http://humanresources.about.com/od/glossaryh/f/what_hr.htm

Definition of: human resources

The fancy word for “people.” The human resources department within an organization, years ago known as the “personnel department,” manages the administrative aspects of the employees.

http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,2542,t=human+resources&i=44526,00.asp

A human resource is the person working or doing the job or task. Human resources are becoming less needed as technology grows.

Human resources is a buzzword which has been widely used for replacing the proper “personnel” concept. Even with this new “buzzword”, one should not confuse the field of Human Resources with the much more respected and scientifically based field of Industrial/Organizational Psychology. In other words, HR is no I/O. The “advantage” of this term is how it equates persons with resources, making it easier to visualize workers as tradable commodities (similar to how slaves were considered and traded in earlier times). Human resources has at least two related interpretations depending on context. The original usage derives from political economy and economics, where it was traditionally called labor, one of three factors of production. The more common usage within corporations and businesses refers to the individuals within the firm, and to the portion of the firm’s organization that deals with hiring, firing, training, and other personnel issues. This article addresses both definitions.

The objective of Human Resources is to maximize the return on investment from the organization’s human capital and minimize financial risk. It is the responsibility of human resource managers to conduct these activities in an effective, legal, fair, and consistent manner. Human resource management serves these key functions:

Hiring (recruitment)

Compensation

Evaluation and Management (of Performance)

Promotions

Managing Relations

Planning

In reality, human resources deals with two different worlds:

Non-Unionized – Where management has the control; and

Unionized – Where there is shared control through a collective agreement. The management and a union negotiate a collective agreement with respect to terms and conditions of employment. The union represents employees to management (i.e. the union speaks for employees, both collectively and individually).

Human Resources is the part of the business that does the hiring and firing.

1) go to google.com or yahoo.com

2) enter “human resources” in the text box

3) click the button that makes the search run (usually, it says SEARCH)

4) click the various links and read

It means labor, but read for yourself.