Human Resource Management - Literature review Example

Human Resource Management By Student’s Name Code+ course name Instructor’s Name University Name City, State Date Human Resource Management Introduction Human resource management is an important function in the organization. It helps in management and coordination within the organization (Strandberg, 2009). Human resource managers have a role to ensure that all employees within an organization are in a good condition and relationship to work. Many organizations in the modern era have taken the concept of human resource management than in the previous years (Kreitz, 2007). According to United Nations (2013), the modern era of management has managed to use the concepts of human resource management in controlling the human resource. Human resource, which is one of the most important aspects of an organization, has many faces that the management has to consider. The component is affected by unique factors such as knowledge, awareness, culture, moral and other socio-economic factors within the human environment. Therefore, human resource managers make an intelligent effort to ensure that these factors remain in control to provide employees with a good working environment. Human resource management also involves management of organizational culture and organizational behavior (Marsden et al., 2013). Human resource management helps an organization enhance retention of competent employees and reduce the costs of recruitment and training. Organizations use this department to tap the best skill and experience from the job market. Productivity in an organization is significantly enhanced by the adoption of the best human resource management. The department of human resource management is responsible for ensuring the employees understand and stick to a specific code of conduct. Diversity management Farndale et al. (2015) point out that diversity management is another area of prime concern within the Department of Human resource management. A good organization must involve people from different cultural background and enhance cohesion despite the diversity. People from diverse backgrounds may have a differing cultural orientation that may also affect their perception. Culture does not only vary among communities but also within communities in a sense that particular families can adopt a culture that is different from the rest of the community. For instance, a family that has interacted with other cultures may have different perceptions of their community. It, therefore, implies that cultural management in an organization can be a challenging activity. In managing culture, HRM has to establish the specific cultures and specific principles that govern such cultures (Strandberg, 2009). It is important to recognize that culture creates a platform upon which norms are developed which oversees the social relationships of a group of people. In addition, the HRM has to identify the universally accepted norms and the universally rejected norms. Despite the existing diversity, all cultures have to agree on specific issues and possibly disagree on some issues. Cultural diversity may create complexity especially when the HRM is required to manage organizational culture (Farndale et al., 2015). However, cultural diversity may also create more opportunities that the organization had not realized. The diversity of cultures can bring on table new ideas and perceptions of management that have proven to be beneficial in other areas. Diversity enables employees to learn some new things from one another, and this can benefit an organization. Diversity management has specific goals that HRM aim to achieve for the benefit of any organization. The most important goal of all is to ensure that personnel embrace the existing diversity and positively contribute to productivity. According to Green et al. (2015), managers must understand the aspect of discrimination and the associated negative impacts. In addition, it is important for managers to their personal bias traits and prejudice before they can make any step in managing diversity. Equal employment may not be the only aspect of diversity as other aspects such as promoting the safe working environment. Special programs such as training and mentorship can be used to enhance intercultural cohesion and understanding. Culture According to Singh (2010), every organization has a unique way of doing maintaining their working environment. For efficiency, HRM has a responsibility to ensure that the all its personnel is comfortable in their specific environments. Culture can be used to define the way of behavior that a certain group of people has adopted and referred to the codes and rules established by this culture. Culture presents a group of people with a way of relating to establishing the nature and requirements of internal and external social link. Culture can be used to explain why people relate in a certain way, what they treasure, respect, shun or embrace. An organization can have a good or wrong culture, and it is the role of the HRM to ensure that the best culture is embraced and enhanced. HRM should also trim a culture that may prove to place the organization’s interest in jeopardy. Despite the fact that HRM can have an impact on organization’s culture, the later can also, influence HRM (Milikic, 2009). In Serbia, Milikic (2009) established that have a significant impact in determining how people or groups of people are managed. Varying cultural characteristics demand different approaches in management, and this is an important factor for HRM to consider. HRM have a duty to ensure that they understand the diversity of culture within an organization before they can develop or embrace a certain organizational culture (Kreitz, 2007). For instance, a culture that requires people to shake hands as a sign of greeting may not apply to all cultures. In addition, a culture that requires eye contact during communication may be viewed as a sign of disrespect by other cultures. It is, therefore, necessary for HRM to study and understand the cultural diversity within and around the business environment. When human resource managers can prove to understand the existing cultural diversity, there is a high chance that they understand the required of organizational culture. An organization can maintain or eliminate a poor culture from a group through various ways (Farndale, Vidovic, & Rockey, 2015). The first step is to understand the four dimensions of culture that exist, which include; Individual versus collectivism, power distance, Avoidance of uncertainties and masculinity versus feminity. Human resource managers can manage organizational culture through managing its employees. For instance, employees who have been identified to be a major cause of cultural erosion can be eliminated from the HRM list. On the other hand, the employees