The Role of an HRD Manager in Promoting Organizational Competitiveness - Essay Example

Critically Discuss The Role Of An HRD Manager In Promoting Organizational Competitiveness Within A Slowly Recovering Economy Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Discussion of the Roles of HRD Manager 4 Socialisation and Orientation 4 Coaching and Performance Management 4 Career Management and Development 5 Management Development 6 Diversity 6 Conclusion and Recommendations 8 References 9 Bibliography 10 10 10 Introduction The fast changing needs and desires of people around the globe is forcing organisations to be more interested in various dimensions of management and appraisal of the employees to have a competitive edge. Thus, the role of Human Resource Development (HRD) managers have become challenging enough to identify the areas that need to be developed in order to achieve the desired goals of the organisation. Additionally, it has become more difficult in the economies which are recovering from the financial downturn that has aroused within the country. The need for a change and development among the organisational structure is mostly identified when the job performances of employees are not meeting the standards of the organisation. To be more precise, when the performances of the two groups working under same conditions do not produce the same outcomes, then the HRD manager has to step in the role for enhancing the employees’ performance. Career management and development, socialization and orientation, coaching and performance management are among the few factors that the HRD manager’s roles are surrounded with. It is therefore, necessary to identify the appropriate time to assist the management for developing organisational competitiveness. Thus, the objective of the paper is to identify the different roles played by the HRD manager, both necessary and unnecessary, which at times play a vital part upon organisational performance. Discussion of the Roles of HRD Manager HR professionals must build up vast competencies which will benefit them for functioning of their tasks to deal with the changes in the organisations. They should ensure that flexibility and effective communication must be a part of their role which will allow them to adapt to situations quickly. Thus, the roles of HR managers are based on few factors which are discussed below. Socialisation and Orientation According to Maanen & Schein (1979), procedure of socialisation engages the transmission of information as well as values which are essentially cultural matters. Furthermore, they added that an organisational culture consists of rules and values that are different within various organisations. The culture of the organisation is mostly dependent on few factors such as, how members relate to colleagues, subordinates, superiors and outsiders, which are conveyed to the new employees by the HR managers. The HR should communicate to the newly employed behavioural environment that prevails within the organisation. Additionally, orientation of employees is the basic facet cited by the HR manager, before any simplest role can be dedicated to them. It is the process of making the employee familiar with the working conditions that need to be undertaken by the employee. Thus, designing a simple and effective orientation program should be one of the competencies of an HR manager. It will help the newly employed to get a clear picture of the work processes and the organisational desires from him/her. Coaching and Performance Management It has been observed by Armstrong (2009) that performance management is an essential process that includes managing performances of an individual employee. He further suggested that it can be regarded as a natural function of managing that includes planning, monitoring, analysing and reviewing. Thus, within the slowly recovering economy, it is obvious that retaining employees and developing strategies to improve the performances of an individual employee will cost the organisation a lot. Therefore, the HR manager should include cost effective coaching methods that will develop the understanding of the employees about the work process and teach them the required skills which will improve their outcomes. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of the HR professional to develop a review system that will require minimum cost to the organisation. The review system will be able to identify the areas the employee needs to improve in order to attain the individual goal which will add to the organisational goals. Career Management and Development As observed by Werner & DeSimone (2011), effective career management model begins as an individual responds to the need to make a career decision. Furthermore, they also stated that the response comprise eight activities such as, career exploration, strategy implementation, environment and self awareness, goal setting, strategy development, career appraisal, progress toward the goal, feedback from work and non-work sources (Werner & DeSimone 2011). Thus, it can further be said that career management cycle is a problem-solving and decision-making process. Therefore, the HRD manager should know that the recovering economy has disrupted many careers of the employees by cost cutting and retrenchment of employees which had a negative impact on individuals. Thus, he/she should ensure that information are gathered from different individuals and sources around themselves which will enable the HR manager to establish a goal for the employee and plan strategies that would be implemented to achieve the goal. Furthermore, the HR manager should be able to effectively manage the employees’ career within the organisation. He should develop ways that will motivate the employees to perform better in order to improve their career, get recognised by the leaders and encourage promotional opportunities. Performers should be placed effectively so that other non-performing employees get motivated and have the urge to get promoted. This strategy will help individuals to perform better among the team which will enhance the