Human Resources Development - HRD - Report Example

Human Resources Development-HRD Feb. 25, Human Resources Development- HRD Role of human resource development A human resource development in any organization is crucial for the organization to run effectively, realize its predetermined and upcoming goals, and ensure that the efficiency of the organization is at top notch. Concerning this case, human resource development is a department that oversees the operations of an organization from a technical, critical, and practical angle for the organization and execution of all tasks found therein. Hence, it is critical importance to understand the roles that human resource management has in any organization, which make it all the more important for the development of the organization in question. One of the major roles of human resource management in an organization is staffing as no single organization is in a position to run its operations without employees, both fully functional and support staff. As such human resource development sees the recruitment and selection of human resources, read employees, into the organization. This occurs after human resource development runs planning for human resources where they determine the employees required to meet the goals and achieve set targets for the organization. Recruitment involves attracting qualified applicants for a job that exists in the organization and the qualifications should meet the job description, while selection involves human resource management selecting from the qualified applicants that are best suited (“Introduction to human…”, n.d.). The other role of human resources is orientation into an organization where after hiring; an employee is expected to familiarize himself or herself with the organization and its functions and operations. In this case, human resource development plays its role in orientation, where it acquaints its employees with aspects of the organizations so that the employee is comfortable in the organization and ready to work based on the information that is passed on to him or her during this process. Human resource development provides information on the basics and other information that an employee collects and creates in the process of working in then organization, but most of it is the basics that are provided at orientation (“Introduction to human…”, n.d.). The third important role of human resource development is training and development, where it provides employees with skills and knowledge to perform their tasks and fulfill their duties responsibly and as per organizational objectives. In this role, human resource development provides training for new employees who lack in experience and also provide training for employees with experience, but whose jobs are dynamic in that they are undergoing change. Currently, HRM roles are influenced by technology and outsourcing practices that some organizations apply to improve efficiency. One role under the influence of both outsourcing and technology is staffing which is affected by technology in that after assessment and planning of human resources, certain members may not be required or certain members of staff may require to have more than basic technological knowledge to oversee operations in the organization. In relation to outsourcing, staffing is also influenced by outsourcing in that some organizations tend to reduce their costs of operation by eliminating the process of recruitment and selection. They do this by using other contractors who run this important task for them leaving them to select the best suited employees as per the organization’s human resource planning and job descriptions. In recent times, the role of training is becoming important following the dynamism of workplace and the rapid change in technological application increasing the need for training and creating acquaintance with new knowledge and skills. Strategic Human Resource Management Strategic human resource management is crucial in every organization as it determines the success or failure of the organization based on a number of factors that include the goals of the organization, the staff, and the integration of the two into operations. As such, strategic human resource management ensures that staffing is based on the goals of the organization such that every member of staff understands his or her role in the organization and what he or she must do to see the organization succeed (Purcell, 2005). In addition, integrating staff and goals acts as part of strategic human resource management in that employees are recruited and selected based on being the best suited to the goals and expectations of the organization and an adequate number of employees is selected for efficiency (Bratton, n.d.). Concerning efficiency, strategic human resource management is aimed at increasing productivity and cutting back on wastage of human and other resources by employees. As a result, being strategic sees increases in productivity, reduced wastage, and improved commitment to the job for the success of the organization. Gender Based Discrimination Gender based discrimination in most cases is viewed or perceived to be limited only to sexual harassment. However, there are other forms of gender based discrimination and are commonly perpetrated against one gender more than the other, which in this case refers to discrimination against women more than men. One such case of gender-based discrimination is the availability of work that is meant for women, where women are unable to find employment opportunities in conventional work places by virtue of being women, but not because they lack qualification. This form of discrimination goes on further to the extent that in cases when women find work in organizations, they are not at an equal status as the men in similar positions and they are regarded as being lesser than the men. They are also hired as part timers instead of full-timers as is the case of men making gender based discrimination a rampant event in work places. In addition, another form of gender-based discrimination in workplaces is termination or suspension of pregnant women without pay when they are on maternity leave. This case sees women treated as being less compared to their male counterparts for going through natural processes of being pregnant. However, there are laws in place to counter these events of gender-based discrimination, such that there is the equal pay act of 1963 to see that all workers in the same level receive the same amount of pay regardless of being male or female. There is also the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 that bars discrimination of women who are pregnant in the workplace (NAPW, n.d.). Traditional Work Schedules Excluding the conventional work schedules of full-time and eight-hour day, there are other schedules that are applied in the work place, and these schedules have gained popularity in recent times. One such schedule is the flextime, where an employee can vary easily and arbitrarily the time they arrive at and leave from work, but all this is based on the guidelines or the parameters that the firm or organization has set (Kossek and Michel, n.d.). This is aimed at allowing employees suit their workplace and time to suit their own needs and the organizational guidelines are set so that the organization dos not lose out due to wastage. As such, the organization sets a time at which everyone should have arrived at work, and another time at which no one should leave before, as well as maximum working time. Flex time also allows employees to vary their daily schedules, where they are set to work for specific hours a week and can cram them into certain days and have others free. Another alternative work schedule is the contingent work schedule, where an employee does not implicitly, or explicitly contract for long-term employment (Kossek and Michel, n.d.). This work schedules has its minimum hours of working varied irregularly, where seasonal, temporary in-house and freelance workers are employed. The reason for the rise in popularity for these plans is the availability of flexibility for workers in that their job requirements meet their personal requirements in terms of time. As such, employees can plan their time to do both personal errands and work place with ease and without fear of losing their jobs as they can always make up for lost time. Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment Job satisfaction is a term used to refer to a pleasant and constructive passionate state ensuing from the appraisal of an employee’s job or job capability, where one perceives his or her as being satisfying by being comfortable. As such, an employee finds the details and an operation involved in the job enjoyable, and is comfortable doing them. On the other hand, organizational commitment refers to the strong desire to remain as part of or as a member of a certain organization, as well as having an inclination to employ high levels of determinations on behalf of the organization for which one works (Tella, Popoola and Ayen, 2007). Having a satisfied and committed workforce works to the benefit of the organization in that it allows for the employer to achieve maximum productivity or aspects of productivity in high yield. This is because a committed workforce knows what it takes to succeed and they understand that any failure by the organization is a failure on their part. As a result, the employees ensure that profits are made and that they do not pay the consequences of slacking at work or not doing their best, which leads to high turnover. References “Introduction to Human Resource Management and Environment ‘ (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.mu.ac.in/myweb_test/M.Com.%20Study%20Material/Human%20Res.%20Management%20-%20M.%20Com%20-%20I.pdf Bratton, J. (n.d.) . Strategic human resource management. Retrieved from http://www.palgrave.com/business/brattonandgold/docs/bgcha02.pdf Kossek, E. and Michel, J. (n.d.). In press. Flexible Work Schedules. In S. Zedeck (Ed.), APA Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology. Vol. 1, Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. http://ellenkossek.lir.msu.edu/documents/finalsept8newdoc.pdf National Advocates for pregnant women-NAPW. (n.d.). Guide to Pregnancy Discrimination in Employment. Retrieved from http://advocatesforpregnantwomen.org/06CFinalDraft.pdf Purcell, J. (2005). Business strategies and human resource management: uneasy bedfellows or strategic partners? University of BATH Retrieved from http://www.bath.ac.uk/management/research/pdf/2005-16.pdf Tella, A., Popoola, S. O. and Ayen, C. O. (2007). Work Motivation, Job Satisfaction, and Organisational Commitment of Library Personnel in Academic and Research Libraries in Oyo State, Nigeria. Retrieved from http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~mbolin/tella2.htm Read More