Human Resource Management and Workplace Dynamics - Essay Example

Human Resource Management and Workplace Dynamics XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Name XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Course XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Course instructor XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Date submitted Abstract The paper purposes to identify the main economic challenges affecting the attaining of the employer goals. In addition to this, the paper will identify ways through which the employers can secure stable employment for the employees despite the economic fluctuations that may exist. This will be in relation to the competitions the firms face in the labor, product and capital market. Introduction The challenging and ever dynamic nature of the labor, capital and product market requires effective and dynamic skills in management of human resources. Changes in the economy, demographics and in particular the diversity in the employees and the aging of employees continue to give alterations in the labor market. Competitions in the global economy has shifted from the investments and trade to operational integrations, management and the formation of strategic alliances which have adversely affected the acquisition and development of employees that are globally competent. The introduction of new technologies has also had its share in this as the increased technological advancements require the expertise of educated and workers who are trained. This has enhanced the need to the human resource management (HRM) to adopt new skills in the sourcing and identification of skilled workers in all job areas (Boxall & Purcell 2003). The failure to adequately close the skill gaps in appropriate ways through retention and other HRM strategies has made it increasingly difficult for many firms to compete in the increasingly dynamic and sophisticated market. This has led to deliberate attempts to build a human resource capital in many organizations. This has made it a deliberate attempt by HRM in many firms to develop new approaches in the ensuring that adequate skills, knowledge, attitude, experience and lifelong learning exist within the organizational workforce. Economic challenges brought about by globalization are vital in affecting the approaches through which organizations are managed to achieve their formulated goals and objectives. Industrial Relations (IR) changes which include flexibility, collective bargaining, job functions and relations to working time are brought about due to increased competition, dynamism in the production of products, production skills and quality of productivity. The changes have had direct impact to the Human resource management (HRM) practices and policies. To manage change, the HRM has to institute key elements that include involvement of the employee in the effecting of change, customer orientation and the increasing of the employee skills and capacity to ensure they are appropriate to the production of quality goods and provision of services. This requires the HRM to effectively adopt approaches that are aimed at motivating, increasing and maintaining their quality production of goods and services. To begin with, organizations exist in an environment that is driven by market pressures the human resource (HR) is to be proactive an invent ideas and early interventions that are aimed at the retention of the most productive workforce. Strategies utilized by the HR in the retention of the most productive persons include the adoption of a revised leave schedule for the employees. The HR it to device the ways in identifying the activities that are of minimal value to the organization and its resources. In addition, the HR needs to device approaches in identifying the possible threats to the employees in relation to heir emotional engagement. In enterprises driven by product market pressures require the need to invent objectives that are aimed at improving the quality of the products being produced. The strategies employed need to be aimed at the increasing greater dynamism, quality and innovativeness to be able to respond to the needs and demands of the market. Improved quality and production that is directly linked to motivation can be attained through training and involving the employee in the decision making processes. In addition to this, extrinsic and intrinsic motivation is vital. The increasing demand in the HR in the realization of the management goals is witnessed in the upsurge in the demands for the pay systems to be geared towards performance skills (Dunford & Snell 2003). Human resource has from ages been viewed as expenditure to be reduced. Labor costs from time have been the highest in the operations costs of any organization. It is logical for any business organizations that want to excel must reduce its labor costs. Despite this, HR decisions have always been viewed as a value creation source. Firms that increase their value are able to gain competitive advantage over their competitors. Firms have competitive advantages if has the opportunity to competitively and sustain ably out perform their rivals. Firms are able to outrun their competitors if they have well set and reliable network of distribution. The other and most neglected way for firms to competitively out shine their competitors is through the HR. This can be achieved through a well chosen HR strategy (Boxall & Purcell 2003). In order to attain economic viability, there is need for firms to maintain cost effectiveness in the labor management. This is the ability to stabilize a firm’s production system that will be able to and sustain the competitive environment. The ability to select the appropriate technology and workforce is company specific. This implies that their exists varied ways in the