Human Resource And Communication Issues - Essay Example

Human Resource and Communication Issues to be Emphasized in Organizations Name: Course: Institution: Tutor: Human Resource and Communication Issues to be Emphasized in Organizations Today’s organizations are faced with numerous HR and communication challenges which impact not only on the effective functions of human resource departments but also the entire organizations. Lawler, Boudreau and Mohrman (2006) have defined human resource management as the coherent and strategic management of an organization’s people, who individually and collectively contribute to realization of the organization’s business objectives. As such, human resource issues in many organizations revolve around the management of employees and their relations with the organization, the management and fellow employees. The most common HR issues experienced in organizations include diversity, training, productivity, outsourcing and benefits. How the organization deals with each of these issues depends on the organization’s policies and the resources available. Diversity is a major HR issue in many organizations. Employers have to adhere to hiring, promotion and termination practices that do not discriminate against people of different cultural, age or sexual orientations. Lawler, Boudreau & Mohrman (2006) have noted that workplace discrimination is a negative factor that erodes morale and the feeling of job satisfaction. Human resources are also faced with the issue of designing the most effective staffing approaches to be used in the long run (Becker, 2002). This issue is central to the success of organizations and people management practices. Provision of timely and accurate information to the staff is crucial to maintaining transparency in human resource practices and in fostering harmony in industrial relations. To achieve this, human resource managers will have to clearly understand the objectives of employee recruitment and staffing process and to have a comprehensive communication strategy. To facilitate fair treatment of staff, all employees or their representatives should be consulted on issues affecting them as a result of changes in staffing practices. Productivity is another issue that continues to be a common struggle for employers across industries. Employers must constantly ensure that employees get enough of the skills and resources needed to ensure that the business is running efficiently and profitably. HR management has the responsibility to evaluate and design workplace structure and implement programs that motivate employees to increases productivity (Becker, 2002). In many organizations, productivity is enhanced by continuous training and development of employees and by changing production processes to incorporate new and efficient technologies. Benefits constitute an important category of human resource issues. HR managers must work closely with the heads of organizations to create benefit policies that match the role of employees. In human resources, compensation packages refer to salaries and included benefits. These benefits are important in motivating employees. Researches (Becker, 2002) have show that poorly compensated employees are more likely to be less satisfied with their jobs and hence their productivity is likely to be less than optimal. Today’s organizations find it necessary to offer a number of benefits to their employees which include dental plans, health and life insurance and employee product discounts. Outsourcing is a common practice in today’s organizations and is an important issue that human resources have to address. Outsourcing refers to companies giving work to independent contactors rather than in-house employees (Becker, 2002). Outsourcing has become increasingly common in many organizations because it brings about reduced overhead costs. Companies that outsource do not incur heavy expenses in terms equipment purchase and workspace and employee benefits. Organizational communication is an important way of achieving productivity in organizations. According to Diallo, Zurn, Gupta & Dal (2003), communication is the means by which different people in an organization are linked together and how they function to achieve specified goals. As such, the importance of communication cannot be overlooked by management. Effective communication in organizations extends beyond the notion that the transmitted content is received and understood by someone as intended. Instead, the goal of effective communication is to create a common perception, change behaviours and acquire information. Poorly coordinated communications often results in poor job coordination, misunderstanding and suspicion among employees. This leads to reduced motivation and consequently reduced performance. Human resource heads have the responsibility to ensure that communication issues are aligned correctly to match with the organization’s strategic business objectives. There is an increasing need for human resource manages to address the role of media especially the internet. In today’s competition-paced organizations, the internet has become an important management and communications tool. It is, therefore, important that managements are adept at leveraging opportunities associated with the use of internet and at avoiding liabilities. Most important, HR mangers needs to implement realistic and workable social media guidelines. According to Diallo, Zurn, Gupta & Dal (2003), human resource managers have a duty to train employees on how to use social media to improve productivity and contribute to improved organizational performance. The HR also has a duty to teach employees how to use social media to promote the company, monitor