Resource Management - Essay Example

 «Resource Management» Generally, an ordinary employment involved the physical agreement between an employer and an employee. Terms and conditions of the working relationship that seemed to be rigidly biased and insensitive on one party were enforced. Advanced employment agreements have evolved to the type with a psychological element, where unwritten inherent expectations of justice regulate the relationship between the parties. Mayo (1933, p74), explains that employee rights now determine and invoke deliberate practices that aim at increasing commitment, motivation as well as satisfaction.

Arrival at this approach has been due to the discovery that the more the employee’s job satisfaction was deliberated as an institutional policy, the more the productivity thereon. Human Resource Management (HRM) has evolved to offer the best practices that target the welfare of the employees. Since the sole responsibility of the management is to ensure that the organization meets its objectives, employees input must be maximized (Graham, 1978). The basic principle behind HRM is the creation of the notion that employees are the first and the most important assets.

Both parties have expectations that are mutually beneficial to the contractual parties and the business as well. For instance, the employees expect that the organization takes care of their training and career gratification costs while they are in return expected to increase their productivity by being flexible and creative. It is therefore in order to state that HRM is an interdisciplinary cause to manage human effort at the place of work (Bratton and Gold, 1999, p236). It is a field that borrows from sociology, management, psychology as well as economics.

Apparently, there is a wide spectrum of methods that can be used to manage humans in a certain job and there is no manager who can claim to be the lone expert. This is because human beings are rational creatures that tend to change their behaviour based on the environmental pressures. Optimization of the techniques in human management offers solutions to the various management challenges posed by the unique circumstances in an organization. Inside an organization, a resource is anything posing as a strength or a weakness, whether as a tangible or as an intangible asset (Wernerfelt, 1984, p172).

Financial and technological resources are the other resources that an organization manages, but the unique nature of human resource needs extra caution. The action of the HRM department is guided by the realization of expectations from all the stakeholders. The company owners (shareholders) want their investment to bear fruit at the end of the trading period. Whether the human resource is managed well, it is not the responsibility of the shareholder; it is that of the HRM. HRM must therefore device techniques to offer satisfaction to the owners of the business.

By this, returns must always be sustainable for business operation and shareholders dividends. To this end, productivity cannot be compromised; hence the best practice that raises individual productivity is tapped for exploitation. Management team usually sets a yardstick, to assess the general performance of the management in the company’s operations and progress. Every department must comply and adhere to the set performance standards, or else the whole team is discredited for poor performance of a single department.

For such demands, the HRM feels compelled to deliver results that favour the whole management team. It is also obvious that the management team also has supervisors, who demand nothing less than pure commitment and dedication from the HR department (Bloisi, Cook and Hunsaker, 2007, p209). To avoid incongruence, the HRM must always perform management roles that fall under the human resource section. Decisions made by the HRM therefore bear an element of compliance with the management team. To ensure top form standard of operation from the employees, the management embarks on motivational policies.

Motivation unleashes latent and untapped potential that an employee needs to be extraordinary. At such levels, the company cannot suffer from sustainability crisis, leave alone operating at a profitability level. According to Bartol and Martin (1998, p76), motivation constitutes the force of ignition for the business to keep flowing. Developing and imparting interest in the employer is the first step to acquire ignition force. Employees are stimulated to feel and develop a liking for the job that they carry out.

The set target should always be the centre of interest, where the employee hooks their standards upon. The other important step in the development of interest is the determination of direction or the path taken towards realization of the organization’s goals. Management must streamline the workforce towards the adoption of the policy outlining the path or course of action. Finally, the maintenance of the desired behaviour throughout the operations period to ensure continuity of the results must be facilitated.

Commitment from the employees must be sought by all means available, to ensure that the employees feel internalize the need to wholly participate in the operations of the organization. Issues such as absenteeism and high labour turnover are dramatically reduced with committed labour force (Alatrista and Arrowsmith, 2003, pp537). Pride is cultivated in the employees’ involvement with the organization, aiming at creating identity and loyalty. Involvement then follows where the employee puts in efforts to the organization’s operations.

The employees’ attitude is moulded to facilitate commitment at all levels of involvement. Other roles played by the HRM include personnel recruitment, which is a central practice that maintains the company’s staffing requirement. Job analysis is the other procedure synonymous to the HRM department. Jobs are analyzed for positional description where the duties, rights, and other descriptive details of the job are outlined. It is a common practice for HRM department to engage possible talent market by offering the best market through job analysis (Banfiled and Kay, 2008, p289).

International HR practice is another important role of this form of management, especially when the company creates overseas subsidiaries. The management in this field involves staffing and planning for welfare of internationally assigned employees. With the issued of globalization facing many multinationals, companies with an international ambition have a vast pool of information to effect relevant changes. HRM faces the sensitive workers union issue that has been in the business world for some time.

Workers’ representation and conflict resolution at the place of work needs some skills that are mandated to the HRM. Sensitivity of workers grievances leaves the area of workers unions and representation on a risky area that needs caution. Whereas freedom is necessary for proper running of the organization, it is imperative that the HRM department takes into consideration the detrimental effect of excessive freedom to the work relations (Beardwell and Claydon, 2007, p65). A critical balance should always be maintained between union and actual rules and regulations, without interferences.

This is the function of HRM. References Alatrista J, & Arrowsmith J., (2003). “Managing Employee Commitment in the not-for-profit Sector”, Personnel Review, vol 33 no 5 pp 536-548 Banfiled P. & Kay R., (2008). Introduction to human resource management, Oxford University Press, Oxford Bartol K, & Martin D. C., (1998). Management, McGraw Hill, New York Beardwell J, & Claydon T., (2007). Human resource management: a contemporary approach, 5th ed, Prentice Hall, Harlow Bloisi W., Cook C. W.

& Hunsaker P. L., (2007). Management and organizational behaviour, 2nd ed, McGraw-Hill, New York Bratton J. & Gold J., (1999). Human resource management, Palgrave McMillan, Basingstoke Mayo E., (1933). The human problems of industrial civilization, Macmillan, New York Wernerfelt B., (1984). “A resource Based View of the Firm”, Strategic Management Journal, vol 5 no 1 pp171-180