The Structure of Human Resource Management - Essay Example

Human Resource Management Introduction A business is seen from quite a number of different stances. First there is the business stance which suggeststhat it has to remain in a particular industry to thrive itself in order to earn revenues. Then there is the customer stance which suggests that the customer wants value for money and the best possible product at the cheapest price always. The third stance is that of the distribution channels and vendors who do their bit at manufacturing, wholesaling, distributing and retailing the very products. When all these viewpoints meet in harmony, then only one can witness a complete symphony between the different business processes, activities and feelings that are so very significantly attached with the business that we are talking about here. Pertinent planning can help a particular company gain so much in accordance with its goals and objectives that had been planned and drafted but in the current times more and more attention and emphasis is making the rounds of the discussion as to whether these plans can actually deliver what was expected of them in the first place. Thus management has the responsibility to plan, organize, lead and control the relevant resources that are present within the realms of the organizational contexts. Definition of Management Since the definition of management takes a clear cut look on the basis of finding the resources available at the organization’s disposal as well as the strategic moves, tactical decisions and tasks and processes that occur within it, there is a dire need to make sure that the top management knows what its business is all about and more significantly it must relate the same to the people who matter the most – the middle tier of the organization which is also known as the knowledge organization. The classical management perspective relied heavily on the placing of tasks and activities on the middle and lower tiers within the organization’s echelon. It focused more on carrying out the tasks at the lower levels and as such there was less accountability and answering when it came to the top management hierarchy present within the organization and indeed running the whole show. The same has changed and that too for the better so to speak. The classical management theory has completely faded out and the contemporary management perspective has superseded it on all counts. At the present, the work is supposed to be carried out by a basis of sharing and caring within the organization’s regimes which was not the case say two decades down the road. Management and Diversity Discussion In keeping with the organizational understandings one needs to have a clear grasp of the discussion related with the induction of the diverse workforce within the organizational domains. This issue gets its resolve from the fact that people work as a team rather than working alone yet they perform their own respective tasks and duties in their own capacities within the office environment for which there is no direct or indirect connection as concerns the groups and teams that they are working under from time to time. The manager thus chalks out a plan to review each and every sub-ordinate’s performance and then allot him the potential duties which may or may not be linked to their strengths over a given period of time. Hence diversity certainly takes its roots from this scenario and employees feel somewhat at ease whilst carrying out their jobs and assigned tasks. (Shiplett, 2000) The ramifications of the issue of diversifying work and making people accustomed to management tactics only helps the corporate ladder as much as the employees, specialists and top management themselves. Thus a clear understanding has to be the guiding force to tell one and all in this situation as to the rationale behind doing the same. The end result is achieving success for the company or the enterprise that they all strive to be a part of and not to forget their individual growth that will take them up the ladder of expansion and development over the years. The best possible diversity that could be made in this regard is to appoint top line managers who understand the psyche of the people working under him or on the same level as his so that he or she can get a grasp as to what employees usually are best suited at and what they do not prefer under certain strenuous conditions in the office place environment. (Kelly, 2000) As a consequence, being able to do more work is definitely considered a plus and an added advantage for an employee but this should not, under any level, exceed his capabilities and skill sets. He must be assigned the amount of work which is proportionate with his pay, already set working conditions and more so the skills on the basis of which he was selected in the first place. Further, any HR strategy would aim to take into consideration the role of diversity within the business ranks. It is a fact that those companies which are ready to upgrade their human resources regimes are indeed the ones that have found success in different segments of corporate and industrial business. With minor changes here and there, any organization can have giant strides in its respective human resources department and indeed the chosen strategy and thus made a mark for its own selves. It is a common phenomenon that a business can move away from a stand of firmness and consistency to one of a comprehensive weak one as the same is willing to grab hold of the varied means present within the market as well as the driving factors. Thus for this reason a business needs to tilt its position every now and then in order to live up with the changing times under different conditions considering the presence of its competitors and importantly the customers. Moving along the same notion, one finds that the HR strategy is easily related with other facets as