Human resource management is the management of the people who work in an organization. They can be managers, employees, project officers, field workers, coordinators. Since the organization is run by these people, they are considered to be a “resource” – ‘a human resource.’ Like we use funds to manage a project, we also need to use these ‘human resources’ or the ‘people’ to manage the organization.
It is not enough just to have a dedicated team for an organization. It is fundamentally believed that unless the team is not properly managed, motivated and performed, the organization will not achieve its goal and objectives.
The process of managing, motivating and making the staff perform involves setting up of systems, including building plans and policies. These systems fall under human resource management.
Here is an interesting introductory video from the Society for Human Resource Management that explains how important it is to develop human resources to achieve progress.