Human Resource Changes in the United Kingdom - Essay Example

Introduction

Human resource management plays a critical part in the success of any organisation. The department facilitates the proper employment of qualified and competent workers. Apparently, the management facilitates most companies within the United Kingdom to find efficient ways of remunerating their employees. This is because employee satisfaction plays a critical role in the delivery of better services and production in work. The responsibilities of the human resource department fall under three main categories namely staffing employee benefits and consumption. On the other hand, the emergence of small and medium size organisations plays a critical role in the economic prosperity of the country. The fact that the medium and small size business offer employment opportunities to many people around the country explains the vital role of the organisation. The essay discusses the key changes that have taken place in the HRM of small to medium size enterprises.

The Human Resource Management changes in the United Kingdom

Technology

Technology is a major change in the human resource management of SME in the United Kingdom. The use of computer facilitates the human resource department of a number of organisations to have an easy time assessing the level of productivity of each worker in the organisation. Computers facilitate the managers of the department to keep the records of each employee and come up with perfect ways of compensating each of them. Ideally, the ability of the computer to keep the structural records of each member facilitates the company to come up with effective ways of reducing the level of worker inefficiency in the business (Kaufman 2014, p. 143). The technology enables the organisation to keep the records of each employee in the company without interfering with the business structure. In conclusion, technology is a key change in the human resource management of the country.

The benefit accrued from using the technology facilitates the most SME to use it in the contemporary United Kingdom. The majority of the companies within the United Kingdom apply the modern technology because of the increased level of reliability and efficiency technology has proved to be. The use of the internet has enabled most small enterprise business to advertise for jobs in the online job agencies. The activity saves the SME the costs involved in searching for the medium sized business considering the fact that the companies rely on the internet to search for employees. Research indicates that the use of technology is 47% effective (Fottler et al. 2010, p. 78-81). The factor makes most SME to apply the use of modern technology as part of the human resource department. Therefore, technology is a key area of change in the human resource department.

Employee Compensation

Worker compensation is a key change in the human resource of SME. Previously, the majority of SME did not consider the relevance of workers welfare in the country. The factor leads to the decrease in the level of productivity because most employees felt dissatisfied with their jobs. The civic education about the relevance of employee satisfaction through compensation facilitated most SME to recognize the importance of employee competition. The activity made most SME in the United Kingdom to develop their human resource department to perform the key function of paying employees fairly (Armstrong 2007, p. 178). The activity has proven to be quite effective considering the fact that most SME sees the relevance of worker compensation in the small business. Consequently, employee remuneration is a key change in the United Kingdom and the human resource.

Workers’ welfare

The awareness of workers welfare is also a major change in the human resource of SME in the United Kingdom. Most of the SME did not recognize the relevance of workers welfare in the small enterprise. The activity took place because the society had stereotyped that workers welfare only exists in the large organisation. The increased rate of ignorance made most SME to fail because of employee dissatisfaction with the job. The business did not have a system of dealing with the workers’ health and other relevant issues related to the organisation. Ideally, the small companies say the need to come up with effective ways of dealing with the employee welfare (Lussier 2015, p. 141). The activity involved in coming up with perfect systems that enhanced the welfare for the employee’s benefit and not the organisation’s. Therefore, the awareness of the workers welfare is a major change in the human resource department.

Inflation

The inflation is a major change in the SME. Apparently, inflation comes in as prices of basic items are on the rise. The activity leads to economic and business difficulty. Workers within the SME demanded more salaries because the prices of things continue to become expensive for them to arise. The activity lead to the changes in the human resource management this is because the SME needed to run during the inflation period. The increase in workers demands also affected the business activities (Cornelius 2011, p. 199). The Human Resource department of the HRD had to come up with effective ways of dealing with the complaints raised by the workers in the most efficient and effective manner. The activity leads to the advancement of the HRD sector of the SME. This is because they had to gear up in the preparation of the constraints to come.

