations were driven by SNPs with a relatively larger effect size, SNPs in the PGS were separated into 5 quintiles based on the distribution of effect sizes, and a PGS for each quintile was constructed. Only the PGS for the 4th quintile (representing SNPs in the 60–80th percentile) had more positive associations than expected by chance ( n = 8 phenotypes, p = 0.001, based on permutation analyses) (Supplementary Table 2 ). In addition, SNPs in this quintile had more nominal ( p < 0.05) associations with 4 hematological phenotypes than would be expected by chance ( p < 0.05 based on binomial expectations) (Supplementary Table 3 ). Collectively, these results suggest that SNPs of larger effective sizes did not drive the positive hematological associations, but might suggest that the PGS WBC may comprise SNPs of modest effect size that have weak positive associations with hematological malignancies.

We examined associations between the PGS WBC and a diverse range of clinical outcomes measured in different clinical settings (Fig. 1 ).

WBC white blood cell, BM bone marrow, ANC absolute neutrophil count, ICD International Classification of Disease code.

Association between the PGS WBC and low measured WBC and markers of clinical activity

To characterize the relationship between the PGS WBC and measured WBC counts, we identified 11,694 BioVU participants (6931 females [59%]; mean age 57 [s.d. 17] years) without a hematological malignancy and who had 1 or more WBC count measurements collected in a primary care setting during a routine health maintenance exam. The PGS WBC was positively correlated (partial correlation = 0.29, adjusted for age, sex, and 5 PCs) with measured median WBC counts (Fig. 2a ). We also investigated the associations between the PGS WBC and an individual’s lowest measured WBC count and found the same association Supplementary Fig. 2 . When WBC count measurements are reported in clinical settings, the results are presented in conjunction with the reference range for the assay used to measure the count. There were 623 participants who had at least one WBC count that fell below the lower reference range value (i.e., these participants had a value that would be designated as a clinical outlier). The PGS WBC was inversely associated with the outcome of having a WBC count below the lower reference range value (odds-ratio [OR] = 0.57 [95% CI: 0.52–0.62] per s.d. increase in the PGS WBC , p < 2 × 10 − 16 ) (Fig. 2b ). The model demonstrated a good fit to the data (Hosmer–Lemeshow p = 0.66) Supplementary Fig. 3 .

a Ranges of observed median WBC counts by PGS WBC value. Ranges summarize WBC counts within sequential windows (±0.2 s.d.) across the range of the PGS WBC . The dark line is the median value, and the gray ribbon represents the 5th–95th percentiles of the range. The dashed red lines denote the upper and lower clinical reference ranges for the clinical assay used to measure the WBC count. b Predicted probability (with standard errors) of having a WBC count that falls below the lower clinical reference value across a range of PGS WBC values ( n = 623 events). Probabilities are based on a logistic regression model adjusted for age and sex. The dashed red line is the average probability for the entire population.

ICD codes are assigned to patients to indicate the diagnoses that were addressed during a clinical encounter 18 . If a patient has been assigned an ICD code for a low WBC count, it indicates that the clinical provider diagnosed the patient with a low WBC count. There were 379 (3.2%) participants assigned an ICD code for a low WBC count. The PGS WBC was significantly associated with being assigned an ICD code for a low WBC count among BioVU participants (OR = 0.62 [0.56–0.69], p < 2 × 10 − 16 ). Thus, a polygenic predisposition to lower WBC counts increased the likelihood of receiving a clinical diagnosis of a low WBC count. We also tested for an association in an independent set of participants from the eMERGE network, a consortium of institutions with EHR-linked biobanks. Among eMERGE participants who did not have a history of a hematological malignancy ( n = 18,217), there were 256 (1.4%) participants who had an ICD code for a low WBC count. The PGS WBC was associated with this outcome (OR = 0.74 [0.67–0.82], p = 2.0 × 10 − 9 ).

In sensitivity analyses, we examined a PGS that excluded SNPs that had nominal associations with a hematological malignancy in the BioVU population. Associations with having an ICD code for a low WBC count were not changed with these exclusions (Supplementary Table 4 ).

In sum, a polygenic predisposition toward lower WBC counts was associated with lower measured WBC counts, an increased likelihood of having a count below the clinical reference range, and having an ICD code for a low count.

Association between the PGS WBC and bone marrow biopsies for low WBC

A bone marrow biopsy is an invasive procedure to determine whether a hematological abnormality, such as a low WBC count, is due to an underlying disease in the bone marrow. Biopsy reports include a clinical indication, which lists the clinical concerns of the hematologist that prompted the biopsy. It has been previously observed that a benign WBC-lowering genotype was associated with both the clinical indication and outcomes of a bone marrow biopsy among individuals of African ancestry 9 . We examined whether the PGS WBC behaved similarly in European ancestry populations.

There were 922 BioVU participants without a prior history of a hematological malignancy who underwent a first bone marrow biopsy. We tested whether the PGS WBC was associated with undergoing a biopsy due to a clinical concern for a low WBC count. There were 117 participants biopsied for this reason, and the PGS WBC was associated with this outcome (OR = 0.56 [0.45–0.68], p = 1.8 × 10 − 8 ). This result indicates that a polygenic predisposition to a lower WBC count increased the likelihood that a biopsy was performed due to concerns for a low count.

Among the 117 participants biopsied for a low WBC count, 64 (55%) were female and the mean age was 48 (s.d. 25) years (Supplementary Table 5 ). Bone marrow pathology was identified in 35 (30%) biopsies. Biopsies which showed pathology were more likely to have a second hematological comorbidity (e.g. anemia or a low platelet count) noted in the indication, as compared to those without pathology ( n = 29 [83%] vs n = 37 [45%]) (Supplementary Table 5 ). Those without pathology in their bone marrow had PGS WBC values that were more skewed toward the lower ranges compared to those with pathology (Fig. 3a ). There was not a significant difference in the mean PGS WBC value between those participants with an abnormal biopsy and the unbiopsied BioVU population (difference = −0.11 standard deviations [95% CI: −0.43−0.22], p = 0.53). The PGS WBC was associated with a finding of no pathology, after adjusting for other hematological comorbidities (OR = 0.55 [0.30–0.94], p = 0.04) (Fig. 3b ). Associations with biopsy outcomes were not changed when excluding SNPs from the PGS that had nominal associations with a hematological malignancy in BioVU (Supplementary Table 6 ).

a Distribution of the PGS WBC values among 117 BioVU participants who underwent a bone marrow biopsy for a clinical indication that included a low WBC count. Results are stratified by whether the biopsy identified pathology (abnormal, n = 35) or not (normal, n = 82). Box plots show the median value, interquartile range (gray region), and maximum and minimum values (whiskers) for each stratum. The dashed red line indicates the median PGS WBC value for the overall BioVU population. b Predicted probabilities (with standard errors) of a normal biopsy finding. Results are stratified by whether the indication for the biopsy included other hematological abnormalities (labeled as present or absent) in addition to a low WBC count. Probabilities are based on a multivariable logistic regression model, adjusted for age, sex, and presence of a hematological abnormality. c , d Scatterplots showing the WBC count at the time of biopsy versus the PGS WBC values for participants with a c normal or d abnormal biopsy result. Points are colored to denote whether the observed WBC count fell within the range (i.e. above the 2.5th percentile of the distribution) of WBC counts observed among individuals in the WBC cohort whose PGS WBC value was within 0.2 standard deviations. The dashed red line denotes the lower bound of the clinical reference ranges.

