Salient Human Resource Issues Identified - Case Study Example

Salient Human Resource Issues Identified Name: Course: Tutor: Date: Introduction Human resource management is an art of achieving certain set goals within an organization through people. As a discipline, human resource management has broad salient issues which generally affect the performance of individual workers as well as influencing the general performance of the institution in question. The attainment of predetermined targets and long term goals of any organization will depend on their investment in their staff in terms of training, motivation and the provision of a favorable environmental work place for their staff. Any organization seeking success and growth should consider their human resource as one of the biggest investment necessary to steer forward the business of that organization (Fitz-enz, 2009). Human Resource Issues Identified As per the interview manuscripts for Mike and Janice, ABC Manufacturing as an organization have demonstrated the importance they lay on their staff development by selecting a few staff for further training through their coaching program. The effort to hire Max as a coach demonstrates the importance that ABC Manufacturing has on ensuring that staff needs are met in terms of improving on individual efficiencies and weaknesses. The selection process for the staff to be put for coaching is also diverse so as to ensure an equal and balanced development of the different departments within the organization. For example, Janice is from the IS department while Mike is the Regional Manager for Northern NSW. Coaching is an exercise done to support and help an individual to determine and set objective targets that which can be achieved within a given period of time. The process involves an interactive questioning, done by an experienced overseer in trying to help the individual to attain their maximum potential. The coach guides the individual on major decision making issues concerning how to make choices when faced with various constraints (Leat, 1998). There are several major salient human resource issues identified in the manuscripts provided which are all made to improve the performance of the two workers interviewed. Through the coaching process the two workers seek to improve on their confidence and self awareness. Leadership stands out as one of the major salient issue for the two staff. All managers need to learn how to be leaders by having the ability to influence the decisions of their subordinates positively with less coercion. This is usually achieved through dialogue and the involvement of all staff in the execution of the tasks for which they are responsible for. There is need for the consideration of all the opinions put across by all staff concerning a certain problem and convincing them with the best alternative usually after testing all options provided. Delegation of duties is a major human resource issue that is also focused on under the coaching programme. It is important for all managers to be able to delegate some of their duties to their subordinates. As managers Janice and Mike are concerned about meeting their departmental goals through people who happen to be the people they are managing. It is therefore necessary for them to delegate duties and the resources necessary for the completion of such tasks. Managers should also understand that not all work can be delegated. Some tasks could be too technical or highly confidential thus making their delegation impossible. Managers still remain responsible for the actions of their subordinates since they only delegate authority and not responsibility. Both Janice and Mike seem to have learnt how to delegate well and have been able to attain improvements of their teams’ performance through delegation. The realization of ones strengths and weaknesses as a manager is of great importance. Through the coaching process, managers are able to understand their strengths and come into terms with their weaknesses. This helps them in appreciating areas that need improvement on so as to be successful in their leadership. For Mike, he did tasks out of how well informed he felt they should have been done instead of following the laid down procedures for such tasks. Janice on the other hand felt less confident and this led to her bullying by one her colleagues. These are some of the weaknesses that they are able to appreciate and thus work towards their elimination. It may however take some while before such weaknesses are eliminated and thus the need for continues feedback on the progress on such issues. The need to enhance team work in the teams led by any manager is of great importance. Managers should start with self and ensure that they appreciate team work and be able to allocate tasks to their subordinates in helping to attain the overall goals. Working as a team helps since each staff is able to achieve more. As leaders, managers should enhance team spirit and ensure that any of their members who is weak is encouraged and helped in attaining their targets. Through team work, managers are able to distribute the available resources amicably in consideration of the available constraints. Time is of great essence and thus working as a team, a manager is able to lead his team to the achievement of their tasks within the set deadlines (Mathis and Jackson, 2007). Communication also stands out as an important aspect of human resource management. All managers should be good communicators and should ensure that any relevant information is delivered to their subordinates within good time and in the right channel. To be good communicators, managers should also be good listeners. This helps them in understanding and appreciating the different needs and abilities of their team members (Bohlander and Shell, 2009). Through communication, managers are able to get good advice from the people around them which could help in the solution to many problems. The sharing of experiences among team members ensures the transfer of knowledge and expertise and helps to make work easier. Strategic thinking is also of great importance to any modern manager. All problems or issues that are presented should be analyzed strategically and any available possible solutions technically considered so as to narrow down to the best alternative. Managers should encourage self confidence amongst their teams and encourage members to present possible solutions to the problems they come across. Managers should also present alternatives and help their seniors in the solving of the problems related to their teams. Personal behavior of all mangers is also a key to the success of their teams. Besides academic qualification and experiences gained over time, managers need to be more humble, honest, patient, consistent and tolerant with all their team mates (Johnson 2008). They should as leaders, be a good example to their team in terms of personality issues. Any bad personality trait of a manager may be easily copied by the subordinates and become an excuse for poor performance leading to a decline in productivity of the entire team. Through coaching, Mike becomes more humble than he was before and can lead his team to prosperity. Conclusion All these issues are of great importance in human resource management. As a discipline, human resource management is wide and different scholars may interpret and present certain issues concerning management in different ways. This may arise due to differences in timings, place of research and the prevailing circumstances present when the scholars are carrying out their research projects (Losey and Ulrich, 2005). The salient human resource issues are many and any aspect of the management of staff could be viewed differently in terms of importance by different people. For instance, the dress code could be highly considered by one organization while in another organization it may not be an issue of concern and staff may dress in any way. However, the above discussed issues are important to the managerial teams of most organizations. Bibliography: Bohlander, G and Shell, S. (2009). Managing Human Resources. Cengage Learning. Fitz-enz, J. (2009). The ROI of Human Capital: Measuring the Economic Value of Employee Performance. New York: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. Johnson, D. (2008). Contemporary Sociological Theory: An Integrated Multi-level Approach. Netherlands: Springer Leat, M.(1998). Human Resource Issues of the European Union. Financial Times Management. Losey, R. and Ulrich, D. (2005). The Future of Human Resource Management. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Mathis, R. and Jackson, J. (2007). Human Resource Management. Cengage Learning. Read More