Category: HRM

Introduction

• Knowledge management is a part of a project that defines its success and is related directly to human resource management (HRM).
• HRM is a process of allocating the existing human resources and assigning staff specific roles and responsibilities (Obeidat, Masa’deh, & Abdallah 2014).
• Organizational commitment is staff’s loyalty to the company, according to Neyestani et al. ( as cited in Obeidat, Masa’deh, & Abdallah 2014).
• Causal links exist between KM strategies and HR processes.

Agenda

• The choice of an HR strategy defines the further organizational behaviour (OB) patterns;
• The OB patterns shape the process of information management in a firm;
• The KM approach used by an organization determines its position in the global market;
• It is essential that links between KM and HRM should be established, which Obeidat, Masa’deh, and Abdallah (2014) address in their article.

Objectives and Methodology

• Obeidat, Masa’deh, and Abdallah (2014) attempt at establishing a connection between the HRM strategies, the concept of organizational commitment, and the KM process with the help of quantitative research;
• A questionnaire with 54 questions was distributed with the help of random sampling among 220 Jordan consultancy companies;
• The quantitative study is carried out in the workplace setting shows that the constructs ranging from 0.90 to 0.95 affected 50% of variance. Therefore, the study has proven that there is a strong correlation between the variables.

Hypotheses

• Hypothesis A: There is a link between the application of HRM approaches and organizational KM processes.
• Hypothesis B: There is a link between HRM and organizational commitment.
• Hypothesis C: There is a link between organizational commitment and KM-related issues in a company.

Reward Systems

In order to maintain a solid KM system, the company leader will have to introduce incentives that will encourage the staff to accept the new KM and OB patterns.

Commitment in an Organization

• Organizational commitment is crucial to the process of integrating the KM system based on knowledge sharing in an organization (Obeidat, Masa’deh, & Abdallah 2014);
• Knowledge management hinges on the relationships between the staff members; therefore, the incorporation of the principles of knowledge sharing will have to be supported by the promotion of commitment among the staff;
• The efficacy of KM enhancement depends on the commitment type.

KM Processes in an Organization

• Organizational commitment Enhancing:
  • KM with OC involves shaping people’s values and ethical standards;
• Knowledge management:
  • KN is launched once the staff starts acquiring and processing information.

Organizational Memory

• Organizational memory (OM) is often viewed as an impressive competitive advantage;
• A memory problem known as corporate amnesia and meaning a memory loss occurs to companies often, thus, preventing the KM processes from occurring;
• OM allows the staff to identify and remember specific patterns of OB, therefore, being an important tool in the HRM system;
• Modern tools such as data centres can be used to enhance OM.

Knowledge-Oriented HR Systems

• Knowledge-oriented HR systems (KOHRS) help improve the overall performance of the staff;
• KOHRS enhance teamwork in any organizational setting;
• KOHRS focus on the issues such as staff training and career development, therefore, appealing to the employees and convincing them to adopt desirable organizational behaviour patterns;
• KOHRS emphasize the importance of a proper use of information when distributing responsibilities among the company’s employees.

Knowledge Sharing in an Organization

• Knowledge sharing is crucial to the organizational, economic and financial well-being of a company;
• Adopting the knowledge sharing approach is crucial in the environment of the global market that any company is forced to operate in nowadays;
• Knowledge sharing allows improving the HR processes, as it helps distribute roles and responsibilities among the staff adequately.

Organizational Commitment and KM

• Organizational commitment is defined as “the strength of an individual’s identification and involvement with a particular organization” (Obeidat, Masa’deh, & Abdallah 2014, p. 11);
• Organizational commitment can be used as the basis for developing the OB patterns that the staff will need to acquire to follow the KM system suggested by the company;
• Organizational commitment is categorized as affective, continuance, and normative commitment.

Promoting Knowledge Sharing

• Knowledge sharing (KS) is an essential part of the process of improving the HRM processes in an organization;
• KS promotes an efficient distribution and analysis of the information retrieved in the course of the company’s operations;
• KS is a significant part of the KM, which requires that the company’s operations should be based on the principles of transparency.

Conclusion

• On the surface, HR and KM may be viewed as unrelated;
• However, There is a strong link between KM, HRM approaches and OC (hypotheses A-C confirmed);
• KM helps increase commitment rates among the staff by promoting a specific model of OB for employees to follow;
• The incorporation of HR practices, organizational commitment and KM into the general HRM framework will help improve the staff’ performance significantly by introducing them to new ideas of OB.

Reference List

Obeidat, B Y, Masa’deh, R M d‘T & Abdallah, A B 2014, ‘Human resource management practices, organizational commitment, and knowledge management processes’, InternationalJournal of Business and Management, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 9–26.

Introduction

Recently, companies have started paying more regard to the HR function within the organizational structure. It has finally taken a seat at the firm’s decision-making table and has been promoted from a partner to an equally important and powerful player (Lasserre, 2017). The main objective of moderating the HR function is to positively influence a company’s success – its climate, culture, strategy, and strategic capabilities. It is essential that a company understands that an HR’s fundamental role within the structure entails both human interaction and legal and professional/ ethical standards. As a responsibility, monitoring behavior is surely assigned to other firm functions as well. However, Enron and other recent scandals have shown that without a strong HR department, a company may find it difficult to adhere to legislation (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2017).

The HR function needs to analyze these issues and come up with a viable decision as to how to reward employees and motivate them to serve the company’s goals. At that, honesty and personal integrity are highly appreciated, at least in theory. In practice, however, the HR function is often forced to “dance with the devil” and compromise its standards and principles (Sun, Robinson, & Polowczyk, 2018). Disagreements over human resource management are frequent and natural, and yet, many specialists do not know exactly how to approach them. They do not want to jeopardize their careers over one conflict and prefer to refrain from intervening (Sparrow, Brewster, & Chung, 2016).

HR professionals are often confronted with difficult decisions that might lead to a conflict of interest if picking a side means favoring one stakeholder other another. The question arises as to how the company can foster and encourage decision-making operating on professional judgment and courage. Only by ensuring this, can the organization move in a direction that would yield the best results in the long perspective and heed the interests of its most important critical constituencies and investors. The only way that HR professionals can resolve these seemingly intractable dilemmas is by reminding themselves that they should prioritize customers and stakeholders over top management (Cascio, 2015). The understanding that managers are not their primary customers can change an HR professional’s work ethic for the better (Rahim, 2017).

