What are the major functions of human resource management HRM What is the most important function of human resource management Explain your answer and provide a workplace example to support your response There are four major functions of human resource management or HRM These functions are staffing training and development motivation and maintenance DiCenzo Robbins p 52 According to the text the motivation function is one of the most important though probably the least understood of the function DiCenzo Robbins p 40 The definition of the motivation function are activities in HRM concerned with helping employees exert at high energy levels DiCenzo Robbins p 40 I would agree that the motivation function is one of the most impotant functions because happy employees perform better The goal behind attractive compensation packages and motivational boosters for employees is to keep them happy For example if an organization begins implementing a new philathropic pursuit such as raising money for cancer and the employees are happy with this development then they are more likely to perform better However if an organization begins implenting a change that the employees see as selfish like banning employees from giving out information that could be beneficial to customers could decrease morale A good example of this is recently IDs became required for voting in Wisconsin and the state implemented a program for people who could not afford to obtain an ID to get one for voting purposes Because this would cost the DMV money employees were instructed to not share this information unless specifically requested Many employees were disheartened by the deceit and employee morale dipped Wisconsin State Journal 2011 According to the text studies have shown that employees who are happy and motivated perform at higher levels than employees who are not happy or motivated thus giving the organization more work from less employees Response 2 The text states that the four basic functions of human resource management are Staffing training and development motivation and maintenance Staffing includes the actions of strategic human resource planning recruiting and the selection of employees Training and development consists of orientation employee training employee and career development Motivation involves motivation theories and job design performance appraisals rewards and compensation and employee benefits Last but not least is maintenance which consists of safety and health communications and employee relations I believe the most important function of HRM is the motivation function When the motivation process is applied properly it should create satisfied and content employees Satisfied employees are more prone to be at work daily and work hard This in turn makes most any company successful A workplace example that I can think of is employee rewards Years ago I worked for a packaging company as a slitter operator During this time the company had an employee rewards program that consisted of extra money on your paycheck when you did not miss work for 6 months Another employee reward involved safety incentives The plant was divided into productions sections i e slitting packing shipping printing laminating etc If your area was in production for 30 days without any reported accident you would receive a bonus item which usually included a company t shirt flashlight pocket tools etc