Strategies for HRM to Employ in the Organization - Essay Example

Executive summary Any organization that wishes to improve its performance in the current world must put in place the competitive measures that propel it to the top. The Human Resource Department is a key function of any organization. This department performs several functions such as hiring the employees training and developing them so that they are competent. Their function also involves planning and supervision of the activities that take place within the organization. Some of the strategic measures that the organization should undertake are outsourcing which involves fetching the workforce from outside the organization. This could sometimes be from overseas. Globalization of the organization is also a key aspect that makes the organization to be more competitive. Globalization makes the organization to reach out more and thus to enjoy a higher competitive advantage. The HRM however should also know that these measures come with challenges and should thus be able to combat these challenges by yet taking more strategic measures against these challenges. This shield the organization from the havocs associated with these measures. Therefore each organization should take these measures and ensure that the organization is competitive. This is mainly done by the HRM department. Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Introduction 2 What is HRM 2 Functions involved within HRM 3 Strategies for HRM to employ in the organization 3 Outsourcing 3 Considerations to make before outsourcing 4 Problems encountered 4 Recruitment problems 5 Cumbering these challenges 6 Globalization 8 Performance appraisal 9 Recommendations to human resource 10 Conclusion 11 References 12 Introduction The most valued asset in any organization is the human resource. The sector within many organizations that manages this crucial asset is the Human Resource Management (HRM). The HRM is expected to be very strategic as well as coherent so as to ensure that the organizational affairs flow well (Zimmermann and Sparrow, 2008). Any organization that desires to be competent must strive to keep up with the expected standards so as to trade well in current world. This normally happens to those organizations that are global or even those that strive to be global. This requires that these organizations should be innovative as well as inventive. This paper addresses the advice given to the human resource department of an organization that is undergoing a lot of changes and innovations (Dewe and Cooper, 2007). These include the strategic HRM plans and policies that will help the organization facilitate the changes and innovations effectively. It also focuses on the challenges that the measures present and the ways to combat them. What is HRM Human Resource Management refers to the entire process in which the organization’s human resource is acquired, motivated, developed and managed (Caldwell, 2003). HRM always seeks to introduce programs that support the cultural values of the organization. It focuses on the management of work as well as the management of people in the work place. It aims at developing people and their competencies (Zimmermann and Sparrow, 2008). Functions involved within HRM The function involves such factors as i. Work force planning where the management determines what a job entails and the qualifications required to perform it. ii. selection of workers iii. Performance appraisal iv. Potentiality appraisal v. training of workers vi. Supervision of the jobs performed by the workers Strategies for HRM to employ in the organization There appears to be a number of strategic steps that an organization can embrace. It can entail such elements like outsourcing, downsizing and globalizing. Every human resource manager should practice appraisal as a mode of motivation (Zimmerman and Sparrow, 2008) Outsourcing It can be explained as a process of giving out a specific assignment to be completed by another company or an individual in the same country or outside country. The HRM must keenly check an alternative of the process in order to expand the organizations tasks (Guest & king, 2004). The organization may transfer its assignment to an outside country if their cost of labor is cheaper, which will in return enable the organization to acquire several innovative and cheaper production, as well as giving room to the organization in maximizing revenue and lower their expenses. Outsourcing creates opportunity for a number of specialized services and skills. However there are many problems facing outsourcing, hence the HRM should be aware (Dewe & Cooper, 2007) Considerations to make before outsourcing The firm should have enough information concerning the party outsourcing with just to be secure they have a common language and the same understanding, therefore there should arise an episode of questions and answers to make the justification and prevent a conflict (Caldwell, 2003) Problems encountered Both outsourcing and downsizing are faced by a number of problems that may affect the employees, running of the organization, stakeholders and employers. It is always advisable that the HRM should be updated about the problems as explained below (Zimmerman and sparrow, 2008) Location of the outside country - the HRM should consider the current economy status of the outside country and its political structure. They should be aware of the language commonly used by local population as well as conducting an excellent research to make sure the workers are well fashioned in handling the problem of cultural differences of that population (Hodgkin son et al, 209)this also requires the organization to check on the infrastructure and telecommunication services of the same country. Choosing the outsourcing