Changing Perception towards Human Resource Management - Term Paper Example

Introduction The rapid globalization and technological advancement of the recent time has greatly revolutionized the labour processes. With the advent of technology, the collective production has become more complex. There is a significant paradigm shift in the technical division of labour from direct to indirect model that is focused on regulation, administration, improvement and innovation to meet the challenges of the changing time. Human resource being central to the organizational visions and goals, HR leadership initiatives become crucial factor for creating and organizing an effective workforce that is able to make valuable contribution of promoting a sense of togetherness and collective responsibility that reflects in the increased output and improved performance outcome of the organizational goals and objectives. Changing perception towards HRM Julie Beardwell and Tim Claydon, in their book have asserted that the theoretical concept of human resource management has become 'fuzzy concept' with abstract empiricism and needs to be looked from a wider perspective of providing the invaluable human capital that can meet the challenges of the rapid globalization and advancing technology (Beardwell & Claydon, 2007). With the global competition becoming increasingly stiff, the jobs specifications are becoming less rigid and changing the overall perspective of job criteria and employment. The compulsions of the present times require versatility in the working force. Individuals and firms must embrace the culture of multi skilled professionals that are able to meet the challenges with efficiency and unmatched proficiency. The recent concept of externalization of 'resources', through outsourcing has become popular with the organizations that need to concentrate in their core competencies. The contractual workforce serves to decrease the responsibility of the organization towards the people who would be 'indirectly' doing their work and at the same time, providing them with the opportunity to improve and improvise their business competencies through state of the art research and development. The strategy helps to provide the company with huge leverage in innovative products and services. Need for new approach The workforce is the backbone of an organization and the HR strategy needs to develop its unique organizational culture with well defined vision and mission statements which are effectively communicated to their employees. As employees are very important part of organizational culture, their welfare is an intrinsic part of corporate responsibility. In the era of advancing technology and rapid globalization, it is imperative that the workforce is encouraged to share mutual knowledge and ideas but they must also be involved into collective decision making to work towards common goals. Hence, the fast changing global values have necessitated drastic shift in the approach to traditional HR strategy. The increasingly changing pattern of society, which is becoming multicultural in essence, needs to be addressed in the wider application of social imperatives and included in all spheres of public and private business strategy. The businesses must introduce effective strategic goals and managerial controls that are able to address the emerging challenges of the society at large. The new HR strategy, therefore, must take account of the various factors that are intrinsically linked to people. Human resource as proactive human capital The globalization has ushered in a huge database of human capital whose potential needs to be exploited to realize one's own vision and mission. The contemporary times have redefined the business processes and business houses are becoming less rigid and changing their business and market strategy as per the socio- economic compulsions of the region. The contemporary times require versatility in the work ideology and functioning, thus making it imperative that the workforce must be looked as resource that can be tapped to improve and improvise the performance of the organization in the fiercely competitive business setting. The previous theories of management leadership was rigid in its perspectives and believed in imposing rules and regulation without taking into consideration the factors of human failings and human emotions. The new managerial leadership style is more labour friendly and believes in developing joint goals and objectives that are mutually beneficial, thus fostering mutual beliefs and better understanding of each others value system. Training and development The management needs to accept the challenge of creating a cohesive and encouraging atmosphere so that the workers could get effective learning environment. They are provided with a wider scope for professional growth in the area of core competencies. They are also responsible for advocating and nurturing a high standard of ethics and quality work while fostering a good relationship amongst them which includes the administrators, management and entire customer base. Indeed, strategies and policies must incorporate the changing nature of the society that is increasingly becoming tech savvy and focus more on training and development of human resource to meet the challenges of the global competition. The concept of 'hybrid manager' has become increasingly popular in the contemporary times. Earl has