Employee Development and Talent Management - Essay Example

?Employee Development and Talent Management Human resource department is responsible for attracting prospective employees through hiring, and training, evaluating, retaining, and performing other functions that make work beneficial for both employees and the firm. In other words, the human resource management is the link between the senior management and employees. This department works to ensure that the workforce is utilized effectively to further organisational goals while ensuring employee interests are not ignored. The human resources department has various professionals who must work together for the department to execute its roles flawlessly. In small start-up businesses, one individual handles the various roles of a human resource officer since the issues are few with a low number of employees. However, in larger organizations, human resource is a full department with various professionals specializing in the numerous functions of the human resource management (Armstrong 2006). The functions of the human resource management include creating an enabling environment, in addition to, promotion of employee training and talent development. This task includes regular, formal and informal training of employees at all levels as well as identifying and encouraging growth of careers for employees with the potential for growth. One current concern of the human resource management in the UK revolves around striking a balance between the cost of labour and the quality and quantity of production. This is because there is highly qualified labour in the UK, which comes at a cost so high that it deters a company from making desirable profit margins. In addition to the cost, human resource departments face the challenge of workforce shortage and have to contend with importing labour, especially from Asia where majority of the educated population is young (Scholz and Bohm 2008, p. 245; Banfield and Kay 2008). In employee training and development, the human resource team faces many issues that harden tasks and make it ineffective. Crucial issues include assessment of administrative performance, and setting of benchmarks for competency, transparency, accountability and a sense of public interest. Other issues are categorised based on the functions of the human resource management. These categories include recruitment issues, employment issues, autonomy concerns and structural issues. All these issues have to do with fair decision making and allocation of resources in a way that promotes achievement of company objectives and at the same time taking care of employee interests. The human resource should create a balanced workforce with no discrimination whatsoever which is mainly based on race, gender, education level, religion or any other basis. However, the non-discrimination policy should not put the main company objective profit maximisation in jeopardy. In an attempt to explain why employee training is not all that effective, the study first aims to identify various issues that the human resource management team faces as it does employee training and development. The next aim was to make recommendations on some steps that could reduce or eliminate these challenges for effective human resource management (Briscoe, Schuler and Claus 2008, p. 200; Dowling, Festing and Engle2008, p. 153). Critical Issues Administrative Performance The human resource management is responsible for the welfare of the whole company’s workforce, including that of the top management. The human resource management is part of the company management that it is supposed to assess. However, it is a hard task analysing the performance of administrative departments since that is akin to supervising oneself. In this case, the human resource management may not be objective enough to ensure impartiality in its analysis. This is a matter of concern especially because the people that sit in other management offices are, in many cases, the ones that sit in assessment panels. It is human nature for these individuals to put their personal interests first and use this position to further their own selfish ends, most of which are discussed in detail in other parts of this report. Benchmark Setting Monetary terms form the main way of measuring the success of a business, according to increase or decrease of profit margins indicating positive and negative growth respectively. However, most components of the human resource functions cannot be directly valued quantitatively. This is because most are abstract values whose positive effect is an increase in utility. In the end, the effects of a satisfied workforce translate to increased production and higher margins (Durai 2009). Before that happens, however, the human resource faces many questions. What is accountability? What is transparency? What is competency? What is a sense of public interest? All these questions, among others, are hard to answer since the values in question are not quantitative. Defining a point of reference from which all analysis is based can be a tricky task considering there is no standard measure for such values. However, for the business to succeed, the human resource department should and must analyse these qualities in employees and potential employees without any bias. This means that if an employee shows talent, it does not matter their gender, race, family affiliations, or their entry level to the firm, they should be offered a chance to further it (Fitz-enz and Davison 2002). The human resource management, like other departments in a business, must foster accountability whereby all employees must be responsible for all they do during their tenure. The human resource management must do all training and development in a transparent manner; it should be for audit by all employees and other stakeholders. During promotions and assignment of responsibilities, careful analysis of prospective employees is the only way to