Human Resource Management, Problems in Workplace - Assignment Example

Human Resource Management Introduction Human resource management (HRM) is a major aspect of any organization or business enterprise. It is the act of hiring the right person, allocating job according to the skills of the employees and fulfilling the objectives of the organization with minimum use of resources. A typical manager designs effective strategies that are relevant to the corporate objectives and ensures efficient application of those strategies. HRM is the acknowledgement that employees form an important part of the company and as such there should be interplay between the human resource strategy and the principle strategy for the organization. Management is essentially an act of fulfillment of objectives through people, and efficient management implies getting the maximum output from the people. Therefore, a good manager must encourage teamwork and enhance team spirit by meeting the needs of both the individual and the team. This paper will focus on a case study regarding problems of human resources. Problems in workplace In any organization, managerial goal is to extract optimum performance from workers and employees for the benefit of the organization. The concept of High Performance Work Practices (HPWP) is a deliberate attempt to establish working patterns that will enhance the overall performance of the organization. This concept is not new and employees who embrace this concept are only implementing common sense approach to improve their performance level. HPWPs indicate assessment of own work, flexible working patterns, and other strategies to provide maximum results. HPWPs also encompass strategic recruitment policies and motivational schemes like promotions, financial rewards and flexible working hours (Sung & Ashton, 2005, p.2). According to research based on world reports, there are two major advantages of HPWPs. First, such practices maintain a steady improvement in the performance level of employees, and second, employee satisfaction can be enhanced both in terms of work and personal life. The combined impact of these two benefits is reflected in high level of employee commitment, improved financial performance, sustained competitiveness, and innovation (Sung & Ashton, 2005, p.8). Case study: ServiceCo (UK) In this section, I will be highlighting the problems of human resources in ServiceCo which is a “support services partner in the UK providing business solutions for clients across the local government, transport, education, health and defence sectors” (Alfes et al., 2010, p.8). Currently, 10,500 employees are engaged in 200 locations in UK. According to survey results, there is a high level of engagement among the employees with 9 percent exhibiting very high level of engagement, 77 percent exhibiting high level of engagement, and only 14 percent exhibiting moderate level of engagement. The Development Manager seems to be happy with the scenario as he believes that the commitment level is high among employees, and they work not only for financial reasons but because they feel themselves as part of the company. It has been observed that there are three elements that contribute towards such high commitment level among employees – “employee voice, supportive environment and commitment”. There are three other aspects which need more focus as there are areas for improvement – “engagement among manual workers, integration of workers working remotely and well-being in some roles” (Alfes et al., 2010, p.8). In the context of employee voice, it is seen that in ServiceCo the views and opinions of employees are given due importance. They are encouraged to express their views regarding any issue, and they can do so by participating in meetings that have agenda directly related to their work. In this way, they are made to feel as intrinsic part of the company as the management listens to their ideas. The company has also introduced innovation library where employees feel free to share their perspectives and opinions regarding their work related issues. They also voice their success stories so that they can be incorporated in the innovation library. This can be very fruitful if ServiceCo utilizes this library properly. Another aspect that is very strong in the company is the supportive environment. This means that the employees of the company work in teams and this establishes team spirit and a feeling of belonging. The employees have expressed satisfaction regarding getting help and support from their colleagues whenever any employee is having problem with his or her work. This also increases the comfort level of employees and they can become engaged with their work. The approach is to fulfill common objectives in individual ways through mutual understanding and support. The employees get a family feeling and everyone is aware that they can get support from their colleagues. It is natural that since employees are encouraged to express their views and there is a supportive environment in the workplace, the employees are highly committed to their company and put maximum efforts into their work. They have mentioned that they are happy with their company and ready to remain with this company for the rest of their career (Alfes et al., 2010, p.9). This is extremely important and beneficial for any company if employees can be sustained for long periods as this means high level of commitment and performance quality. In spite of the above positive points of ServiceCo, there are several aspects that need to be improved. Although the commitment and engagement level are extremely high among the employee groups, the same is not true in the case of manual workers. The reason that has been attributed is low level of communication between the management and the manual workers. According to one manual worker, “Communications with my line manager and project manager are very good, communications with higher management are less effective” (Alfes et al., 2010, p.10). Therefore, emphasis should be on establishing strong and transparent communication link between the higher management and the manual workers. It is also important that the manual workers are allowed to take part in decision making process to encourage them to feel themselves as part of the company. Moreover, the manual workers at ServiceCo also feel that they should be receiving regular doses of proper training so that they can learn more skills about their job, and also become aware of all health and safety measures. The second weak aspect of the company is integration of workers working remotely. Since ServiceCo has 200 locations in UK, it so happens that employees work in teams at great distance from the head office. These employees often complaint regarding lack of communication with their managers. The solution lies in management endeavoring to meet the teams more often so that the employees can put forward their work related problems and express new ideas. Although, currently some top managers of ServiceCo is focusing on this issue by trying to integrate more with their remote teams, the more practical solution can come from organization-wide processes for managing remote workers. Finally, about the well-being of employees it has been seen that although overall feeling about personal well-being is positive among employees, the problem lies with contract managers who experience higher level of stress especially during bidding periods. In spite of good teamwork and supporting working environment, during long bidding periods the work-life balance of managers can be disturbed as stated by one manager, “When there’s a lot of bidding it’s really poor, you have no life” (Alfes et al., 2010, p.11). It is responsibility of ServiceCo to ensure that contract managers are less subjected to stress by initiating health and stress management programs. Analytical remarks Rees et al. (2014) have studied that if the management gives due importance to employee voice, then it can have great positive impact on the trust level between the management and employees. It has been seen that engagement level of ServiceCo employees is strong and this validates the study result of Rees et al. which has proved that by establishing reciprocal relationship with senior managers, employees become more engaged with their work to utilize the opportunities bestowed on them to express own views and opinions. Today, with growing competition in the world of business, it is not surprising that companies are compelled to exert certain amount of pressure and long working hours on employees. The increasing level of stress among employees is becoming a matter of concern in any organization. Therefore, today the major issue is how to increase employee engagement so that they become psychologically involved with their work since the feeling of alienation can act as strong anti-motivator and reduce the level of commitment (Gruman & Saks, 2011, p.125). There are several activities that can lead to high employee engagement. First, setting goals can make employees more focused and energetic towards work. Second, employees have some basic expectations from their company which need to be fulfilled. Third, employees should be allowed to participate in job designing process to promote psychological meaningfulness. Fourth, regular coaching or training will help employees to deal with work related problems and address potential difficulties. Other factors like performance evaluations and positive feedback from management can also increase employee engagement (Gruman & Saks, 2011, pp.128-132). Conclusion Problems arising in workplaces are common issues and can be of varying degrees. Therefore, a single type of approach may not always be the solution. An unpleasant working environment can cause stress among employees thus leading to low overall performance which can hinder the fulfillment of the organization’s goals. The need is to understand the common issues in workplace so that the atmosphere can be improved. Proper application of strategies and basic intelligence can solve the problems or can be avoided all together. References Alfes, K. et al. (2010) Creating an Engaged Workforce: Findings from the Kingston Employee Engagement Consortium Project Gruman, J.A. & Saks, A.M. (2011) Performance management and employee engagement. Human Resource Management Review, Vol.21, No.2, pp.123-36 Rees, C., Alfes, K. & Gatenby, M. (2014) Employee Voice and Engagement: connections and consequences. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol.24, No.4, pp.2780-98 Sung, J. & Ashton, D. (2005) High Performance Work Practices: linking strategies and skills to performance outcomes Read More