Challenges and Future of HR Function - Term Paper Example

Name: Module Name: ID: Challenges and Future of HR Function Challenges and Future of HR Function Abstract In the management field, numerous researchers have highlighted the competitive nature in the market; thus, introducing scores of strategies so as to gain the competitive advantage. HR department that is run efficiently can offer the organization with the ability and structure to meet the needs of the business through managing the most valuable resources in the company, the workers. There are a number of HR areas, or disciplines, but HR practitioners in all areas may perform numerous important functions, such as recruitment, training and development, professional development, compensation and benefits, as well as legal compliance. As it will be evidenced in the report, managers have to offer their workers with the tools needed for them to become successful, that is to say offering new workers an extensive orientation training so as to help them adapt into the new culture. The HR function has for years been changing and scores of businesses are realigning the roles of HR in order to cost effectively manage and grow their organization. A number of companies have decided to outsource several of its functions to third parties in order that the internal resources may be able to concentrate more time on strategic issues. HR without a doubt deals with scores of issues, but the main challenges that HR Departments face today are corporate culture, retention and motivation, recruitment, and leadership development. The report concentrates on the future of HRM; the current HR practices in UAE; HR contribution to achievement of Emirates Group goals; and main challenges and future orientation of HR function in UAE. Table of Contents Introduction Usually when an industry experiences an intensive competition, it propensity becomes more perfect and efficient. According to reference, this is because of the fact that the industry is motivated by completion to produce only superior and high quality standards products for the consumers, and this cannot be achieved without competent HR. The report will mainly focus on Dubai-based Emirates Group, which evidently is a highly profitable organisation that has a turnover of nearly US$18.4 billion and more than 60,000 workers. The Emirates Group owns Dnata, the biggest air services provider in the world as well as Emirates airline, the Group’s international carrier that is expanding fast. Presently, Emirates offer services to 125 destinations using contemporary fleet of more than 180 wide-bodied aeroplanes (Emirates Group, 2011). Crucial to the on-going success of the Emirates Group is the employment of highly skilled persons that benefit from working as well as living in Dubai, a contemporary international city providing looked-for lifestyle. Presently, the Emirates Group workers originate from more than 160 nationalities, getting tax-free benefits and salary package, and also provided professional development opportunities so as to improve their careers (Emirates Group, 2011). 1.1 Overview of the Emirates Group Basically, the Emirates Group is continually growing and supporting the development of the UAE, by embracing every area of tourism as well as commerce. The company’s efficient performance is attributed to the sustained quality standards from loyal as well as hard-working management and employees. The company has at all times aspired to regularly develop its business internationally and nationally with the highest service standards and quality through recruitment of talented and skilled workers. As per now, the Emirates Group is functional in almost every facet tourism and travel; thus, becoming the leading global company in this industry. Having more than 500 awards for excellence globally, Emirates airline is an essential division of the Emirates group, and together with Dnata, which offers services in IT solutions, flight catering, cargo, ground handling, and travel has made the Group the most successful company in Middle East (Emirates Group, 2011). The Group was established in 1959, and has been steered forward by their united strength, with both Dnata and Emirates airline having an extraordinary rate of growth. The Emirates Group has a spanning portfolio of over 50 brands and has currently employed over 62,000 persons (Emirates Group, 2011). 1.2 General Information about HR in UAE In a global context, countries in Middle East including UAE are largely viewed as having limited competitiveness economies and this situation according to reference is mainly because of the societal, environmental, economic, and political challenges facing these countries (Randeree, 2009). The UAE is experiencing a lot of challenges, which includes both present and future demographics, its national workforce employment, issues of sustainability, in addition to gender and diversity related issues (see Appendix one). As stated by Randeree (2009), a nationalisation process that is well designed, a policy accurately for decreasing the demand for human resources, for expatriate workers, recognized as Emiratisation in the UAE, together with employing Emirati women may assist in reducing scores of challenges facing the UAE. The UAE rules are facing the challenge of engaging the national HR in employment and education, so as to move in accordance with developed countries whilst respecting Islamic and Arab tradition. Majority of UAE companies depend on their employees’ expertise so as to achieve competitive advantage in international economies. The retention