who seem to have a positive influence towards the adoption of an acceptable culture can be elevated to an influential position within the organization. However, the HRM should conduct these activities with high professionalism to avoid demoralizing a section of employees within an organization (Stone-Romero, 2008). The HRM department can use training and development of the employees to ensure a healthy culture is indoctrinated into the current personnel. HRM is responsible for ensuring an organization maintains a unique culture that would help the organization achieve its goals and target. The department has to ensure that there are internal cohesion, professional relationship and responsible behavior among the employees. International performance management Management can be so broad to include international performance management, which remains as the HRM role. According to (Crawley et al., 2013), major companies such have used international performance management in their HRM practices. Large companies have realized that effective management of their human resource from all fronts is an important move for gaining competitive advantage. Managers have moved from tradition notions of realizing growth by concentrating on products and now focus on employees. Expatriate performance management practices have also been included as a component of the performance management system (Varma et al., 2008). Most large companies have a well-established performance system that includes several levels of expatriates. The levels include top managers, middle managers, business establishers, customer project employee and the project personnel. International performance management requires that these expatriates perform to achieve a certain milestone to earn recognition (Bloom & Reenen, 2010). The goals and expectation depend on the environment in which the expatriates operate. For instance, an expatriate stationed at in a developing country may not have the same expected goal as the one situated in a developed nation. Human resources managers should develop a way of determining performance goals and the method of evaluating the performance of the expatriates. Like other areas of HRM, there is a need for training and development when it comes to international performance management. Several implications have been linked to international performance management that may require an organization to make some adjustments. For instance, the demand for a more enhance performance management system will be required to achieve the intended goals. In addition, it is important to harmonize an organization’s incentive system with the performance management system. International performance management also includes international employee’s performance appraisal (Dowling et al., 2008). Both the expatriate and staff are included in this management strategy with an aim of enhancing overall organization performance. At the same international level, there is individual performance appraisal and collective performance appraisal. All the categories involve a universally agreed format of setting a goal, evaluate, performance appraisal and assessment of feedback. Training and development One of the sensitive areas in human resource management is the recruitment of personnel, training, and development (Demo et al., 2012). The human resource manager has to search for the best quality in the job market that will fulfill the demands of an organization. In this process, the human resource department has to analyze the organization and determine the type of personnel required as well as the skills needed (Gusdorf, 2008). Hiring can be used by the HRM to fill a space left by another personnel and to fill the vacancy created by the management. However, other factors such as training of personnel can enhance employee performance in an organization. Recruitment can be categorized into internal recruitment and external recruitment depending on the type of personnel required. The personnel required will depend on the need of the department to target potential applicants and to encourage the potential personnel to apply for the vacancy. The HRM department has to embark on making relevant advertisements that must include the required qualities. Internal adverts and external adverts can both be used to advertise for a specific job especially when the HR department is uncertain of the potential candidates (Bloom and Reenen, 2010). For instance, an internal advert can be used to target the potential within an organization’s current staff. HRM can opt for external options whenever it can be established that the required skills cannot be found in the organization’s current staff. Recruitment of personnel requires the HRM department to establish a remuneration category that will attract the required potential. The hiring department also has to develop criteria for selecting the best knowledge from the applicants. The HRM personnel to assess and qualify the best selection of the job applicants can use interviews and practical tests. All these options will require that training is conducted to make the hired personnel fit for a specific task. Recruitment is a broader process to involve more than just tapping for the most competent employee in the job market (Bogestedt et al., 2011). HRM needs to conduct an in-depth analysis of the organization to establish its needs and future goals. Later, the department has to determine whether the organization has the required employees to achieve the goals and fulfill its current and future needs. With this analysis, the company can clearly determine whether it is necessary to train its current staff or recruit new staff to fulfill the intended task. Consider a situation where an organization has identified a new vacancy but has also established that there is potential within to fill the position. In such a case, the organization will find it easy to conduct an internal recruitment to tap the internal potential. According to Gusdorf, (2008), an organization stands to benefit from this type of recruitment bys saving the money that would have been used on an advertisement, hiring and training of new staff. Promotion can be used to serve the purpose of filling a vacant position as well as enhance employee morale. It is always advisable for an organization to consider internal promotion as it may enhance employee morale to work hard and get a similar promotion. Internal recruitment is useful to an organization that intends to maintain a certain organizational culture or organizational behavior. With internal retention and promotion, employees can maintain organizational focus, goals, mission, and vision. In other situations, an organization may fail to identify potential candidates from the current staff to fill a certain vacancy (Strandberg, 2009). The company has to consider getting potential candidates from the external