We determined the proportion of participants who underwent a biopsy and whose WBC count at the time of biopsy would be considered within the normal range of a genotype-informed reference range. For these analyses, the normal range was defined as a value above the 2.5th percentile of the distribution of WBC counts observed among individuals with a similar PGS WBC value (see “Methods” section). All individuals whose WBC count at the time of biopsy was between 3500 and 4000 cell/µL fell within their genetically expected ranges, regardless of biopsy outcome (Table 1 , Fig. 3c , d ). However, among individuals whose WBC count was <=3500 cells/µL, only individuals with a normal biopsy result had counts that fell within genetic ranges. For instance, among individuals with WBC count between 3000 and 3500 cells/µL, 9 of 13 (69%) individuals with a normal biopsy, versus 0 of 6 (0%) with an abnormal biopsy, fell within expected ranges. These results are consistent with the lower PGS WBC values observed in the normal biopsy group (Fig. 3a ). No individuals with a WBC count <2500 cells/µL fell within their genetic ranges.

In sum, a polygenic predisposition toward lower WBC counts was associated with an increased likelihood of having a bone marrow biopsy that was performed to investigate a low WBC count and a reduced likelihood of identifying pathology on the biopsy. The PGS WBC may also preferentially reclassify individuals with modestly low WBC counts and without underlying bone marrow disease whose counts.

Association between the PGS WBC and drug-induced leukopenia

Among individuals of African ancestry, benign neutropenia associates both with an increased risk of a low WBC count due to a medication (i.e. drug-induced leukopenia) and medication discontinuation due to a concern for low WBC counts 10 , 19 . We examined whether the PGS WBC was similarly associated with drug side effects for two classes of drugs that can commonly cause drops in WBC counts: chemotherapeutics (antineoplastics) and immunosuppressants.

We first examined whether there was an association with ICD-based billing codes related to adverse effects from these classes of medications. Since these medications can be associated with a broad range of toxicities, we specifically examined whether the PGS WBC was associated with having an ICD code for toxicity due to chemotherapeutic or immunosuppressant medications entered on the same day that the provider wrote a clinical note that mentioned a low WBC count. In the BioVU population ( n = 71,078), there were 985 (1.4%) participants who met this case definition and the PGS WBC was associated with this outcome (OR = 0.92 [0.86–0.98], p = 0.01) (Fig. 4a ). However, there was no association with those ICD codes in the absence of a clinical mention of a low WBC count ( n = 2273 cases, OR = 1.01 [0.97–1.06], p = 0.60).

a Odds-ratio and 95% confidence interval of having an ICD code for toxicity from an antineoplastic or immunosuppressive medication with ( n = 985) or without ( n = 2273) a clinical concern for a low WBC count among 71,078 BioVU participants. Odds-ratios are from a logistic regression model, adjusted for age, sex, and principal components. b Kaplan–Meier plot for a WBC count < 3000 cells/µL (leukopenia) ( n = 266 events) after initiating treatment with taxanes among 1724 BioVU participants with cancer. The PGS WBC strata are Low (<1 s.d. below the mean), Middle (≥−1 s.d. and ≤1 s.d.), High (>1 s.d.).

To probe this association further, we identified 1724 BioVU participants (917 [53%] female, 60 [12] years) who received treatment for cancer with the taxane class of chemotherapeutic medications 20 (Supplementary Table 7 ). The mean baseline (pre-treatment) WBC count was 8200 (s.d. 3900) cells/µL. The PGS WBC was associated with baseline (pre-treatment) count (change in log-transformed WBC count = 0.062 [0.044−0.080], p = 3.9 × 10 − 11 ). In the first cycle of treatment, 266 (16%) participants developed an incident drug-induced leukopenia, defined here as a WBC count < 3000 cells/µL. The PGS WBC was significantly associated with time to leukopenia after adjusting for treatment dose and duration (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.78 [0.69–0.88], p = 4.0 × 10 − 5 ) (Fig. 4b ). There was a similar association for the outcome of time to drug-induced neutropenia (absolute neutrophil count < 1500 cells/µL) (HR = 0.80 [0.69–0.91], p = 0.0006) (Supplementary Fig. 4 ).

Similar results were seen in an independent cohort of 354 participants (203 [57%] female, 44 [17] years) from the Michigan Genomics Initiative who were treated with the immunosuppressant azathioprine for an autoimmune disease (Supplementary Table 8 ). The WBC count at azathioprine initiation was 8800 [3700] cells/µL. The PGS WBC was significantly associated with time to an incident WBC count < 3000 cells/µL with treatment (HR = 0.61 [0.38–0.99], p = 0.04) (Supplementary Fig. 5 ).

Association between the PGS WBC and medication discontinuation

To determine whether the PGS WBC was associated with cessation of medications due to a provider’s concern for a low WBC count, we examined a cohort of 1180 BioVU participants (787 [67%] female, 47 [15] years) treated with azathioprine for an autoimmune disease (Supplementary Table 9 ) 10 . The PGS WBC was inversely associated with WBC count at azathioprine initiation (change in log-transformed WBC count per s.d. increase in the PGS WBC = 0.050 [0.026–0.073], p = 3.7 × 10 − 5 ), but not the change in WBC count during the course of treatment (change in log-transformed WBC count = 0.041 [0.270–0.350], p = 0.79). Azathioprine was discontinued in 34 (3%) participants due to a clinical concern for a low WBC count. The PGS WBC was associated with time to medication discontinuation (HR = 0.62 [0.44–0.87], p = 0.006, adjusted for baseline dose) (Fig. 5 ). Thus, a polygenic predisposition toward lower WBC counts was associated with an increased likelihood of stopping an immunosuppressive medication due to concern for a lower WBC count.

Kaplan–Meier plot for discontinuation of azathioprine due to clinical concern of a low WBC count related to medication toxicity ( n = 34 events) among 1180 BioVU participants with autoimmune disease. The PGS WBC strata are Low (<1 s.d. below the mean), Middle (≥−1 s.d. and ≤1 s.d.), High (>1 s.d.).

In sum, a polygenic predisposition toward lower WBC counts was associated with an increased likelihood of having ICD codes for drug toxicity related to a low WBC count, developing leukopenia with treatment, and medication discontinuation.

We examined whether a polygenic predisposition to a lower WBC count was associated with clinically significant endpoints. This predisposition was associated with an increased likelihood of having a WBC count falling outside the reference range and receiving an ICD code specifically noting an outlying value. It was also associated with an increased likelihood that a hematologist would list a low WBC count as a reason for performing a bone marrow biopsy, but a decreased likelihood that that such biopsies identified disease within the bone marrow. Genotype-informed reference ranges also demonstrated that individuals without underlying bone marrow disease were more likely to fall within expected ranges, as compared to those with pathology. Finally, a predisposition to lower a WBC count increased the likelihood of drug-induced leukopenia with treatment using chemotherapeutic or immunosuppressant therapies and increased the likelihood of cessation of azathioprine due to clinical concern for a low WBC count. Collectively, these analyses demonstrate that genetic variation which does not contribute to disease risk, is associated with clinical consequences such as undergoing diagnostic procedures or altering therapeutic regimens.

A broad range of heritable biomarkers, including WBC counts, are measured in clinical settings to guide clinical care. Many of these biomarkers are not direct mediators of disease but fluctuate in response to acute and chronic illness. Thus, they are often used to characterize an illness, which helps establish a differential diagnosis. These biomarkers are paired with clinical reference ranges which are used to standardize the delivery of health care. These reference ranges are typically constructed such that 5% of healthy individuals will have a measure that lies outside of the interval and, thus, are outliers 1 , 21 .

The standard clinical approach toward personalizing the interpretation of biomarkers is to serially measure them in individuals when they are healthy in order to define the range of values that they fluctuate in. The limitations of this approach are the costs of repeated measurements, especially if individuals are frequently changing providers. Furthermore, 5% of healthy individuals will have values outside standard population reference ranges, which can lead to uncertainty as to whether they may harbor occult underlying disease. This uncertainty may prompt diagnostic evaluations, and is stressful to patients, as they may be subject to serial lab monitoring with no clearly specified endpoint.