defined hybrid managers as 'people with technical skills able to work in user areas doing a line or functional job, but adept at developing and implementing IT application ideas' (Earl et al., 1989). Therefore, training and development must become intrinsic part of HR strategy and focus on training and development of human resource to meet the challenges of the global competition. The HR department, through judicious approach of employing people and upgrading their skills to suit the changing business environment, becomes critical to creating congenial work atmosphere that motivates and inspires others to improve their performance and achieve organization's goals with vision and innovation. Diversity In the age of globalization, an in-depth study and understanding of the organization and organization's behaviour has become important as its people comprise of different race, colour and culture. Managing diversity has thus, become a crucial issue with the businesses which needs to be addressed urgently if they want to maintain competitive edge over their rivals. It is, therefore, important that HR leaders look beyond the criteria of race, nationality and colour of their employees and include diversity in their core strategy so as to exploit their vast potential. Leadership initiatives In the current environment of competitive business, leadership initiatives in personal and human resource management have become a key factor. In an article from Leader to Leader Journal, Frances Hesselbein has said that 'Leadership is a matter of how to be, not how to do' (No. 41, 2006). The previous theories of management leadership was rigid in its perspectives and believed in imposing rules and regulation without taking into consideration the factors of human failings and human emotions. The new managerial leadership style is more labor friendly and believes in developing joint goals and objectives that are mutually beneficial, thus fostering mutual beliefs and better understanding of each others value system. A well developed HR leadership within the organization would facilitate integration of diverse ideologies and personal conflicts and help inspire and motivate each of them to work together to produce a cohesive output representing the team's unique objectives and goals. They promote effective communication that facilitates better understanding of cross cultural values to resolve workplace conflicts. "If resolution to a conflict is to end properly, it must begin properly - by negotiating a solvable problem. Therefore, the act of successful conflict resolution begins with the way the problem is examined" (Erickson). It also creates congenial work atmosphere that motivates and inspires others to improve their performance and achieve organization's goals with more enthusiasm, vigour and creativity. Empowerment A good HR strategy promotes empowerment through shared vision and collective decisions. Empowerment facilitates realization of self worth, instilling self confidence in one's ability to make independent decisions about themselves, especially with relation to their socio-economic and political decisions. Empowering the workforce promotes mutual trust building as it helps the person to act on the informed choices and make decisions that would not only affect the person himself but would also have significant impact on the working of the organization thus encouraging responsible behaviour. Relationship building Sjostrand and Tyrstrup, in one of their article, have argued that managerial leadership needs to be approached as a relational, ongoing social construction process rather than as a single clear cut phenomenon (2001). Indeed, for any organization to expand and succeed, it is crucial that its people are recognized as vital part of its strategy and organizational goals and objectives be interpreted in the context of the changing paradigms of the times. Hence effective HR strategy is adept at exploiting the potential of the workers as per the demands of the situation. Conclusion It is important to realize that the world has shrunk into a global village and one must accept the challenges of developing new strategies and models of HR management that incorporate multi-cultural work environment. The human resource strategy has become the most critical factor that develops the highly indigenous team of human capital that helps to provide the organization with a competitive advantage that is unique. One can therefore conclude that effective HR strategy is an important source of competitive advantage. Reference Julie, Beardwell and Claydon, Tim (2007). Human Resource Management: A contemporary Approach. 5th Edition. Prentice Hall. Earl, M,J., Feeny, D., Hirscheim, R.A. & Lockett, M. (1986). Information Technology Executives and Development Needs: A Field Study. Research & Discussion Papers. RDP, 86-10, Oxford Institute of Information Management, Templeton College, Oxford. Erickson, Milton H. Available from: http://www.conflictresolutionusa.com/conflict_resolution_process.htm> [18 June, 2009]. Hesselbein. Frances. (2006). Moving Peter Drucker's Works and Wisdom Around the World. Leader to Leader Journal, No. 41, summar 2006. Available from: [18 June, 2009]. Sjostrand, S and Tyrstrup, M. (2001). Recognized and unrecognized managerial leadership', in invisible management - The social construction of leadership. S Sjostrand, J Sandberg and M Tyrstrup (eds.). Thomson. pp 1-27. Read More