For each organization to conduct its operations smoothly, the necessary production resources should be available and well maintained. These include human, money resource, land resource and production materials. Human resource is considered as the most important resource because it controls other resources in the production process. It is also known to have emotional appeal and this makes it the most delicate resource. This makes it very crucial to have considerably good means of effective management of the human resource in each and every organization. A human resource manager famously known as HR manager leads in dealing with issues that affect the available taskforce in the organization.
The main aim of the manager is to strengthen the employee and employer relationship as well as maximizing on the productivity of the human taskforce that is available in the work premises. This aim is therefore supported by a number of functions within the human resource department which are all charged to the human resource manager. Human resource management has its share of shortcomings too. To this effect the manager should do a research on the possible solutions to these problems before they turn to be of great negative impact on the human resource. Various notable changes have occurred in the business environment and to this effect the human resource managers should come up with new mechanisms to cope up with new changes.
Recruitment and selection of the labor taskforce. This is the process of screening and selecting the potential qualified and fit candidates for a particular job. This is usually based on an objective criterion for the job which attracts the qualified applicants (McCabe, 2015). Before this process the companies’ human resource manager must execute proper staffing plans that helps them compute the total number of employees that the organization is going to need for that particular recruitment practice. This is dependent on the factors as the existing annual budget, goals of the organization and the number of taskforce that is currently available. It is worth noting that the human resource manager should be keen on the set procedures in the recruiting process to make sure only the fit candidate is chosen because firing the unqualified candidate and recruiting a new one again is a cumbersome and expensive process (Lazaroiu, 2015).
Orientation of new employees. This is the important step after employee recruitment as it helps the new employee to adjust with the new job, a new employer and new employees. The human resource manager should brief the new employees through the objectives, visions and goals of the organization as well as his required participation, either long term or short term, in the goals of the new organization (Achoui, 2009).
Providing and maintaining good working conditions. It is considered the responsibility of the human resource manager to make sure good working premises are available for the employees to operate on. This performs a big role in improving their morale of the workers hence increasing their productivity (Cascio, 2014). Study has shown that lack of innate motivation may make the employees not to contribute to the interests of the organization as much as they can. Minding the employee welfare also promotes job satisfaction.
Management of employee relations. It is important to note that the employees are the pillars of the organization. Improving the employee relationship is one of the crucial functions of the human resource manager. Fostering good employees’ relations encourages cooperation and this in turn increases their outputs (Tung, 2016). The manager is also advised to know the employee at a personal and professional level. It may help him learn how to promote a healthy and balanced relationship between the employee and the employers as well as learning about the employee’s personal needs, interest and aspirations (Lussier & Hendon, 2017).
Employee training and development. The taskforce of the organization should be subjected to some training procedures in an attempt to improve the performance of the employee. It involves educating and increasing one’s knowledge in a particular subject. It also helps the employees to be well versed in their areas of expertise. They also get acquainted with that particular organization’s work pattern. It also further contributes towards employee motivation and retention (Kuvaas, Buch & Dysvik, 2018).
Career development of the employees. The human resource manager may organize seminars, conferences and trade shows for the employees. This is meant to make them feel a vital part of the organization and this increases the employee engagement (Chelladurai & Kerwin, 2017). The human resource manager identifies the strengths and abilities of the employee and helps them to build on them to their benefit. This also plays a vital role in increasing their production potential.
Employee appraisal. It is the role of the human resource manager to oversee the performance appraisal of the employees. This plays a crucial role in motivation and encouraging them to work to their fullest potential. The appraisal process undertaken should be objective and free and fair. It also avails a feedback for their work so that they can have a clear view on how they are performing in relation to the organization’s expectations (Muscalu, 2015). The appraisal process should be well communicated to the workers so the the feedback on the performance should be clear and to the point.
Formation and maintenance of work culture. It is the function of the human resource manager to make a healthy, safe and fun work environment. This gives a level comfort to the employee and also hinders stress which may negatively affect their performance. It is a proven theory that the human resource production is directly dependent in the environment they operate on (Brewster, Chung & Sparrow, 2016). The employees should feel free to communicate to the administration of the organization. This improves their level of engagement in the organization.
Resolution of work-related conflicts. Once the people in the organization have different opposing views conflicts in the work premises are inevitable. The human resource manager has the right to intervene and map out a solution when a dispute arises between the employees and the management (Albrecht et al., 2015). The judgement made here however should be fair and without discrimination or favor.
