Role of Human Resource Managers - Assignment Example

Human Resource Management Human Resource Management Simply put, human resource management is concerned with the management of human assets, namely, employees of a company. Human resource management broadly covers aspects such as recruitment, rewards and compensation, training and development, and performance management (Dessler, 2011). In addition to this strategy development and execution are also integral part of human resource management (Lawler, 1999). Human resource managers are responsible for planning and executing efficient and effective employment systems that are critical to the attainment of organizational goals. During recent years, the field of human resource management has seen a transformation as a result of changing workplace trends. A common concern for human resource managers has been to manage compensation and rewards in such as a way that employees feel motivated. At the same time, human resource managers are concerned with talent retention and this requires designing effective compensation plans that not only motivate employees and drive performance, but also retain high performing employees. However, many of the problems resulting from compensation plans differ from organization to organization. The dynamics of each organization shape the type of compensation plans that are going to work best given their situation. For example, organizations focusing on sales may pay their employees in terms of commissions and piece rate. On the other hand, high tech companies like software firms may pay their employees in terms of employee stock units. This is what Google and Facebook are doing with their employees. In order to counter challenges relating to pay, human resource managers develop appropriate pay plans that are suitable to employees (Dessler, 2011). That is to say, such plans that motivate employees and get the most output from them. Additionally, human resource managers have to carry out employee appraisals. Currently all organizations have some sort of performance evaluation in place (Lichtman, 2007). To do so, human resource managers have to design and plan out performance evaluation system which consist of measurable metrics that reflect an employee’s performance. The metrics criteria are based on key performance indicators as known as KPIs and different performance (Lichtman, 2007). Measuring the performance of a company’s employees provides managers with all the necessary information needed to make an informed decision. It helps managers decide which employees are going to receive appraisals and which employees will not. In certain cases, performance evaluation helps identify low performing employees who can be laid off in order to save up on an organization’s costs. In other cases, this can trigger companies to identify deficiencies and then train the staff accordingly in order to drive better performance. Companies have to ensure that the employees are productively working to achieve organizational objectives. After all, capitalistic companies aim towards profit maximization and for this purpose, it is crucial for employees to be working productively. Training and development programs greatly enhance employee performance if used appropriately. There are many options for organizations ranging from on-site trainings to coaching and mentoring (Dessler, 2011). Apart from developing employees, organizations also have to create an engaging work environment that promotes creativity. Employers also have to take care about employee motivation and job satisfaction. High employee turnover rates reflect many issues including low employee motivation and low job satisfaction among many others. Lack of opportunities for growth also contributes towards low employee motivation. Organizations look to promote an organizational culture that promotes employee productivity. Leadership plays an important role in the development of a productive work environment. Leaders inspire their followers to perform better by creating a supportive work environment and a strong organizational culture. Organizational culture is also related to employee engagement. Many factors contribute towards low employee engagement and the phenomena itself gives rise to many problems. Firstly, low employee engagement can result from lesser prospects of career development and under-qualification or lack of training (Blessing White Research, 2011). These factors cause low employee engagement as well as low job satisfaction rates. Employee engagement can be enhanced through communication, transparency, autonomy, and strong organizational culture. However, employee engagement also varies from one country to another. Human resource management is a dynamic discipline. Human resource management at an international level varies from culture to culture. This is better explained by Hofstede’s (2010) observation on cultural dimensions, which has classified cultures according to different variables including power distance, individualism versus collectivism, masculinity versus femininity, uncertainty avoidance, long term versus short term orientation, and indulgence versus restraint. Hence, there are marked differences between different cultures and this likely impacts international human resource management. Lawler (1999) has noted the differences that impact human resource management in the global setting. These include changes in human resource practices as well as the globalized setting in which many multinational corporations (MNCs) operate (Lawler, 1999). Therefore, human resource management