In the case of Enron, WorldCom, and others, HR and non-HR employees have felt impelled to become whistle-blowers. Such frankness is rare because few are willing to risk the consequences of informing the emperor that he or she is wardrobe-challenged. Confronting wrongdoing can lead to being shunned for disloyalty or being terminated. Issues of frankness and openness go to the heart of an organization’s culture. Without them, the level of trust seldom reaches the point where an organization can exercise its fiduciary responsibilities as expected by external stakeholders. When indicted executives deny knowledge of any wrongdoing within their corporation, is this merely an exercise in survival or a sign of the lack of internal organizational frankness? In either case, the public’s trust in such organizations suffers.

We believe that the senior HR executive’s most fundamental organizational responsibility lies in creating a culture that encourages the frankness and openness needed to gain customer and investor trust. The process begins by identifying and modeling the appropriate behavior for the firm and its workforce, as well as designing systems and practices that clarify behavioral standards, search out and deter behaviors that violate the public’s trust and reward those behaviors in the organization’s best interest. This responsibility demands the ultimate focus, courage, and skill of HR professionals. The behaviors in question can be broken into three broad areas. The most straightforward is lawful behavior, where it is generally easier to determine what is “in bounds” and what is not. Violations of laws relating to environmental pollution, racial or sexual discrimination, or wages and hours are usually clear and must be brought to the attention of top management. HR has a fiduciary responsibility to ensure laws are followed. Failure to do so puts the firm in legal jeopardy.

A more challenging and complex HR concern is the organization’s financial measurement and reward systems. While these are intended to reward deserving leadership, poorly designed reward systems can lead executives to “cook the books.” There have been several recent revelations that raise questions about a firm’s integrity and leadership. In such instances, the HR professional may need to go outside the firm to further the best interests of customers and investors.

The root cause of the problem may lie with the person to whom the HR professional reports or even with the parent company or board of directors. A different HR challenge occurs when leaders turn to HR to bail out senior executives who are prima facie legal violators in order to “protect” the organization. This puts the senior HR professional in jeopardy, risks the sting of future litigation (as well as loss of the firm’s public trust), and may encourage further violations and thus additional litigation. Such circumstances can put HR leaders in the position of choosing between the interests of customers and investors and the demands of executives. At this point, the HR professional may conclude that it is time to “bet their job.” There are instances in which HR professionals may decide to put their jobs on the line to ensure legal compliance.

The second behavioral area pertains to ethics, the complex system of values, ideals, standards, and beliefs that is characteristic of a certain group such as a professional association or community (Newton & Mazur, 2016). Ethical issues are often challenging to deal with: at times, a conflict is not legal in nature and does not violate any actual policies. However, it concerns the notions of right and wrong and if unaddressed, can wreak havoc on an organization and demoralize its employees. Moreover, were it to gain publicity, the said ethical conflict could compromise a company’s entire reputation. Ethical issues often revolve around managing a company’s internal governance system and its compliance with existing professional standards. Some of the prime examples relate to so-called “earnings management” – restating earnings, which is usually a tell-tale sign of reward system manipulation (Gitman, Juchau, & Flanagan, 2015). Major firms such as Tyco, Lucent, Xerox, IBM, GE, ConAgra, Kmart WorldCom, and Qwest have been discovered to be involved in earnings management.

What this practice usually entails is revenue enhancements that make a company appear more successful. At the same time, the said company often bestows unmerited rewards such as internal bonuses or external equity appreciation, which is supposed to pass for organizational performance. This phenomenon is directly relevant to the HR function within an organization as normally, it should be in control of the rewards system and collaborate with other functions to enhance it further (Fraser, Bhaumik, & Wright, 2015).

Manipulating receivables and bad debt has become all too common. Depending on the egregiousness of the act, such behavior may step over the boundary into illegality as well. Senior HR professionals who work with executive incentive compensation systems (and with the board’s compensation committee) must be alert to when “the fox is in the hen-house” and how the system can be abused to misrepresent the firm to its various constituencies for the benefit of the fox. Within HR, ethical standards are often defined by groups and professional associations. HR professionals are often aware of these standards. They also understand the difficulties in applying them within U.S. organizations, especially when dealing across countries and cultures. behaviors considered acceptable by one society may be unacceptable in another. Thus, knowing and understanding cultural nuances can be essential for organizational success abroad.

Some senior executives may not perceive the relevance of statements of professional standards and ethics. Nevertheless, such standards must be incorporated into the firm’s governance protocol. Professional and ethical standards must be assessed for the potential to damage a firm’s reputation if violated. On the other hand, because professional standards vary across cultures and regions of the world, the same standards may be seen as irrelevant in other cultures. For example, the financial scandals involving various forms of executive compensation and conflicts of interest that are of pressing concern in North America are dismissed as trivial by some executives (and their workforces) in Europe and Asia.

The third behavioral area, and perhaps the murkiest, is what we label “vocal constituencies.” Whatever the issue, there may be deep-rooted, heartfelt feelings on various sides. What is critical for senior HR professionals is to be attuned to such issues and understand the underlying strategic unity necessary for the organization internally and externally. How a firm represents itself and the congruence of this representation with the external environment are important yet difficult to manage, such as instances of “political correctness,” which may have several constituencies. The three domains of corporate conscience often overlap, as shown in. Thus, it may be difficult to demarcate clearly where one area begins and another end.

A Prescription for Human Resources

A prescription for HR would be to engage the workforce in the best interests of customers and investors—that is, as was mentioned earlier, providing a focus on investors and customers as the primary beneficiaries of HR work. Clearly, being subservient only to immediate management may place HR in a far more vulnerable position than it would like. Communicating the business model and how the organization is to succeed will also be valuable in helping clarify why individuals joined the organization and what they need to do in order to see it succeed. This involves a series of causal steps that, if acted upon in the appropriate ethical framework, could help reduce a firm’s vulnerability to legal and ethical violations.

Another strategy that a company might want to adopt is ensuring the transparency of financial and customer outcomes and providing insight into them in comparison to the company’s objectives. Transparency is often seen as pertainings strictly to the financial community; however, in recent years, it has also become one of the ethical and customer service objectives (Ferrell, Harrison, Ferrell, & Hair, 2019). Today, customers wish to know from whom they are buying and why they are buying from that particular concern. The “brand” or image that a company seeks to create has now become as important and influential as the functionality of a product or a service itself (Theurer, Tumasjan, Welpe, & Lievens, 2018). The same concept of transparency applies to the process of the talent search. Many companies wish to uphold their employer brand and be able to contend for titles such as “employer of the year” (Özçelik, 2015). For this, they make an effort to make the ethical framework transparent and comprehensible for those applying so those appropriate candidates could select them based on the shared values.

