To Identify the Main Challenges Facing Human Resources Managers in Non-Profit Organizations - Research Proposal Example

?TO IDENTIFY THE MAIN CHALLENGES FACING HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGERS IN NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS Non-profit organizations operate in different parts of the work which requires a strong human resource force to coordinate all the internal functioning of the organization that revolve around the workers and the strategic planning of the organization. The fact that such organizations have most of their workers volunteering rather than under employment terms gives the volunteer the flexibility to quite the job anytime, therefore, it put the human resources at danger because they may experience a man power shortage. The research aims at identifying the major challenges the human resource managers face in dealing with their employees. Some of the specific objectives are; to find out the number of workers in each organization, their remuneration and the number of personnel in human resource departments, to find out the academic qualifications of the workers and to establish the kind of management tool used in the organization. A sample size of 150 employees will be used which acquire from fifteen organizations. Random sampling method is used to get the sample size that is free of biasness. An online questionnaire will be used which will be hosted on www.qualtrics.com and www.surveymonkey.com as well as send to the participants as email attachments. The results will be analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS). Introduction Background information Human resources consist of individuals in an organization whose mandate focuses on employees’ activities and their welfare. The law requires that all organizations whether governmental or non-governmental must have a human resources department to take care of the needs of the employees who are the workforce of the organization. Improper handling of employees results to poor performance of the organization especially if the organization or company is after profit maximization as research indicates that the about 80 percent of the organizational functions are contributed by the human feature of resource. A human resources department constitutes professionals and experts in the field of human resource. It is the main role of the human resource department to recruit and manage the employees. It is essential that the team conducts a proper evaluation of the abilities and competencies of the applicants to the positions advertised as this greatly influences the operations of the organization. The team is tasked to apply several measurements so that they can select the best candidates. Psychometric assessment helps a recruiting team to pick applicants with the required attitude to conform to the organization’s values and principles. Interviews are necessary which written tests, phone interviews or one-on-one interviews aimed at evaluating the ability of the candidates to make informed decisions if presented with such situations while they undertake their duties. Kiessling and Harvey (2005, p.28) explain that the human resource team has a role to play in reviewing employee reimbursement packages which include salaries, allowances, awards, bonuses, vacations and promotions. Recognizing the work of the employees boosts their morale hence increasing their determination to deliver their duties and responsibilities to their best. Planning is another role which the human resource department is responsible in. developing organizational calendar days is their work. They develop the strategic plan which guides the organization for a given period of time. Outsourcing of resources and information, partnership and market is also the responsibility of human resources. Policies, rules and regulations within the organization are developed by the human resource department. Non-profits organization, due to its unique way of operating, it is faced with challenges for example failure to pick the best candidates for a given job position may impact negatively of the performance of the organization. Their way of operation relies mainly on volunteers and interns rather than employees. Employees’ personal problem is a challenge to the human resource managers; frequent compassionate leaves by the employees create a gap because some employees will have to take up double duties which may hinder their balance of work. Employees’ strikes, protests and demonstrations as a result of poor pay, lack of bonuses and recognition make it difficult for the organization to function normally. Failure by the human resource team to efficiently allocate the required packages to each employee may be the cause of such strikes. Under utilization of employees capacity in the organization can also interrupt the operations which lead to employees resigning from the organization hence understaffing (Kiessling and Harvey 2005, p.27). Technological advancement, if not adopted by an organization can be a challenge to the human resource personnel to track the performances of their employees. Fast information delivery within the organization is very essential which can be achieved by use of emails, social and professional networks for example Skype; it avoids the need to have an office messenger. Most non-governmental organizations operate in many parts of the world, having a physical meeting can be too expensive both financially and the amount of time wasted while travelling. Human resource managers can have a great difficulty in ensuring that meeting take place through video conferencing if they have not incorporated the new technology into their systems. Objectives Main objective; the main aim of this research is to identify the main challenges facing human resource managers in non-profit organizations in Australian States of Victoria and Queensland by est. Specific objectives 1. To identify the number of employees in each non-profit making organization in Victoria and Queensland states 2. To find out the number of persons in the human resource department in each non-profit making organizations in Victoria and Queensland states 3. To find out the kind of management systems used by human resources managers on the non-profit making organizations in Victoria and Queensland states 4. To assess the academic qualification of all the employees in the non-profit making organizations in Victoria and Queensland states 5. To find out the remuneration packages of the employees in the non-profit making organizations in Victoria and Queensland states Research questions 1. How many employees are there in each non-profit making organization? 2. How many persons are in the department of human resource in each of the non-profit organizations? 3. What kind of management systems are being used by human resource managers? 4. What is the academic qualification of the employees in the non-profit making organizations? 