job market. The process of external recruitment seems to be the most demanding role for the HRM department as many factors are required. For instance, consider a situation where all applicants are fresh graduates or individuals with no experience. However, in some cases, the employment strategy can prove reliable in tapping qualified candidates from the job market. Employing the fresh graduates or people with little experience will require the HRM to conduct training through orientation. Philosophical consideration can establish that the best to fill a particular position is already in another organization performing the same task. If this philosophical stand is to be considered, then the organization that needs an employee will need to go an extra mile to get the best. An extra mile would possibly imply that the organization would have to offer enhanced remuneration to lure the required potential or training and development of current staff (Kreitz, 2007). This method of recruitment has proven to be expensive and most organizations will opt for it when all available resources fail to meet the organization’s goal. At times, referrals have been considered by HRM to link organizations to the best candidates a step that reduces the cost of the advertisement. Another area that is linked to recruitment is the orientation of new recruits to understand their roles and relevant protocols (Green, et al., 2015). This area may incur costs but is relevant in ensuring that the new staffs acclimatize to the new working environment. Training and development may also involve educating current staff on new activities that the organization does or intend to venture in. Human resource management must develop a comprehensive training and development schedule that will ensure personnel develops their technical skills. Conclusion and Recommendations It is recommended that all organizations take a concern in managing its Human resource, as it remains the most reliable resource to bank on. Human resource can be used to manage other resources within an organization. In the past, management paid more attention to products as a goal for improving organizational performance. Today, management has paid more attention to managing its human resource to achieve success. The purpose of human resource management is to ensure that the employees of an organization work in a conducive environment. Among the number of things that HRM should manage, include organizational cultures, international performance management, training, and development. Human resource managers have a responsibility to ensure that personnel capacity is enhanced, morale increased, socially improved. The improvement aims to boost smooth internal and external operations. After an analysis of the concept of human resource management, three recommendations can be developed. Human resource managers must be adequately trained to understand the dynamic nature of human resource management. HRM officials should be the leading example when it comes to sensitive issues such as organizational culture and organizational behavior. It is further recommended that HRM should have good analytical skills to enable them to analyze and predict situations that might affect personnel. Finally, human resource managers must incorporate technology that would enhance storage of information and aid in expert decision-making. Bibliography Bloom, N., & Reenen, V. J., 2010, Human Resource Management and Productivity. Retrieved from NBER Working Paper Series: http://www.nber.org/papers/w16019.pdf Bogestedt, V., Johanson, V., & Xanthos, K., 2011, Human Resource Mangement Functions Applied to Healthcare System in Developing Countries. Retrieved from KTH Information and Communication Technology: http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:467503/FULLTEXT01.pdf Crawley, E., Swailes, S., & Walsh, D., 2013, Introduction to International Human Resource Management. London: OUP Oxford. Demo, G., Neiva, R. E., & Rozzett, K. N., 2012, Human Resources Management Policies and Practices Scale (HRMPPS): Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Retrieved from BAR, Rio de Janeiro, v. 9, n. 4, art. 2, pp. 395-420: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/bar/v9n4/aop0512.pdf Dowling, P., Festing, M., & Engle, A.., 2008, International Human Resource Management: Managing People in a Multinational Context. New York: Cengage Learning EMEA. Farndale, E., Vidovic, M., & Rockey, E., 2015, Human Resource Management Policies and Practices in the United States. Retrieved from CRANET 2014/15 U.S Summary Report: https://www.shrm.org/Research/SurveyFindings/Documents/Cranet%20Report-HR%20Management%20Policies%20and%20Practices_Final.pdf Green, K., Lopez, M., Wysocki, A., Kepner, K., Farnsworth, D., & Clark, J., 2015, Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges, and the Required Managerial Tools. Retrieved from IFAS Extension University of Florida: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/hr/hr02200.pdf Gusdorf, M., 2008, Recruitment and Selection: Hiring the Right Person. Retrieved from Society for Human Resource Management: https://www.shrm.org/education/hreducation/documents/recruitment%20and%20selection%20im.pdf Kreitz, P., 2007, Best Practice Managing Organization Diversity. Retrieved from Library and Information Sciences: http://www.slac.stanford.edu/cgi-wrap/getdoc/slac-pub-12499.pdf Marsden, P., Caffrey, M., & McCaffrey, J., 2013, Human Resources Management Assessment Approach. Retrieved from USAID: http://www.capacityplus.org/files/resources/hrm-assessment-approach.pdf Milikic, B. B., 2009, The Influence of Culture on Human Resource Management Process and Practices: The Proposition of Serbia. Retrieved from ECONOMIC ANNALS, Volume LIV, No. 181, April – June 2009: http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0013-3264/2009/0013-32640981093B.pdf Singh, K. A., 2010, A study of HRM Practices and Organizational Culture in Selected Private Sector Organization in India. Retrieved from UN Millennium Development Goals: Challenges and Perspectives: https://www.vse.cz/polek/download.php?jnl=aop&pdf=313.pdf Stone-Romero, E., 2008, The Influence of Culture on Human Resource Management Processes and Practices. Psychlogy press. Strandberg, C., 2009, The Role of Human Resource Management in Corporate Social Responsibility. Retrieved from Issue Brief Roadmap: http://corostrandberg.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/csr-hr-management.pdf United Nations., 2013, Human Resource Mangement and Training: Compliance of Good Practices in Statistical Offices. Retrieved from United Nations Economic Commission for Europe: https://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/stats/publications/HRMT_w_cover_resized.pdf Varma, A., Budhwar, P., & DeNisi, A., 2008, Performance Management Systems: A Global Perspective. New York: Routledge. Read More