Reengineering corporate boards so that they have an independent relationship with HR is another course of action that a company might want to undertake (Ferreira & Laux, 2016). This may imply building an in-between relationship, which can prove reasonably effective (Pratheepkanth, 2017). Senior finance, legal, and HR executives all need to have direct access to the said board (especially to independent board members). The creation of the board and establishment of an in-between relationship might be a necessary prerequisite for putting in place the ethical “arm’s length” distance (Lightle, Castellano, Baker & Sweeney, 2015). However, managers are likely to object since they often hold the opinion that the people who report to them are their employers, first and foremost, which makes it necessary for them to respond in the best interests of those to whom they forward the reports. Yet, as the practice has shown, on many occasions, a relationship that lacks some recourse is vulnerable to conflict and failure on legal and ethical grounds (Tassadaq & Malik, 2015). It is HR’s responsibility to promote board participation and involvement in the development of measurement and reward systems. The HR function should ensure transparency by providing input to the organization regarding such aspects as financial reporting. This holds especially true given that there is a certain need for alternative methods of financial reporting, to which HR may make a valuable contribution. As of now, investors would like to have greater insight into company successes. This goal may be attainable if financial reporting processes are standardized and all firms agree to comply (Flower & Ebbers, 2002). On the other hand, different industries might need different forms of financial reporting to serve their needs.

One type of reporting that may be useful is to redefine earnings per share with the denominator for shares determined not only by outstanding shares but also by shares represented by options. This approach might also differ by industry. For example, in most industries, options might be an immediate deduction. However, other industries may need different reporting standards, especially where innovation is critical to attracting not only a workforce but capital from Wall Street in order to build the critical mass through mergers and acquisitions. That is, in industries such as pharmaceutical, biotech, and high-tech, we may need to have an additional industry financial metric that would provide the best indication of these firms’ success.

We should also treat board members’ appointments as a selection process. In many instances, boards are self-nominating and shareholders are merely rubber stamps for board membership (Pratheepkanth, 2017). Actively involving the HR community in the board selection process, as with any other effective selection process, might yield substantial improvement in the quality, capability, and ethics of board members.

Finally, HR needs to ensure that the appropriate financial models for measuring business success are used and linked to executive compensation. This may be a truism, but it is rare to find it put into practice. Earnings generated through strategic operations (i.e., operating income generated through the intent of the organization) are what is necessary. Firms must “design to win and deserve to win” within the intended business model. Obviously, all businesses cheerfully record profits from endeavors not connected to their core operations, but those should be explained clearly as extraordinary and not be used to mislead investors to expect that these recur. Clearly, businesses use various pronouncements to explain away bad news created by the economic environment. The same should be done with positive influences upon a firm’s earnings. Thus, earnings through intended operations appear to be the only economically viable measure that should be used to assess an organization and the success of an organization’s business model and its executives. Pro forma financial results should not be used as the basis of executive compensation.

Obviously, the import of this for HR professionals is to assure that the measurement component of the reward and measurement system focuses upon these same measures. That is, the strategy should drive measurement and measurement should drive reward. Thus, if financial metrics have been enhanced by factors other than the strategic intent of the business, this should be reported as extraordinary income. In essence, regardless of what earnings return model is used, what we are really interested in is avoiding reporting “everything but the bad stuff.”

Rebuilding Corporate Integrity

As of now, rebuilding corporate integrity might be one of the most difficult tasks at hand. Statistically, the level of corporate integrity is at an all-time low since the 1930s (Gerstein & Friedman, 2017). The most basic aspects to be fixed include corporate oaths, the signing of financial statements, and ethics statements (Gerstein & Friedman, 2017). Apart from that, companies need to minimize and prevent the emergence of conflicts of interest between accounting and consulting CFOs and financial reporting, compensation committees, and board membership. The rule of thumb, in this case, should be valuing honesty over profit – something that is easier said than done. Businesses are trying to move in the said direction, but their efforts are barely sufficient. Many of them lack a strong ethical foundation upon which they could build further corporate practices. An ethical foundation is needed to define what is in bounds and what is out of bounds, considering the relevant legislation and professional standards of the industry.

The key to building an ethical culture is articulating clear boundaries so that people can modify their day-to-day decision-making processes to comply with the new policies (Guiso, Sapienza, & Zingales, 2015). Another important aspect concerns long-term planning that should be heeded when solidifying the ethical foundation of a company. In search of quick solutions, many companies settle on short-term maximization that leads to long-term failures. Instead, it makes more economic and ethical sense to separate core operating earnings from total profitability. At the end of the day, enhanced decision-making will account for the accurate representation of a company’s performance. Moreover, it will be reflective of the relationship between the company’s performance and financial enhancement.

Another suggestion would be to require business law courses to make a return to EMBA programs. Previously, many companies deemed enrolling their employers to MBA courses a common practice. However, recently, these courses have excluded business law from their curriculums (Cameron & Pagnattaro, 2017). It is about time that these curriculums were modified to cover legal aspects as well as ethical issues characteristic of the industry. This may include fostering the belief in what is right as opposed to the relativism of the business world that has become the new norm (Demuijnck, 2015). It is essential that the relevant rules are interpreted clearly and explicitly, especially when it comes to consequences.

Another idea would be for business media to educate themselves on finance and accounting. It is becoming increasingly common to idealize business leaders in the press with little to no regard for their actual success and performance. It is very probable that if this shift were to happen earlier, the public and especially shareholders would have a much better understanding of the full picture.

Lastly, one more strategy that would be consistent with the points made above is ensuring punitive measures for those who have clearly violated the laws. This may include warnings as well as legal action that can have the potential of resulting in doing hard times (Lys, Naughton, & Wang, 2015). Regardless of their wealth and status, the CEOs, CFOs, general counsels, and others who have played a major role in financial wrongdoing must face the legal consequences of their behavior (Christensen, 2015). If the public does not receive enough cautionary tales, management greed will lead to more violations.