The ability of genetic variation associated with benign biomarker variation to systematically disadvantage an identifiable subset of individuals is exemplified by the rs2814778-CC genotype, which is predominantly carried by individuals of African ancestry and underlies the clinical phenomenon of benign neutropenia 22 . The current study demonstrates that common polygenic variation associated with a diagnostic biomarker can push individuals toward the same clinical endpoints as a genotype with a large effect size.

Like WBC counts, many of the biomarkers that are used to guide clinical decision-making have a significant heritable component 23 . While polygenic variation impacts biomarker levels across the distribution, it is important to demonstrate that it can contribute to values that cross clinical decision thresholds, which typically lie near the tails of the distributions. We found that the PGS WBC was not only associated with an increased likelihood of having WBC counts below the lower limits of the standard lab reference ranges but was also associated with diagnostic ICD codes, indicating that the counts came to the attention of clinical providers and were prompting clinical actions.

Similar to the benign neutropenia genotype, a tool like the PGS WBC may prevent futile diagnostic odysseys or unnecessary alterations in clinical care. However, as compared to a discrete genotype, translating a measure of benign polygenic risk to the clinical setting is more nuanced, as the exposure is continuous. Furthermore, the approaches to clinical translation will vary by clinical scenario.

The bone marrow biopsy example highlights a scenario where WBC counts are used as a biomarker of occult hematological disease. In this scenario, it is important to know the expected ranges of WBC counts that a non-diseased individual fluctuates within. Genotype-informed reference ranges (such as those presented in Fig. 2a ) could be informative for this purpose. As a simple proof-of-concept, we showed that applying reference intervals based on the PGS WBC identified more individuals without underlying bone marrow disease who fell within the expected WBC count range, as compared to individuals with underlying disease. Though only a modest proportion of individuals fell within expected ranges, it is important to note that each reclassification avoids an expensive and painful diagnostic procedure. An alternative approach could be to generate prior probabilities based on PGS WBC values that a given diagnostic workup (such as a bone marrow biopsy) will identify pathology when performed for an indication of a low WBC count (such as presented in Fig. 3b ).

Another scenario is illustrated by the pharmacogenomic examples. Collectively, these studies indicate that the associations between PGS WBC and various outcomes are not driven by larger drug-induced drops in WBC counts, but rather a predisposition to WBC counts that fluctuate within ranges that cross clinical decision thresholds. The central clinical question in this scenario that remains to be addressed is whether the PGS WBC can identify individuals in whom it is safe to apply lower WBC count thresholds without increasing the risk of adverse outcomes, especially infection secondary to immunosuppression. If so, the PGS WBC may be informative to guide setting the lower limits of treatment thresholds in order to avoid systematic undertreatment of predisposed individuals. There is precedence for such a pharmacogenomic approach among individuals with benign neutropenia treated with clozapine, an antipsychotic that can lower WBC counts. Clozapine treatment guidelines permit lower WBC count discontinuation thresholds for individuals with this genotype 24 .

Finally, these studies identify an alternative application of polygenic variation to clinical medicine. There has been considerable interest in using polygenic risk scores (PRS) in clinical settings to identify healthy individuals at risk for future disease 25 , 26 . This application of genetics leads to an escalation of clinical care for individuals identified as high-risk, which always entails some degree of risk. A challenge of PRS-based clinical predictors is that they typically have modest discriminative capabilities with respect to identifying individuals who will develop incident disease 27 , 28 . With a modestly discriminative biomarker, the risks will often outweigh the benefits when clinical care is escalated. In contrast to the PRS prediction paradigm, a benign PGS WBC could have a role in de-escalating care and circumventing an otherwise futile diagnostic odyssey. This application of polygenic predictors is apt to have a more favorable risk-benefit ratio, as the default pathway for individuals with outlying values is an escalation in clinical care. Finally, the PGS WBC may provide a biologically motivated explanation for individuals who undergo an extensive diagnostic workup that does not identify an explanation for their leukopenia. Determining that they have a polygenic predisposition to lower WBC counts may allow them to avoid the costs and the need to undergo ongoing active surveillance that is often associated with clinical uncertainty.

A challenge of constructing a benign PGS for a clinical biomarker is determining which SNPs that may predispose to disease should be excluded from the predictor. For the PGS WBC , we excluded SNPs in genomic loci that were associated with diseases that are in the differential diagnosis of a low WBC count, such as hematological malignancies. However, we did not exclude SNPs associated with intermediate phenotypes of hematological malignancies, such as clonal hematopoiesis, as these phenotypes often will not progress to disease and are also typically not associated with WBC count abnormalities in the absence of transformation to malignant disease 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 . More generally, when constructing a benign PGS for possible clinical application, it will be essential to define the clinical settings where the PGS will be used and to exclude all SNP variation associated with important diagnoses relevant to the setting and the biomarker. Defining the appropriate association p -value thresholds for exclusion can present challenges. Excluding a highly inclusive set of SNPs weakly associated with a large number of diseases will remove numerous SNPs from the PGS and degrade its performance. In contrast, only excluding SNPs associated with diseases at genome-wide significance may be too restrictive and risk misclassifying diseased individuals as benign outliers. Importantly, for any set of exclusion criteria, validation of the performance and utility of the PGS in real-world settings will be critical to determine its utility, safety, and limitations in practice.

There are strengths to the current study. In particular, it demonstrated a consistent pattern of associations across a diverse range of clinical outcomes and settings. There are also limitations. It is possible that this PGS WBC includes SNPs associated with diseases that decrease WBC counts. Mitigating this concern is the fact that the SNP weightings used to construct the PGS WBC were derived from a very large GWAS study where most individuals would not have manifest disease; thus, the influences of individuals with overt disease on SNP weightings would be expected to be small. However, we observed modest positive associations with several hematological diagnoses. These may have been a consequence of the analytical approaches used in the GWAS study that our SNP weightings were derived from. While the investigators attempted to exclude individuals with diagnosed hematological disease, they included individuals with WBC counts up to 200,000 cells/µL. As the probability of underlying disease with WBC counts of even 50,000 cells/µL is very high, there were likely individuals with manifest disease in their population. While the data were transformed to mitigate the impact of these outliers, their inclusion could explain the weak positive associations that we observed. The optimal approach to mitigating this issue would be to use more stringent exclusion ranges in GWAS that would be repurposed for clinical use. Importantly, we found that excluding SNPs with even nominal associations with hematological malignancies from the PGS WBC did not alter our underlying findings. It is also important to note that while we excluded genomic regions around SNPs associated with significant clinical diseases within the differential diagnosis of low WBC counts, we relied on data from the GWAS catalog which may be incomplete and does not include disease-associated SNPs with lower levels of statistical significance. These analyses were restricted to European ancestries, as it has been previously demonstrated that a benign common genetic variant drives these same associations in African ancestries 9 , 10 .

In conclusion, a polygenic predisposition toward benign lower WBC counts was associated with a diagnosis of leukopenia, undergoing diagnostic procedures, and medication discontinuation. Collectively, these studies describe a genetic tool that may help identify populations who are susceptible to escalations or alterations in clinical care or may have a role in personalizing biomarker WBC count reference ranges for the purpose of de-escalating unnecessary diagnostic investigations or alterations to clinical care.

