The Centrality of the Role of Human Resource Management Key to Organizational Performance - Assignment Example

The Centrality of the role of HRM key to organizational performance al Affiliation) The Centrality of the role of HRM key to organizational performance considering the recent trend in human resource outsourcing (HRO) identified by Lewis (2009) Human labor is the most important asset in any given organization owing to the fact that it is the driving force for the implementation of the blue print and execution of set-out plans by top management organs. The manner in which labor is managed determines whether the organization will succeed in the corporate world or fail; depicting the significance of human labor to the organization (Brislin, 2010). Human resource management seeks to demonstrate the range of strategies put in place to manage the organizational structures that dictate the roles and responsibilities of the employees in line with the organization’s expectations. There is need to understand both the theoretical and practical concepts of human resource management from a professional perspective of the functions and mandate bestowed on HRM. The roles of HRM has over time changed and adapted a more holistic and divergent niche in tandem with the changing times and business dynamics. The definition has developed from simply managing the organization’s work force to empowering the employees, adopting a strategic business orientation and ensuring overall effectiveness within the organization. There are organizations that currently offer human resource services and hence become the legal employers of an organization’s staff. This is very common with small firms as they employ the services of professional employer organization to run all the HR functions of the organization; hence human resource outsourcing (Lewis, 2009). The human resource outsourcing hence becomes a very important department that oversees the selection, hiring, monitoring performance contracting and even firing of employees. The quality and efficiency of the labor force falls squarely on the ability of this special department to deliver its mandate to the organization. The current changes in the corporate world and increased competition has posed a major challenge for most organizations as they work around the clock to maximize on the delivery of its labor force and at the same time meet the needs and expectation of its partners and stakeholders in the divergent business world. The two core roles undertaken by the human resource manager of an organization include staffing and monitoring staff performance. In light of staffing, the human resource plays an active role in overseeing the logistic of selecting, hiring and retaining competent staff members. In order to achieve the dynamic role of the HRM, there is need for strategic management of the labor force in line with the changing roles and functions ascribed to human resources. Staffing involves the selecting of prospective employees with the capacity and skills matching the needs of the organization. For this to happen, there is need for effective prior planning and the establishment of systems to guarantee accuracy in the actual selection process for the vacant positions in the organization. The most qualified candidate, based on the selection criteria adopted by the vetting board, is hired for the job position. After selection, the recruits are oriented and familiarized with the organization’s operations and with the specific aspects of their new job. These processes are key to the performance of an organization as they set the pace for subsequent performance in the organization and also foster a competitive advantage over other competitors in the same line of production. Human Resource Outsourcing has particularly specialized in managing labor to the level that the organization could not have attained on its own. An aspect of human resourcing that has since drawn attention from most human resource managers is the advocacy for diversity in the labor force. Diversity among the labor force works to increase creativity, innovation and productivity, hence ultimately influencing the productivity of the labor force. Difference in culture, traditions, nationality, social and academic diversity and race among other variables within the labor force creates diversity at the work place. This promotes the emergence of new ideas and modus operandi, resulting in unique production approaches that meet the divergent needs of the organization’s customers; a knowledge well comprehended by the HRO (Lewis, 2009). In light of the performance of the staff, the Human Resource Managers have a definitive role to play in assessing and evaluating the performance of the employees in relation to their new roles and strategic management of labor. Given the dynamism of the contemporary business environment and the need for labor to multitask and be responsive to the changing needs, it is eminent that the organization needs competency and standardized service delivery to remain relevant in the industry. Employees who fail to meet the performance threshold set by the organization or do not show ability to adapt to the ever-changing needs of the industry are forced to relinquish their positions; and other more competent employees are outsourced to replace them. The human resource hence has to carry out their ordained functions from both a historical and organizational context. This means that their strategic functions ought to be conducted over and above the ordinary traditional roles to adapt a divergent role with an aim of impressing the organization and securing their contract with them for a long time to come. The pressure on the outsourced human resource organization to deliver results is highly forcing them to go out of their way to ensure that they meet the needs of the mother organization and in the process ensure quality service delivery and an all-time high level of productivity. Training and development is a very important role of human resource as they seek to empower the employees and build the capacity that enables them to handle complex tasks and duties. Training can be done through on-job training, seminars and workshops that are aimed at equipping the employees with the required skills and expertise to satisfactorily deliver their delegated duties. This is essentially important to the newly recruited employees as it works to prepare them for the job that awaits them. Employees whose jobs are undergoing change are also included in the training program to develop their capacity to execute their delegated duties effectively and to meet their set targets. In essence, running the training and development program is the mandate of the human resource and they ought to ensure