ensure that individuals are only assigned duties they are capable of handling. Finally, the human resource management must do training and development with all stakeholders’ interests in mind. This means that all improvements in the business should improve service delivery to customers and attract new ones while taking care of credit worthiness. In addition, the company should also put other factors like corporate social responsibility into consideration. This not only builds a strong name for the company but also increases its chances of attracting talented employees who are likely to benefit from training and development programs and improve on company prospects (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin and Cardy 2009). Other Issues Recruitment Before, during, and after recruitment, human resource deals with many issues. These include staff mobility, drain to other companies, promotion criteria and employee diversity. Staff Mobility When a company opens up an international business, it usually hires employees from the locality where the new business is situated. This is usually due to the prevailing laws and the prohibitive costs of importing labour from other countries or regions. However, there are cases where the business may need to import labour, expensive as it is. For instance, if a UK firm opens up business in Asia, there is labour for most of the general skills at a considerably lower cost that in the UK. On the contrary, there is a shortage of specialised labour, which may need importing from the UK or other countries. Most employees would rather change careers than relocate to another country to an unfamiliar life. This leaves the human resource management in a dilemma on whether to increase incentives to encourage relocation or train new employees, which may as well take years and high cost. Another mobility type is the transferability of skills from one business to another. For instance, if a firm trains and develops talent in one business, it is natural for the management to want to spread the success to other businesses. This is only possible if the skills required in one field are applicable elsewhere (Jackson, Schuler and Werner 2011, p. 259). Drain to Other Companies Investing in employees by training and developing them is one thing but having them transfer to other businesses is another. People always tend to look at the other side where the grass always seems greener. With additional training and equipped with the latest skills, employees become an attractive resource to other companies who want to employ them for a higher wage that the one that developed them. Before training employees and improving their employability, the company human resource management should device ways of ensuring employees remain in the firm even if the training opens up more opportunities for them (Martin 2006, p. 15). Promotion Criteria The administration should avoid interfering with the activities of the human resource management. This means that the human resource management should be free to spell out the procedures, requirements and qualities required before promotion (Marchington and Wilkinson 2005). Diversity One characteristic of a balanced workplace is where the workforce consists of individuals from all levels of society in ratios representative to the ones in the population. This is especially so in international human resource management due to racial, tribal and ethnic variations. The human resource management must ensure that most groups in the population are represented while maintaining high quality of labour. Human rights organisations also campaign for representation according to religion and disability. Depending on the country of operation and company policies, the human resource management should formulate employment guidelines that consider diversity in the workforce. However, with a diverse workforce more issues arise as the employees have more conflicting ideas and points of view. Therefore, to handle diversity, the human resource must be prepared to do more conflict resolution and taking employees for more training to direct their energies to productive causes (Mathis and Jackson 2010, p. 235). Employment Acquiring highly trained labour is an expensive venture in any market. Sometimes, it is easier for companies to recruit raw talent and then mould it to become useful in the production process. These days most companies prefer recruiting fresh college graduates to recruiting experienced professionals. This is because, unlike the experienced professionals, fresh graduates are less demanding and have more potential that may translate to higher productivity by harnessing their youthful energy well. However, the human resource management should also consider other issues (McCourt and Eldridge 2003). Professionalising One of the methods of employee development is by training those with general skills to become professionals. This involves taking them for specialist courses that are relevant in the field of interest. The questions that the human resource management faces are the criteria to use in selecting which skills to upgrade and what grade of employees to train. Most employees these days like such schemes and it would, therefore, be a hard task for the human resource management to decide the least useful skills in the company. After these employees acquire new skills, they cannot work in the same department they used to; neither can they work on general tasks now that they are professionals. Therefore, they have to be replaced, a process that costs scarce company resources i.e. time and money. On the other hand, the job positions for these new professionals in the firm are limited, and the human resource management team has to figure out what to do with the excess specialised workforce (McLean, Osman-Gani and Cho 2004). Overspecialisation Every employee wants to develop their career at all costs; if the company does not do it for them, they find their own