Study populations

Study populations were derived from Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s (VUMC) DNA biobank resource (BioVU). BioVU comprises 270,000 consented participants and is constructed from discarded blood samples collected from consented individuals and linked to de-identified electronic health records (EHR) 33 . Participants are not compensated. The de-identified EHR (the Synthetic Derivative) captures a large portion of data available through the medical center’s electronic health record 33 . Analyses were restricted to 71,078 participants of White European Ancestry with existing SNP genotyping. All BioVU studies were evaluated by the VUMC Institutional Review Board (IRB) and determined to be non-human subjects research. The following cohorts were derived from this population:

(1) WBC cohort: This cohort of 11,694 BioVU participants was used to characterize the relationship between the white blood cell count PGS and measured white cell counts. To minimize the likelihood that WBC counts were collected during an acute illness, the population was restricted to individuals with one or more WBC counts measured contemporaneously with an International Classification of Disease 34 (ICD)-9/10 code for a routine health exam (ICD-9: V70.9, V20, V20.1, V70, V70.0, V20.2; ICD-10 Z00.8, Z00.129, Z00.00, Z00.01, Z00.121). These codes are typically used in a primary care setting to denote a well-visit encounter. Participants with an ICD code for hematological malignancy, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy (ICD codes listed in Supplementary Data 1 ) were excluded, as these diagnoses or treatments can markedly impact WBC counts.

(2) Bone marrow biopsy cohort: Among 2302 BioVU participants with a biopsy pathology report in their clinical record, 1380 participants had an ICD code for hematological malignancy, blood transfusion, organ transplant, or chemotherapy/radiation prior to their first biopsy and were excluded 12 . Additional exclusions included: the absence of a text phrase pertaining to a low WBC count in the clinical indication portion of the biopsy report (text phrases are listed in Supplementary Table 10 ) and notation of an established hematological cancer or hematological diagnosis upon manual review of their first available biopsy report. After exclusions, there were 117 participants in the final cohort without a known diagnosis of malignancy who underwent a first biopsy for an indication that included a WBC count.

(3) Taxane cohort: Participants were from a curated longitudinal cohort of 3492 BioVU participants undergoing treatment for primary cancer with taxane chemotherapies (paclitaxel or docetaxel) 20 . The cohort was originally constructed to examine differences in rates of incident drug-induced neutropenia between participants labeled as Black ( n = 365) and White ( n = 3019) race in their medical records. Analyses were restricted to 1724 European ancestry participants with existing genotyping and a baseline white blood cell ( n = 1721) or neutrophil count ( n = 1724) > 1000 cells/µL.

(4) Azathioprine cohort: Participants were from a curated multi-ancestry longitudinal cohort of 1466 BioVU participants with autoimmune or other inflammatory diseases who were newly started on the drug azathioprine 10 . The cohort was constructed to identify genetic factors associated with incident discontinuation of azathioprine among participants of black ( n = 165) and white races ( n = 1301). The analyses were restricted to the subset of 1180 European ancestry participants ages 20–80 years.

eMERGE cohort

The eMERGE consortium is a collection of institutions with DNA biobanks that are linked to electronic health records. These analyses examined adults of White European ancestry born before 1990 from the eMERGE network (phases 1-–3) 35 . The participating eMERGE sites were Columbia University, Geisinger, Marshfield Clinic, Northwestern University, Mayo Clinic, Harvard University, Mt. Sinai Health System, and Kaiser Permanente/University of Washington, Seattle, and were approved by each eMERGE institution’s IRB 35 . Participants with an ICD code for a hematological malignancy, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy (ICD codes listed in Supplementary Data 1 ) were excluded leaving 18,218 ( n = 10,162 [56%] female) adult participants of European ancestry for these analyses.

Michigan Genomics Initiative (MGI) cohort

Study participants are derived from a biobank of patients recruited through the Michigan Medicine health system 36 . As of 2/2023, approximately 91,000 patients have consented to the linkage of a DNA sample with their Michigan Medicine electronic health record for research purposes. This analysis was performed on the Freeze 5 dataset of MGI ( n = 70,266) and restricted to 59,910 samples of European ancestry based on genetic principal component analysis. Participants were selected for inclusion if they had an ICD code for inflammatory disease (inflammatory bowel disease or connective tissue diseases) and had azathioprine on their medication list after receiving the ICD code. Participants were excluded if they had an ICD code for solid organ transplant, a hematological malignancy. or a stem cell transplant. There were 417 participants after these exclusions. Participants were further excluded if they did not have a WBC count measure taken after azathioprine initiation. The final set comprised 354 participants.

Genetic data

BioVU participants were genotyped on the Illumina Infinium MEGA EX platform. SNP genotyping was called by the Vanderbilt Technologies for Advanced Genomics Analysis and Research (VANTAGE) Design core 37 , 38 . Genetic ancestry among BioVU participants was defined by genetic principal components (PCs) analysis in conjunction with HapMap reference populations by fitting PCs to a combined dataset of HapMap and BioVU participants. Using BioVU participants with an EHR-assigned race of White, the median value and the interval 4 standard deviations around the median were determined for the first two PCs. BioVU participants whose PC values fell within this interval were included in this study. Principal component plots visualizing the HapMap and BioVU populations are presented in (Supplementary Fig. 6 ). Participants were excluded for outlying heterozygosity measures, a discordance between genetically determined and reported sex, or >4% missing genetic data. Prior to imputation, data were put through the HRC-1000G check tool (v4.2.5) and pre-phased using Eagle v2.4.1 39 . QC analyses were performed using PLINK v1.90b6.17 and v2.00a3LM 40 . Imputation was performed using the Michigan Imputation Server in conjunction and the HRC v1.1 reference panel 41 . Imputed data were filtered for a sample missingness rate <2%, an SNP missingness rate <4%, and SNP deviation from Hardy-Weinberg p < 10 − 6 . PCs of ancestry were calculated across the entire BioVU cohort using the SNPRelate package 42 .

eMERGE participants were genotyped on multiple platforms and underwent a similar QC analysis and imputation protocol as BioVU participants, as previously described 43 , 44 .

MGI samples are genotyped in waves based on the time of recruitment, with initial waves genotyped on a customized Illumina Infinium CoreExome genotyping array and subsequent waves on a customized Illumina Infinium Global Screening Array. Genotypes are then imputed to 307,883,040 variants using the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) haplotype reference panel. 50,463,429 variants passed standard post-imputation filters, which removed poorly imputed variants with r 2 < 0.3 and very rare variants with minor allele frequency (MAF) < 0.01%.

Development of a benign WBC polygenic score (PGS WBC )

The polygenic score (PGS) was derived from WBC count summary statistics from the European Ancestry subset of a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of hematological traits among ~750,000 participants 15 . A LD-reduced set ( r 2 < 0.01) of non-palindromic SNPs associated with WBC count ( p < 5 × 10 − 6 , minor allele frequency = 0.01, imputation r 2 ≥ 0.7) was selected using a clumping algorithm 45 . The p -value threshold was selected because it had the highest linear partial correlation ( r = 0.29, adjusted for age and sex) between the PGS and measured WBC counts among the three thresholds examined ( p < 5 × 10 − 8 , 5 × 10 − 7 , 5 × 10 − 6 ) in a set of 11,694 participants from BioVU without underlying hematological disease (the WBC Cohort described above).

To reduce the likelihood that the PGS included SNPs that are associated with clinically important diseases that cause a low WBC count, we first excluded all SNPs located in the Major Histocompatibility Complex genomic region (6:25500000–33500000), which is associated with multiple autoimmune diseases. We next identified all diagnoses reported in the GWAS Catalog 46 that reported an SNP associated with a phenotype at p < 5 × 10 − 7 and where that SNP was also associated with a WBC count at p < 5 × 10 − 6 . There were 1507 phenotypes with at least 1 SNP that met these criteria. A manual review of these phenotypes identified 21 hematological malignancies and systemic lupus erythematous, all of which are important in the differential diagnosis of a low WBC count. These diagnoses are listed in Supplementary Table 11 17 . We identified all SNPs in the GWAS Catalog associated with each of these identified phenotypes at p < 5 × 10 − 7 . We then excluded all SNPs in the PGS that were in LD ( r 2 > 0.5) with one of these SNPs. After all exclusions, there were 1739 WBC-associated SNPs in the PGS WBC . A complete listing of SNPs and weights comprising the PGS WBC can be found in Supplementary Data 2 .