performance of the overall team. Management Development According to Mailick & Stumpf (1998), from large organisations to non-profit sector, private sector, or public companies in developed or underdeveloped countries, have the general belief that management development is a vital necessity. Furthermore, they added that managers are often enthusiastic for participating in such programmes to enhance their skills, to cope up with the constant behavioural changes due to new research findings and development of management techniques and approaches. Therefore, the HR managers are constantly focussing on introducing management development programmes for the managers at every level. Though most of these programs include a lot of expenditures, the HRD manager should ensure that the organisation does not have to incur huge costs which may become a constraint in the slowly recovering economy. It is necessary for the HRD manager to identify the changes in behaviour of customers and competitors, whether modern techniques are required in the organisation and the skills that will be implemented for using the modern techniques. A change in processes of the organisation makes the job of a HRD manager more challenging. Thus, he/she should ensure that a timescale may be defined for identifying the learning’s of the management programmes, which will enable him/her to review the areas where the employee is lacking behind. Diversity As observed by Cox (1994), subsistence of diversity in an organisation may affect few organisational processes, such as, decision-making and problem-solving, communications, creativity, which are directly linked with individual performance. Furthermore, it has been argued that, when properly managed, diverse groups and organisations have performance advantages over uniform ones. He further stated that this possible impact of diversity in workgroups will be referred as the value-in-diversity effect. Thus, in an economy that is recovering from the economic downturn, it is very important for the HRD manager to identify and respect different cultures available in the organisation. He should remain bias to all individual employees. As observed by the fact, information from different sources on diversity in the United States’ firms indicate that aggravation over lack of career growth and cultural conflict with the dominant White-male culture are foremost factors behind less positive outcomes, absenteeism and satisfaction levels for women and non-White men (Cox, 1994). Therefore, it is the duty of the HRD manager to effectively manage culturally diverse workforce which will have less communication problems, shorter decision times and higher member morale among the employees. When a problem-solving situation arises, it is important for the HRD manager to consider all the relevant information from the both sides. Being bias to different cultures and respecting each of their values are important for solving conflicts between employees. Conclusion and Recommendations The importance of an effective HRD manager for promoting organisational competitiveness in an economy which has been recovering from the economical downturn is noted. In a competitive world, organisations are shedding large amount for hiring the right talent, which can contribute to the management’s decisions regarding the organisation. Therefore, leaders of the organisation are very careful when they decide to hire a HRD manager and the roles they will be handling in the organisation. Apart from the traditional role of a HRD manager, i.e. recruiting right person for the right job, modern day HR managers are assigned with more responsibilities. They design and hold the training and development programmes and ensure that all the employees have access to it. Another major challenge faced by the HR managers is to manage the sub-systems and help them in achieving the eventual goal, i.e. exceptional performances by the employees. Thus, the different factors discussed above make the role of a HRD manager an important one around the organisation. Recession and economic downturn have affected many of the developed economy around the globe. The recovery period is a phase where the rebuilding of each and every aspect is considered. The roles of HRD managers are ongoing processes with different functions attached to it. When the organisation is not being able to achieve their ultimate goals, then the HRD managers make amends to deploy certain competencies that allow the organisation to be ahead in the competition. It should also be ensured that the change process should be economical so that the financial resources can be utilised for spending on other components. References Armstrong, M., 2009. Armstrongs Handbook of Performance Management: An Evidence-Based Guide to Delivering High Performance. Kogan Page Publishers. Cox, T., 1994. Cultural Diversity in Organizations: Theory, Research and Practice. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Maanen, J. V. & Schein, E. H., 1979. "Toward of Theory of Organizational Socialization." Research in Organizational Behaviour. [Online] Available at: http://faculty.babson.edu/krollag/org_site/org_theory/socialization_notes/vanschein_soc.html [Accessed May 2, 2012] Mailick, S. & Stumpf, S. A., 1998. Learning Theory in the Practice of Management Development: Evolution and Applications. Greenwood Publishing Group. Werner, J. M. & DeSimone, R. L., 2011. Human Resource Development. Cengage Learning. Bibliography Gomes, D. R. & et. al., 2011. Promoting A Path For Organizational Competitiveness: The Role Of Internal Communication. Abstract. [Online] Available at: http://www.exedrajournal.com/docs/s-CO/03-55-78.pdf [Accessed May 2, 2012] Workitect, Inc, 2006. Competency-Based Performance Management. Research Report. [Online] Available at: http://www.workitect.com/pdf/PM_Article.pdf [Accessed May 2, 2012] Wang, Y. D. & Nie, H. J., 2010. Multiple Roles of Human Resource Department in Building Organizational Competitiveness— Perspective of Role Theory. International Management Review, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp 13-19. Read More