customer behavior and collaborate virtually. Concurrently, employees should be educated about copyright, privacy and confidentiality issues. Human Resource and Communication Issues: Case Study of McDonalds One of the reasons for McDonald’s global success lies with the corporation’s successful human resource management and communication practices. McDonalds was started in 1937 as a small family owned restaurant. Today, it has become the world’ largest fast food retailer with more than 1.7 million employees and 32, 000 restaurant outlets (McDonalds 2012). In addition to emphasizing the values of the company for fast service, high quality food, low prices ad clean environment, efficient human resource practices is a key to McDonald’s successful business experience. McDonalds is highly committed to improving the welfare of its employees. To overcome the numerous challenges related to human resources, the corporation has implemented numerous fair policies and practices, which have influenced employee attitudes and performance. Information obtained from the food giant’s website (www.mcdonalds.com) shows that the company provides opportunities for recruitment, training, development, pay, promotion and development based on job performance and individual abilities (McDonalds 2012). Getting the right people for various positions, deciding on who should be hired and the training needs of employees are the main human resource issues that the company has to consistently deal with. McDonalds uses various methods to recruit people and these include advertisements and employment agencies. McDonalds is constantly aware of the personal and family commitments of its employees. To this end, the company has implemented flexible work programs for the employees. These programs have to a great extent led to improvement in the company’s human resource management practices. The improvement can be evidenced by such important aspects as location and work time flexibility, as well as the development of a loyal and supportive workforce. McDonalds’ decision to implement work-life balance programs has had positive impacts on its employees in terms of turnover, recruitment, commitment and satisfaction, absenteeism and productivity (McDonalds 2012). A major HR issue that is of great importance to McDonalds is employee training and development. Employee training programs at McDonalds are highly structured and are designed to address specific development needs. Newly recruited employees are first taken through basic training program during which they are introduced to the organization’s functions. Subsequent training programs entail learning new and complex organizational skills. McDonalds training programs are continuous such that even the most experienced employees and managers have to attend routine training programs. Moreover, the company has implemented an efficient communication procedure that seeks to address speedy and timely redress of issues. McDonalds has designed an innovative communication strategy that aims to change the perceptions of its employees and customers about the services and products offered. Primarily, the communications campaign aims to change the dietary behaviors of the people including frequent junk food user and health oriented customers (McDonalds 2012). The health campaign involves communication-based interventions aimed at different groups of people as well as social marketing efforts which include communication activities. How to Manage Conflicts between Convergent Process Management and Divergent Activities in a Rapidly Changing Environment? Convergent process management refers to different management practices which result in similar effects. Divergent activities, on the other hand, are practices which result in different results and whose objectives are different from each other. A good example of convergent process management is the ISO 9000 and 6 sigma protocols, both of which are quality standards specifying specifications to be observed to ensure quality of products (Becker, 2002). Conflicts in convergent process management practices can be resolved by viewing the convergent practices as complementary to each other. Essentially, complementary processes add synergy and help check the weakness of the other processes. Becker (2002) has reckoned that although conflicts pop up between divergent activities and convergent processes, the conflict should be perceived as opportunities to key managerial issues. As an example, conflicts between an organization’s marketing requirements and quality assurance programs give rise to an opportunity to examine the production process and align it with key marketing issues such as customer preference. It is important that organizations do not allow these conflicts to impact negatively on organizational performance or employee productivity. This can only be achieved by streamlining operations at the organizational or management areas that are likely to be affected by the conflicts. It is also important to examine any business functions that are likely to give rise to conflicts between convergent process management and divergent activities and to harmonize those functions. References Becker B 2002, The Impact Of Human Resource Management On Organizational Performance: Progress And Prospects. Academy of Management Journal, vol. 39, no. 4, pp. 779-801. Diallo, K., Zurn, P., Gupta, N., Dal, M 2003, Monitoring and evaluation of human resources for health: an international perspective. Human Resources for Health, vol. 1, no. 3, 14 April. Lawler, E. E., Boudreau, J. and Mohrman, S 2006, Achieving Strategic Excellence. Palo Alto: Stanford. McDonalds 2012, McDonalds, viewed 23rd April 2012 from, www.mcdonalds.com/ Read More