well. Intrinsic Values of Management Regimes Coming to the internal regimes within the organization and more specifically the HRM unit, we see that the employee motivation at work place works to the advantage of the firm and the people at the helm of it since they know for sure that their employees would give in their best no matter how trying or tough the circumstances are. (Gellerman, 1968) This means that they are assured of their commitment levels and the intensity of the hard work that they will put in, even under the most strenuous of routines. But this raises an interesting proposition, a stance which needs to be discussed by all and sundry. Over work can reduce employee motivation as well as add to the stress on the part of the employees’ physical and mental domains. What needs to be done is to gauge the exact amount of work that they can handle within a period of time as well as give them enough incentives so that they remain loyal to the cause of the organization for which they work their heart out. Stress can be reduced at work when employees know that the task they are putting their best energies at, are worth the shot and in the end, the same will help them to grow exponentially. In fact they must be apprised of their hard work and the rewards that they get. (Weiner, 1980) This is indeed a nice gesture which means a lot on the part of the hard working and committed employees and workers. If there is no privacy for the employees, they would not feel motivated to do their tasks and activities in an effective and efficient manner and it is ultimately the firm which will lose out on the productivity angle nonetheless. Motivation Levels Whatever the employee’s personal reason is for working, the bottom line however is that almost everyone works for money. Whatever one calls it: compensation, salary, bonuses, benefits or remuneration, money pays the bills. Money provides housing, gives children clothing and food, sends teens to college and allows leisure activities, and eventually, retirement. To underplay the importance of money and benefits to people who work may be a mistake. Motivation is a term that is used to refer to the reason or reasons why people engage in different behaviors. Geen notes that motivation actually refers to the direction, initiation, persistence and intensity of human behavior (Geen, 1994) Understanding what motivated employees and how they were motivated was the focus of many researchers following the publication of the Hawthorne Study results (Terpstra, 1979). Five major approaches that have led to our understanding of motivation are Maslows need-hierarchy theory, Herzbergs two-factor theory, Vrooms expectancy theory, Adams equity theory, and Skinners reinforcement theory. According to Maslow, employees have five levels of needs (Maslow, 1943): physiological, safety, social, ego, and self- actualizing. Maslow argued that lower level needs had to be satisfied before the next higher level need would motivate employees. Herzbergs work categorized motivation into two factors: motivators and hygiene’s (Herzberg, Mausner, & Snyderman, 1959). Motivator or intrinsic factors, such as achievement and recognition, produce job satisfaction. Hygiene or extrinsic factors, such as pay and job security, produce job dissatisfaction. Many scholars have made many attempts to explain why people get motivated. As a result of this many motivational theories have emerged. Among these theories include the drive reduction theories, the affective-arousal theories, and cognitive theories. At one time, employees were considered just another input into the production of goods and services. What perhaps changed this way of thinking about employees was research, referred to as the Hawthorne Studies, conducted by Elton Mayo from 1924 to 1932 (Dickson, 1973). Mayo took six women from the assembly line, segregated them from the rest of the factory and put them under the eye of a supervisor who was more a friendly observer than disciplinarian. Motivated employees are needed in our rapidly changing workplaces. Motivated employees help organizations survive. Motivated employees are more productive. To be effective, managers need to understand what motivates employees within the context of the roles they perform. Of all the functions a manager performs, motivating employees is arguably the most complex. This is due, in part, to the fact that what motivates employees’ changes constantly (Bowen & Radhakrishna, 1991). For example, research suggests that as employees income increases, money becomes less of a motivator (Kovach, 1987). Also, as employees get older, interesting work becomes more of a motivator. A comparison of these results to Maslows need-hierarchy theory provides some interesting insight into employee motivation. The number one ranked motivator, interesting work, is a self-actualizing factor. The number two-ranked motivator, good wages, is a physiological factor. The number three-ranked motivator, full appreciation of work done, is an esteem factor. The number four-ranked motivator, job security, is a safety factor. Therefore, according to Maslow (1943), if managers wish to address the most important motivational factor of Centers employees, interesting work, physiological, safety, social, and esteem factors must first be satisfied. If managers wished to address the second most important motivational factor of centers employees, good pay, increased pay would suffice. Contrary to what the theory suggests, the ranges of motivational factors are mixed in this study. Maslows conclusions that lower level motivational factors must be met before ascending to the next level were not confirmed by this study. The following example compares the third highest ranked motivational factor to Adamss equity theory. If an employee at the centers feels that there is a lack of appreciation for work done, as being too low relative to another employee, an inequity may exist