Years ago human resource management was considered as any other administrative jobs. However nowadays some changes have come up to improve its effectivity (Werner, 2014). This has been as a result of immense pressure by the organizations to meet their goals as well as their productivity aspirations. To this effect some new trends have been adopted which are as follows;
Renewed focus on productivity. Traditionally resource capacity problems have been solved by recruiting a new workforce. This compromises on quality of the labor and in turn lowers their productivity. There are also many problems faced when coming up with the criteria of determining the best candidate for the job (Anderson, Garavan, & Sadler-Smith, 2014). To solve this the organization comes up with means of improving the productivity of the existing workforce. Incentives such as promotions, motivation, training and development are applied to improve the human resource productivity.
Giving power to the employees. Many organizations are used to the top-down administration method. It limits the innovativeness of the human resource as they are in no position to influence how affairs in the organization are undertaken. In line with the new trend called ‘the consumerism of the HR’ employees have been given the capability to take more initiatives in the operation processes. Communication channels have been improved to improve the coordination between the employees and the management (Bratton & Gold, 2017).
The end of fixed jobs. The tayloristic organization where every employee has a fixed and well defined job often inhibits coordination. Human resource demands flexibility so as to achieve the maximum productivity potential. The employees get to fix their own job as long as the assigned task is accomplished (Hamdan, 2017). They are able to get the job modes which best fit their needs and capabilities. The employee capabilities are also put to consideration when carrying out team tasks.
Application of learning in real time. It has come to attention of many scholars that they spend loads of money and time on classroom training large group of employees on very broad subject which mostly do not have chances of direct application. This has changed as nowadays big chunks of materials are broken to small digestible units. It has also made the employees to have an easy time selecting the areas they want to specialize in based on their abilities, needs and interests. The learning has also evolved to more practical methods so as to familiarize the potential human resource with the real task environment (Brewster & Hegewisch, 2017).
Introduction of hospitality in the human resource service. In the past the human resource operations have been highly undervalued. This has however been upgraded as nowadays the new breed of human resource has come up with professionals who can run even service operations. In these services both information technology and hospitality are equally important. Nowadays the human resource management departments in the recruitment process also consider more of the positive candidates to take up positions in the organization (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014).
Due to the increased emphasis on productivity, there has been increased pressure on the employees to perform considerably well. The performance targets have been set high and it has been the role of the human resource to put an extra effort to achieve those targets.
Giving employees the mandate to participate in the decision making have improved their status in the organization. The perception has shifted from being submissive servants of the subordinates to an improved position of determining how affairs operate in the organization.
The application of the system of the real-time study education system has greatly shifted the perspective of the human resource. Formerly education was seen as a stage of the young potential workers to show how they are fit for the job. The new focus is that the young students learn only what is useful to them and relevant to their future careers. This has changed the perspective of education to a life preparation process where the young potential workers are armed with skills they will need in the future in their occupations.
In its operations, however, human resource management has its share of challenges which are as follows;
Compliance with the changing laws and regulations. The organizations human resource department witness many new laws which they have to conform to in their operations so as to cope up with the new trends. There are also threats of possible audits and lawsuits which may even lead to the demise of the organization (Clardy, 2008).
Changes in the organization’s top management. Once the organization expands, its strategies, structure and the internal processes need to grow with it. Sometimes some of these changes may be so complex that the human resource may find it hard to comply with them. This may reduce their morale and this may in turn greatly reduce their productivity during the process of transition.
Training and development of the workforce. Investing in the training of the low level employees in the organization may sometimes prove to be a hard task. One of the reasons is that much resources are required in organizing the training processes in form of training seminars and evaluation processes (Storey, 2014). The other reason is that the employees carrying out the front-line tasks in the organizations may not have an enough time to take a training course.
Adapting to the new technological advancements and innovations. Nowadays the technology is rapidly changing (Bailey, Mankin, Kelliher & Garavan, 2018). The organizations have to catch up with the changes failure to which they may get overtaken by their competitors. It can be expensive in the initial introduction as even the labor force needs to be trained on how to effectively use them in the organization’s operations.
Structuring the employee compensation. Determining how much an employee is supposed to be earning in relation to his or her task as well as the participation in the organization’s goals has proved to be a big challenge to the human resource managers. Various factors have to be considered during budgeting for the payrolls which include; cost of benefits, training, taxes and operational expenses.
Selection of best fit candidates during employee recruitment. Sometimes it is difficult to objectively and accurately determine the competency of the candidates in line with the job being applied for. Employees’ competency can only be determined after they have worked for a certain period of time. It is also difficult for the organizations to attract the talented employees. It may be a huge investment of time and money (Chelladurai & Kerwin, 2017).
Retaining the talented employees. Nowadays competition for experienced and skilled employees if very fierce. Retaining them may involve high compensation budgets and expensive retirement plans which other big organizations offer to them. This may result to employee turnover which is very expensive and can negatively affect the business growth and taint its reputation (Hom, Lee, Shaw& Hausknecht, 2017).