Increasing relevance of HRM

The majority of small to medium size enterprises (SME) focus on creating the human resource department in the business. Previously, most SME did not see the relevance of the department in the small business. Considering the fact that the organisation only employed a small pool of employees to work in them, the majority of the business experienced the limited level of productivity the workers exhibited (Price 2011, p. 149). The issue contributed to the failure of most business. Today, a number of business organisations within the United Kingdom has come to appreciate the relevance of the department in the small organisation. Considering the expected high rate of returns from the workers, the organisation needs to find efficient ways of dealing with specific issues that employees have raised. The factor leads to the recognition of human resource importance in most of the organisations around the country.

Economy

The majority of SME know have the human resource department because of the economic benefits accrued from using the sector. The increasing workers awareness rights led to the creation of unions and non-unions that fights for the basic rights of each employee. The factor has led to increased cases of demonstrations in most parts of the country. The SME lack the ability to fire each worker at will considering the fact that the law exists to protect each worker against such abuses. The changes made most SME to create the human resource department after considering the cost benefits involved when the organisation has the department (Tempel 2011, p. 155). The factor facilitated the business to be in good terms with the employees considering the fact that they would understand the employee needs in a deeper perspective through the human resource. Therefore, the SME use the HRM today because of the economic benefits.

Competitive environment

The competitive environment of the United Kingdom leads to the relevance of the HRM in the SME. The competition level amongst SME in the United Kingdom makes most business to find efficient ways of staying at the top. The factor needs the employment of reliable employees capable of delivering quality services to the business. The management of the company may lack the inefficient skills of employing the employees based on their qualifications and merits. Ideally, the management may also find difficulty in understanding the welfare and the well-being of the employees (Cornelius 2011, p. 182). The factor makes the SME lose out to its competitors because of such constraints. The economic changes led to the increased necessity of the human resource department in the country. Therefore, the competitive environment in the United Kingdom is a major change that led to the relevance of the human resource department in the country.

Employment of HRM professionals

Professionals deliver the contemporary human resource management in SME. Most SME prefers employing professionals to handle the issues involved with human resource. That is due to the ability of the professionals to determine the ability each worker. The factor leads to the increase in the productive level of the SME considering the high rates of returns involved with the recruitment process. The small companies have to come up with effective ways of handling the issue that involves the workers welfare (Armstrong 2007, p. 177). The employment of the team of professionals facilitates the company to develop effective methods of handling the issue considering the high rate of return. The professionals in the SME work with the manager for the purpose of implementation of specific goals and strategies. In conclusion, the employment of professional is a major change in the human resource sector of the country.

Individual employee management

Human resource management focuses on the management of the employee as an individual rather than as a group. The activity talks place because the individual assessment of the employee facilitates the creation of a reliable set of duties that each employee is able to perform. The SME may also come to understands the individual difficulties that e employee faces while performing duties. Research indicates that the individual assessment is quite effective compared to group management (Truss et al. 2012, p. 122). The factor has made most SME to come up with individual assessment programs to determine the level of efficiency of each employee in the organisation. Ideally, the factor facilitates the company to understand the individual worker in a deeper perspective. The individual assessment is a major trend that most SME adopts in the human resource management function.

Long-term perceptiveness of HRM

Previously, the human resource was formed for a short-term purpose the disbanded. The activity leads to the failure of most small enterprises because the whole assembling process proved to be quite expensive in the end. The company needs to come up with efficient ways of tackling such issues in such a way that he level of productivity of the SME is not affected. The only way to save on the cost was to create the human resource department for the long-term perspective of the company (Nickson 2007, p. 210). The company needs to develop effective ways of dealing with the issue considering the fact that the small business enterprise could run for long periods through expansion and survival. Therefore, the formation of the department for the long-term purposes is the current change in the sector.

Government policies

The current government policies in place are also a major change in the human resource sector of the SME. The government has introduced policies that work for the purpose of the employee welfare. The policies tend to dictate the way in which the SME need to follow. The United Kingdom government ensures that it implements policies that ensure the welfare of the worker is at utmost consideration (Sims 2007, p. 120). The existing policies about the minimum wages, retirement benefits, and other basic factors create a major change in the human resource of small business enterprises. The majority of the companies have developed effective ways of dealing with such issues considering the high rate of returns associated with the implementation of the policies. Therefore, government policies play a key role in shaping up the human resource management methods in SME.