production of goods and services. There is need for the HR to support the viable ways that are used in the production of goods and services in the firm failure to which might lead in the firm’s failure. The formations of HR patterns that are able to sustain a company’s viability are expected to take root from the onset of the firm. The HR practices are often found in capital sensitive production systems that need specialized technological involvement. These cases always invite high labor costs as compared to production systems where firms value the pricing than the quality of services being provided. This needs the HR to build the capacity of the workforce in terms of skills and ensure they are well motivated. The HR should act with consistency and reliability so as to keep off distress among the team members. A HR management that is consistent will earn the trust of his subordinates since it gives priority to the beliefs and visions of the team. The management should encourage an atmosphere of criticism, feedback systems, questioning and giving suggestions on ways of improving the work. Integrity of the HR which involves adherence to practices, values and ethics is a vital character every manager should possess (Dunford & Snell 2003). Employees in many instances perceive leader without integrity as having selfish ambitions of fulfilling personal agendas as well as being manipulative. The elementary requirement for the firm in these circumstances is for the managers to relate their SHRM activities to be in line with the industries economic characteristics. The firms should have labor forces that are affordable and offer competitive remuneration to be able to retain its skilled workforce as the cost of on job training incurred in trying to replace a poached skilled man force will be significantly hard in the competitive environment (Bartel 2004). The low skilled model is mostly practiced by most middle sized industries like the supermarkets, gasoline stations and fast food industries among others. According to Boxall & Purcell (2003, p.123) highly skilled and committed HR approaches are always found in places are not found in such scenario but rather in places that require intensive technology and in capital intensive systems like in the brewery or a motor vehicle assembly plant. The securing of the cost effective labor calls for the HRM to rethink on the benefits of the industry at hand. Labor costs if not planned well can end up breaking or making a firm to collapse or lack its relevance in the business market (Hunter 2000). Firms normally use their employment practices to maintain their competitive costs. Training and increase in the laborers capacity only acts to keep the level of services highly competitive thus giving the firm an upper competitive advantage. Observations have been made that working environments that are challenging and interesting works are a motivation in itself to the workers. Psychological contracts play a vital role in the building of the individual trust and the employees’ level of commitment and motivation. Sometimes the motivational challenges can be expressed through collective action in form of strikes, go slows and in the depreciation of work norms. They can also be at times be expressed in the form of individual absenteeism or/and turnover. In such cases, the firm’s management legitimacy can be affected and this would have an impact of the firm’s productivity or viability in the market place (Youndt et al1996). The ability of the firms to offer a security of tenure have positive effects as the workers have more time to concentrate on work related other than thinking of where they would get a secure job and wage. The workers in such situations are more motivated than the ones with no security of tenure. Firms that operate in this case build a workforce that is more loyal. The firm will have long term prospects but will require more techniques in ensuring the flexibility of the company’s labor structure in meeting the needs and demands of the dynamic product market. Firms need to clearly define the short term and short term objectives. There is need also for the workers to be dependable and disposable. Firms that are able to withstand and sustain competitive environments are those that are create a clear balance between stability and flexibility and at the same time sustain employee trust and confidence. This has however been difficult to practice. Dynamism is the ability to change and adapt to new environments. In this case environments can be the adaptations to new competitive environments or to new competition that has been introduced into the market. Dynamism at work is made possible through the creation of the enabling environment by the employer. Policies which include the creation of flexible working hours for the workers should be put in place. This is in line with the attempt to improve outcomes in recruitment, performance and retention of workers. Dynamism in this case should not be about the employers’ demands but should aim at the provision of employees with the ability to control and give value to his time (Dunford & Snell 2003). The agility as it may be referred to as concerned with how the firm can be able to maintain the competitive nature of the environment. Questions as to whether the firm has the capacity to deal with the environment are of great importance. This will include the creation of budgets to encourage innovativeness and creativity. Agility will involve of the change in the HR strategies to incorporate flexibility. This is hard to achieve as many organizational core futures are not easily changed once they are operational and achi9eving the intended results (Carroll & Boxall 2003). Most organizations resist flexibility due to the additional implications it might have on the budgetary allocation. Most