A weighted PGS WBC was calculated for each participant by summing the product of the allele dosage and the SNP weighting from the WBCs GWAS for each SNP. The distribution of the PGS WBC for the BioVU population and the individual cohorts is presented in Supplementary Fig. 7 .

Measured white blood cell counts

For the WBC cohort, WBC counts collected on the same day as a routine health visit were extracted. WBC counts >35,000 cells/µL were excluded, as these values likely represent an active disease process. Each WBC count measure had an associated reference range that was specific to the clinical assay, with a lower bound typically of ~3900 cells/µL. A participant was labeled as an outlier if they had a WBC count measure below the lower bound indicated by the assay.

ICD code-based phenotypes

Phecodes are collections of related ICD-9/ICD-10 diagnosis codes (Phecodes definitions can be found at https://phewas.mc.vanderbilt.edu/ ) 47 , 48 . For each Phecode, cases are participants with one or more instances of the relevant ICD codes appearing in their medical records. Controls are participants without those codes and whose age fell within the range of ages observed among cases. The Phecodes codes examined were for a low WBC count and low neutrophil count (neutropenia), and codes related to hematological malignancies ( n = 15) and autoimmune diseases ( n = 21) that were prevalent ( n > 100 cases) among the BioVU participants. The list of Phecodes can be found in Supplementary Table 1 .

For the phenotype of toxicity related to antineoplastic and immunosuppressive medications, cases were participants having any of the following ICD-9 (963.1, 960.7, 284.11, E933.1, E930.7) or ICD-10 (T45.1X4D, T45.1X4S, T45.1X5D, T45.1X5S, T45.1X5A, T45.1X1S, T45.1X4A, T45.1X2A, T45.1X1A) codes. To evaluate the specificity of the association for a low WBC count, cases were dichotomized into those with and those without a clinical note containing a mention of a low WBC count (keywords are listed in Supplementary Table 10 ) entered on the same day as the toxicity code.

Bone marrow biopsy phenotypes

Among 922 BioVU participants with a bone marrow biopsy report in their clinical record and without a prior history of hematological cancer or chemotherapy, there were 117 participants biopsied for a low WBC count (the Biopsy Cohort). The first biopsy report was reviewed, and extracted data included hematological comorbidities (related to platelets and red blood cell counts), other comorbidities listed in the clinical history, and the WBC count measured at the time of the biopsy or, if not available, the WBC count measured closest to the time of the biopsy. The primary outcome was a determination by the pathologist as to whether a clinically significant marrow abnormality was present (coded as Normal” or Abnormal) 12 . Data were extracted by a physician (JDM) and hematologist (SCB) to a REDCap (v13.*) database.

Pharmacogenomic phenotypes

For the taxane longitudinal study, the primary outcome was the development of a WBC count < 3000 cells/µL during the first cycle of treatment. Participants were censored at the earlier of a primary outcome event, the start of their second cycle of chemotherapy, or 1 month after the initiation of treatment. Secondary analyses examined an incident outcome of absolute neutrophil count < 1500 cells/µL.

For the MGI azathioprine study, the primary outcome was an incident WBC count < 3000 cells/µL. In secondary analyses, thresholds of <3500 and <4000 cells/µL were also examined to demonstrate that associations were consistent when using higher thresholds where larger numbers of participants met the threshold criteria. Participants were censored from the study at the earlier of a primary outcome event, or their last clinical encounter up to 24 months. The PGS WBC comprised a subset of 1704 SNPs that passed quality control.

For the BioVU azathioprine discontinuation study, the primary outcome was azathioprine discontinuation due to leukopenia or neutropenia, based on a provider’s assessment, within 24 months of drug initiation. All participants were censored from the study at the earliest of a primary outcome event, time of drug discontinuation, or their last clinical encounter up to 24 months. In this separately genotyped population, the PGS WBC comprised a subset of 1,680 SNPs that passed quality control.

A priori sex-stratified analyses were not specified, and post-hoc sex-stratified were not performed due to the small number of outcomes among the phenotypes examined.

The PGS WBC was mean standardized, and association statistics reflect changes per standard deviation (s.d.) increase in the PGS WBC . The PGS WBC was standardized separately within the BioVU, MGI, and BioVU azathioprine cohorts. A lower value reflects a polygenic predisposition toward lower WBC counts, and an inverse association between the PGS WBC and an outcome indicates that a predisposition to lower counts increases the likelihood of the outcome.

In the full BioVU cohort, multivariable logistic regression was used to determine whether the PGS WBC was associated with having a PheWAS code-based diagnosis of 15 bone marrow malignancies and 21 rheumatological diseases prevalent in this cohort. Models were adjusted for age, sex, and 5 PCs of genetic ancestry. Nominal association p -values are reported.

To determine whether the PGS may comprise SNPs associated with hematological malignancies, we also examined associations between 5 PGS constructed from subsets of SNPs based on quintiles of the distribution of effect sizes. Associations with each quintile-PGS and the 15 hematological malignancies were examined (as described above). Associations were also tested with 1000 permutations of each quintile-PGS to determine the empiric probability that a quintile-PGS had more nominal (association p < 0.05) phenotype associations than would be expected by chance. An empiric probability <0.05 was considered significant. We also examined the associations between the SNPs comprising each of the quintile-PGS and the 15 hematological malignancies and used binomial probabilities to identify phenotypes that had more nominal (association p < 0.05) associations than would be expected. The number of phenotypes with a binomial probability <0.05 was tallied for each quintile-PGS.

For participants with multiple WBC count measures, the median value was used. The observed distribution of median WBC counts across the range of PGS WBC values was visualized by computing the 5th, 50th, and 95th percentiles of WBC count within sequential windows (±0.2 s.d.) across the range of the PGS WBC . Multivariable logistic regression, adjusting for age, age-squared, sex, and 5 PCs was used to test the association between the PGS WBC and (1) having a WBC count that fell outside the reference range and (2) having a Phecode for a low WBC count (Phecode 288.1). A Hosmer–Lemeshow test of goodness of fit based on 8 bins was used to assess for model goodness of fit. The association with the Phecode was also tested in the eMERGE cohort. In sensitivity analyses, SNPs in the PGS WBC that had an association with any of the 15 hematological malignancies (see above) were excluded (using nominal association thresholds ranging from 0.05 to 0.001) from the PGS, and associations with the two outcomes were re-evaluated.

Multivariable logistic regression, adjusting for age, sex, and 5 PCs, was used to determine whether the PGS WBC was associated with having a bone marrow biopsy for a clinical indication of low WBC count, among the 922 participants with a bone marrow biopsy.

Bone marrow biopsy cohort: Multivariable logistic regression was used to test the association between the PGS WBC and having a normal bone marrow biopsy finding, adjusting for age, sex, 5 PCs, and hematological comorbidities (low platelets, low red cells, other hematological abnormalities). In sensitivity analyses, SNPs in the PGS WBC that had an association with any of the 15 hematological malignancies (see above) were excluded (using nominal association thresholds ranging from 0.05 to 0.001) from the PGS, and associations with having a normal biopsy finding were re-evaluated.

Bone marrow biopsy cohort

In secondary analyses, we examined the number of biopsied individuals whose WBC count at the time of biopsy would lie within the expected range of values of a genotype-informed reference range. Specifically, individuals whose WBC count fell at or above the 2.5th percentile of the distribution of WBC counts observed among participants in the WBC cohort whose PGS WBC value was within 0.2 s.d. of that of the biopsied individual were classified as falling within their genetic reference range. For these analyses, the distribution of WBC counts in the WBC cohort was based on an individual’s lowest observed value. Analyses were restricted to individuals with a WBC count at biopsy ranging from 0 to 4000 cells/µL, as individuals above these thresholds would be considered within the normal ranges using standard thresholds. Analyses were stratified by whether the biopsy findings were normal or abnormal.