Insurance

Insurance is a key contemporary change in the human resource of SME. The government of the United Kingdom dictates that each company should have insurance policies. The insurance policy varies from the set of functions that the SME delivers. Apparently, the safe of employees is the most important factor in the human resource management system. The system needs to ensure that each worker is compensated accordingly (Armstrong & Armstrong 2012, p. 133). The policy also ensures that the company has a fair compensation program in case the employee is injured in the line of duty. The activity dictates that each employee needs to come up with effective ways of handling his or her duties without injuries. The implementation of the insurance program is a major change that most SME adopts for increasing the level of employee efficiency in the company.

The need for each employee to have a health insurance program is a major change in the human resource sector. The government dictates that the SME should ensure that their employees have the health insurance. Health insurance facilitates each employee to ensure that they are insured against basic factors such as injuries and other health constraints. The factor has led to an increase in the productivity level considering the high rate of returns involved in the management of most companies (Lawler & Boudreau 2012, p. 45). The factor also enables the SME to avoid being on the wrong side of the law considering the fact that the government may choose to close down the business that the employees lack a health insurance policy. Therefore, health insurance is a major change taking place in the contemporary human resource management of the SME in the United Kingdom.

Link to management

The use of human resource management to link the workers with the top management is a major change in the sector. The majority of employees prefer to use the human resource department as places in which they could raise their concerns in relations to the basic activities taking place in the organisations. The majority of companies in the United Kingdom have explained that the activity facilitates the creation of good relationship between the management and the employee (Marchington & Wilkinson 2013, p. 112). Most workers find the use of the human resource to express their plea quite reliable compared to the use of unions. The activity has popularized the relevance of the department in small medium enterprises. The factor has made most companies o for the department for the purposes of creating a link between the management and workers.

Recruitment

Most SME human resource performs the recruitment function. That is a major change because it has led to an increase in the rate of service delivery in most minor business. The company has come up with efficient ways of enabling the organisation to make a substantial amount of money considering the level of profits associated with activity. The activity also saves the costs involved in recruiting the employees through an unreliable system. The majority of the SME have adopted the system because of the related advantages involved in using up to the services of the company (Brunstein 2015, p. 162). Ideally, the activity facilitates the SME to increase their overall productive level considering the advantages accrued from the creation of reliable set employees that have the ability to deliver quality work to the business enterprise. Consequently, the recruitment function is a major change in the human resource sector of the SME in the United Kingdom.

Training and development of employees

The development of careers and training of employees is a major change in the human resource sector of SME. The majority of the SME in the country have come up with efficient ways of controlling the activities in the country. Ideally, the whole activity relies on the ability of the department to come up with a perfect training program that facilitates the success of the company on a long run perspective (Bidgoli 2010, p. 128). The members of the department are responsible for training newly recruited employees in the small business enterprise. The training leads to the creation of a reliable set of workers with the capability of reaching the long-term targets of the business. Ideally, the training and development assist in the creation of a team of employees that are willing to take the company operations to an entirely new different level.

Conclusion

In summary, the changes in the human resource department play a critical role in management. The department facilitates the proper employment of qualified and competent workers. The essay discusses the key changes that have taken place in the HRM of small to medium size enterprises. Technology is a major change in the human resource management of SME in the United Kingdom. The benefit accrued from using the technology facilitates the most SME to use it in the contemporary United Kingdom. Worker compensation is a key change in the human resource of SME. Previously, the majority of SME did not consider the relevance of workers welfare in the country. Worker compensation is a key change in the human resource of SME. Previously, the majority of SME did not consider the relevance of workers welfare in the country. The majority of SME know have the human resource department because of the economic benefits accrued from using the sector.

The competitive environment of the United Kingdom leads to the relevance of the HRM in the SME. The majority of small to medium size enterprises (SME) focus on creating the human resource department in the business. The current government policies in place are also a major change in the human resource sector of the SME. The need for each employee to have a health insurance program is a major change in the human resource sector. The use of human resource management to link the workers with the top management is a major change in the sector. Most SME human resource performs the recruitment function. That is a major change because it has led to an increase in the rate of service delivery in most minor business. The development of careers and training of employees is a major change in the human resource