Individual Human Resource Management - Essay Example

Name: Tutor: Title: Human Resource Management Course: Date: Introduction Human Resource Management (HRM) is considered as the function that enables organizations in achieving their respective goals by recruiting and maintaining effective employees. It involves formulating and implementing policies, practices and systems that determine the attitudes, behaviours and performance of employees in an organization (Armstrong 1999). This implies that HRM plays an integral role of training the workforce so as to ensure that organizations maintain their competitiveness. Taking into consideration that HRM is basically concerned with job analysis, organizing and staffing of workforce, appraising the performance and maintaining of workforce as well as ensuring that reward systems for employees is implemented effectively. It is true that HRM is responsible for developing a human organization that can win within the marketplace. Based on the competitive challenges that currently influence HRM, for instance, the sustainability, global and technological challenges, HRM practices are becoming more critical in organizations. The sustainability challenge requires a company to make its profits without necessarily sacrificing on the resources of its employees, community and environment. It is also to note that the perception of senior management on the value of HR determines the increase in the adoption of high performance HR practices. This creates a positive impact both on human and social capital, where human capital means the knowledge, skills and abilities managed by an organization’s human resources. On the other hand, social capital concerns with the sustainability of existing personal relationships in an organization. Organizations that build sustainable personal relationships, promote employee motivation and work commitments, teamwork as well as sharing knowledge (Fehrs 2013). The need for organizations to go global because of the increased 21st century technological advancements and the associated practices, corporate objectives and communication links has made restructuring a major challenge for HR managers. It is important for HRM to understand how the functions of an organization are globalized across all the levels of an organization but more fundamentally in HR. Depending on different leadership models and the processes undertaken to enable the global working of human resource functions, it seems that HR managers are required to work in conjunction with business leaders to provide HR solutions that can be used to address the issues of global market (Greer 2013). The increased awareness of globalization has made organizations to adopt key innovative practices such as training and development, job flexibility, free flow of information among the workers, incentive pay as well as problem-solving team. For example, Motorola Company operates in different countries such as in China where challenges of getting and hiring the skilled employees are highly experienced. Therefore, people become aware that the manner in which an organization decides on its employment practices determines the performance of its workers (Jahanian et.al 2012, p.253). It is notable that global companies are making the necessary steps to obtain and retain talented employees particularly in emerging markets. For example, companies are shifting to China, India, the Middle East, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. Unfortunately, more talented employees are needed than they are supplied in the labour market. As way of coping up with such problems, therefore, companies are working extra hard to prepare their managers and relatives for tasks in overseas by offering training and development programs to also global employees (Noe et.al 2009, p.45). Initially, the issue of diversity could mean avoiding women and minorities discriminations during the hiring process. However, today’s perception of diversity management requires the HRM to actively appreciate, analyze the various perspectives and ideas that people bring at the workplaces. Diversity is an important aspect in the organization because it makes company teams to develop more creative and effective ways to solving organizational problems. It is important for HRM to ensure that the complementary skills among their team members are well managed, allowing the members to identify and correct one another’s mistakes (Weatherly 2003). From the talent management point of view, it can be noted that a company is required to use various human resource management practices such as acquiring and evaluating employees, performance and compensation management so as to attract, retain, motivate and develop employees who are highly skilled to work for the organization. This task requires HR to ensure that its practices are inter-related and accurately aligned with all the business needs to promote effective management of talent, and thus enabling the organization to meet its business goals (Collings & Mellahi 2009). Studies show that the ability for career growth and development, performing the most challenging work are key indicators that HR managers use to determine the commitment level of employees in engaging with their current employer. However, it is worthy mentioning that slight improvement in the economy tends to make the high-achieving employees to leave companies once they feel to have the needed skills and knowledge to develop or shift to positions they can freely utilize such skills (Fehrs 2013, p.25). Human Resource managers are required to have the appropriate tools, skills and knowledge to leverage employee commitment to as well as engagement in their organization’s Corporate Social Responsibility. Generally, employees prefer to work for such organizations that align with their values. The adoption of CSR into the HR function can act as a roadmap for HR practitioners who are expected to support the achievement of the business aspirations and sustainability of their organizations. Such efforts may include the organization’s commitment to improve the social and environmental conditions both at local and global levels (Strandberg 2009). This means that incorporating CSR into the task of employee management facilitates the recruitment and selection processes in situations of tight labour markets. In the article titled ‘Developing Global Leaders of Tomorrow’, Ashridge (2008, p.10) examines that different HR levers play a crucial role in developing CSR organizational capabilities. These leaders build the CSR capabilities by offering leadership development and career planning programs to their employees. In addition, HR managers use appropriate incentive systems and competence approaches to appraisal the performance of their employees. Organizations are required to develop systems that encourage employees to collaborate in a more effective manner so as to be competitive within the global marketplaces. It is notable that employees in various organizations work in different teams which include customer, cross-functional, self-managed and product teams. A number of successful companies and manufacturing organizations operate through the self-managed work teams. This clearly shows that in such team-based work environments, the ability of employees to work effectively becomes a significant aspect of the job. By depending on their teamwork skills, HRM can decide to select or hire applicants for their organizations (York 2009, p.61). The human resource systems play a crucial role in achieving organizational effectiveness. Research shows that companies succeed in complex market places or hypercompetitive