party - this is also a major problem in many organizations. The HRM should be keen in choosing in order to make sure the results have attained maximum height (Sparrow, 2007). They should also review the party’s details and gather necessary information (privacy Guest & King, 2004) In house challenges of outsourcing- this entails such activities like having sufficient preparation before the assignment is delivered. If the party had not prepared enough for the assignment delivered it can cause several issues to the contract signed as well as the company (Hesketh & Fleetwood, 2006). It is imperative to update and publish to every member of the airline company on the inconveniences and follow up to ensure they fathom the implications. In the same case it would make it clear to all coworkers the various problems that comes along with signing a contract for the negative reason (McGuire, Cross, & O’Donnell, 2005). It is important to make sure the contract is signed up for the positive agenda in order to prevent challenges linked with negative reasons. Recruitment problems There tend to occur several problems accompanying recruitment of new workers in the organization, therefore it’s the duty of the HRM to make sure all the new workers are versed with the needs and excellence expected in the organization (Zimmermann & Sparrow, 2008) Management problems; this problems comes as a result of the management being used to the previous patterns of running the company yet, cannot cope up with the enlargement of the company. This means that the management is expected to run cope and apply the new system of operation to enhance smooth running of the company and a well defined series of decision making pointing out the right decision. Cultural problems; this occurs as a result of difference in beliefs, language barrier and also behavioral indifferences to similar impulse, the company on the other hand should be sure all the workers are well equipped to cope up with similar cultures (Dewe & Cooper, 2007) Security problems; it is the duty of the HRM to know about the security of the outsourcing partners in the outside country. He is expected to lay down expected measure to be taken incase of any insecurity matters. Transmission of knowledge; this entails a couple of problems that sometimes requires more resources to combat with. Time differences; the HRM is expected to state clearly the time zone problem in the outside zone that will base its operation, Legal matters - to experience a smooth running of tasks, the airline company should follow the policies, rules and regulations governing the law society. Cumbering these challenges The HRM should Lay down clearly the goals of the organization as well as the objectives so as to avoid in competency after outsourcing (McGuire, Cross, & O’Donnell, 2005). This should be done before the outsourcing process is done. Lack of proper outlining of goals and objectives before the implementation of outsourcing is a risk that could result in business failure. It is therefore core that the organization’s heads meet and clearly define the goals that they intend to achieve. It will ensure that the organizational goals are all geared towards the achievement of such goals and objectives (Guest & King, 2004). They should also have adequate information about outsourcing so as to avoid inconveniences in the operations of the business. This means that they should have an adequate business case development (Sparrow, 2006). The business case development will lay down all the strategies that are important and the information that is adequate. Adequate information allows for subsequent decisions to be informed decisions. The importance of this is that any decision that is reached before collection of right information could be a misleading decision (Guest & King, 2004). They should have the complete and audited information on all the internal costs and processes before coming up with the outsourcing decision. This will allow proper budgeting and a clear understanding of all the funds needed to carry out the project (Hodgkinson et al 2009). Proper planning will ensure that the process pays off. They should also be careful not to announce the outsourcing decision before complete decisions or before finalization of the outsourcing decision. This is for morale or motivational issues. It is always good to complete the internal affairs and then proceed to external requirements (Hodgkinson et al 2009). They should also consider the environmental factors before reaching to the outsourcing decision. This will also include the regulatory factors and their impact on the outsourcing decision (Hesketh and Fleetwood, 2006). The HRM should ensure that the company has a risk analysis basis as well as a risk assessment plan. They should also be sure that the functions, which they are outsourcing, are the desirable functions. If they do outsourcing for the undesirable functions then this will result into massive losses to the company (McGuire, Cross, & O’Donnell, 2005). Globalization The HRM of that company should focus so, much on expanding the territory of the company so as to make it a global company. This will increase the competitiveness of the company. The HRM should understand the challenges of globalization and should act accordingly. These challenges include (Caldwell, 2003). Challenges associated with economics – this is usually associated with high operational costs. This is because many business are able to transact and trade across borders. Trading across boundaries means that operational costs increases because of government polices such as tariffs, and intensive research should be carried out to understand the suitability of any initiative. Moreover, the cost may be associated with time (Dewe and Cooper, 2007). Immobility