Major Function of Human Resource Management - Coursework Example

Werner and Schuler de that the major function of human resource management is to help inincreasing the contribution and effectiveness of the employees of an organization, for purposes of attaining the goals of the organization, and its objectives. However, Werner and Schuler (2012) gives an in depth definition of human resource management, as a process whereby an organization seeks to attract, select, train, assess and reward employees of an organization. Werner and Schuler (2012) further goes on to denote that human resource management involves the ability of the management to oversee the culture and organizational leadership of the institution, and ensure that the institution complies with the labor and employment laws of a given state. This paper is a reflection of my studies on human resource management. This paper takes a stand that human resource management is an important process that helps in improving the effectiveness and efficiency of an organizations work force. In addressing the objectives of this paper, this reflection will identify the main issue in this field of HR, and thereafter demonstrate the learning that has taken place. This paper will also contain the various incidents that facilitate my processing of learning and understanding of these issues, and it will thereafter identify the future and current implications of the practice of HR in an organization. It also contains a reflection on how skills gained from this class will have an impact on my future career plans. One of the major issues learnt in this class is on the roles of the human resource management in the recruitment, planning, and selection process of the employees of an organization. The human resource department is responsible for recruiting new employees of an organization. From this class, it was in my understanding that the department of human resource management identifies the various skills needed by an organization, after which it develops a plan on how to fill in the skills that the organization does not have. It is important to denote that the major skills and knowledge leant from this section is the process of recruiting and selecting new employees within an organization. From this class, it came to my knowledge that different organizations have different methods of recruiting new employees, and this depends on the size and structure of the organization under consideration. However, there are major elements of the recruitment process that are universal to all organizations, and this includes, profiling the job under consideration, identifying the best way to attract potential employees, a selection process that has an aim of assessing the qualifications and potential of those who have applied, and selecting the most qualified candidate (Werner and Schuler, 2012). It came to my knowledge, that the kind of employees that an organization has can greatly affect the manner in which an organization achieves its objectives and efficiency. On this basis, an organization must have employees who are highly skilled and well motivated, as this will ensure that they produce high quality work. However, it came to my knowledge that getting a skilled employee might be out of reach of an organization, but motivation of employees highly depends on the policies of an organization, and more so the policies initiated by human resource department of an organization. It is important to understand that motivation is an important element that all organizations must implement in case they want their employees to perform efficiently, and effectively. For instance, without motivation, chances are high that employees of an organization will find dissatisfaction with their work. Chances are also high that these employees will also leave the organization, because there are no incentives that can make these employees to continue working for the organization. This is very dangerous to an organization that seeks to achieve efficiency in customer satisfaction. This is because an organization will lose employees who are skillful, and highly experience to rival firms, which offer better motivational policies to the employees under consideration. On this basis, I came to learn on the importance of a good compensation structure, and other benefits that an organization can offer to its employees. One of the roles of the human resource department is to identify a compensation structure that it can offer to its employees. From my understanding, most human resource managers usually offer payments to their employees based on the market price of their services. This is a good strategy, as the employees of the organization will manage to derive value from the services that they offer to an organization. However, if an organization wants to fully retain these employees, the HR department must introduce other benefits other than good compensation of employees. These other strategies include a good appraisal system that also involves the provision of feedbacks regarding the performances of an employee. Others include good working conditions, with reasonable hours of service, opportunities for growth and development within an organization. This types of knowledge is very useful to me, since initially, my own point of knowledge was focused on good compensation structure as the main method of motivation and employee development. I came to realize that money is not the major motivating factor, but how well an employee is satisfied with the job that he or she undertake for the organization. On this basis, I came to understand that the development process of human resource management does not only concentrate on money as a motivating factor, but other methods of improving the skills and welfare of the employees of an organization. These methods include, training employees on how to effectively handle their duties, having a promotional strategy whereby the most efficient employees are rewarded through promotions, or other incentives such as an increase in wage labor (Werner and Schuler, 2012). This new knowledge is so beneficial to me, and it helped me to understand the reasons as to why technological giants such as Google and Microsoft have been able to attract and retain highly talented employees, who are always innovative and efficient in their work. This class also helped me to realize that HR officials are also guided and influenced by external factors while carrying out their duties One external factor is the labor and employment laws that guide and regulate the manner in which the managers of an organization are involved in recruiting and treating employees who are working under them. For instance, the hours and wage bill introduced in 1938 that stipulated a maximum number of hours that employee of an organization should work in a week. This law stipulates that the hours of work an individual should work within a week is 44. There is also the health and safety act, which makes