Research Methodology

The research adopts a multi-methodology approach based mainly on descriptive and analytical research methodologies, since it sets to define and describe the basics to determine their argumentative and problematic points, and then analyses these problems to produce solutions based on the human resources. The research opts to describe first the different theoretical postulations and their arguments, to find out the results of their applications by analyzing them in correlation in a comparative way to find out the importance of the role of human resources. The comparative and correlational descriptive research paradigm helps find out which factors are most essential, without intervention and without modifying the variables.

The analytical research paradigm, on the other hand, is useful since the research is based on the theories mentioned above. Basic research exists already and the researcher sets to analyze the theoretical information in order to evaluate these theories and provide an elaborate explanation of the relationship between corporate governance and human resources from a new perspective based on a different methodology. The researchers analyze the vital function of human resources in corporate governance to highlight its other functions on different levels, especially the sociological level since most previous studies highlight mainly the financial level. The analytical research methodology is then vital when approaching a certain analysis through different theories, especially for evaluation.

The Importance of Human Resources in the Corporate Governance from the Perspective of Corporate Governance

In this regard, this position can be clarified through the examples of corporate governance. These examples can be divided into two broad categories based on defining the relationship between them. The first model, Shareholder, for instance, implies the existence of only one important representative of human resources (Sauerwald, Van Oosterhout, & Van Essen, 2016). He or she takes up the role of the executive director (manager) with the shareholder (Sethi, Martell, & Demir, 2017). This relationship is somewhat limited and can cause issues that require the separation between the management and the ownership. When this role is limited strictly to that of the executive director, the respective model ignores the other side of human resources, which is the dynamics of the company development. Moreover, one can safely say that the position of human resources in corporate governance within the shareholder model is partly due to the marginalization of this important role (Adnan & Tandigalla, 2017). Thus, there is a need to upgrade the HR function and its role within the company so that its qualification and efficiency could guarantee the highest levels of performance.

The new model put forward by Freedman is called the Stakeholder Model (Bourne, 2016). Under the said concept, it is possible to define several individuals or entities who have the leverage to affect the business success of a company. At the same time, they are also affected by the company’s performance, which compels them to improve and evolve. This definition is deemed as too broad by some scholars, calling for further categorization of the model. Nowadays, researchers single out primary and secondary stakeholders in accordance with their degree of impact on the company’s potential to reach its objectives (Davis, 2018).

The general idea of the Stakeholder concept implies a radical redefinition of the organization. It has clear guidelines regarding what the organization should be and how it could be conceptualized. Within the proposed model, the organization itself should be seen as a group of stakeholders. Drawing on this logic, one can argue that the purpose of the organization should lie in the management of their interests, needs, and viewpoints (Davis, 2018). On the one hand, it is critical that managers ensure the rights and liberties of the stakeholders. At the same time, there is a need for a shared vision that would help to safeguard the long-term stake of each group (Nurdiniah & Pradika, 2017).

Milton Freedman considered the employee as one of the most important factors that influence and affects the enterprise. This indicates that the fact a company that follows the corporate governance would also affect human resources and be affected by it. This leads to the creation of the value and realization of job satisfaction and commitment, and by that, it would have already social responsibility, which generally aims to ensure the rights of individuals within the company, by considering them before all as customers enrolling in it.

Human Resources Position in Corporate Governance from the Perspective of Human Resources

It goes without saying that human resources function is one of the basic pillars of corporate governance. Human resources should be seen as mediating in all processes, and even when assigning different roles and labels such as workforce, employees, workers, administrative agents, and others, the purpose should not change. One of the main interests of the HRM field is employees’ encouragement to partake in corporate governance and by doing that, gain more self-agency REF.

At the same time, employee participation is not limited to corporate governance. In addition to that, it should be fostered at all levels below the board, be it in the immediate workplace or within the employee’s team. There are two types of participation: direct and indirect. In the first case, the employee has the chance to impact work processes without mediators. In the second case, he or she contributes to the decision-making process or takes action through representatives REF.

The performance and efficiency of the HR function within a company can be measured by the degree to which employees participate in corporate governance. The question remains as to how to ensure that employees have enough awareness and autonomy to be active participators. One of the ways to enhance engagement and productivity is through increasing the psychological comfort of staff (Glavas, 2016). Mental wellness is generally associated with creativity, administrative innovation, and managerial leadership (Glavas, 2016). The latter has the potential of reducing the agency problem and resolving conflicts of interest. Recent research shows the importance of maintaining a relationship between HR and corporate governance. It also states the central purpose of HRM as that of enhancing performance and implementing corporate governance practices.

The diagram explains how the administrative board is considered as the main engine or the common point between corporate governance and human resources. The use of the remuneration and compensation systems, which give privileges to the Executive Director to be a shareholder in the company, and increase the motivation of “wage earners”, are amongst the corporate governance duties, which consider the administrative board as one of the internal mechanisms that guarantee to apply it properly. On the other side, the human resources in the administrative board occur in the presence of the Executive Director and the workers’ representative, and the internal auditor. The latter works on the proper and accurate disclosure of information under the framework of transparency in order to lay the strategic plan that makes the foundation pillar of the company on behalf of the investors. All of this comes in order to improve the ability of companies to create the added value.

Corporate governance is one of the most important topics in strategic management research and practice. That is why we cannot speak about the proper application of the rules and principles of corporate governance without talking about the human resources, which is one of the foundations to achieve the planned objectives. We must take into account consideration the human resources within an organization, which comprises both the Executive Director and workers, and considers them as a portion of the sets through which a company would aim to increase investments to achieve the added values. This demonstrates that the relationship between human resources and corporate governance is a complementary one because each element affects and is affected by the second element.

Corporate governance affects human resources through several factors, the most important of which is the systems of remuneration and compensation that contribute to creating added value and realizing professional satisfaction. This interest also realizes one of the very important aspects of social responsibility, which has become recently one of the criteria of competitiveness, which is improved when the administrative board is well managed to properly exert its responsibilities and make the best strategic decisions through consultation with its human resources. This can realize the achievement of better performance and increased productivity that leads to the increase in profits, which means realizing advantages for all interested parties, including stakeholders and shareholders.

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Introduction

In business administration, human resource management (HRM), international business management (IBM), and relocation are all interconnected topics. International experience and IBM are inextricably linked. Nevertheless, the IBM factor cannot be neglected because foreigners retain IBM workers regardless of where they carry out their responsibilities. This means that the HRM department at the main work area is still responsible for expatriate management.