of factors of production since across borders it is hard to control some factors such as controlling labour or capital or even sometimes cultural differences. These aspects usually results in culture shock since change of labour will bring people into new environments. Understanding the different cultures means extensive research, and this research would cost the organisation (Hesketh and Fleetwood, 2006). Another major challenge is language differences. Employees from a given organisation who transfer to different countries result in introduction of different languages. Some words may be similar in product but the meaning of the terms or words may be insulting or means something bad. Thus, employees will be forced to accommodate different language requirements or meanings (Guest & King, 2004). Other major challenges are policy and legal aspects. Many governments and countries usually set rules and guidelines that organisations should follow. Legal requirements differ between countries meaning that the organisation is forced to adapt to different government policies. Sparrow (2006) states that organisation entering such markets are forced to adapt and follow the set rules and regulations. Performance appraisal The HRM should also carry out performance appraisal. It is also referred to as employee appraisal (Zimmermann and Sparrow, 2008). This is an approach that is utilised to measure capability and capacities of employees within an organisation. It analyses mostly tasks and how tasks are completed by employees. This task is commonly assigned to a manager who doubles as a supervisor. Performance appraisal provides a means in which the employee can understand their position, and allows the management to device means and strategies that allows for employee training and development. In the case of an employer, it provides him opportunity to know the worth of employee and the contribution of the employee to the organisation. The HRM could use this information to: 1. Update employees on their development regarding their performance, and also provides a foundation on the way future decisions could be made. 2. Identification of employee needs. These may include training, development needs, and any flaws that are noted can be corrected easily ensuring that the position of an employee is upgraded and improved (Zimmermann and Sparrow, 2008). 3. Rewards are an important motivation factor in an organisation, and thus performance appraisal formulates a criterion that can be used to allocate awards (Guest & King, 2004). This approach provides a foundation of determining the strengths and weaknesses of the employees and the rewards that are provided reflect the contribution of the employee to the organisation. 4. It can be used to determine salary allocation and increment policies. 5. It facilitates and allows means of communication between the administrators and other stakeholders. This means that it is an interactive process that brings together stakeholders, and provides a framework that allows the employee to express their views (Hodgkinson et al 2009). Recommendations to human resource Every human resource manager should be willing to establish new skills and become competent in this present world. Here are some recommendations (McGuire, Cross & O’Donnell, 2005) They should be aware of cultural differences and be in a position of understanding of which can be done by studying more on cultures and culture diversity. Culture stereotype should be a good sample which can be a start-up towards being a cultural intelligent. (Sparrow, 2006) They should be willing to be culturally intelligent; this calls for extra effort of acquiring skills that explains more deeper on a specified culture this could be achieved by interacting and mixing with other cultures as well as adjusting their mind set to catch up with a new culture. They should have knowledge on the desired principles to be employed in cultural interactions. This brings out a clear understanding on why people behave differently based on culture Be fully equipped with knowledge so as to know how to present his issue and the limits of activities in a new culture. Acquire new skills in behavior in order to be competent along the separate cultures, which enable them to become more effective in the running of the program. Conclusion The HRM in every organization must ensure that the work force within their organization is effective. This will is done, by ensuring that the competitive level of the organization is high. The HRM in coalition with other management sections must ensure that the organization’s level of competence is guarded. They should do this by putting in place such measures as employee appraisal where the performance of the employee, is, improved. Outsourcing is also, an aspect that gives the organization an upper hand in the market place. This is mainly due to the fact that the products of the outsourcing inject new, blood in the organization. Globalisation of the enterprise is also a measure that the, organization should put into place. This gives the organization a greater reach to more customers and thus more sales as well as competitive advantage. References Caldwell, R. 2003. The changing role of personnel managers: old ambiguities, new uncertainties. Journal of Management Studies, vol. 40, no 4, pp. 983-1004. Dewe, P. and Cooper, C.L. 2007. Coping Research and Measurement in the Context of Work Related Stress.  International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, vol. 22, pp. 141-192.  Guest, D. & King, Z. 2004. Power, innovation and problem solving: the personnel managers’ three steps to heaven? Journal of Management Studies, vol. 41, no. 3, pp. 401-425. McGuire, D., Cross, C. & O’Donnell, D., 2005. 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