means to go for further studies. While this raises standards at the workplace, it reduces chances of employment due to competition for the limited chances at the top of the corporate ladder. Since the pyramid structure of the company workforce must remain, competition poses a significant problem to human resource managers in assigning people to jobs for which they are overqualified. Training and development have another disadvantage i.e. most skills acquired through training and development, are not transferable to other fields. This means that the more one develops their career and talents, the less their chances of securing another employment position. Training and development result in too much specialisation, which culminates in job loss if there is a decrease in demand for a skill (Muller 2009; Wilson 2005, p. 459). Autonomy Based on the powers wielded by the top management, it is quite hard a task for the human resource management to carry out its duties autonomously. The management usually imposes its will on the human resource team. Some members of the management usually have personal interests that they would want to further, usually at the expense of the autonomy of the human resource department. For instance, one may have promised to offer a friend or a relative an employment chance. Instead of telling the person to use the normal channels for employment, they force their juniors to employ the person regardless of the person’s qualifications. The main factor contributing to this is the powers that administrators wield (Nkomo, Fottler and McAfee 2010, p. 103). Administrative Strength The administration is responsible for ensuring the company runs as per the laid down rules, including those that involve accountability and transparency of company agencies. This gives them immense power to influence the outcome of many company projects. By so doing, it makes them autocratic leaders who impose their will on their juniors regardless of the consequences. These administrators do not allow autonomy of the human resource management, which undermines the precise reason of the two departments being independent. The human resource management, therefore, has to figure out a way of working with the top management without putting the jobs of its own staff at risk. In relation to this, employment contracts of human resource professionals should protect them from manipulation by the company management. Other than giving advice, making recommendations and facilitation, the administration should have no hand in selection, training and development of employees (Randhawa 2007). Lack of Impartiality Individuals who have no regard for the welfare of others use many companies today as vehicles for self-development. For instance, here in the UK, some families use employees in their companies to enrich their friends and relatives by ensuring that all top positions in a company are inherited. In this regard, the role of human resource management in these companies is undermined, making them puppets that swing to the will of a few. In other cases, some human resource departments, under the influence of the administration, promote training and development of employees who belong to a specific nationality, gender, race or religion. In this regard, the human resource management goes against the principle of its formation. There are several ways to promote impartiality in the human resource management as it plays its role of training and development of company employment. Some of them include fair remuneration of human resource professionals to reduce their chances of involvement in corruption and other criminal indulgencies. Another solution to this problem is outsourcing of independent human resource professionals when the integrity of the company human resource management is in question. Finally, there should be clear guidelines on the extent of the relationship between the administration and the human resource management (Redman and Wilkinson 2002). Recommendations To overcome all shortcomings and have effective employee training and development, there are changes that a company should adopt. These changes include adjustments in both institutional and managerial mechanisms. Managerial mechanism changes include having a service charter, accountability in administration, employee participation and continuous employee education. Institutional mechanism changes include having independent oversight agencies, employee body participation and internal promotion mechanisms. Managerial Mechanism Changes A contract of service with the public, or a service charter is a sure way of ensuring that administrators, just like other employees, do their duties in accordance with their job descriptions. These contracts, though not as effective as other contracts, should be audited by independent agencies to ensure some form of quality assurance. In addition, the members of the administration should each be accountable for their misdeeds during their term in office. The company should specify and implement consequences on errant administrators to deter repeat of abuse of office (Storey 2007). In addition to training employees for career development purposes, the company must maintain regular, planned and unplanned training for all employee categories. This gives everyone knowledge that helps not only in matters that concern their field but also in matters concerning their stay in the company. Once informed, employees usually become highly productive as they would know what to expect of the company and what the company expects of them. In addition, administrative tasks should not be limited to the executives; they should consult with other employees before making decisions that affect the latter directly or indirectly. This ensures that the management conducts enough research and consultation before making decisions that have a long-term effect on the company. There should also be channels through which all employees can make their