Nowadays, in a competitive business environment, having a workforce that understands the world’s ways is no longer a luxury; it is a competitive must. As a result, it is not unexpected that the vast majority of midsize and big firms are presently sending professionals abroad, with intentions to increase the number of people on such assignments in the future. Human resource managers must adjust their HRM techniques to the host country’s conditions as the workplace has gotten more diverse. Due to disparities in national cultures, economic realities, and regulatory environments, U.S.-based enterprises in the Middle East have a particularly difficult time dealing with HRM difficulties. The administration of expatriates dispatched to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries is one issue American businesses face. The paper presents a case study of an American worker assigned to a project in Qatar to demonstrate that the HRM must examine four significant factors in order to help the expatriate. The four aspects are instruction, awards and career measurement, recruiting and selection, and worker retention and motivation.

The Unique Case

Melissa Lamont is a top female executive for a significant global news media organization headquartered in the United States. She has been assigned to the corporation’s Middle-East office in Doha for three-year foreign assignments. Melissa will work as the deputy director of the economics and business team in Doha, where she will be in charge of reporting on business and economic concerns around the Middle East. The team’s male colleague is a Qatar national with twenty years of experience with the organization, ten of which were spent in the United States and ten in Qatar. The business and economics team in Doha consists of 50 journalists. The group’s mean lifespan is 32 years, and around 70% of the reporters are male. The team comprises various ethnicities, with 10% Qataris, 40% from other Middle East nations, and 50% from Europe and the United States. The primary language of the multinational company is English.

Melissa has spent eight years working for the New York-based news media business. She is of US nationality and has never worked abroad. Melissa is a married woman whose spouse is a freelance journalist. He and their two children will relocate to Doha for the duration of her assignment. Melissa’s husband can continue working as a freelance journalist while in Doha. Melissa has two children, a girl and a boy, who will both attend school in Doha. None of the family members have any severe medical difficulties and are in good health. Melissa can only communicate in English.

Performance Management

One of the most gratifying and career events in a person’s career might be a foreign placement. On the other hand, expatriates are costly for the employer, and a surprising amount of them fail. Foreign language anxiety, failure of the person to succeed in their new position, and discontent with the mission itself have all been identified as common factors. It is expensive to send someone to live and work abroad. Companies must be mindful of personal circumstances when considering sending someone overseas. While posting an LGBTQ person to a strict Islamic nation is not unfeasible, it does necessitate careful thinking and additional support.

Ho et al. (2016) highlight the importance of performance management training for employees. However, the authors do emphasize that there is a void in the literature regarding employee training – the direct influence of education on a company’s monetary success. The conclusion is that education as an HRM activity should not be performed solely for the purpose of improving the performance of employees without being quantified in terms of return on investment (ROI).

One of the most important responsibilities of HR professionals is to provide training. It entails increasing workers’ competency by providing them with the necessary information, skills, and attitudes to complete their tasks. The HRM department is also responsible for detecting skill shortages depending on specific job performance and practices in the organization. Melissa Lamont will be assigned to her US-based media company’s Middle Eastern branch in Doha, Qatar. For the next three years, she will serve as an executive assistant in the economics and business area. Given her lack of experience working in a foreign nation, training will be an essential part of her HRM preparations for the job.

Selection and Recruitment

Employees must be ready for the reality that life will be different during international assignments, and it will not always be spectacular and exotic. There will be different cultures to surmount, as well as loneliness and cultural stress. Families and partners must brace themselves for the upheavals. In the company, new connections must be formed, and a new facility must be implemented. It is beneficial to go into foreign assignments with reasonable expectations than to go in unready and refuse. Harris et al. (2018) study how rewards affect performance outcomes. According to the writers, an individual’s compensation has a favorable impact on their production to the company. The authors of a comparable study discovered that there is significant evidence to suggest that motivations and reminders have a good effect on overall employee attitudes, which includes personal performance.

Individual people should participate in cross-cultural training before embarking on international missions to better understand their attitudes and preconceived notions, as well as what to anticipate in the foreign environment. There are numerous less formal methods of preparation. Potential overseas assignees should be required to read books, news, and blogs to get a sense of the new culture. They can listen to the radio and even watch films to put the puzzle piece of daily life in the new location together.

One of the most important roles of HR professionals is to conduct the hiring process on behalf of the company. Finding eligible applicants for open positions in the company is what recruitment entails. Following the receipt of applications, the next stage is to review and shortlist candidates with the best credentials, knowledge, and abilities to fill the post. The HR staff then performs verbally or in writing conversations with potential workers to assess their competency. Different companies have different methods for assessing job candidates. While some organizations do only one screening, others undertake multiple before deciding on the best candidate. This is how the selection procedure works. Workers who are best qualified to bring value to the organization’s objectives are chosen by HR practitioners. Apart from educational achievements, the management considers a variety of additional characteristics of the job candidate, such as interpersonal and communication abilities, depending on the nature of the business; they also look into the speaker’s feelings towards the company.

According to the study by Pinto, Patanakul, and Pinto (2017), there is much gender bias in companies during development and performance rating activities, such as advancements. Women, in general, are shown to be the most vulnerable to workplace abuse, according to the study. Melissa’s role in this regard is to promote women’s rights so that women have equal possibilities to advance in their professions as males.

Melissa, who is now an executive assistant at her new job, will be responsible for overseeing the acquisition and recruitment of qualified staff as needed. Although, it is essential to emphasize that the Doha office has a lot of ethnic and gender diversity. As a result, the HRM should start by educating the expatriate on the best practices in these two areas. Since just 30 percent of the 50 workers in her area are women, the issue of gender equity in the corporation appears to be lacking. Melissa’s job in this regard is to promote women’s rights so that women have the same possibilities to advance in their jobs as men.

Employee Motivation

A cross-cultural supervisor could be a work colleague in the new office. New ex-pat workers should ideally have a mentor at their new location as well as one at home; It is prevalent for foreign residents to feel estranged from their previous work and work colleagues. A mentor’s specialized conversation points may include management structure, organization, gender concerns, meeting protocol, negotiation, and strategic planning. On the other hand, a tutor should be a source of advice to which the decision to retire can turn when problems occur.

Even a few subtle messages and instructions can help freshly arrived ex-pats navigate challenging circumstances. Learn not to compare your existing traditions with new ones; remember that the new culture is different but not necessarily wrong; this is good. Understanding different planning approaches and starting with the basic expectation that people in a foreign environment are open and welcoming, even if communication with them is difficult, will help them find their place in the new team.