has many challenges. Most of them relate to employee engagement and motivation. As a result, human resource managers at companies have to design such compensation and reward plans that help motivate and retain employees. Lack of employee retention is reflected by a high turnover rate where employees exit an organization at a faster rate. Furthermore, human resource managers are interested in driving the performance of their employees. This enables organizations to generate more revenues and profits through improved company productivity. This also translates to a high market share for organizations. The recent trend of globalization has also sparked the need to understand human resource practices at an international level. These include compensation, employee behavior, talent management, change management, organizational culture, and so on. Summary: Case Study 6 Case Study 6 relates to change management where the software company ASP is looking to change its organizational model from a functional one to a full client management services model (Anderson, 2012). The current organizational hierarchy is divided based on functional human resource roles including compensation, recruiting, training, and so on. However the current system had issues with recruitment because of friction in coordinating with the different departments of functional units. As a result, each manager had to deal with a dozen candidates when it came to strategic planning and filling positions. This led to problems with strategic human resource management and added frustration to the process of hiring, selection, and recruiting. The new model was arranged around teams and distributed human resource support across all functional level including sales, marketing, software engineering, distribution, and corporate functions (Anderson, 2012). Further, each division had support teams. These teams served the purpose of supporting the internal customers of the organization that were involved in the software business (Anderson, 2012). The new model was to provide more flexibility by enabling the sales and marketing department to report to the vice president. This would further allow the sales strategy to be aligned with the human resource strategy so that only those employees were recruited that served the purpose of the sales strategy. The team-based structure would put the focus on the client. This would allow the company to meet the needs of the clients and hence, be more responsive (Anderson, 2012). The whole change would also require a reduction in staff which meant that some employees had to be laid off due to increase in costs. In order to process with the transition, there had to be a team-building activity that would aid the coordination between team members who not worked with each other before. Additionally, the team building activity would allow team members to quickly acclimatize and start showing results. Small-Business Case At Meadow Hills Veterinary Center, employees are really treated as assets. The human resource practices at Meadow Hills Veterinary Center are different in terms of performance management and communication. The appraisal interviews involve the practice manager getting a chance to talk to employees. Also, there is transparency as to the criteria upon which an employee is evaluated in the performance evaluation phase. Hence, an employee is told about the performance evaluation form quite ahead of time. Further, the performance evaluation is considered to be separate from compensation and reward plan. The idea is that employees cannot focus on enhancing their performance if they tie it with the possibility of appraisal or a raise in their salaries (Noe et al., 2012). Employees are noted for their contributions however the appraisal is kept separate from the performance evaluation. The main aim of the company is to improve communication and feedback so that a positive change is possible among the employees. Therefore, every effort is made in order to make performance appraisal more positive by creating an environment that supports actionable feedback and the process of improvement. The approach adopted by Meadow Hill Veterinary Center ensures a challenging environment but with possibilities for growth and development along the way. The success of the current approach can be judged from the fact that, in the past few years, the employe turnover rate has decreased from 30 percent to 25 percent and 20 percent (Noe et al., 2012). Hence, the strategy has enabled the organization in retaining its employees by separating performance evaluation and appraisal thereby making feedback more positive. In this way, employees are more open to improve based on the given feedback. References Anderson, D. (2012). Organization development. Los Angeles: Sage. Dessler, G. (2011). Human resource management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Employee Engagement Report. (2011). 1st ed. Skillman, NJ: Blessing White Research. Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G. and Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and organizations. New York: McGraw-Hill. Lawler, J. (1999). Human Resource Management in International Settings. In: HRM Field and International HRM Gender and Agribusiness Seminar. Lichtman, C. (2007). Organizational Realities and The Role of HR in Maximizing Perfromance. In: R. Sims, ed., Human Resource Management: Contemporary Issues, Challenges, and Opportunities, 1st ed. IAP. Noe, R., Hollenbeck, J., Gerhart, B. and Wright, P. (2012). Human resource management. Boston, Mass.: McGraw-Hill. Read More