Human Resource Roles - Assignment Example

Leading and Managing People Name Course Instructor Date Leading and Managing People Q1. Human resource roles have changed because of the increasing changes in the global landscape. Nowadays, human resource is considered as a support function to leverage the companies towards achievement of their goals (Becker & Huselid, 2006). HR has become a key strategic partner in the operations of businesses. Managers and HR department not only should be thinking about administrative tasks but rather they have to think deeply on ways employees will contribute to the success of the company. Strategic human resource management (SHRM) is not a mere function of the human resource (HR) department because of the changes in the operations of organizations. Pfeffer & Veiga (1999), argue that nowadays, managers and executives are involved in the daily operation of the organization as the role of people has become very crucial in enabling a company to achieve competitive edge. SHRM allows managers to formulate strategies that are able to help them achieve desired goals. The strategies formulated for specific objectives must consider resources available or the number of people available for its implementation. Therefore, it is evident that roles and objectives of strategic human resource management functions have changed. HR department has the role to ensure enough resources, right processes and procedures and human resource when formulating and implementing any strategy. Organizations nowadays, are investing in people because they have realized that having the right members of staff in an organization will contribute to their success. Employees that are valued and appreciated have the zeal and the motivation to work hard and help the organization achieve its goals. SHRM therefore, has realized the value of people in fostering achievement of the goals and objectives of the organization. According to Pfeffer & Veiga (1999), organizations that have succeeded have various similarities such as providing employment security to their employees. They also use self-managed teams, engage in selective hiring, pay well, are decentralized, train their employees, share information, and reduce status differences. Initiatives nowadays have focused on the employees. Organizations are doing their best to provide benefits to their competent employees to help increase productivity and as deterrence to leaving the organization. For instance, reducing status differences in an organization creates a level based organization that enables even the junior staffs to interact and share their opinions and ideas. Through such openness, it becomes easier to learn and to come up with ideas that are able to help them achieve their objectives and goals. In this new world, the traditional functions of HRM such as planning, recruitment, job design, staffing, training and development, appraisal, communications, compensation, benefits and labor relations requires HR to think about how they can be improved to ensure that the organisation achieve a competitive edge. It is no longer recruiting any kind of people, but it is about finding the best methods to recruit candidates that have skills that match with the job requirement. Organizations need to have workers that have the right skills, knowledge, and abilities to implement their strategy. The level of competence is what is emphasized. HR furthermore, must be able to align the people effort with the strategy of the organization by ensuring that they have the right measures, incentives, and rewards in place. For example, a company such as Vodafone has managed to attain success because of aligning the people effort with the strategy of the company. Communications systems, right structures, and policies should also be in place for the organization to record high level of performance. If this is not available the it may become hectic for the company to have good governance, something that is likely to affect on its process (Becker & Huselid, 2006). Leadership and learning is also important to ensure that the company rises above board. The extent to which the organization responds toot the uncertainty and learn and the speed of adapting to a change contribute to competitive edge in a company. Furthermore, SHRM demands that human resource managers understand the goals and strategy to be able to provide their employees with the right skills. Lack of knowledge on the goals of the organization render HR manager ineffective in their duties and it becomes very difficult for them to spearhead positive developments in their organizations. Human resource manager must have an intimate understanding of the competitive business operations and strategies of their organization. This requires that HRM understand various techniques such as outsourcing, reengineering, total quality management, six stigma, change management, proactive and reactive change (Brian, Becker, Huselid & Ulrich, 2002). For instance, HR source should outsource some of its human capital or even their services if this will help the organization achieve its objectives. HR can as well incorporate technology through use of software to facilitate performance and increase productivity. SHRM as well requires testing of strategies using various techniques such as SWOT before eliminating. This testing is important as it allows the organization to adopt the most appropriate strategy that has the greatest potential of succeeding. Q.2 Success in a country civil service is vested in recruiting the rights individuals that have the passion to serve. Civil service in many countries continues to lag behind as private sectors takes the lead. “Content validity’ and other selection