Although English is the worldwide business language and the dialect of the destination country’s business, a conversational level mastery of the target dialect will contribute to society and conquer cultural differences. This is also crucial for trailing couples; foreign language anxiety can be exacerbated for a partner who has less discipline in their day but lacks the courage to create their own life.

Aside from mentorship, a corporation should have a standardized reporting mechanism in place while a worker is on deployment internationally. Regular monitoring is the best way to stay knowledgeable about how the task is proceeding, what innovative concepts and critical details have been managed to gather, and how to identify any problems in advance. Companies should plan most of their assignees’ time abroad by inspiring them to describe their experiences in various ways, such as written form or conferencing.

Cultural difference is a severe disorder that can result in melancholy, feelings of alienation, and even sickness. Almost everyone experiences culture shock to one degree or another. Some people struggle to adjust, experience loneliness, hate the new society, and believe that everything is fine at home. Recognizing cultural differences and discovering small ways of dealing with them should all be part of the planning process for life abroad, such as working to demonstrate connections between ex-pats and individuals from the new culture. Maintaining a busy schedule and attempting as a family to explore the unfamiliar surroundings; planning to visit marketplaces, trying out cuisine, and organizing pleasurable events and activities, such as a beach trip; is natural.

Many of these concerns apply at the conclusion of abroad assignments. A posting overseas may be a problematic event, and it is not uncommon for people to come home with continuous learning and objectives to discover that they have changed – as well as the fact that their old friends, coworkers, and place of work have transformed. Some of the benefits of a foreign assignment include enhanced confidence, a more significant viewpoint, more compassion, and more extraordinary problem-solving ingenuity. Businesses must capitalize on these new skills rather than simply expecting the employee to fit back in. Planning should begin several months before an assignment departs.

It should be noted that all of the preceding ideas revolve around staff commitment and engagement. This means that all HRM initiatives, including recruitment and selection, education and training, and bonus and employee evaluation, are aimed at improving team morale and keeping top performers. Employee engagement is determined by how happy they are. A dedication to their jobs in the organization is the result of motivated staff. In the end, the organization will be able to realize its objectives. Melissa’s mission in Doha requires a high level of employee engagement because half of the personnel comes from Europe and the United States. As a result, due to problems such as cultural clashes and language barriers, some people may want to leave; this necessitates the maintenance of positive staff relations. One of Melissa’s responsibilities in the Doha office will be to resolve such sensitive topics in a comprehensive way that does not jeopardize workplace relations and ensures that resourceful employees are maintained. As a result, the HR department of the organization should consider emphasizing the importance of motivation and retention during the process of internationalization.

Conclusion

To summarize, HRM currently appears to play a crucial role in expatriation. Despite the employee’s relocation to a foreign country, the department’s mandate remains intact. The purpose of this article was to shed light on HRM’s role in preparing expatriates for abroad assignments. Four major HRM principles that managers should address are discussed. Recruitment process, education, bonus and accomplishment, and retention and motivation are only a few of them. With regard to academic work, the paper concludes that equitable and bias-free recruitment methods are critical for developing a motivated staff.

Apart from coaching, a company should have a consistent reporting structure while a worker is overseas. Regular monitoring is the key to staying up to date on how the project progresses, what fresh ideas and essential details have been procured, and how to solve any problems before they arise. Companies should plan the majority of their assignees’ stay abroad by communicating their experiences in various ways, such as publishing or conferencing.

Before venturing on global missions, employees should receive cross-cultural training to better understand their perceptions and preconceptions, as well as what to anticipate in the foreign environment. There are other less formal methods of preparation. To gain a sense of the new culture, potential abroad assignees should be obliged to study literature, news, and blogs. They can listen to the news and even watch movies to piece together daily puzzles in the new location.

One of the most significant duties of HR experts is to manage the hiring process on the company’s behalf. Recruitment comprises finding qualified candidates for available positions in the firm. After receiving applications, the following step is to assess and shortlist candidates with the best credentials, knowledge, and competencies to fill the position. The HR department then conducts verbal or written interviews with potential employees to assess their competency. Intercultural communication is a severe problem that can cause depression, estrangement, and even illness. Almost everyone has some form of cultural shock. Some people strain to adjust, endure loneliness, despise the new society, and continue believing that everything back home is better.

Female participation is a frequent practice that the administration should address. Both leaders benefit from training since it provides them with the essential information, abilities, and approaches to fulfilling duties. However, training evaluation is required to verify that it is represented in the firm’s economic success. An organization’s reward system, as well as its staff retention rules, both result in increased engagement, good organizational and personal productivity, and staff retention. As a result, the difficulties listed above are some of the issues Melissa will need to familiarize herself with as she begins her Doha job.

Reference List

Harris, L., Majerczyk, M., and Newman, A. H. (2018). ‘An examination of how the effort-inducing property of incentive compensation influences performance in multidimensional tasks’, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 149, 185-196.

Ho, A.D. et al. (2016). ‘Exploration of hotel managers’ training evaluation practices and perceptions utilizing Kirkpatrick’s and Phillips’s models’, Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, 15(2), pp. 184-208.

Pinto, J.K., Patanakul, P., and Pinto, M.B. (2017). ‘The aura of capability: gender bias in selection for a project manager job’, International Journal of Project Management, 35(3), pp. 420-431.

A committee for interviews and performance overview is an inseparable part of any company’s human resources management (HRM). The workforce serves as an intangible asset that demands attention and care to ensure the best hiring decisions and retention rates. However, the contemporary candidate pool has become more distinct and diversified. In this context, the committee’s unfamiliarity with diversity, equity, and inclusion might lead to undesired consequences for the company, which is why it becomes increasingly important to adopt them at the committee’s development stage.

Even by itself, diversity possesses excellent potential to become an asset in the business field. According to O’Meara et al. (2020), it can be described as representing different and unique identities, experiences, characteristics, and perspectives. By doing so, diversity allows companies to enrich their performance by exposing the collective to various ways of understanding and engaging with the world, identifying challenges, and discovering, designing, and delivering solutions.