and the employee will be de-motivated. Further, if all the employees at the centers feel that there is a lack of appreciation for work done, inequity may exist. Adams (1965) stated employees will attempt to restore equity through various means, some of which may be counter- productive to organizational goals and objectives. For instance, employees who feel their work is not being appreciated may work less or undervalue the work of other employees. This final example compares the two highest motivational factors to Herzbergs two-factor theory. The highest ranked motivator, interesting work, is a motivator factor. The second ranked motivator; good wages is a hygiene factor. Herzberg, Mausner, & Snyderman (1959) stated that to the degree that motivators are present in a job, motivation will occur. The absence of motivators does not lead to dissatisfaction. Further, they stated that to the degree that hygiene’s are absent from a job, dissatisfaction will occur. When present, hygiene’s prevent dissatisfaction, but do not lead to satisfaction. In our example, the lack of interesting work (motivator) for the centers employees would not lead to dissatisfaction. Paying centers employees’ lower wages (hygiene) than what they believe to be fair may lead to job dissatisfaction. Conversely, employees will be motivated when they are doing interesting work and but will not necessarily be motivated by higher pay. Motivational Approaches Similarly, motivational approaches include the likes of gain sharing and executive compensation systems in the modern day organizations which ask for sharing the profits that are earned by the organizations over a period of time, thanks to the efforts put in by the employees and workers alike. This creates a sense of hard work and commitment amongst one and all and there is room for more improvement in the coming times as well. Gain sharing has proved to be a decisive step in the recent past where organizations have enhanced on their profit levels drastically and thus have rewarded their employees in a head on manner. This has given rise to the culture of bonuses and increments which are given out every now and then and thus act as vital agents to bring about prosperity and happiness within the working domains of the employees and workers on a consistent basis. It helps as an encouraging factor in the wake of getting the best out of the employees on a constant basis as well as demands of them to give in their very best, even in the most arduous of times within the organization’s life time. Pretty much to suffice it would be correct to state that performance management systems and gain sharing regimes will definitely ensure that the performance levels of all employees would exceed the expectations since it will guarantee them instant rewards and incentives. Their changeover from the traditional viewpoint is one which would ensure stability, a proper maintenance level and more than anything else complete understanding and track record documentation at all levels within the organization. Their interaction with each other would develop in an informal manner and thus a competitive environment would sustain within the organizations. Performance management systems ideology could literally backfire if there is a complete lack of commitment on the part of the people who are at the helm of affairs in the said organizations and were just interested with bringing the system to their respective organizations but not with their actual working methodologies. The companies which will benefit from the results of these ‘performance management systems’ would indeed be the leaders in their business geographical zones and thus stand out amongst the very best. Conclusion In the end, organizational behavior theories look at the human resource, manufacturing, sales, industrial and environmental departments when one specifically talks about an organization. These theories look to pinpoint the areas of strength and find out where the shortcomings and weaknesses usually exist and where the same could arise again, say at any point in time in the future. (Fonseca, 2002) The themes related with organizational behavior address the problems that are encountered not only by the customers who are at the mercy of the organization itself through its multi-faceted dealings but also the internal people, usually the employees and the workers. These people derive motivation from the numerous areas of strength that actually exist within the workplace and if the same are missing at some instance, then the need is to plug the gaps which have been thus created so as to effectively address the needs and wants of the internal public. (Robbins, 2004) References Adams, J. (1965). Inequity in social exchange. In L. Berkowitz (ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology. New York: Academic Press Bowen, B. & Radhakrishna, R. (1991). Job satisfaction of agricultural education faculty: A constant phenomena. Journal of Agricultural Education, 32 (2). 16-22. Dickson, W. (1973). Hawthorne Experiments. In C. Heyel (ed.), the encyclopedia of management, 2nd ed. (pp. 298-302). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Fonseca, Jose. (2002). Complexity and Innovation in Organizations. Routledge Geen, R. (1994). Human motivation: A psychological approach. Wadsworth Gellerman, Saul. (1968). Management by Motivation. American Management Association Herzberg, F., Mausner, B., & Snyderman, B. (1959). The Motivation to Work. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Kelly, G M. (2000). Employment and Concepts of Work in the New Global Economy. International Labour Review, Vol. 139 Kovach, K. (1987). What Motivates Employees? Workers and supervisors give different answers. Business Horizons, 30. 58-65 Maslow, A. (1943). A theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review Robbins, Stephen P. (2004). 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