Human Resources Managent - Workforce Diversiity and Labor Supply - Essay Example

Human Resource Management: Workforce Diversity and Labor Supply Competition and labor shortages greatly affect the productivity of an institution. With the expansion of world economies and innovations brought by modern technology, the demand for workforce continues to increase. Because of competition, some companies has a tendency to trim down expenses, downsize and cut back on workforce, therefore, sacrificing the quality of the products or services being offered and losing some of the best people for the job.

Because of this situation, it is imperative for companies to have an effective human resource management strategy that will take care of employee retention and diversity while meeting the institution’s goals (Konrad and Deckop 270).The main task of the human resource management is to effectively recruit and maintain employees while improving the whole organization in the process. According to Jackson and Schuler (238), this department involves “specific human resource practices such as recruitment, selection, and appraisal; formal human resource policies; and overarching human resource philosophies, which specify the values that inform an organization’s policies and practices”.

Moreover, the function of the human resource management is extended to the development, motivation and retention of its employees in order to secure the labor supply of the company. With these goals at hand, human resource professionals continue to discover ways to stabilize the labor supply by mounting ingenious recruitment process, developing attractive employee involvement programs to increase retention percentage, and hiring employees from non-traditional sources which in turn create a diverse workforce (Konrad and Deckop 273).

Other programs like “sponsoring private-public partnerships with schools, offering employees flexible work arrangements, and conducting diversity training and mentoring programs” are also offered by the human resources department (Mirvis 43). Furthermore, work styles and values of employees belonging to different age, sex, beliefs or cultural groups can also affect the organization. As Lawsson (216) noted, “the demographic profile of the workforce” is changing “as the representation of generations and the result is that organizations are experiencing a necessity to change as well”.

As a result, the increasing trend of workforce diversity in the future will affect the capability of the company to employ and retain people. Thus, human resource experts are responsible to properly answer the conflicts that diverse workforce may bring, to get the best out of the different backgrounds and preferences of the employees. Diversity in the workplace must not be a liability, rather an asset that is beneficial for the company (Konrad and Deckop 275). Nevertheless, effective human resource management is measured on how the department successfully uses the advantages of its labor force while catering to the employees’ needs.

This branch of the institution needs to ensure the stability and productivity of the company by creating innovative strategies to recruit and employ people in order to balance the labor supply while developing programs to strengthen employee retention. On the other hand, the diversity of the workforce is another factor to be considered and handle properly, for every individual is an asset to the company.Works CitedJackson, S. and Schuler, R. 1995. “Understanding human resource management in the context of organizations and their environments”.

Annual Revised Psychology. 46:237-264. Print.Konrad, A. and Deckop, J. 2001. "Human resource management trends in the USA - Challenges in the midst of prosperity". International Journal of Manpower. 22(3): 269–278. Print.Lawsson, R. 2009. “Identifying and managing diversity of workforce”. Business Intelligence Journal. 2(1):215-253. Print.Mirvis, P. 1997. “Human resource management: Leaders, laggards and followers”. The Academy of Management Executive. 11(2): 43-56. Print.