In terms of HRM, it is critical for the associated committees to not only value and consider diversity in their actions but also to be diversified themselves. Recent studies have shown there is a direct relationship between the committee’s diversification and registered bias levels. Firstly, homogenous groups have a tendency to gravitate toward candidates replicating their characteristics (O’Meara et al., 2020). Furthermore, underrepresented committee members have a weaker influence in shaping the committee’s actions. Therefore, committee composition belongs among the essential prerequisites of promoting diversity.

In ensuring the representation of unique committee members, one should remember to treat members of particular groups equally. This approach refers to equity – ensuring every individual has what they need to thrive by increasing resources, access, and opportunities (Bhalla, 2019). It is especially significant for historically underrepresented and disadvantaged communities. Given the registered importance of role models in providing examples of career success, aspirations, and persistence, equity is particularly relevant for competitive institutions that value the success of their employees regardless of their attributes.

In this context, sole diversity might not be enough to achieve long-term stability. According to Bhalla (2019), “simply increasing the numbers of underrepresented individuals without re-evaluating our definitions of merit and excellence can lead to tokenization and an inability to retain” a diversified workforce. In other words, the best practice in developing a committee that adheres to the equity principle is not to establish equal merit but to create equal opportunities to achieve excellence.

The two mentioned concepts unite under the banner of what scholars refer to as inclusion. Wong (2019) broadly defines it as a welcoming culture where differences are honored, and every individual is valued, respected, and has the ability to prosper (Wong, 2019). Despite sharing several features with the ideas of diversity and equity, inclusion also possesses a unique, distinctive feature. In short, inclusion is responsible for ensuring that underrepresented individuals are not simply hired and allowed to succeed – they also deserve to feel genuinely affiliated with their workplace and collective.

The committee responsible for interviewing and evaluating performance will be the first and the most frequent institution that employees interact with. Therefore, its actions must be influenced at various levels to ensure adherence to the inclusion principle. Individually, its members should always seek opportunities to learn about cultural diversity to know how to behave accordingly in various situations (Wong, 2019). Personal communication does not end in merely empowering an individual but extends to identifying and addressing communication barriers. Then, on a broader level, Wong (2019) advises creating meaningful communication channels and safety systems around issues and opportunities related to inclusion. Transparency and willingness to learn are key to establishing trust and forming bonds in a diversified collective.

Only by being built on principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion will the committee responsible for HRM be able to foster these concepts in the future. To value diversity in its operations, internal diversity can become the committee’s reference point. By changing its perceptions regarding success merits, the committee will comprehend the idea of equity. Finally, through building understanding and care, the committee can become genuinely inclusive in its practice.

Reference

Bhalla, N. (2019). Strategies to improve equity in faculty hiring. Molecular biology of the cell, 30(22), 2744-2749. Web.

O’Meara, K., Culpepper, D., & Templeton, L. L. (2020). Nudging toward diversity: Applying behavioral design to faculty hiring. Review of Educational Research, 90(3), 311-348. Web.

Wong, C. (2019). Changing organizational culture: From embedded bias to equity & inclusion. Professional Safety, 64(08), 26-30.

Introduction

Human Resource Management is a functional unit of an organization that deals is concerned with the management of employees and their welfare. It is composed of a set of policies, programs and practices geared towards the realization of an employee’s potential which will in turn result to increased productivity for the entire organization.

Human resource management has become one of the most important activity of an organization in the contemporary organizational environment especially after the realization that human resource productivity is dependent on its surroundings as opposed to other factors of production.

For an organization to utilize its resources and endowments effectively and efficiently the quality of its human resource becomes of paramount importance. Human resource management improves this quality of employees to ensure that they offer their best to the realization of the organizational goals and objectives.

Role of Human Resource Management

Functions of Human Resource Management

The functions of Human resource management are wide and varied. Among these functions includes the role to ensure equal employment opportunities for all groups of people especially the minority. Management of human resource ensures that employers have in place employment policies and procedures which do not discriminate either in terms of race, gender, religion etc.

This may also be done by formulating or adopting Affirmative actions that are in line with this agenda. When a working organization is free from bias and preferential treatment, employees will feel that they all are a part of the organization, each no better than the other and they have a role to play for the betterment of the organization as a whole.

There is also the creation and development of a mutually respectful environment within the organization and employees are able to voice their personal conflicts with confidence that they will be determined fairly. The secret is in incorporating every employee into the organization not as a lesser important member but for each of them to feel as an integral part of the organization and the success or failure of the organization if in his/her hands.

Another major role of the Human resource is in the planning, recruitment and selection of employees. This is the process by which organization picks the talent they require for the organization to perform properly, (Anonymous, 2011).

An organization which has recruited the wrong people into the organization will not only result to increased labour turnover due to the unproductive employees, but will also negatively affect the overall morale of all the employees leading to poor productivity. Subsequently, the employees will be disconnected from each other since they cannot relate well, more supervision will be required and the good employees may end up looking for alternative jobs.

The human resource ensures prior planning is done before recruitment, the right employees are selected and the process is done fairly. This in turn will result into a good combination of talent and experience in the human resource representing the current labor market enabling them to work as a team leading to increased productivity.

After recruitment of an employees has been done, the human resource team does not end their work there. With ever changing labor markets and technological needs, an organization needs to continuously offer training and educational services to its human resource. Through this, an organization can be sure that its human resource structure is composed of the most competent and qualified personnel in the labour market, and retain its comparative advantage of its human resources for effective competitiveness, (Mohanty, 2010).

More so, human resource development increases the morality of employees where they feel that they are realizing their career development thus feeling that they are where they belong and can work to their full potential for the growth of the organization, the future of which is their future too.

Employees in an organization need to be fairly rewarded every so often in recognition of their efforts and to congratulate good performance. This may come in the form of perks and packages in form of benefits over their monthly salaries. This works to retain experienced and competent employees to continue working for the organization.

It also has a major role whereby employees who are rewarded feel good, their efforts having been recognized and are generally much happier and more productive. Further, other employees who did not perform as much feel obligated to work even harder so that their efforts can show too be rewarded. The result is an overall motivated human resource working towards a common objective of the organization.

The working conditions in a work place also play a major role in the performance of the employees. Everyone wants to work in an environment that safe and healthy to work in. it is the role of human resource management to ensure that the environment in which the workers do their work is clean and free from danger whether physical or psychological (Blessinger, 1999).

When the surroundings are hygienic and free from danger, the employee becomes a much happier being and becomes more productive as compared to when he is always afraid that he may get injured or contract a disease. Further, a healthy working population is generally more productive as compared to a sickly population.

