Features of Human Resources Management - Essay Example

HRD 495 What are the three major roles of HR management? Which is/are the most affected by technology and outsourcing? Which role is growing in importance? Human Resources Management performs 3 highly important roles in the everyday functions of a business. These roles are listed as staffing, employee compensation and benefits, and defining/ designing work ( “Human Resource Management”, n.d.). Having already pointed out the three important roles of HR management in a business, it is important to note that staffing is the role that is most affected by technology and outsourcing. This is because part of the function of HR is to ensure that a company can function competitively in the market it represents at the most affordable and competitive price to the business owners. Keeping the importance of staffing in mind and the fact that most of the expenses in a company come from the salary of the employed workers, one can therefore surmise that staffing is one of the most important aspects of Human Resources. 2. Why is strategic HR management essential for organizational success? Strategic HR management is essential when planning the future success of an organization because any decision that an organization makes will have a trickle down effect to the departments below the executive management level. That is why the affected departments need to be consulted and strategically managed in order to ensure that all business decisions will be based on the impact that the decisions made will have on the workforce and the organizational structure of a company (Mayhew, n.d.). It is of the utmost importance to a business that the executive leadership always acknowledge the human factor in the success of their business. Which is why successful businesses are known to always recognize the value of the employee contribution to a business. Everyone from the Chief executive officer, information officer, human resources officer, and financial officer all contribute in one way or another to the perceived success of the company. Their full participation in the business making process ensures that all the facets and departments of the company are considered when the company is faced with organization wide decisions. 3. Discuss in some detail two gender-based discrimination issues, other than sexual harassment. What, if any, legislation exists to address these issues? One of the gender based discrimination issues that immediately comes to mind is that of equal pay for women. It is a well known fact that women are paid at least forty cents less than the average male in any given position due to the lesser value that businesses apply to their women employees. They base the lower wages on the information that women spend less time in the office due to maternity leave and other family related leaves that prevent them from functioning at 100 % capacity while on the job (“Demand Equality”, n.d.). Although the Equal Pay Act of 1963 has been in effect to protect the right of women to get their fair share of salary from their jobs, the reality of the situation is that some businesses find loopholes to get around that particular law. This law in particular states that any woman working in the same place as a man, doing equal work, and receiving unequal pay can file suit against the company and demand proper remuneration ( “The Equal Pay Act: Equal Pay for Women”, n.d.). The next gender based discrimination issue that I can think about is, Sexual Discrimination. This is not be confused with sexual harassment in the workplace. Sexual discrimination and retaliation are the acts of exposing a worker to a hostile work environment based upon the gender of the worker and then punishing the worker for complaining about the obviously hostile work environment. Women in particular, are protected from this type of gender discrimination by Title IV of the 1964 Civil Rights Act that ; “requires that employers provide each employee a working environment free of harassment based on their race, color, sex, religion or national origin. It also prohibits an employer from taking adverse action against an individual for exercising his or her right to complain about behavior reasonably believed to violate Title VII.” (Longley , 2013). 4. What are some of the alternatives to the traditional work schedule of a full-time, eight-hour day at the employer’s place of business? Why have these alternatives become increasingly popular? There are quite a number of alternative work schedules to the regular 8 hour work day. These include Flex time, staggered work hours, part - time employment and reduced hour schedules, and job sharing (Kane, 2013). These alternative working styles have become increasingly popular because of the need to help the regular office worker achieve a delicate balance between his personal and professional needs for available time. For some employees, they need the alternative work schedule because they are still completing their college studies. Or they have children at home to require extra care and attention. In some instances, these workers have aging parents who require their help from time to time. In a worst case scenario, the employee himself or herself suffers from a health situation that does not allow them to opportunity to work a full 8 hour work day. Companies that offer these alternative work schedules manage to develop a high retention rate for their regular employees while keeping down their need to constantly train new people for specific jobs. 5. What is meant by job satisfaction and organizational commitment? What are the advantages of a satisfied and committed workforce? How does the concept of employee engagement apply to turnover? Job satisfaction refers to the contentment of an employee over his work situation and benefits from his employers. The degree of contentment that a worker has on the job directly relates to his effectiveness on the job. An unsatisfied employee will come to work with negative feelings and be less effective on the job. organizational commitment then refers to the attitude of an employee in terms of his professional working relationship with the company and how it might have a future long term effect on his career (Schmidt, 2008). Do not be misled however. Employee satisfaction should never be confused with the concept of employee satisfaction. Rather, employee engagement refers to the amount of personal commitment that a worker has allotted within himself towards the betterment of his job and the company, sans any financial equivalency for the involvement. They work in order to realize the company goals regardless of what is in it professionally for them (Kruse,2012) Sources Kane, S. (2013). Flex time and alternative work schedules. about.com. Retrieved from http://legalcareers.about.com/od/careertrends/a/flextime.htm Kruse, K. (2012). What is employee engagement?. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2012/06/22/employee-engagement-what- and-why/ Longley, R. (2013). Fedex pays $3.2 million in sex discrimination case. about.com. Retrieved from http://usgovinfo.about.com/cs/consumer/a/fedexpays.htm Mayhew, R. (2013). Why is it important for HR management to be a Strategic business partner?. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/important-hr-management-strategic-business- partner-11079.html N.A. (2013). Gender based discrimination. Amnesty International. Retrieved from http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/women-s-rights/gender-based- discrimination N.A. (2013). Human resource management. Inc. Retrieved from http://www.inc.com/encyclopedia/human-resource-management.html N.A. (2013). The equal pay act: Equal pay for women. NOLO law for all. Retrieved from http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/equal-pay-act-women-30153.html Schmidt, C. Jr. (2008). What is organizational commitment?. The University of Rhode Island. Retrieved from http://www.uri.edu/research/lrc/scholl/webnotes/Commitment.htm Read More