of talented workers in this economic setting has turned out to be a tremendously crucial strategy for organisational leaders as well as HR managers in UAE. Top-level authorities together with managers are continually met with the problem of workers retention, and in UAE akin to other countries across the globe; organisations are facing serious challenges to retain their skilled workers. Besides that, there are key challenges in trying to retain workers which developed a progressively more crucial aspect of developing organisational capabilities so as to make certain sustained competitiveness. Such challenges are principally associated with the remuneration packages, infrastructural support, styles of leadership and organisational cultures. According to Mishkin (2011), employees who are highly skilled are frequently poached by big‐scale multinational companies who offer improved remunerations as well as other benefits. This aspect is mainly noteworthy for nations like the UAE. Majority of organisational leaders understand these challenges, acknowledging the necessity to retain committed as well as talented workers who significantly contribute to the achievements and success of the organisation. However, most UAE organisations, especially the small companies do not have the resources to initiate changes that can solve the problems of retention. In UAE this is mostly regulated by an industrial group or individual organisation, and this singular regulatory system according to Randeree (2009) offers numerous benefits. It epitomises a moderately advanced, integrated, as well as efficient HR system wherein organisations are offered limited independence to run their exclusive businesses as well as human resource management practices. Besides that, a number of companies in UAE do not utilise HR portal (see Appendix three) 1.3 HR Function in the Emirates Group The HR department at the Emirates Group supports the vision of the company by creating flexible and HR solutions. Such solutions support the growth of the business as well as commercial targets, while still balancing the interests of the organisation and requirements of the line department. At Emirates Group, HR support teams are tasked with ensuring successful employee relations by means of professional compliance with procedures as well as policies, while the team Remuneration and Planning makes certain the company has practices, which will enable them to retain as well as attract highly skilled workforce (Emirates Group, 2011). HR is the key power of Emirates Group, and so as to realise its goals, the company has continually focussed on human resources. For this reason, the Emirates Group HR department always analyses their current human resources prior to examining their HR plan. The HR department of the Emirates Group always understand it responsibilities and duties of checking and ensuring all its business units and subsidiaries are properly working and the working environment is safe and beneficial to the worker. 1.4 Significance of Research This research intends to connect the HRM in UAE context considering that HRM deals with the behaviours, functions, responsibilities, as well as significance of workers. So the report will highlight how the significance of HRM at Emirates Group is phenomenon. Beforehand little attention was offered to a structured employee management, but this has changed. The report seeks to prove that the level of HRM practices cannot exhibit the formalized structure, and so it is imperative to focus on UAE in order initiate identification HR function challenges. Basically, HRM role should be inclined towards humanitarian factors. In UAE as it will be evidenced in the literature review, the traditional management issue in UAE must be addressed so as to change it to HRM conceptualization. This report will without a doubt help UAE managers to connect the global human resource management practices in local context within their organizations. 2.0 Literature Review The previous decade has been marked with changes in the typical workforce composition in the Gulf region, and such changes according to Al Naqbi (2011) have been evident in the family background, race, age and employee career aspirations. These changes have led to a knock‐on effect on the implemented operation models in scores of organisations, especially in UAE and have resulted in changes to the HR, training and recruitment activities in place. Organisational changes have been examined by Heerwagen, Kelly, and Kampschroer (2010) and Baker (2009) with regard to both employee and employer relationships and organisational structure. Economic environment changes have impacted both informal and formal employment contracts, and which consequently impacts organisational commitment and employee motivation. Successfully adjusting to relationship changes according to Al Naqbi (2011) has had significant consequence based on continuous competitive advantage in terms of the ability to recruit and retain a loyal skilful labour force. In present business setting, workers seem to be less committed to their organisations, and since managers cannot guarantee the longevity or stability of their workers’ paths of corporate career, or jobs security, so the employee old contract loyalty for fair work as well as job security has stopped working. Numerous scholars hold the view that human resources are possibly the only basis of sustainable competitive advantage for companies. According to Bal, Bozkurt, and Ertemsir (2012), HR systems assist in creating workforces whose contributions are unique, valuable, as well as difficult to be imitated by the competitors. In Baker (2009) study, they established that HR practices have an effect on the organisational outcomes by shaping attitudes and behaviours of employees. As suggested by Al Naqbi (2011) organisational actions like HR practices can be interpreted by employees and the management trustworthiness is a symbolic of a personal commitment of the organisation to employees. Workers respond accordingly, in commitment their level to the organisation. In this case, social exchange theorists have presented evidence supporting the theory that commitment to the employee exhibited by an organisation directly impacts the commitment that workers demonstrate to organisation in response. 