In the full BioVU cohort, multivariable logistic regression was used to determine whether the PGS WBC was associated an ICD-based diagnosis of drug toxicity, with or without mention of a low WBC count. Models were adjusted for age, sex, and 5 PCs.

Taxane and azathioprine cohorts

Multivariable linear regression was used to determine the association between PGS WBC and baseline log-transformed WBC count and change in WBC count (count at baseline - count at censoring time). A Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to estimate the hazard ratio associated with either incident leukopenia/neutropenia (taxanes) or azathioprine discontinuation for low counts. All analyses were adjusted for sex, age at drug initiation, and either 5 (taxane and azathioprine) or 10 (azathioprine discontinuation) PCs. The fit of the Cox models was assessed using analyses of Schoenfeld (proportional hazards assumption), Martingale (non-linearity), and deviance residuals (outliers). Data were visualized by Kaplan–Meier analysis.

All statistical tests were two-sided and a p < 0.05 was considered significant unless otherwise noted. Statistical analyses were conducted using R 4.2.0.

Reporting summary

Further information on research design is available in the Nature Portfolio Reporting Summary linked to this article.

Data availability

The BioVU subject-level data are available under restricted access based on the requirements of the participant consent process. Access to BioVU clinical and genetic data is controlled by the BioVU data repository ( https://victr.vumc.org/biovu-description/# ). Upon publication, data sets of individual-level phenotype data and corresponding data dictionaries to replicate the primary findings for the bone marrow biopsy outcomes, taxane, and azathioprine studies presented here for research purposes will be made available upon request from the repository ([email protected]). BioVU vetting for the use of individual-level data includes institutional IRB approval, data use agreements, and administrative and scientific reviews. eMERGE data are available through dbGaP (phs001584.v2.p2) and a list of deposited data and links can be found at https://emerge-network.org/dbgap/ . Additional eMERGE phenotype data can be requested at https://emerge-network.org/contact/ . The data generated in this study related to bone marrow biopsy outcomes, taxane treatment, and azathioprine discontinuation are provided in the Supplementary Information/Source Data file. Source data are provided with this paper.

Ozarda, Y. Reference intervals: current status, recent developments and future considerations. Biochem. Med. 26 , 5–16 (2016).

Article Google Scholar

Higgins, V., Nieuwesteeg, M. & Adeli, K. Chapter 3 - Reference intervals: theory and practice. In Contemporary Practice in Clinical Chemistry 4th edn (eds Clarke, W. & Marzinke, M. A.) 37–56 (Academic Press, 2020).

Valent, P. Low blood counts: immune mediated, idiopathic, or myelodysplasia. Hematol. Am. Soc. Hematol. Educ. Program 2012 , 485–491 (2012).

Boxer, L. A. How to approach neutropenia. Hematol. Am. Soc. Hematol. Educ. Program 2012 , 174–182 (2012).

Reich, D. et al. Reduced neutrophil count in people of African descent is due to a regulatory variant in the Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines gene. PLoS Genet. 5 , e1000360–e1000360 (2009).

Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar

Reiner, A. P. et al. Genome-wide association study of white blood cell count in 16,388 African Americans: the continental origins and genetic epidemiology network (COGENT). PLoS Genet. 7 , e1002108 (2011).

Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar

Manu, P., Sarvaiya, N., Rogozea, L. M., Kane, J. M. & Correll, C. U. Benign ethnic neutropenia and clozapine use: a systematic review of the evidence and treatment recommendations. J. Clin. Psychiatry 77 , e909–e916 (2016).

Article PubMed Google Scholar

Hershman, D. et al. Ethnic neutropenia and treatment delay in African American women undergoing chemotherapy for early-stage breast cancer. J. Natl Cancer Inst. 95 , 1545–1548 (2003).

Van Driest, S. L. et al. Association between a common, benign genotype and unnecessary bone marrow biopsies among African American patients. JAMA Intern. Med. 181 , 1100–1105 (2021).

Dickson, A. L. et al. Race, genotype, and azathioprine discontinuation: a cohort study. Ann. Intern. Med. 175 , 1092–1099 (2022).

Vastola, M. E. et al. Laboratory eligibility criteria as potential barriers to participation by Black men in prostate cancer clinical trials. JAMA Oncol. 4 , 413–414 (2018).

Borinstein, S. C. et al. Frequency of benign neutropenia among Black versus White individuals undergoing a bone marrow assessment. J. Cell Mol. Med. 26 , 3628–3635 (2022).

Astle, W. J. et al. The allelic landscape of human blood cell trait variation and links to common complex disease. Cell 167 , 1415–1429.e19 (2016).

Keller, M. F. et al. Trans-ethnic meta-analysis of white blood cell phenotypes. Hum. Mol. Genet. 23 , 6944–6960 (2014).

Chen, M.-H. et al. Trans-ethnic and ancestry-specific blood-cell genetics in 746,667 individuals from 5 global populations. Cell 182 , 1198–1213.e14 (2020).

Karnes, J. H. et al. Phenome-wide scanning identifies multiple diseases and disease severity phenotypes associated with HLA variants. Sci. Transl. Med. 9 , eaai8708 (2017).

Kandane-Rathnayake, R. et al. Independent associations of lymphopenia and neutropenia in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: a longitudinal, multinational study. Rheumatology 60 , 5185–5193 (2021).

Israel, R. A. The international classification of disease. Two hundred years of development. Public Health Rep. 93 , 150–152 (1978).

CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar

Legge, S. E. et al. A genome-wide association study in individuals of African ancestry reveals the importance of the Duffy-null genotype in the assessment of clozapine-related neutropenia. Mol. Psychiatry 24 , 328–337 (2019).

Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar

Zheng, N. S. et al. Racial disparity in taxane-induced neutropenia among cancer patients. Cancer Med. 10 , 6767–6776 (2021).

Rappoport, N. et al. Comparing ethnicity-specific reference intervals for clinical laboratory tests from EHR data. J. Appl. Lab. Med. 3 , 366–377 (2018).

Tournamille, C., Colin, Y., Cartron, J. P. & Le Van Kim, C. Disruption of a GATA motif in the Duffy gene promoter abolishes erythroid gene expression in Duffy-negative individuals. Nat. Genet. 10 , 224–228 (1995).

Enroth, S., Johansson, A., Enroth, S. B. & Gyllensten, U. Strong effects of genetic and lifestyle factors on biomarker variation and use of personalized cutoffs. Nat. Commun. 5 , 4684 (2014).

Article ADS CAS PubMed Google Scholar

FDA. FDA Drug Safety Communication: FDA Modifies Monitoring for Neutropenia Associated with Schizophrenia Medicine Clozapine; Approves New Shared REMS Program for All Clozapine Medicines (The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 2015). https://www.fda.gov/media/93482/download .

Torkamani, A., Wineinger, N. E. & Topol, E. J. The personal and clinical utility of polygenic risk scores. Nat. Rev. Genet. 19 , 581–590 (2018).

Khera, A. V. et al. Genome-wide polygenic scores for common diseases identify individuals with risk equivalent to monogenic mutations. Nat. Genet . https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-018-0183-z (2018).

Wald, N. J. & Old, R. The illusion of polygenic disease risk prediction. Genet. Med. 21 , 1705–1707 (2019).

Sud, A., Turnbull, C. & Houlston, R. Will polygenic risk scores for cancer ever be clinically useful? NPJ Precis. Oncol. 5 , 40 (2021).

Brown, D. W. et al. Shared and distinct genetic etiologies for different types of clonal hematopoiesis. Nat. Commun. 14 , 5536 (2023).

Article ADS CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar

Kar, S. P. et al. Genome-wide analyses of 200,453 individuals yield new insights into the causes and consequences of clonal hematopoiesis. Nat. Genet. 54 , 1155–1166 (2022).