Workplace diversity. The human resource in the organizations come from different generations. They also have different ethnic and cultural value. This initiates various ideological diversities which is a major challenge to the human resource manager. There is a high risk of conflicts which may interfere with the normal operations of the organization (Briscoe, Tarique, & Schuler, 2012). It may also endanger the physical and psychological safety of the employees in the organization.
Ageing of the skilled workforce. The experienced labor force in the organization may grow to reach the legal retirement age. It becomes difficult for the management of the organization to get a fit replacement for them in time and this may lower the productivity of the organization (Saumure & Shiri, 2008).
Outsourcing of human resource may also negatively affect the organization’s operation. In as much as it optimizes performance in specialization, it may inhibit the founded values previously applied in the organization. The outsourced firm may also get to learn the delicate secrets of the organizations which may be hazardous if they get to the wrong hands for example the competitors.
There is also much pressure for strategic involvement of the human resource department in the organization’s operations. When challenges concerning the employee’s affairs occur the human resource department is on the hot seat. An example is when there is a breach of the safety of the employees or failure to come up with amicable solutions.
A certain scholar once said that once your keenly study the problem the solution presents itself. The above challenges can be solved by carrying out the following measures;
Creating a culture of teamwork and respect among the employees. This helps to keep the work environment positive and productive and solves the situations of diversity. There are minimal conflicts in the workplace and if they occur they can be simply and amicably solved. The management also sets their preferred standards of behavior which must be followed by all the employees for uniformity.
To get the most fit candidates for selection, the organizations can give a specialized staffing company to conduct recruitment. This helps to save on time used in selection and there is also a higher level of guarantee of selecting competent workers. The staffing company may market the organization in efforts to attract talented candidates to the organization.
The organization can form an effective system for awarding employees for their excellence in the performance. This motivates the employees and they feel that their participation in the organization is being appreciated by the management. It helps in retaining them in the organization and this reduces the turnover levels.
The organization should take time and resources to train the employees on the new work procedures as well as the new production technologies. This makes them adapt fast to these changes in the operations environment.
The management can offer online training of the employees. This new system enables them to study and their own time to improve their skills (Brewster et al., 2004). It also saves on the training expenses.
The organizations should communicate the changes being introduced in the organization as well as their benefits. This settles the challenge of resistance to changes as the employees get psychologically prepared.
Conclusion:
In accordance to research, it has been found out that the human resources tally up to 80 percent of the organization’s assets. It means that it is the most crucial of the production resources. To build a team of professionals, it is important to have an equally competent and well managed human resource department. It is the role of the human resource manager to see to it that the human resource in the organization is productively utilized and protected from the factors which may affect its operations.
References:
Bratton, J., & Gold, J. (2017). Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.
Armstrong, M., & Taylor, S. (2014). Armstrong’s handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers.
Chelladurai, P., & Kerwin, S. (2017). Human resource management in sport and recreation. Human Kinetics.
Albrecht, S. L., Bakker, A. B., Gruman, J. A., Macey, W. H., & Saks, A. M. (2015). Employee engagement, human resource management practices and competitive advantage: An integrated approach. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 2(1), 7-35.
Brewster, C., Chung, C., & Sparrow, P. (2016). Globalizing human resource management. Routledge
Muscalu, E. (2015). Human resources in the organization and their motivation. Scientific Bulletin” Mircea cel Batran” Naval Academy, 18(1), 351.
Hamdan, E. S. H. (2017). Influence Communication and Culture Organization Motivation Impact on Employee Performance Regional General Hospital Sukoharjo district. eAbstract Excellent, 3(1).
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Cascio, W. F. (2014). Leveraging employer branding, performance management and human resource development to enhance employee retention.
McCabe, D. (2015). Industrial relations, human resource management or Japanization?: a longitudinal case study of organizational change in the auto-components manufacturing sector (Doctoral dissertation, University of Wolverhampton).
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Storey, J. (2014). New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals). Routledge.
Brewster, C., & Hegewisch, A. (Eds.). (2017). Policy and practice in European human resource management: The Price Waterhouse Cranfield survey. Taylor & Francis.
Gooderham, P. N., Nordhaug, O., & Ringdal, K. (2009). Institutional and rational determinants of organizational practices: Human resource management in European firms. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(3), 507-531.
Saumure, K., & Shiri, A. (2008). Knowledge organization trends in library and information studies: a preliminary comparison of the pre-and post-web eras. Journal of information science, 34(5), 651-666.
Bailey, C., Mankin, D., Kelliher, C., & Garavan, T. (2018). Strategic human resource management. Oxford University Press.
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Lussier, R. N., & Hendon, J. R. (2017). Human resource management: Functions, applications, and skill development. Sage publications.
Briscoe, D., Tarique, I., & Schuler, R. (2012). International human resource management: Policies and practices for multinational enterprises. Routledge.
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