5. What are the remuneration packages of the employees in non-profit making organizations? Research hypothesis H0: Human resource managers do not use out dated management systems H1: Human resource managers use outdated management systems Significance of the study The study will enable the research to identify the major challenges human resource managers face while they are carrying out their duties in non-profit making organizations in Australia. The study will be carried out by reaching out to several employees of various non-profit organizations. The findings will be analyzed and results documented and shared with the human resource managers of the organizations whose employees participated as well as the employees in general. The information will also be shared with other stakeholders who include government offices and other non governmental organizations for them to improve on their operations. Students in the field of human resource will also have access to the information. The whole world can have access to the findings because the information will be hosted in the internet. Research Limitations Several limitations are anticipated because the research target a sensitive are in every organization. Rejection from the employees may arise because they are all expected by their employers to be loyal and secretive to the organizational operations. Convincing the targeted employees requires a lot of time. The data which will be collected might not be accurate because the employees may not open up; their reliability to fill the online questionnaires is not certain. High amount of financial resources will be required to conduct the process; internet charges, recharge cards and the money that will be used while analyzing and documenting data. The information may be interfered with by hackers since the questionnaire will be filled online. Methodology This chapter explains the methods employed in the research. The study utilizes a quantitative method of research approach in testing for the hypothesis. The section also explains how the results for testing the hypothesis will be obtained and explains the way in which the findings will be analyzed. The scope of the research and the research coverage is discussion under this section. Methodology section is of high significance in any research because it explains the method of the research, which enhances follow up, and a detailed understanding of the research. Research design Positivist paradigm is involved in this research. It is a philosophical approach which emphasizes on the ability to measure and quantify the study objectives. It is based on the fact that the research objectives can be described easily and predicted from an objective point of view rather than subjective point without altering the main focus of study. The topic of study aims at utilizing a top down approach where deductive method is adopted as opposed to inductive method. Top down approach is a scenario where findings are drawn from a wider scope before they are narrowed down to a specific area. Moreover, the approach involves summing up, measuring events and carrying out statistical analysis of the empirical and numerical data, a method that has become more acceptable die to the believe that its results are more accurate as opposed to qualitative method (Kiessling and Harvey 2005, p.29). Sample Size and Sampling Procedures Probability sampling procedure will be employed which refers to the ability of each individual to be selected. Fifteen organizations are picked, and then from each organization, 10 individuals are picked using random sampling method which will give both sexes a chance to be represented equally. The total sample size is 150. The process is repeatedly done to avoid biasness. A web- based survey will then be conducted after receiving the consent of the participants and the approval of the research from the University’s Ethic committee. In order to encourage the participation of their involvement a follow up mail is forwarded to each one of them with the permission from the organizations’ management board. Data Collection Instrument According to Kiessling and Harvey, interviews and questionnaires are very essential tools of collecting data (2005, p.34).Online questionnaire will be used to conduct the survey which is aimed at finding out the challenges human resource managers in non-profit making organizations undergo. Questionnaires will developed which include closed ended questions for pilot survey before the main study. The questionnaire will be hosted in Qualtics.com and in surveymonkey.com. The participants will be forwarded with a link taking them to the sites, www.qualtics.com and www.surveymonkey.com for quick access. The participants will be given five days to complete the pilot study; the results will be used to develop a final survey tool which will provide the data for the report. The pilot study will enable the researcher to eliminate any ambiguous questions and to establish the number of individuals who are likely to take part in the main survey as well as to establish whether the participants have any difficulty filling the online questionnaire. After the five days, a final draft of the questionnaire is generated and hosted on the two websites. An email is again forwarded to the participants thanking them for their earlier participation and reminding them that the main study is ongoing and that they have between 10-20days to complete the study. If any difficulty will be identified regarding filling from the two sites, each of the participants will receive their mails with attachments of the questionnaire. The researcher will insist that the research for their own good and that their names will not be exposed to the public or to any other person. Qualtrics.com and surveymonkey.com were assessed by the researcher and found out that they meet the requirement of the survey. The monthly subscriptions provided by the administrators of the sites for academic surveys were found favorable for this process. The safety and confidentiality of the sites made it the choice of the researcher. Online surveys are easy to enter into statistical software for analysis because there is no need to conduct a manual data entry. Data Analysis The data will be analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Scientist (SPSS). Both the variables and the data can be saved at the same time as one file using SPSS. It is less time consuming because outputs are generated as requested. The output data can be imported into the main writing an individual is working on with ease. Statistical test can be solved and interpreted using SPSS for example T-test and ANOVAs. Reference Riesling, T and Harvey, T 2005, “Strategic global human resource management research in the twenty-first century: an endorsement of the mixed-method research methodology,” Int. J. of Human Resource Management 16(1), pp22–45. Retrieved from :< http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=quantitative+research+in+human+resource&source=web> on 9 April, 2012. Read More