The role of human resource management in the process of total quality management implementation

Total quality management (TQM) is a holistic philosophy of striving for continuous quality improvement of all processes in the company. This requires the involvement of employees and encouraging them to make proposals, take responsibility and make decisions. Successful implementation of TQM is largely determined by the quality of human resources management (HRM), which should ensure employees' commitment to continuous process improvement. Previous studies worldwide have shown that the effects of this sophisticated philosophy depend on the motivation of employees, which is created through training and rewards, financial and non-financial. The aim of this paper is to present the way in which HRM determines the effectiveness of TQM implementation, and to provide guidelines for improving such effectiveness. The paper presents the results of empirical analysis in hotels in Serbia in order to determine the value of TQM factors related to human resources. The results show that hotels must firstly improve TQM staff factors before taking action to implement TQM philosophy.