Human Resource Management Issues - Term Paper Example

?Human Resource Management Issues Introduction Human resource management (HRM) is critically important for accurate functioning of any organization as it addresses the needs and evaluates the performance of the human resource, which is indeed, the most important resource of every organization. HRM covers a wide range of activities (Patrick, John, and Peter, 2008) that include but are not limited to diversity and equal employment opportunity, job analysis and designing jobs, planning and recruiting of human resources, selection and testing of employees, training and development of employees, assessing and managing employees' performance, compensation of human resources including the pay structure, pay for performances, and benefits, and managing human resources on a global scale. In the course of performing these activities, HRM faces a lot of challenges. This term paper provides a comprehensive insight into the challenges commonly faced by HRM in each of the aforementioned activities. Issues of Human Resource Management Diversity and Equal Employment Opportunity Diversity as well as equality has played an important role not only in legislation and policies developed, but it has been demonstrated that it contributes to a business success (Foot, 2011). A diverse workforce allows for a wider pool of possible employees and can increase the chance of finding the best match for a job position. Similarities can be found within the legislation of several countries with regard to equality. The Equality Act 2010 UK (although sometimes considered as controversial) and the Civil Rights Act 1964 US are just some examples of legislation enforced to ensure equality at the workplace. The most common characteristics, which are protected, are age, sex, race, religion or belief, pregnancy and disability (Noe, 2011). Yet, one has to bear in mind that Equal Employment Opportunity “does not mean preferential treatment for one individual over another” (Bernardin, 2011, p.84) due to the above-mentioned characteristics. Hiring a person solely on the ground of him or her belonging to a minority while rejecting a more qualified applicant can also be considered as discrimination. In order to work within the law, any Human Resource practice has to evaluate internal policies and adjust documents and actions so they are compliant and do not show some kind of discrimination. However, equality does not only play a role during recruitment; a good equality policy can attract future employees, creates a framework on acceptable behavior and in turn can ensure that employees are treated fairly (Foot, 2011). Job Design and Analysis “Job design determines the way in which work should be performed which, in turn, affects the degree of authority of an employee over the work; the scope of decision-making by the employee; the number of tasks an employee has to perform; and employee satisfaction” (icmrindia.org, 2012). Job analysis is a detailed study of the scope of work and roles and responsibility of the employee in that position. Job designing and analysis is not much of an issue in a stable work environment. However, HRM faces challenges when the organizational culture is dynamic and the top management frequently makes changes in the organization structure in its attempt to change the system for the better. Planning and Recruiting of Human Resources Planning and recruiting is a very technical task and demands considerable effort on the part of the HRM. Before advertising any vacancy, the HRM needs to identify the skills’ gap in the existing organizational workforce, the job role and responsibilities of the prospective employee, the method of recruiting, analysis of the results, and integration of the new employee into the existing organizational culture and setup. To identify the roles and responsibilities of the new employee, the HRM needs to conduct a detailed study and may require input from the existing workforce. Designing of the method of recruiting is another very complicated and extremely important task because this is the only time and way to judge the qualification and eligibility of the interested candidates upon the standards of the organization. Selection and Testing of Human Resources The selection and testing of employees is very important and technical work. HRM needs to identify the right ways to judge the skills of the interested candidates depending upon the job design and analysis. To have a detailed insight into the employees’ skills, HRM needs to find sufficient time for detailed testing, which is hard to achieve. One wrong decision made while recruiting can result in the hiring of an incompetent employee that costs the organization a lot of direct and indirect costs in terms of lost productivity, firing, and reselection of another competent employee. Training and Development of Human Resources In the contemporary age, training and development of the human resources is critically important because organizational are frequently implementing changes in strategies. For example, incorporation of the latest technology in the workplace requires customization of the employees’ skills to enable them to use it. Therefore, the HRM does not only need to define the budget for such training and skills’ development programs, but also arrange such programs for the employees frequently. Developing teamwork in the employees during training and otherwise is yet another issue that HRM faces. “In America, our institutions such as schools, our family structures, and our pastimes emphasize winning, being the best, and coming out on top. Workers are rarely raised in environments that emphasize true teamwork and collaboration” (Heathfield, 2012). Teamwork itself generates many problems. For example, “As knowledge moves through a network of collaborators, the organizational system becomes more dynamic and moves further away from equilibrium” (Jackson et al., 2006, p. 38), whereas the responsibility of achieving the lost balance again rests on the shoulders of the HRM. Assessment and management of Human Resources' Performance Assessment and management of the performance of the human resources poses a multitude of challenges for the HRM. On one hand, HRM assumes the prime responsibility of judging the performance of every employee serving in the