it mandatory for the employers of an organization to introduce safety measures aimed at protecting and preserving the health of its employees. This knowledge to me was very important, as I was able to denote that the government is always a stakeholder in any business organization, and it plays a great role in influencing the manner in which an organization conducts its affairs. For instance, if the HR department of an organization fails to implement and follow these rules, chances are high that the organization might face litigations and lawsuits, emanating from employees who are not satisfied with the policy of the institution (Otto and Dalbert, 2010). To avoid these litigations and lawsuits, it is essential for an organization to follow all the laws that pertain to employee relations and treatment. Other laws include the Wagner act, which is a statute that recognizes the rights of employees in the private sector to form a trade union that can help them to negotiate better conditions of work, and compensation structure (Werner and Schuler, 2012). On this basis, the laws and the regulations established by the government are aimed at protecting employees, and this is because employees are always considered as inferior bargainers, when negotiating employment terms. Another very important issue, and new knowledge that I was able to acquire from this lesson, is the aspect of affirmative action, and equal employment opportunity. It came to my knowledge that this concept of affirmative action and equal employment opportunity was enacted by the government through laws, in response to the widespread inequality of employment and treatment of workers, during the 19th century, and the early years of the 20th century (Werner and Schuler, 2012). On this basis, these laws by the government are aimed at curbing discrimination of employment because of race, religion, sexual orientation, or even gender. Laws such as the equal pay act of 1963, and the Civil Rights Act, outline the various ways in which an organization needs to treat its employees, in regard to employment opportunities, and the compensation and remuneration of employees. The knowledge learnt from this class are totally new to me, and they have been able to impact very valuable human resource development skills within me. For instance, I now have the capability of developing an appraisal system for the employees of an organization, and create a structure that has the capability of efficiently identifying the various skills needed in an organization (Otto and Dalbert, 2010). This class has also helped me, to learn that the activities of Human Resource department are always regulated by both internal and external factors. For instance, in a bid to ensure that an organization achieves success in the manner in which it conducts its affairs, there is a need of introducing good and better motivational practices, that does not only center on good remuneration, but other factors as well. As mentioned earlier, these factors include job satisfaction, feedback on the performances of an employee, opportunities for growth, and good working conditions. It is important to denote that all these issues of human resource management cannot do without one another, and hence they are important (Otto and Dalbert, 2010). These factors, when combined together, they help an organization to meet the objectives of human resource development, which is to increase efficiency, and effectiveness in the manner in which employees of an organization are able to meet the goals and objectives of the organization under consideration. For instance, it is not good for the human resource department to implement the safety, and labor laws to the organization. This is because employees of an organization will be de-motivated, and the organization will be breaking the laws of the state, and it may result to very expensive lawsuits. On this basis, the six major issues of human resource management, must always be followed and implemented. It is also important to understand that these are the current issues that mainly affect the human resource management of the modern times (Otto and Dalbert, 2010). In my work experiences, organizations normally follow the labor laws and rules established by the government, such as the provisions of the Wagner Act, that limit the maximum working hours per week to be 44 (Werner and Schuler, 2012). These organizations are also very conscious in their employment practices, encouraging a diverse work force. In as much as diversity is a concept that is encouraged by the laws, through prohibition of discrimination, organizations have realized that a diverse workforce is advantageous to them, and this is because employees, who came from different backgrounds, normally have different experiences. An organization can use these experiences to its advantage. For instance, an organization that has Blacks and Hispanics as its work force can use these people to market its products to their various communities (Werner and Schuler, 2012). In acquiring these skills and knowledge, there are a number of activities and incidences that I, together with my fellow students engaged in. For instance, we had to attend each and every lecture, in this class. This was aimed at getting information from our professor, and meeting the requirements of the course, in regard to attendances of the lectures. Other activities included engaging in group discussions, with the intention of analyzing case studies of firms that have a successful human resource strategy, and organizations that failed because of poor human resource strategies. I was also involved in library research, perusing through numerous journals and books for purposes of finding relevant information regarding human resource management. In conclusion, I would like to denote that based on the skills acquired from this class, my future career plans include looking for a job in a larger multinational company, such as Apples, Microsoft, or even Coca-Cola. This is for purposes of acquiring more skills in HR, and these organizations are ideal for my vision, because they have a distinguished human resource record, whereby employees working in these organizations are greatly satisfied with their work. Research also proves that these organizations are always able to retain their work force, and this is due to good motivational policies. It is within my belief, that working for such organizations will improve my HR skills, since I will be working for the best. It is also my future aspirations to pursue a higher degree in HR, that is a master’s degree, and if possible, attain a PHD in this field. References: Otto, K., & Dalbert, C. (2010). New challenges for human resource management: readiness to perform a mobile job and its antecedents. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 21(4), 600-614. Werner, S., & Schuler, R. S. (2012). Human resource management (11th ed.). Australia: South- Western Cengage Learning. Read More