2.1 Contribution of this Research to Current Literature and UAE professional World These days, professionals in the HR fields are crucial elements in the organization’s success, and this research will exhibit how their jobs need a new sophistication level that is unique in HRM. This research has both theoretical in addition to practical significance, in providing information, which will help in comprehending HR practices that have an effect on various HR functions such as employees’ retention. This research will lead to the advancement in UAE organisations’ employee welfare. An identification as well as understanding of vital variables in HR practices and their relation to job satisfaction as well as organisational commitment is as well presented; such can improve retention of employees in UAE companies, including the Emirates Group. The present human resource standards in UAE organisations, particularly those in Sharjah, are exceedingly poorly, and this is attributed by the fact that UAE-based organisations have more emphasis and less documentation on cultural traditions as compared to similar organisations in Western countries; this involves failure to give employees rights to decision-making. So this research will provide recommendations that will be beneficial not just to UAE companies, but also to the literature of employee participation. 3.0 Methodology This research has employed both quantitative as well as qualitative methods so as to highlight the current challenges facing HR functions at Emirates Group and the future orientation of these HR functions. In this case, the quantitative approach was utilised first to categorise and understand the human resource environment at the Emirates Group while the qualitative approach was afterwards utilised to precisely address the current challenges facing HR functions. Given that this research was naturally exploratory, it was envisioned to create a basis through which future studies on the same topic can be conducted. The study questions were responded by HR manager through Interviews the questions were designed to target the cognitive knowledge of the respondents with regard to HR functions challenges in their respective organisations. Besides that, the HRM practices in addition to their impact on respondents were as well analysed. Interviews with HR manager mainly concentrated on the impact of HRM practices on the organisational experience and some of the challenges facing various HR functions such as employee retention. The Interviews were carried out during working hours. 4.0 Results Results from the interview indicate that HR department at the Emirates Group is facing a lot of challenges given that their roles are becoming more strategic and broader. HR at the Emirates Group according to the manager is more than a simple function of training, hiring and retaining workers; rather it is an essential element in developing a labour force that is in line with the vision and mission of the organization. However, over reliance on HR has resulted in a number of challenges. The first challenge cited by the manager is talent retention, whereby hiring as well as retaining top workers has become more challenging. HR Professionals anticipate that employee retention will continue being problematic and will worsen in 2022, as evidenced by the survey conducted by Society for Human Resource Management. Economic challenges are making it hard for companies to sustain high pay levels and this gives the employees the chance to hop from one job to another. Another challenge is leadership development, considering that as companies expand and grow, developing promotable leaders is important. Additionally, leadership development links with employee retention because most workers normally indicate poor leadership of the manager as the main reason of leaving their jobs. In addition, workers need more active leadership decisions roles in their jobs as well as department, which may require training. Regrettably, it is hard to have sustainable budget needed for employee programs such as training and development that give emphasis to growth and leadership. 