Human Resource Management - Assignment Example

Human Resource Management Word Count: 1050 Table of Contents Definition and Introduction…………………………………………………………………...2 Importance of HRM in Today’s Business Environment……………………………………...2 Analysis of Future Leadership Development Challenge………………………………………2 Evaluation of Future Leadership Development Process……………………………………....3 Recommendations to Overcoming Future Leadership Development Challenges……………..4 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………...5 Definition and Introduction Human Resource Management (HRM) deals with issues having concerns with people that include recruitment, compensation, wellness benefits, organization development, training, motivation, communication, administration, performance management. HRM currently plays a key role in developing strategic and comprehensive approach to managing environment and workplace culture to achieve overall objectives of the organization. In short, HRM adds value to the human asset of the company without which the company cannot progress. The paper aims at discussing leadership development as one of the major challenges that HRM faces in the current times. Importance of HRM in Today’s Business Environment Today business environment is extremely complex. Businesses need to satisfy internal and external stakeholders equally. In ever-changing and turbulent business environment, delivery on time with quicker services, without impacting ultimate quality, has become extremely important for business survival. That is why importance of HRM has increased manifold. Every organization has its goals to fulfill and that can be achieved only by involving and motivating its people at all levels. For this, HR strategies need to be aligned with organizational objectives so that they can be fulfilled smoothly. Due to business environment complexity, companies face numerous challenges such as organizational development, employee motivation, leadership development, talent retention, managing cultural diversity, job rotation, change management, change management. University Alliance (2014) of Villanova University has identified top three HR challenges of the current times as change management, leadership development and HR effectiveness measurement. Leadership Development Challenges – an Analysis Among many challenges that HR faces, leadership development is one of the most crucial for developing organization’s capability to accomplish leadership tasks at different levels and meet company objectives. It will be most appropriate, at this juncture, to quote Peter Drucker before describing how HRM can play a pivotal role in solving the leadership development issue. “It (leadership) is not ‘making friends and influencing people’ – that is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to higher sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations" (Drucker, 1986 p.159). Drucker has succinctly described leadership requirements in the above sentences; however, it is crucial to explore why leadership development has become so important in the current times. In wake of globalization, the business environment has changed drastically. It is chaotic, complex and challenging. In the last decade or so, changes have happened so rapidly that future has become unpredictable. Challenges are so complicated that there are no straight solutions to the problems involved. The world has become increasingly seamless and resources move quickly across the globe. Even small changes lead to large effects in any organization. Solutions need to emerge from within as they cannot come from outside. That is where leadership development challenges of HRM are significant in the years to come. Evaluation of Future Leadership Development Process According to Nick Petrie, the following trends are likely to emerge as far as the future of leadership development is concerned (Petrie, 2014). 1. Collective leadership will take a charge with reduced importance on individual leadership. The focus will be on creating conditions that facilitates leadership to flourish across the organization. 2. Innovation in leadership development methods will take a front seat because no existing programs or models will be enough to spearhead collective leadership in increasingly complex future. 3. So far more stress has been laid on developing competencies (horizontal development) but little has been done to develop vertical development. HRM will need to provide more emphasis on vertical development in future and will be needed to gear up in that direction. While horizontal development can be imparted, vertical development need to be earned (Petrie, 2014). 4. Experts opine that development becomes quicker when people begin to "feel responsible for their own progress" (Petrie, 2014 p.6). This means HRM will face greater challenge in taking people "out of the passenger seat and into the drivers seat of their own development" (Petrie, 2014 p.6). New challenges to leadership development have emerged due to the factors such as the interconnectedness of business communities, information abundance, new technologies dismantling old work practices, the need to lead across cultures, and the varied expectations of new generations. Recommendations to Overcoming Future Leadership Development Challenges While the current leadership development methods with HRM are training, executive coaching, action learning, mentoring, feedback, they are likely to be insufficient in the current circumstances. These methods were certainly effective to meet the challenges of the last century; however, these programs now provide diminishing returns in the changed circumstances. McGuire and Rhodes (2009) emphasize that organizations need to develop the leadership culture while developing individual leaders. According to them, in future, HR will address leadership development issues through vertical leadership development process that consists of three stages. a. Awakening: It is to make person aware that things can be done in a different way. b. Unlearning and Discerning: The old ways are frequently analyzed and challenged. New ways are experimented in day-to-day work and life to explore new possibilities. c. Advancing: With efforts and practice, new idea gets shape and becomes stronger day after day. This means researchers put more emphasis on vertical development. The vertical leadership development programs are already in operation in financial services firms, banks, and strategy consulting firms. It is best suited for those who already possess technical skills but want to enhance their thinking capacity to lead effectively (Petrie, 2014). Conclusion While HRM has been the most integral part of any organization to take care of their human resources, most HR practitioners now recognize the fact that in the era of globalization and chaotic business environment success of organizations will largely depend upon the bench strength of their leaders. It is simply not about developing leaders but the whole emphasis is on creating leadership culture across all levels. HR managers believe that in coming years, vertical leadership development process is likely to get a big thrust. In order to thrive and grow, organizations must have a vertical leadership development strategy at place. While collective leadership will be on forefront taking place of individual leadership, innovation in leadership development process will become a key to success. There is no doubt that in future HRM will have a much larger role to play in this dynamic business world. References Drucker, P. F. (1986). The Practice of Management. New York: HarperCollins. Heathfield, S. (2014). What Is Human Resource Management? [Online] Available from http://humanresources.about.com/od/glossaryh/f/hr_management.htm [Accessed 26 November, 2014] McGuire, J.B. & Rhodes, G. (2009). Transforming Your Leadership Culture. Center for Creative Leadership. John Wiley & Sons. Villanova University (2014). Human Resource Management Challenges. [Online] Available from http://www.villanovau.com/resources/hr/human-resource-management-challenges/#.VHXMpmfWAwp [Accessed 26 November, 2014] Petrie, N. (2014). Future Trends in Leadership Development. Center for Creative Leadership. [Online] Available from http://www.ccl.org/Leadership/pdf/research/futureTrends.pdf [Accessed 26 November, 2014] Read More