Shadowing Practice: HR Basics: Human Resource Management - Learn English Speaking with Video
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HR Basics is a series of short courses designed to highlight
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what you need to know about a particular human resource management topic.
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In today's HR Basics, we define human resource management with a simple model.
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Before we explore the model, let's define human resource management.
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Human resource management comprise the formal systems designed to manage people in organizations.
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To best understand human resource management, we'll take a look at a brief history, understand the roles of human resource management in organizations,
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and review a model to best organize the functional areas of HR management.
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What is now called human resource management has evolved a great deal since its beginnings around the year 1900.
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Here's a brief history of human resource management.
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It's believed that the first personnel management department began at the National Cash Register Company in the early 1900s.
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Personnel departments, which is merged as clearly defined in the 1920s, at least in the United States, were largely concerned with technical functions.
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What began as a primarily clerical operation in large companies concerned with payroll
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and employee records began to face changes with social legislation of the 1960s.
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HRM developed in response to increase in competition experienced by the late 1970s as a result of deregulation and rapid technological change.
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In the 1990s, globalization and competition required human resource departments to become more concerned with costs,
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planning, and the implications of various HR strategies for both organizations and their employees.
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The role of human resource management professionals has dramatically evolved over the years.
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This course provides an overview of the past and future roles of human resource management professionals in organizations.
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If an organization has a formal HR group, perhaps an HR department, there are typically three different roles that group might play in an organization.
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Which of the roles predominates
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or whether all three roles are performed depends highly on what management wants HR to do
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and what competencies HR staff have demonstrated.
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The potential mix of roles is shown here.
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The primary role is strategic, which helps define business strategy relative to human capital and its contribution to organizational results.
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The strategic role helps link human resource strategy with organizational mission and of the work of people in the organization.
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The operational and employee advocate role manages most HR activities in keeping with organizational strategy
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and serving as an employee champion to balance the issues of employees and employer.
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And finally, the administrative role, which focuses on clerical administration and record -keeping, including essential legal paperwork, compliance, and policy implementation.
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Human resource management has played an important role in the life of organizations throughout modern history.
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In the past role of human resource management, the personnel function was highly administrative and clerical in nature,
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as you see in this right -hand side of the model labeled the past role.
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The past role focused on transactional activities related to processing of people -related activities, such as payroll.
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A heavy emphasis on compliance led to the personnel function, policing policy, and procedure, which left little time for the important strategic role.
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The present role, as seen on the left here,
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of human resource management has evolved to focus on the strategic contributions of human resource management to organizations.
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As organizations strive to realize their greater results,
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the critical role of people is recognized by the strategic role of human resource professionals to provide technical expertise,
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champion employees, and lead strategically in their organizations.
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Human resource management is a value -added function of the organization, influencing key organizational outcomes.
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Now, let's explore a simple human resource management model.
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The pinwheel model suggests that the management of human resources in an organization centers on eight key functional areas.
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These functions are a collection of specialized human resource management work.
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For each functional area, human resource professionals are responsible for key activities.
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You can see them in the boxes around the model.
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Let's define each functional area and discuss those associated activities.
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Human resource strategy and planning identifies and manages current and future needs to achieve organizational goals.
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The activities of strategy and planning include analysis, planning, effectiveness, metrics, and technology.
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Compliance is doing what is asked or required by federal, state, and local governments in the management of people.
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The activities of compliance include equal employment opportunity, compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws and regulations.
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Talent management are the integrated processes to attract, motivate, and retain productive and engaged employees.
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These activities of talent management include recruitment, talent acquisition, selection, interviewing, and onboarding.
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Training and development is about the betterment of people and performance through information they will use.
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The activities of training and development include training, development, career planning, and so on.
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Performance management are the processes to ensure the organization connects mission with the work of employees.
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The activities of performance management include performance appraisal, improvement, and intervention.
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Total rewards are the financial and non -financial tools used to attract, motivate, and retain employees.
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The activities of total rewards include compensation, benefits, recognition, and work -life effectiveness.
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Employee safety and health is about ensuring the safety, health, and welfare of people at work.
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The activities of safety and health include employee safety, security, and workers' compensation.
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Employee and labor relations focuses on the relationship of employees with the organization and with each other.
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The activities of employee and labor relations include policy management, documentation, workplace investigations, labor relations, and employee rights.
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This human resource management model, along with our brief history,
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should give you the context to best understand and apply the important role of human resource management in today's organizations.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “HR Basics: Human Resource Management”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: management, resource, role, organization, employee. This video has 63 sentences and 934 words to shadow. The speech runs for 6:28. The speaker talks at a steady 144 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 80% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| resource noun | /ɹɪˈzɔːs/ | Something that one uses to achieve an objective, e.g. raw materials or personnel. |
| strategic adjective | /stɹəˈti.dʒɪk/ | Of or pertaining to strategy. |
| define verb | /dɪˈfaɪn/ | To determine with precision; to mark out with distinctness; to ascertain or exhibit clearly. |
| compliance noun | /kəmˈplaɪ.əns/ | An act of complying. |
| organizational adjective | /ˌɔː(ɹ)ɡənɪˈzeɪʃənəl/ | Of, relating to, or produced by an organization. |
| functional adjective | /ˈfʌŋkt͡ʃənəl/ | In good working order. |
| relation noun | /ɹɪˈleɪʃ(ə)n/ | The manner in which two things may be associated. |
| evolve verb | /ɪˈvɑlv/ | To move (something) in regular procession through a system. |
| administrative adjective | /ədˈmɪn.ɪ.stɹə.tɪv/ | Of or relating to administering or administration. |
| formal adjective | /ˈfɔɹməl/ | In accordance with established forms. |
| contribution noun | /ˌkɑntɹɪˈbjuʃən/ | Something given or offered that adds to a larger whole. |
| compensation noun | /ˌkɑm.pənˈseɪ.ʃən/ | The act or principle of compensating. |
| reward noun | /ɹɪˈwɔɹd/ | Something of value given in return for an act. |
| explore verb | /ɪkˈsploɹ/ | To examine or investigate something systematically. |
| attract verb | /əˈtɹækt/ | To pull toward without touching. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is now called · is merged · are performed |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has evolved · has dramatically evolved · have demonstrated |
Pronunciation to watch
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: organizational /ˌɔː(ɹ)ɡənɪˈzeɪʃənəl/, relation /ɹɪˈleɪʃ(ə)n/, contribution /ˌkɑntɹɪˈbjuʃən/, compensation /ˌkɑm.pənˈseɪ.ʃən/, recognition /ˌɹɛkəɡˈnɪʃ(ə)n/
- Long words — get the stress right: organizational /ˌɔː(ɹ)ɡənɪˈzeɪʃənəl/, administrative /ədˈmɪn.ɪ.stɹə.tɪv/, contribution /ˌkɑntɹɪˈbjuʃən/, compensation /ˌkɑm.pənˈseɪ.ʃən/, effectiveness /ɪˈfɛk.tɪv.nɪs/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like resource, strategic, define.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.