The Contractors of Human Resources - Essay Example

Do You Really Know Your Contractors? The Hard Evidence for Contractor Screening and Employment Background Check Searches By Devon Wijesinghe, March 17, 2009 HRM Guide Introduction People constitute an organization’s most important and vital factor in its success or failure. In order to function efficiently and effectively, people must be managed well. Human resources management is the art and science of dealing with people at work for the optimum achievement of individual, organization and society’s goals. While general management is the orchestration of all the resources, human resource management is limited to people management – their motivation, acquisition, maintenance and development. In this regard, this essay aims to proffer contemporary issues in human resources management, particularly in recruitment which influences the future trend in this field of endeavor. Abstract The article proffered critical issues that emerge regarding one of the companies’ partners in the recruitment process: the contractors of human resources. According to Wijesinghe (2009, par.1), there is an alarming “90% of American companies that neglect to run contractor screening and criminal checks on these partners”. As a repercussion, organizations failing to make background checks on contractors who referred employees who have had previous criminal records or negligent actions and cause damage or harm to other employees in the organization, face legal actions. There are legislations that require more stringent employment background checks to ensure safety and security in the recruitment and hiring process. Wijesinghe concluded by stating that “before signing any contracts with your newest vendor, make sure you perform a criminal and employment background check, credential and/or license verification, immigration status (if applicable), and, for jobs with considerable money responsibilities, a credit history check and report on every employee that will be dealing with your assets” (par. 8). Analysis and Personal Opinion All resources – man, money, methods, market, materials, minutes (representing time) and machines are the domain of general management. Human resources management solely involves man. Through and by men, the other m’s are acquired and utilized. The quality and utilization of the rest of the resources are almost always affected by decisions about and by human resources. Indeed, the accomplishment of the goals of an organization depends upon the availability and utilization of all these ingredients, the interaction of which, are people-caused. The acquisition, utilization and development of financial, material, technological and market resources which may be exhaustible are dependent on human resources. If the latter is available and capable, the other factors can be of great use to the organization. It is through people that they can be either harnessed and developed or dissipated and lost. Man does or undoes what exists; man creates or bypasses opportunities and scenarios. Hence, people power is the most significant and potent factor of all the resources available to an organization. Recruitment is a critical function of human resources management to ensure that the organization has an adequate supply of the right quantity and quality of human resources at all levels and in all positions at the right time and in the right place to man the jobs that have been properly identified and described. As management wants to ensure the healthy operation of the organization, human resource acquisition should be given priority. Contemporary recruitment policies and practices become more sophisticated depending on the size of the organization, its availability of funds, and the scope of its operations. With more organizations expanding into global markets, the task of recruiting people of appropriate skills, competence, and qualifications are most often relegated to partners such as contractors, suppliers, or vendors. The overreliance of trust and confidence on the capabilities of these partners undermine the need for the much needed background checking on these partners. The passing of legislations requiring employment background checking for partners in the recruitment process is a milestone in contemporary recruitment trends. The number of lives endangered and lost due to negligent screening and background checking cannot be replaced by the organization’s remuneration. Local agencies responsible for governing policies on human resources and practitioners should be vigilant in ensuring that these laws and legislations are properly implemented and enacted. Any violations should immediately be sanctioned so that future lawsuits could be averted. Global organizations have more responsibilities in ensuring that management did the basic requirement of stringent screening and background checking, not only on the contractors and partners, but possibly on the human resources they plan to employ. With confounding issues on diversity, the sources for recruitment become more diverse and complex. Accordingly, the background checking must necessarily be more stringent to strictly adhere to the high standards of quality in the required pool of human resources. The availability and accessibility of advanced technological systems and processes accorded by the World Wide Web provides ample opportunities for organizations to double check the credibility of their partners. To avoid workplace accidents, lawsuits, and negligent acts, business organizations cannot be over reliant on their human resources partners. Ultimately, it is their money and reputation which are at stake when mistakes in recruitment occur. Conclusion The complexity of human resources management services calls for more professional qualifications backed up by sound knowledge of and apt skills in human behavior. Human resource managers are therefore tasked with responsibilities of recognizing that strategies in functions such as acquisition, training and development, employee involvement, as well as policies in equity and diversity, help or break the improvement in organizational performance. The recruitment program of the organization can be simple or sophisticated depending on the size of the organization and its availability of funds. The bigger the organization, the more positions are available and so the Human Resources Manager must ensure that applicants are recruited not only for existing vacancies but also for future exigencies as well. While screening sifts the good applicants from a number of recruits, selection gets the best among the screened applicants. The HR manager should be able to discern the most qualified and competent applicant from among the group through appropriate utilization of common tools and techniques. The applicants’ information sheet, interview results, school records, employment and psychological tests, references, clearances, background checking and physical examination all assist the HR manager is making the right choice. Human resources management purports to accomplish not only organizational goals but also individual goals. It posits that an individual worker whose personal goals are realized is willing to cooperate in the accomplishment of organizational goals. The congruence of both goals is directly proportional to the harmony between management and labor. This approach subscribes to the idea stipulated by Carell & Kuzmitz (1986, 5), to wit: “organizational goals and employee needs are mutual and compatible. One set need not be gained at the expense of the other”. Works Cited Carell, M.R. & Kuzmits, F. Personnel: Human Resource Management, 2nd edition, Columbus: Merill Publishing Company. 1986. Print. Wijesinghe, D. “Do You Really Know Your Contractors? The Hard Evidence for Contractor Screening and Employment Background Check Searches” HRM Guide. 2009. Web. 12 April 2010. < http://www.hrmguide.com/recruitment/contractor-screening.htm> Read More