Bao, E. L. et al. Inherited myeloproliferative neoplasm risk affects haematopoietic stem cells. Nature 586 , 769–775 (2020).

Jaiswal, S. et al. Age-related clonal hematopoiesis associated with adverse outcomes. N. Engl. J. Med 371 , 2488–2498 (2014).

Roden, D. M. et al. Development of a large-scale de-identified DNA biobank to enable personalized medicine. Clin. Pharmacol. Ther. 84 , 362–369 (2008).

Denny, J. C. et al. PheWAS: demonstrating the feasibility of a phenome-wide scan to discover gene-disease associations. Bioinformatics 26 , 1205–1210 (2010).

Gottesman, O. et al. The Electronic Medical Records and Genomics (eMERGE) Network: past, present, and future. Genet. Med. 15 , 761–771 (2013).

Zawistowski, M. et al. The Michigan Genomics Initiative: A biobank linking genotypes and electronic clinical records in Michigan Medicine patients. Cell Genom. 3 , 100257 (2023).

Guo, Y. et al. Illumina human exome genotyping array clustering and quality control. Nat. Protoc. 9 , 2643–2662 (2014).

Mosley, J. D. et al. Identifying genetically driven clinical phenotypes using linear mixed models. Nat. Commun. 7 , 11433 (2016).

Pasaniuc, B. et al. Fast and accurate imputation of summary statistics enhances evidence of functional enrichment. Bioinformatics 30 , 2906–2914 (2014).

Purcell, S. et al. PLINK: a tool set for whole-genome association and population-based linkage analyses. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 81 , 559–575 (2007).

McCarthy, S. et al. A reference panel of 64,976 haplotypes for genotype imputation. Nat. Genet. 48 , 1279–1283 (2016).

Zheng, X. et al. A high-performance computing toolset for relatedness and principal component analysis of SNP data. Bioinformatics 28 , 3326–3328 (2012).

Zuvich, R. L. et al. Pitfalls of merging GWAS data: lessons learned in the eMERGE network and quality control procedures to maintain high data quality. Genet. Epidemiol. 35 , 887–898 (2011).

Stanaway, I. B. et al. The eMERGE genotype set of 83,717 subjects imputed to ~40 million variants genome wide and association with the herpes zoster medical record phenotype. Genet. Epidemiol . https://doi.org/10.1002/gepi.22167 (2018).

International Schizophrenia Consortium et al. Common polygenic variation contributes to risk of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Nature 460 , 748–752 (2009).

Article PubMed Central Google Scholar

Buniello, A. et al. The NHGRI-EBI GWAS Catalog of published genome-wide association studies, targeted arrays and summary statistics 2019. Nucleic Acids Res . https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gky1120 (2018).

Wei, W.-Q. et al. Evaluating phecodes, clinical classification software, and ICD-9-CM codes for phenome-wide association studies in the electronic health record. PLoS ONE 12 , e0175508 (2017).

Wu, P. et al. Mapping ICD−10 and ICD-10-CM codes to phecodes: workflow development and initial evaluation. JMIR Med. Inf. 7 , e14325 (2019).

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the MGI participants, Precision Health at the UM, the UM Medical School Central Biorepository, and the UM Advanced Genomics Core for providing data and specimen storage, management, processing, and distribution services and the Center for Statistical Genetics in the Department of Biostatistics at the School of Public Health for genotype data curation, imputation, and management in support of the research reported in this publication. This work was supported by the NIH R01GM130791 (J.D.M.), R01GM126535 (C.P.C.), R35GM131770 (C.M.S.), U01HG011181 (D.M.R.) and the Ingram Cancer Research Professorship fund (X.S.). Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s BioVU is supported by institutional funding, private agencies, and federal grants. These include the NIH-funded Shared Instrumentation Grant S10RR025141; and CTSA grants UL1TR002243, UL1TR000445, and UL1RR024975. Genomic data are also supported by investigator-led projects that include U01HG004798, R01NS032830, RC2GM092618, P50GM115305, U01HG006378, U19HL065962, R01HD074711; and additional funding sources listed at https://victr.vumc.org/biovu-funding/ . REDCap is supported by UL1TR000445 from NCATS/NIH. eMERGE is funded by U01HG006828 (Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center/Boston Children’s Hospital); U01HG006830 (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia); U01HG006389 (Essentia Institute of Rural Health, Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation, and Pennsylvania State University); U01HG006382 (Geisinger Clinic); U01HG006375 (Group Health Cooperative/University of Washington); U01HG006379 (Mayo Clinic); U01HG006380 (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai); U01HG006388 (Northwestern University); U01HG006378 (Vanderbilt University Medical Center); U01HG006385 (Vanderbilt University Medical Center serving as the Coordinating Center), U01HG004438 (CIDR) and U01HG004424 (the Broad Institute) serving as Genotyping Centers.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA

Jonathan D. Mosley, Alyson L. Dickson, Jacy Zanussi, Laura L. Daniel, Neil S. Zheng, Nancy J. Cox, Dan M. Roden, C. Michael Stein, Sara L. Van Driest, Xiao-Ou Shu & Vivian K. Kawai

Department of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA

Jonathan D. Mosley, John P. Shelley, Lisa Bastarache, Wei-Qi Wei, Mingjian Shi & Dan M. Roden

Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

Neil S. Zheng

Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA, USA

Gail P. Jarvik

Department of Medicine (Medical Genetics), University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA, USA

Gail P. Jarvik & Elisabeth A. Rosenthal

Division of Nephrology, Dept of Medicine, Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

Alborz Sherafati & Iftikhar J. Kullo

Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA

Theresa L. Walunas

Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Joseph Glessner

Department of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Hakon Hakonarson

Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA

Dan M. Roden & C. Michael Stein

Department of Anesthesiology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Stephan G. Frangakis

Department of Biostatistics, Center for Statistical Genetics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Brett Vanderwerff & Matthew Zawistowski

Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA

Sara L. Van Driest & Scott C. Borinstein

Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA

Xiao-Ou Shu

Department of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA

Cecilia P. Chung

You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

J.D.M. had full access to all data in the trial and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. J.D.M., A.L.D., J.Z., N.S.Z., C.M.S., S.L.V., S.C.B., X.S., C.M.C. and V.K.K. provided substantial contributions to the design of the study. L.D., N.S.Z., L.B., W.Q.W., M.S., G.P.J., E.A.R., A.K., A.S., I.J.K., T.L.W., J.G., H.H., N.J.C., D.M.R., S.C.B., X.S., S.G.F., B.V. and C.P.C. made substantial contributions to the acquisition of data. J.D.M. performed the primary analysis of the BioVU data. M.Z. performed analyses of the MGI data. J.D.M., C.M.S., J.P.S. and V.K.K. wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All co-authors critically reviewed the manuscript for important intellectual content, provided final approval of the version to be published, and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work presented.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jonathan D. Mosley .

Ethics declarations

Competing interests.

S.C.B. has served on the scientific advisory board for Ipsen Pharmaceuticals and Fennec Pharmaceuticals. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.

Peer review

Peer review information.

Nature Communications thanks the anonymous reviewers for their contribution to the peer review of this work. A peer review file is available.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

Supplementary information, peer review file, description of additional supplementary files, supplementary data 1–2, reporting summary, source data, source data, rights and permissions.

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ .

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Mosley, J.D., Shelley, J.P., Dickson, A.L. et al. Clinical associations with a polygenic predisposition to benign lower white blood cell counts. Nat Commun 15 , 3384 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-47804-5

Download citation

Received : 20 August 2023

Accepted : 10 April 2024

Published : 22 April 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-47804-5

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines . If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Quick links

Explore articles by subject
Guide to authors
Editorial policies

IMAGES

PowerPoint tutorial No. 331: Human Resources (HR) slide design presentation in PowerPoint
HR Presentation Slide Templates
PPT
PPT on Introduction to Human Resource Management
Introduction to Human Resource Management (Lecture 01)
Introduction to HR

VIDEO

how to make cool powerpoint animations
HR Presentation Diversity
Student Introduction-HR Management
HR presentation
HR presentation
introduction HR 51

COMMENTS

Introduction to human resource management
The document provides an introduction to human resource management. It discusses key points such as the definition of HRM, the history and evolution of HRM approaches, functions of HRM including strategic and operational functions, emerging roles of HRM, and challenges faced by HR professionals. Organizational structure and its relationship to ...
Introduction to HR presentation
2. INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT • Human Resource (HR) Management refers to the design and management of systems that ensure that human talent is used effectively and efficiently to accomplish organizational goals. • People as human assets are the "glue" that holds all the organization's functions and assets (ie ...
HR Presentation: The All-in-One Guide
An HR presentation is not your run-of-the-mill PowerPoint. It's an essential tool for HR professionals to communicate various HR initiatives, processes, and metrics in an organized and engaging manner. If done professionally, it can hold the attention of your audience and effectively deliver your key messages. ‍. ‍.
Human Resources: A Comprehensive Introduction to HR
Human resources (HR) encompasses so many things. It is the transmission of your organization — it is what keeps things moving. HR is responsible for your employee lifecycle, which includes (but is not limited to) talent management, benefits administration, risk management, compensation and compliance. All in all, HR is responsible for your ...
PowerPoints
Use the following link to download all PowerPoint decks in a single .zip file (40 MB), or download each individual deck below: Module 1: The Role of Human Resources. Module 2: Human Resource Strategy and Planning. Module 3: People Analytics and Human Capital Trends. Module 4: Diversity in the Workplace.
17.2: An Introduction to Human Resource Management
Human resource management includes the leadership and facilitation of the following key life cycle process areas: Human resources compliance. Employee selection, hiring, and onboarding. Performance management. Compensation rewards and benefits. Talent development and succession planning. Human resources is responsible for driving the strategy ...
What's the Best Way to Present HR Analytics? 15+ Expert Tips
Add visual interest. Illustrate your main points through data visualizations such as pie charts, graphs, flows charts, images, and videos. These will help engage your audience and make your HR data more digestible. Use visual hierarchy. The gist of visual hierarchy: Make the most important information bigger, bolder, and in contrast to less ...
Human Resources Introduction Powerpoint Presentation Slides
Slide 1: This slide is on Human Resources Introduction.State Your Company Name and begin. Slide 2: This slide shows Contents of the presentation. Slide 3: This slide highlights the Content Company profile. Slide 4: This slide shows the executive summary of the company.You can make changes to this slide accordingly. Slide 5: This is Vision & Mission slide describing the companies Values ...
Tips to Make Your HR Presentations Impactful and Engaging
2. Structure your content. Be the first to add your personal experience. 3. Design your visuals. Be the first to add your personal experience. 4. Deliver with confidence. Be the first to add your ...
Human Resource Management
The general content covered is good and relevant to a person learning about the basics of human resource management. It hits the major functional areas if HR that I am teaching in an Introduction to HR type of class. Much of the data presented is coming from statistics gathered in 2011 or earlier.
HR 101
2. People Development. Companies who require a significant amount of employee training will often want an HR specialist with a title like: Employee development manager. Organizational development specialist. Onboarding specialist. These HR responsibilities include: Conducting training sessions.
Human Resource Management Presentation
Free Google Slides theme and PowerPoint template. Download the "Human Resource Management" presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides. The world of business encompasses a lot of things! From reports to customer profiles, from brainstorming sessions to sales—there's always something to do or something to analyze. This customizable design ...
Top 7 Recommended PowerPoint Templates for HR Presentations
Let's explore our selection of presentations covering the major HR management presentation topics: HR Metrics Dashboards with PowerPoint Data Charts. Recruitment, Selection, and Hiring Processes. HR Talent Management Concepts. Employer Branding Essentials. Payroll, Compensation, and HR Administration. Company Organizational Structure Charts.
Sample HR Presentations
Recognizing Hidden Bias. This sample presentation is intended for delivery to supervisors and other individuals who manage employees. It is designed to be presented by an individual who has ...
Chapter 1 Introduction to Human Resource Management
Presentation Transcript. After studying this chapter, you should be able to: • Explain what human resource management is and how it relates to the management process. • Give at least eight examples of how all managers can use human resource management concepts and techniques. • show the human resource responsibilities of line and staff ...
Topic 1: Introduction to Human Resources Management
Human Resource Management was originally known as personnel or people management. In the past, its role was quite limited. Within any company or organization, HRM is a formal way of managing people. It is a fundamental part of any organization and its management. The main responsibilities of the personnel department include hiring, evaluating ...
1. introduction to hrm
1. introduction to hrm. Mar 10, 2012 •. 203 likes • 71,518 views. Sudarshan Subedi. Business Career. 1 of 34. Download Now. Download to read offline. 1. introduction to hrm - Download as a PDF or view online for free.
How to Explain HR to Managers
Slide 3: HR Generalists' Deliverables to Managers. Generalists are responsible for recruiting new hires and managing the staffing process in a timely manner. This can only happen with managers ...
Free HR PowerPoint Templates & Google Slides Themes
Make your HR presentations shine with these HR PowerPoint templates. Whether you're a human resources manager or a job applicant, these templates will help you deliver your message with clarity and style. With a range of customizable slides, you can easily manage your recruitment and onboarding processes, and make learning dynamic and attractive.
Introduction To HR
Introduction to hr.ppt - Free download as Powerpoint Presentation (.ppt), PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or view presentation slides online. Scribd is the world's largest social reading and publishing site.
2BC3 W2020 Lecture 1
2BC3 W2020 Lecture 1 - Introduction to HR.ppt - Free download as Powerpoint Presentation (.ppt), PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or view presentation slides online. Scribd is the world's largest social reading and publishing site.
Human Resource Orientation Powerpoint Presentation Slides
Slide 1: This slide introduces Human Resource Orientation.State Your Company Name and begin. Slide 2: This slide shows Contents of the presentation. Slide 3: This slide highlights the Content Company profile. Slide 4: This slide shows the executive summary of the company.You can make changes to this slide accordingly. Slide 5: This is Vision & Mission slide describing the companies Values ...
PPT
Presentation Transcript. Introduction to HRM Human Resource Management - Session 1 Suhel Khan. Aims By the end of the session students will be able to: 1) Demonstrate an understanding role of HR. 2) Understand the factors influencing the HRM.
Presentation of the ECB Annual Report 2023 to the Committee on Economic
Introduction. I am pleased to appear before this Committee to present the ECB's Annual Report for 2023 , a year in which the ECB consolidated progress in its fight against inflation. As well as assessing economic developments in the euro area in 2023, our Annual Report gives an account of the Eurosystem's monetary policy and other ...
PDF Introduction to U.S. Census Bureau Geography
Definition. Statistical areas bounded by visible features, such as streets, roads, streams, and railroad tracks, and by nonvisible boundaries, such as selected property lines and city, township, school district, and county limits and short line-of-sight extensions of streets and roads. Legal/Administrative or Statistical.
PDF *Location: Zoom Remote Video Conference* Registration Fee: There is no
After completion of this presentation, participants will be able to name the following: 1) Define Motivational Interviewing (MI) 2) Discuss the stages of change as they relate to MI 3) Identify specific MI skills and strategies Presenter: Shayna Ginsburg, Psy.D. earned her bachelor's degree from Georgetown University in Washington,
Clinical associations with a polygenic predisposition to ...
Here, the authors find that a benign polygenic predisposition to lower white blood cell counts is associated with multiple clinical endpoints, suggesting that predisposed individuals are ...