always go for the reduction in the production costs and cutting down costs by down sizing the workers to maintain in order to maintain the high profit margins. Long term agility can best be achieved through innovativeness and the creation of enabling parameters to have creativity based on the objectives of the company. The HRM should see the urge and necessity in the rewarding of innovativeness. In cases of a production company, this might be through the use of modern technology in the production of its products and marketing them to the consumers (Legge 2005). The best HRM management system is that whose principles and decision are given chance to be morally challenged and criticized. The involvement of employees in the making of decisions is not only developmental but also adds up to the motivating and building of confidence in the workers. In addition, this aims at building the employees skills in innovation thus enabling the company to maintain its competitive advantage in the market (Lloyd, 2005). It is rather conscious that the management exhibits its fundamental autonomy or power to act. Autonomy comes with power and the power can either be attained or inherited. Management skills are always perfected with time through experience, the application of essential leadership styles is essential to the attaining of the firm’s formulated goals. Management skills and type is generally shaped by the culture that exists in the given firm. This is essential as it determines to what extend the labor force is likely to meet its objectives. Most management applies the risk in trying to attain the most effective output from their employees (Marchington & Grugulis 2000). It is clear that at times work place relations are not enough in the driving of change in an organization. In the focus of work place many at times neglects the underlying importance of the market place (Biewener 1997). The concept of the circuits of capital that has been utilized by the labor process theory realizes that labor management is not the only source for the realization of importance in business firms. This brings the understanding of the dynamic shifts in capital accumulation commonly known to as the financialized economies (Beck 2000). The financial competition experienced in the business field that are aimed at meeting the expectations of the capital market are merely conciliators in relations amid monetary performers, but a controller of business firm’s behavior (Bennett 1990). This emphasis is greatly linked with cooperate governance and the organizational institutional rules that govern the distribution of resources in firms. Restrictions premeditated choices of business firm’s but rather regulations aimed at taming the HRM performance and re-align administrative and ownership interests (Barley 1996). The dominance of by investments in the financial institutions has accelerated the cash flow trends where shares are appreciated as new and more paying forms of investments and as markers of performance of firms (Applebaum 2001). When the shares of a firm are seen to be performing better on a share index the firm is believed to be performing better in the business market. The other strategy that has been adopted by many firms in maintaining the cost effectiveness and performance of a firm is down sizing. Many firms have adopted this as a strategy to cut down costs with the aim of improving the financial performance of a firm (Appay 1998). Other measures that have been adopted to facilitate the improvement of performances of firms in the product market include mergers, desegregation, disinvestment and acquisition of new firms. However, labor still remains the better way of restructuring objectives and the most controllable cost. It has also been seen that over production and excess capacity are other ways through which firms tend to loose their profitability and positive performance in the product market. This has mainly been witnessed in the manufacturing industries where the downturn in the product market has resulted in to the fall of the share prices of the firms in the financial share market. In addition, all strategies of growth have resulted in the loss of stability of employment for many workers which is always referred to as the strategic orientation shift. This is the strategy employed by the HR in order to retain, invest, downsize and distribute. To many organizations downsizing is viewed as a strategy of creating the value of the share holder (Aglietta 2000). By cutting down the labor costs, firms are able to redistribute the resources that would have otherwise been used in the paying of labor to other sectors which include the increased in the share prices of the share holders in the firm. This is witnessed through increase in dividends and in stock buybacks. This strategy works to increase and encourage growth of firms with established networks on the basis of outsourcing and subcontracting. These developments however come with increased significance in systematic rationalization (Ackroyd & Proctor 1998). In conclusion, due to the creations of overambitious target the firms are caught in a strategic tension where there is a difference between the organizational vision and the reality. This leads hampering of the overall performance of an organization resulting in to frustration of the work force and low morale (Altmann & Deib 1998). The analysis part of the reactive approach is perhaps the causation. Once all the causative facts have been collected, logical deductions can be made to establish the relationships that exist between the problematic variables that affect the performance of the firm. The correction of such variables leads to an error free business scenario where the system needs only to address the problem at hand. 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