that such programs are relevant and contain information that can be accurately utilized by the employees in question and have a significant impact on their output. These programs also need to be reviewed time and again and improved to meet the changing needs of the institution and also to match with the technological advancement in the industry. This is a mandatory undertaking if the organization is to perform favorably in the competitive market domain. Various human resource theories have been postulated in the lecture tutorials and other directed readings and literature materials that seek to provide a wider perspective view of emerging issues in the area of HRM/HRO as well as its practical application and implication on the management challenges and hurdles faced in the process. Topical subjects discussed in the tutorials as concerns HRM include: Performance appraisal, strategic recruitment and selection, HR strategy and competitive advantage, job evaluation and equality, payment and reward systems and the future of the human resource management These responsibilities are critical to the organization, for instance career planning; where the human resource assesses employees in the organization to identify those with exceptional potential or those who consistently exhibit high innovative skills are specially trained; these individuals get the opportunity to move to another level in their career and the potential to utilize their skills to the maximum. The organization might also offer rewards such as scholarships to enable such individuals attain their career goals and be empowered professionally. Such mandates of the human resource also serves to increase the performance of labor and ultimately achieve the long-term objective of retaining a high qualified staff. Some of these benefits and compensations are offered at employee’s discretion given that their performance and commitment is at level best. Other than the above-mentioned roles, the human resource also takes part in managing change, innovation and diversity. In recent times the HR is not limited or confined to the particular cultures of the organization but rather has a divergent role that allows them to borrow ideas from other organization and build on their performance in a very professional yet strategic fashion. In essence, the HRM though outsourced, plays a central role in directly determining the performance of the organization in as far as the recent trend of human resource outsourcing is concerned. It also essential to establish the employment relations and in particular aspects of collective bargain, employment conditions and employment participation in a corporate organization. The outsourced HRM acts as the unifying factor between the employer and employees and works to ensure that both parties are satisfied at the end of it all. In improving the employment conditions at the place of work and ensuring that the labor force is sufficiently motivated, high productivity of labor is eminent. Such an organizational structure ensures a win-win situation for both parties as the employees are well-compensated and the organization also thrives from the high-quality goods and services that meet consumers’ needs and preferences (Bennett, 2013). Many business organizations in the corporate field have failed to excel owing to the fact that they fail to see the bigger picture in view of effectively outsourcing their human resource management to specialized organizations. Other than focusing on profit maximization, it is a mandatory obligation to factor in the most important ‘asset’ in the organization which is human labor. The labor force is fundamentally the driving force for the successful implementation of the organization’s goals and objectives hence the need to have structures that guarantee effective selection, hiring and managing of this work force towards attaining the set goals. In the process of setting up functional structures, the organization must be ready to spend a fortune in building capacity, empowering and sufficiently motivating this work force towards delivering quality services. It is relatively easy to manage a motivated work force as they have the morale and high team spirit to deliver results as opposed to an unsatisfied labor force that work merely for the sake of earning a living but lack the inner drive and motivation to give their best. Hence, investing in human labor is a long-term course that works to guarantee the sustainability of the organization a competitive edge over other potential competitors (Ervin & Bower, 2012). It is also essential that organizations embrace the recent trends in human resource outsourcing since these have demonstrated the eminent need to embrace technological advancement in managing labor. The HRM has the full mandate to initiate internal change in the organization in line with its strategic goals. These changes include adopting aspects such as modern communication systems that enhance the steady flow of information, online training programs, teleconferencing and providing a platform for effective inter-departmental co-ordination. Joining trade unions is also a viable option meant to safeguard the interest of the employees and enables them obtain a voice with regard to their employment contracts. Even though this tenet has no direct correlation with the Human Resource Department, it also works to serve the welfare of the workers hence its significance (Ercikan, 2014). In conclusion, even though Human Resource Outsourcing is found to be a very viable venture that enables the organization to fully focus its energies and resources on production; there is a tendency for such firms to lose touch with their labor force at some point. Other challenges may arise when the contract between these two organizations comes to an abrupt end and the outsourcing firm withdraws its labor, hence paralyzing the activities of the mother firm. However, the approach works well with small firms that lack the full capacity and resources to effectively run all the departments on their own. References Bennett, W.A. (2013). Aspects of Human Resource Mobilization. Cambridge: Cambridge University. Press. Brislin, R. W. (2010). Introduction to Human Resource Outsourcing: Approaches and Research. New York: Gardner Press. Ercikan, K. (2014). International Business Strategic Assessments. International Journal of Business Research, 29, 543-553. Ervin, S. and Bower, R. T. (2012). Challenges in Human Resource. Public Opinion Quarterly, 16, 595-604. Frey, F. (2010). Cross-Cultural Survey Research in Corporate World. In R. Holt and J. Turner (Eds) the methodology of comparative research. New York: The Free Press. Lewis, W. (2009). Business Studies: Human Resource Outsourcing. London: Longman. Read More