organization and make the decision regarding the rewards or penalties. On the other hand, they need to keep all the employees satisfied which is hard to achieve when the HRM’s decision is not as per the expectations of the employees. Keeping the employees motivated is only one part of the story. An equally significant and important part is to keep the employees from getting demotivated. There are a whole range of factors that inculcate demotivation in the employees, which directly reflects in their declined efficiency in work and declined productivity. For example, performance evaluation has a direct impact on the level of motivation of the employees. Although it takes HRM very strict supervision of the employees’ performance and a lot of time to decide the rewards and penalties for the individual employees, yet even the employees who get rewarded might not be very pleased with the reward, let alone those who are penalized. As the equity theory of motivation asserts, employees tend to compare their achievements with other employees who are equally skilled and have the same cadre. If an employee finds that he is working harder than other, whereas the other employee gets a higher increment on the salary after performance evaluation by the HRM, the first employee loses interest in the work even if he got some increment. Compensation of Human Resources Motivation of the employees is the most important driver of their productivity. Various theories of motivation have been proposed to date that include but are not limited to the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, equity theory of motivation, and ERP theory of motivation. Each of these theories tends to identify the needs of employees and suggests unique and contrasting ways to motivate the employees. It is hard for the HRM to decide which theory to follow while designing strategies to enhance employees’ motivation. In addition to that, every employee’s needs, interests, and preferences vary from those of the others. Not all employees are motivated by the same kind of compensation. For some employees, a good salary is more valuable than good position in the organization, whereas for others, such benefits as car and accommodation are more worthy as compared to good salary. In order to identify the right way to compensate the employees, HRM needs to do the psychological study and analysis of each and every individual that makes part of the organizational workforce. What complicates the matter further is that an individual’s preferences, likes and dislikes keep changing over the passage of time. An employee who valued good salary in the start of the career may undervalue it as compared to a higher status in the organization after few years. Therefore, the HRM not only needs to identify the employees’ needs, but also keep pace with the speed and way they modify and change. While it may be relatively simpler to achieve in small-scale businesses and informal organizations, it is particularly more complicated to achieve when the brick and mortar businesses transform into online businesses thus reducing the HRM’s personal interaction with the individual employees on daily basis. In addition to that, in the contemporary age, when the organizations need to incorporate latest technology and introduce changes in the organizational culture frequently, it becomes very challenging for the HRM to keep pace with the changing needs of the employees. For example, an employee who valued accommodation in the brick and mortar business may change his preference to a higher salary when the business becomes online. Management of Human Resources on a Global Scale HRM in the multinational companies is even more complex than in the companies that operate in just one country. Different countries have different cultures that affect the organizational culture differently. The HRM not only needs to understand the cultural impacts of different countries, but also be effective enough to address the individualistic needs of all branches simultaneously. The CEO of Lenovo which is the third-largest computer manufacturing company in the world, William J. Amelio throws light on the issues of managing the human resources on a global scale, “You operate as if there's just one time zone, and you're always on” (Amelio cited in alliedworldwide.com, 2011). Conclusion HRM is a very challenging and demanding job. Activities included in HRM include but are not limited to management of diversity and equal employment opportunity, job design and analysis, planning and recruitment of human resources, selection and testing of Human Resources, their training and development, assessment and management of their performance, their compensation, and addressing their needs on a global scale. While performing these activities, the HRM faces a wide array of challenges. One factor that particularly complicates HRM is the dynamic nature of the contemporary workplace and the need of constant change and modification of the organizational culture and systems. To be successful, HRM needs immense support and cooperation of the top management. References: alliedworldwide.com 2011, IT Outsourcing and Consulting Insights Blog, [Online] Available at http://www.alliedworldwide.com/it-outsourcing-consulting-insights-blog/it-sourcing/strategic-human-resource-management-on-global-scale/ [accessed: 16 October 2012]. Bernardin, HJ 2010, Human Resource Management: An Experiential Approach, New York: McGraw-Hill. Foot, M and Hook, C 2011, Introducing Human resource Management, Harlow: Prentice Hall. Heathfield, SM 2012, How to Build a Teamwork Culture, [Online] Available at http://humanresources.about.com/od/involvementteams/a/team_culture.htm [accessed: 16 October 2012]. Jackson, SE, Chuang, C, Harden, EE, and Jiang, Y 2006, Toward developing human resource management systems for knowledge-intensive teamwork, Research in Personnel and Human Resource Management, Vol. 25, pp. 27-70. icmrindia.org 2012, Case Studies and Management Resources, [Online] Available at http://www.icmrindia.org/courseware/Intro%20to%20Hrm/hrm-DS5.htm [accessed: 16 October 2012]. Noe, RA, Hollenbeck, JR, Gerhart, B, and Wright, PM 2011, Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Patrick, W, John, P, and Peter, B 2008, The Oxford Handbook of Human Resource Management, Oxford Handbooks. Read More