environment not only because of their technological capabilities, access to capital and economies of scale but due to their speed of adaptability and innovation. It cannot be doubted that these two major variables are more related to the human resource functions of the organization. This suggests that organizations should heavily invest in high-performance HR systems. Therefore, effective HR practices must be formulated to enhance the skills of employees as well as their level of commitment to increase organizational productivity. Over and above, organizations should fully utilize these HR practices so as to achieve competitive advantage. This means that effective implementation and appropriate execution of HRM activities is a key indicator of the overall practices and aims of an organization (Jahanian et.al 2012, p.253-55). Social capital has become increasingly important in promoting organizational effectiveness. Studies show that the ability to manage the social capital of an organization is a core competence associated with the knowledge based organizations. Within an organization and across its borders, social capital has been considered a prerequisite for successful organizational adaptability, learning and agility. Initially, the main focus of HR was on achieving human capital where it involved hiring the best people for the job. However, in contemporary knowledge based organizations, the HRM target to hire the most competent people as well as involve them into their value chain. In so doing, the HRM aims to combine the human and social capital of these individuals to generate excellent returns. The fundamental idea that can be noted from this objective is that on-boarding of the new employees requires the HRM to orient these people to the existing knowledge sources and information systems that can enable them to successfully complete their respective tasks or new jobs (Krebs 2008, p.38-39). Strategic human resource management is not only considered as a function of HR department but also involves all managers and executives because employees play a vital role in ensuring that an organization remains on a competitive edge. This implies that organizations can make sustainable profits only if they value their employees. It is vital to mention that successful organizations provide employment security, rely on self-managed teams, undertake selective hiring, train and pay their employees well, discourage status differences and share information. The HRM function is no longer focused on administrative tasks but rather to strategic business partner, employee advocate and the change agent. A shared service model is used in many HR departments to organize the HR functions in terms of centres of expertise, services centres as well as business partners. This model helps the organizations to control costs and enhance their business relevance and adoption of HR practices to win competitive advantage in the marketplace (Lawler 2005). Research shows that organizations which support their human capital through training and development, motivation contributes more to their accounting profits and shareholder value. Therefore, it is clear that competitive organizations manage HR as their strategic assets and evaluate the performance of HR based on their strategic impact on the organization. Effective HRM means adding value to sustain the competitive advantage of an organization through developing employee programs that create significant impact on its businesses in the market place (Becker & Huselid 2006). Human Resource Management and HR professionals in an organization are required to work collaboratively in order to provide innovative solutions to their organizational challenges. Therefore, organizations must ensure that their HR professionals have the required skill-set to resolve complex problems, create productive processes as well as communicate with company’s stakeholders as ways to partner with leadership a win-win. Across the globe, business expansion has become one of the main objectives of contemporary organizations. As a result, HR leaders are expected to work closely with senior leadership purposely to formulate and implement their strategic plans that focus on effective growth, employee retention and engagement, motivation and compensation. Therefore, it is crucial for the HRM to work closely with other departments in the organization to define their strategic values and make innovative initiatives to develop a more agile organization in which HR is considered in the business function. It means that effective HR management can be best achieved through optimum hiring of competent people to execute the tasks that must be accomplished to enable the organization thrive (Greer 2013). Conclusion Based on the above discussions, it can be concluded that the primary function of Human Resource Management is to develop a human organization that can win in the marketplace. HRM plays an integral role of training and developing the workforce so as to ensure that organizations maintain their competitiveness. It is notable that organizations which support their human capital through training and development, motivation achieve more accounting profits and shareholder value. Social capital is important in promoting organizational effectiveness. Competitive organizations manage HR as their strategic assets and evaluate the performance of HR based on their strategic impact on the organization. It is crucial for HRM to understand how the functions of an organization are globalized across all the levels of an organization in particular HR. Successful organizations provide employment security, rely on self-managed teams, undertake selective hiring, train and pay their employees well. Diversity is important in the organization because it encourages company teams to develop more creative and effective ways to solving organizational problems. Generally, employees provide the human capital to their organization as different skills acquired on the job after training and experience. Bibliography Armstrong, M., 1999, A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice (7th edition), Kogan Page Limited. Ashridge, B., 2008, Developing the Global Leader of Tomorrow, Hertfortshire, UK. Becker, B. E & Huselid, M. A., 2006, ‘Strategic Human Resources Management: Where do we go from here?’ Journal of Management, Vol.32, No.6, pp.898–925. Collings, D.G & Mellahi, K., 2009, ‘Strategic Talent Management’, Human Resource Management Review, Vol.19, No.4, pp.304–313. Fehrs, A., 2013, Foundations in Human Resource Management, BoD – Books on Demand. Greer, P., 2013, “HR trends to watch in 2014”, University of Deniver, Retrieved May 14, 2014 from, Jahanian, A, Nawaz, N, Yamin, R & Nawaz, A.M., 2012, ‘HRM and Productivity, European Journal of Business and Management’, Vol.4, No.8, pp.253-261. Krebs, V., 2008, ‘Social Capital as the key to succeeding 21st Century Organizations’, International Human Resource Management Journal, Vol.12, No.5, pp.38-42. Lawler, E. E., 2005, ‘From Human Resource Management to Organizational Effectiveness’, Human Resource Management, Vol. 44, pp. 165–69. Noe, R, Wright, M.P, Gerhart, B & Hollenbeck, J., 2009, Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage, Irwin Professional Pub. Strandberg, C., 2009, The Role of HRM in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Strandberg Consulting. Weatherly, L., 2003, Human capital—the elusive asset; evaluating and managing human capital: A strategic imperative for HR. Research Quarterly, Society for HRM. York, M.K., Applied Human Resource Management: Strategic Issues and Experiential Exercises, SAGE Publications Inc. Read More