suggestions and grievances known to the administration. Finally, the company should be flexible enough to allow employees to pursue new careers or fields of interest. This is because people usually perform best in fields about which they are passionate. Changes in the management mechanism of the administration ultimately result in institutional changes (Swanson and Holton 2009). Institutional Mechanisms The improvements include changes in how the non-administrative departments of the company operate. These changes are, however, not for isolated departments but the company as a whole as they assist in integration of all components of the firm. First, an independent agency should oversee and audit the functioning of not just the administration but also other departments of the firm. This would ensure that departments function without undue influence from individuals with selfish interests. The agency overseeing a department should have the power to take recommended measures to correct a department that does not conduct itself according to company guidelines. Consequently, quality control and assurance would align individual ambitions with company goals and objectives (Torrington, Hall and Taylor 2008). Trade unions and other employee bodies have a role to play in career development of their members. Therefore, the company should allow these bodies to advocate for the rights of their members without unnecessary limitations. The only time trade unions should be limited access to employees is when they overstep their mandate and interfere with company operations. Finally, the human resource management should formulate a clear internal promotion mechanism. Employees can, therefore, follow a clearly stipulated guideline if they want a promotion. It also reduces the likelihood of corrupt individuals using the system to employ people of their choice (Werner and DeSimone 2008, p. 14). Conclusion There are many issues facing the human resource management in its role of employee training and development. Most of these issues result in loss of parity and balance when selecting employees for a training program. These disparities include racial, gender, ethnic, and age disparities among others. The hardest issue to tackle is administration interference in the functions of the human resource management whereby company administrators dictate who the human resource management hires, trains or promotes. The difficulty comes mainly due to the power that administrators wield; going against their will would result in loss of employment of a human resource management official. This is why the company requires an independent agency to oversee activities taking place in its departments. An independent agency is comprised of either one person or a group of professionals with no stake in the company such that any decision they make would be impartial. Employees should also participate in making decisions that affect them; an idea that every company should make room for since employees are the most valuable resources that any business has. Finally, the human resource management should research and consult before making recommendations on training and development as they have long-term impacts an organisation’s operations. References Armstrong, M 2006, A handbook of human resource management practice, Kogan Page Publishers, London. Banfield, P and Kay, R 2008, Introduction to human resource management, Oxford University Press, NY. Briscoe, D, Schuler, R Claus, L 2008, International human resource management, Taylor and Francis, London. Dowling, P, Festing, M and Engle A 2008, International human resource management: Managing people in a multinational context (5th Ed), Cengage Learning EMEA, Hampshire. Durai 2009, Human resource management, Pearson Education, India. Fitz-enz, J and Davison, B 2002, How to measure human resources management, McGraw-Hill Professional, NY. Gomez-Mejia, L, Balkin, D and Cardy, R 2009, Managing human resources, Pearson/Prentice Hall, New Jersey. Jackson, S, Schuler, R and Werner, S 2011, Managing human resources, Cengage Learning, Michigan. Martin, V 2006, Managing projects in human resources, training and development, Kogan Page Publishers, London. Marchington, M and Wilkinson, A 2005, Human resource management at work: People management and development, CIPD Publishing, London. Mathis, R and Jackson, J 2010, Human resource management, Cengage Learning, Michigan. McCourt, W and Eldridge, D 2003, Global human resource management: Managing people in developing and transitional countries, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2003 UK McLean, G, Osman-Gani, A and Cho, E 2004, "Human resource development as national policy". Advances in Developing Human Resources, August (2004). Muller, M 2009, The manager's guide to HR: Hiring, firing, performance evaluations, documentation, benefits, and everything else you need to know, AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn, NY. Nkomo, S Fottler and McAfee, R 2010, Human resource management applications, Cengage Learning, Michigan. Randhawa, G 2007, Human resource management, Atlantic Publishers and Dist, India. Redman, T and Wilkinson, A 2002, The informed student guide to human resource management, Cengage Learning EMEA, UK. Robert, L and John, H 2010, Human resource management, Cengage Learning, Michigan. Scholz, C and Bohm, H 2008, Human resource management in Europe, Taylor and Francis. Storey, J 2007, Human resource management: A critical text, Cengage Learning EMEA, UK. Swanson, R and Holton, E 2009, Foundations of human resource development, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco. Torrington, D Hall, L and Taylor, S 2008, Human resource management, Financial Times Prentice Hall, New Jersey. Werner, J and DeSimone, R 2008, Human resource development, Cengage Learning, Michigan. Wilson, P 2005, Human resource development: Learning and training for individuals and organizations, Kogan Page Publishers, London. Read More