tools are useful in selecting capable members of the civil service. The method of selection focuses on the capabilities and the value the candidate is going to bring to the organization. The increased level of efficiency may act as a motivator for many people to consider working in the public services. The method furthermore, is useful because, it allow the right candidate with the right skills, knowledge, and capabilities to be selected to help take the organization forward. Commitment and forward looking personnel are the most important people that have the capacity to transform the organization. Public services can as well attract the attention of the talented pool of staffs that may have interest in working in the public service. The case of Singapore is a good example of a country that has succeeded greatly because of embracing talented and skills persons. The country has managed to transform them because it provides good salary that continues to motivate them to work hard and commit to the government. Using of employer branding and psychological contract in recruiting and selection process has a number of benefits (Jonze & Oster, 2012). However, it is important to understand the concept of employer branding and psychologist contract. The consent of employer branding is gaining approval quickly. Employer branding is the developing of an intended brand identity (Jonze & Oster, 2012). Employers have the desire of achieving competitive edge and to achieve this they must employ different strategies. On the other hand, psychological contract is the perceptions that two people employee and the employer reach. These are mutual agreements that are binding on both parties (CIPD, 2010). Therefore, employers and employees can create a positive working environment that can help them achieve their goals and objectives Employer branding comes with various benefits to the organization. One advantage is that it helps the employer to differentiate employees. The skills and the capability of these employees do vary across them. This therefore, means that some of them may not be valuable to the organization hence; this hastens the process of their replacement. Furthermore, employer branding helps the organization to build economic value for the consumer and the company (Jonze & Oster, 2012).This economic value is achieved through the value or the output that is provided. Employer branding increases the level of attraction of such employees, engagement, and retention initiatives geared at employer brand. It also provides an opportunity for the employer to communicate with employees and in the process; it helps to build loyalty at the same time promoting a clear view that makes the relationship more desirable and different. It also leads to competitive advantage by helping employees to internalize the values of the company as well assist in their retention. Managers can as well use employer branding as a shade to channel their employment recruitment and retention activities to a coordinated human resource strategy (Sokro, E. (2012). On the other hand, psychological contracts have various benefits as well. They ensure fairness in the process enhances communications; appropriate management styles based on participative style and allow meaning of employee attitude. Critical analysis of factors that would limit employees from doing their best and recommending a selection process to pre-empt these factor Besides the selection process, there are other factors which will undermine or limit employees from doing their best. Before deliberating on these factors, is prudent to deliberate on selection process. Selection is a function of HR. the function is important as it ensures that functions are carried out in the organization (Jonze & Oster, 2012). Selection is the process of putting the right people on the right job. It therefore, entails matching the organizational requirements with the qualifications and skills of the people. The impact of selecting the right candidates is exhibited from the exemplary performance of the organization. Other benefits of selecting right candidates are that it saves the organization money and time. Selection process must be well organized to guarantee success (Jonze & Oster, 2012). The process may vary from one organization to another but mostly they begin with a preliminary interview. After this interview then candidates may be tested to assess their written skills and other IQ skills. Medical tests are done to those that succeed. An appointment letter is as well issued to the successful candidates. Selection processes should as well be in tandem with the legislations and the organization policies and procedures. Labour laws and Equally Employment Opportunity Act are some of the important legislations that an organization should consider when recruiting its staffs. It is important for the Human Resource department to ensure that there is equality and representation of the candidates. This is actually highly demanded in the public sector as opposed to private sectors. Besides the section process, other factors may undermine or limit employees from doing their best. These factors include inadequate skills, and training, lack of motivation, lack of training and development initiatives and the passion to work hard and excel in the area. Critical analysis of these factors provides a basis to recommend a suitable selection process to pre-empt these factors (Jonze & Oster, 2012). For instance, an employee that is not motivated cannot add value to the organization. Such an employee lacks the vigor and the passion to work hard. Lack of training and learning opportunities is also likely to affect an employee from doing the best. Many other