5.0 Discussion Culture is a key HR challenge facing the Emirates Group considering that HR plays a crucial role in organizational culture development. According to the Emirates Group HR manager, increased diversity results in the problem of creating a cohesive culture. Currently, the high numbers of persons working in UAE are foreigners as compared to locals (see Appendix two). Although individuals from different backgrounds bring new perspectives and ideas to organization, cultural differences result in conflict prevalence. Cultural difference in rituals and values affects employees’ abilities to find cohesion, which is crucial to communication. The last main HR challenge affecting the Emirates Group is technical talent bearing in mind that inadequate technical talent create challenges for the company to fill technical positions such as aerospace engineering positions. Being a technology-driven company, it is hard for the Emirates Group to find workers with the competencies and training to perform technical jobs. Basically, there is a relationship between customer satisfaction and employee attitudes and, additionally, with profits. So customers’ service quality perceptions and satisfaction are considerably associated with measures of employee attitudes. The study has established that use of effective HRM practices improves the performance of the organization. As evidenced in the result, there is a looming shortage in talent, and employees are becoming less committed to their employers. Therefore, efforts of retention are challenged by less commitment by the workers. Besides that, in the future Emirates Group together with other companies will need to have outstanding communicators at every organisational level so as to make certain that workers become more committed to the company. As mentioned by Al Naqbi (2011), the art of management will in some years to come become vital given that the structures of the company are becoming more and more multi-faceted. The need for managers to coordinate activities as well as offer strategic direction will increase in the future. Moreover, globalization, which is bigger priority for the Emirates Group will develop to be more visible to numerous HR professionals. Besides that, companies will in the next decade experience changes in the workforce as evidence by the fact that the demand for skilful employees has surpassed the supply of qualified individuals. Workers these days are less loyal, more demanding and smarter as compared to previous generation, and this will in the future present considerable challenge to the employers. 5.1 Recommendations The Emirates Group together with other UAE companies should improve in skill development areas and in the providing of responsibility considering that these are vital for employee commitment and satisfaction. Equally, monetary as well as materialistic factors like incentives and salary must be analysed as part of organisational human resource practices bearing in mind that the success of the company is rooted in employee commitment and motivation, attitudes which are arises from their job satisfaction since by sharing and monitoring performance results, it becomes easier to know employees that are meeting the company’s performance expectations. Furthermore, the Emirates Group should track its levels of retention/turnover as well as overall satisfaction of its workers. This will enable the company together with its workers to understand where problems are so that they can collaboratively solve them. Moreover, UAE organizations should aspire to offer staffs a career development plan and career path so as to enable them employees have a superior durable vision of their changing role within the company. It as well allows the company to demonstrate its dedication in developing talent, which is beneficial both to the employee and company. 6.0 Conclusions and Future Research In conclusion, it has been argued that job satisfaction provision is still a key challenge to UAE organizations, whose workers’ are dissatisfied with the low income they earn from their jobs. Evidently, clear that HRM procedures and policies are multi‐faceted, and mostly impact employee organizational commitment and job satisfaction in various ways. For this reason it is imperative for UAE organizations to recognize the role that human resource management play in employee management, and should use methods that suitably meets the employees’ needs. The UAE companies must understand their key performance indicators for their workers, but further research should be carried out to establish how sustained development of employee can positively impact various HR functions. 7.0 References Al Naqbi, W. (2011). The relationship between human resource practices and employee retention in public organisations : an exploratory study conducted in the United Arab Emirates. Perth, Western Australia: WALEED ALNAQBI. Baker, T. (2009). The 8 Values of Highly Productive Companies: Creating Wealth from a New Employment Relationship. Sydney: Australian Academic Press. Bal, Y., Bozkurt, S., & Ertemsir, E. (2012). The Importance of Using Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) and a Research on Determining the Success of HRIS. The International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning, 53-62. Emirates Group. (2011, March 11). The Emirates Group Companies. Retrieved from Emirates Group Careers: http://www.emiratesgroupcareers.com/english/about/companies/ Heerwagen, J., Kelly, K., & Kampschroer, K. (2010, December 15). The Changing Nature of Organizations, Work, and Workplace. Retrieved from National Institute of Building Sciences: http://www.wbdg.org/resources/chngorgwork.php?r=dd_archprogramming Mishkin, S. (2011, June 22). Companies struggling to find top talent. Retrieved from The Financial Times: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/033dfa32-9cdc-11e0-bf57-00144feabdc0.html Randeree, K. (2009). trategy, Policy and Practice in the Nationalisation of Human Capital: ‘Project Emiratisation’. Research and Practice in Human Resource Management, 17(1), 71-91. 8.0 Appendices APPENDIX ONE: Factors of Retention (Al Naqbi, 2011) APPENDIX TWO: Working population proportion in UAE (source: rphrm.curtin.edu.au) APPENDIX THREE: HR Portal Utilisation in UAE (Source: costoflivingreports.com) Read More