factors may still deter an employee from doing the best such as lack of passion and laziness that require working out. It is also important to interrogate the reasons behind the poor performance and lack of zeal to understand the situation better. The best selection process to preempt this is to scrutinize the candidates on various attributes so that the right candidates can be replaced. The interview should cover all aspects that are critical to successful completion of the task. For instance, the candidates must have enough skills and capabilities to execute the duties well (Jonze & Oster, 2012). Furthermore, he has to have passion, be, hardworking and self driven and remain dedication to his job. It is also important to carry out an assessment of the current process of selection to gain deeper understanding of where the problem may arise. Just analysis will provide insights on the best way forward. It is also important for the organizations to put in place appropriate policies to ensure that candidates are selected well and have the capabilities to execute their mandate Q.3 Performance management and performance appraisal appear to be similar but this is not the case. Performance management is goal oriented process that focuses on ensuring organizational processes in place are utilized to maximize the productivity of the teams, employees, and the organization. On the other hand, performance appraisal PA is a formal system of review and evaluation of team or individual task performance (Pearsoned.co.uk. (2015). Managers are the ones with the responsibility of ensuring that the review the performance on a continuing basis. From this review, they get to understand the areas that require much attention. Reports from this evaluation as well provide insights on the performance of different departments. One reason why performance management is preferred is a major player that helps entities to accomplish the strategy of the organization as it involves measuring and improving the value of the workforce. It therefore, includes incentive goals and values that ensure that clear understanding of the relationship as well as communication of the same (Bowles & Coates, 1993). Performance management play bigger role compared to performance appraisal that occurs at a specific time. PM is dynamic, and ongoing continuous processes and everybody is an entity is part of PM system. Leaders of big corporations such as Robert Greene, the Chief Executive Officer of Reward Systems Inc concurs that indeed performance management is the single largest contributor to the effectiveness of organization (Pearsoned.co.uk. This therefore means that any entity that would not embrace this concept in their organization will not achieve much. It is therefore, important that organizations take a strategic approach when it comes to performance management. To do this, it requires integration of the vision, mission, and values into their performance management systems. Human resource professionals encounter various appraisal problems when they execute their duties. Some of these problems include lack of cooperation of some of the staffs. This situation makes it very difficult for them to make decisions concerning the performance of staffs (Bowles & Coates, 1993). The leader uses their position to control the overall process, the appraisal becomes judgmental, and hence it lacks value. Therefore, HR may experience such a problem of bad leadership affecting the process. Lack of commitment among the stakeholders is also a challenge that can lead to challenges to execute their mandate. Manipulation and distortion of appraisals by some managers will also affect the process. Appraisals should be objective and accurate to achieve its purpose. However, because of political masking then the process becomes futile. Managers may also give inaccurate information and this is likely to affect the process of appraisal (Bowles & Coates, 1993). HR may end up not succeeding in their endeavors. Conflict of interest is also a challenge that HR may face. People may have different interest in the process and this is likely to cause some challenges (Bowles & Coates, 1993). Poor communication is yet another challenge. Regardless of these challenges, the process can still be improved. One way is to ensure that there is effective communication, 360-degree feedback, performing appraisal training, avoiding biasness, adopting a win-win situation and using user friendly performance appraisal forms. References Becker, B. E., & Huselid, M. A. (2006). Strategic human resources management: Where do we go from here? Journal of Management, 32(6): 898–925. Bowles, M., & Coates, G. (1993). Image and substance: The management of performance as rhetoric or reality? , Personnel Review, 22, 1.19 Brian E., Becker, B. E., Huselid, M. A., & Ulrich, D. (2002). Six key principles for measuring human capital performance in your organization. University of Maryland Working Paper CIPD. (2010). The psychological contract. Retrieved from: http://www.mas.org.uk/uploads/artlib/psychological-contract.pdf Jonze, J., & Oster, H. (2012). Employee branding in Human resource, retrieved from: http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:603822/FULLTEXT02.pdf Pearsoned.co.uk. (2015). chapter 8: Performance management and appraisal, 1-28. Retrieved from: http://catalogue.pearsoned.co.uk/assets/hip/gb/hip_gb_pearsonhighered/samplechapter/02 7375307X.pdf Pfeffer, J., & Veiga, J. F. (1999). Putting people first for organizational success. Academy of Management Executive, 13, 37–48 Sokro, E. (2012). Impact of employer branding on employee attraction and retention, European journal of business and management, 4(18), 164-174. Read More