The Human Resource Management also has a role in ensuring that employees belong to a Trade Union or other labour relations. Employees need to have a channel through which they can air their grievances at the work place. This way disputes will be solved much more quickly and in a civilized manner.

With such a channel, the employees will not depressed at the work place not knowing who to turn to but instead will always work their differences in time before the operation of the organization is disrupted. Further, having a trade union gives employees a sense of belonging and sense of safety which will increase their motivation leading to increased productivity.

In order for the role of HR manager to be effective, all this roles must be performed optimally. All these roles are equally important and they all facilitate to the proper achievement of organizational goals. There is no role that is better than the other. They are all elements of the same branch. They all work to achieve a common objective, i.e. helping an employee attain his best performance for the good of the whole organization.

Emerging Role of Human Resource Management

In the traditional past, the Human Resource Management team has always worked under the bureaucratic arm of the executive in performing its functions. This in turn saw the HR serve the interests of the executive form the restricting policies and systems instead of focusing on the employee needs as its primary goal.

This normally left the employees on their own without their concerns being considered and worked upon which reduced their morality leading to reduced productivity for the organization.

In the modern business world and with changing needs of organizations, managers have realized that the overall success of the organization is dependent on high quality and satisfying customer-service. This can only achieved through the employees of the organization and this means the human resource has to put more focus on the needs of its human resource. Thus, the role of the HR is also changing.

In the modern organizations, HR managers should see themselves more of strategic partners (Hearthfiel, 2011). They have the primary role of ensuring that the organization attains its business goals and organizational objectives. They should have a clear understanding of the best work systems and designs which contribute to the optimum performance of the employees.

He should know the strategy of human resource planning that has the greatest impact to the organization growth when used. This is in such areas as recruitment, motivation, reward system, human resource development and appraisal measures etc.

As opposed to the situation in the past, the HR should work more as employee advocates instead of following the executive wishes and demands. He should identify and concentrate on the needs of the employees and should have an understanding of how human mind works to ensure that, he delivers to their expectations.

He should come up with ways of treating employees so that they are always motivated, happy and very productive. This may be in the likes of effective communication, involving them in decision making, creating a sense of responsibility in them and generally making them know that they own the organization and that its failure or success is theirs too and that it lies in their able hands.

The HR manager provide employees with an opportunity for self-development and help them in realizing their personal goals as they work towards the organizational objectives. They may also be involved in profit-sharing or in ownership of the organization and are given a chance to show their adaptability through delegation.

With an ever changing world, the role of HR manager includes not just in acquiring the new breed of labour in the market but also in championing for change within their scope. He should come up with strategies through which he pioneers change not just among the employees but also in the entire organization by using his ability to handle people.

He should know how to prevent people from resisting change and how employee can adapt to change within a short while. He also helps in identifying what the organization needs and help to formulate goals, mission, values and a culture that is geared towards those needs of the organization. His also role includes coming up with measures of to determine how the organization is performing against the overall goals and objectives.

Human Resource Management Learning

HR management learning helps you learn a wide range of skills that applicable in handling human resources today. Career services offered equips one with the skills to identify opportunities in the society to which one can apply the diverse skills learnt.

One gets an opportunity to learn the legal and ethical issues that exist in the business world today in virtually all the industries and how to apply such knowledge to practical experiences. The coursework has been designed to strengthen ones management skills and be able to take up corporate responsibility in an organization.

Human Resource Management in the workplace

In the workplace, HR management skills are of paramount importance. an organization will from time to time find itself faced with the need to make a decision on its staffing needs, for example, when and where to use an independent contractor, or to acquire new employees, how to improve the performance of the employees and how to ensure that the organization’s personnel and management practices adhere to the prevailing rules and regulations.

An organization also requires to determine which approach to adopt in compensating employees and which benefits to offer employees as well as keeping employee records and the various personnel policies.

The role of HR management has also undergone various changes. In the past, it was only concerned with hiring and firing of employees. Lately, organizations look up to the HR manager in playing the integral role of staffing, development and generally managing people which is a central point to the growth and overall performance of the entire organization. Without proper management of the human resource, an organization cannot achieve anything regardless of its endowments in terms of capital and other factors of production.

Human beings will most naturally result to dispute day in day out. If these disputes are not minimized and solved in time, they may cause havoc or even downfall to even a multinational organization. Further, the organization needs to come up with methods of attracting and retaining talent through proper rewarding and development of employees.

Future Career in Human Resource Management

The knowledge accumulated on human resource management is a useful tool for my future career. The management skills learnt will help in time management, organization of files for employees and increased personal efficiency. In addition, the ability to multitask is improtatnt in dealing with different and diverse needs of employees at the same time and keeping composure. It will help in formulating priorities on what is important for the well being of the organization and the employees as well.

Business ethics knowledge will enable keep the secrets and confidential information of the employees as a professional. It will also help in ensuring that employees are treated ethically by the executive and the employees themselves act in accordance with ethical principles laid down.

The strategic orientation acquired will help to e able to influence management’s decision in acquiring new talent for the organization and which strategy the organization is to adopt. It will also help in determining and filling human resource needs for the organization as well as how to manage the staff through compensation, development, motivation etc.

The human relation skills will also help in relating well with employees. Employees can look at you as someone they can talk freely to and as a way to channel their concerns. It will also help in solving disputes among the employees and also between the employees and executive.

Conclusion

In this highly computerized and advanced technology being widely used, we cannot doubt that a machine will remain useless without proper knowledge to run it. Therefore, management of human resource becomes an important part of any organization. Human resource managers help in bringing change and have the ability to acquire knowledge on the basis of experimentation more than in any other career. Human resource helps to coordinate and integrate the performance within the organization with the expected results.

References

Anonymous. (2011). Recruitment and selection: The importance of good recruitment and selection. ACAS.

Blessinger, K. (1999). Human Resource Management. Web.

Hearthfiel, S. M. (2011). The New Roles of the Human Resources Professional, The New York Times Company. Web.

Mohanty, I. (2010). Human Resource Management seeks to achieve: Individual, Organizational and Social Goals. Orissa: Kanak Manjari Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Introduction

Economic convergence is a process of rapprochement that stands for the emergence of the converging sides of the similar features. It stands for the convergence of different economic systems under the influence of the social-economical factors or in the result of the economical development. The result of such convergence is the purpose of reaching the compromise, stabilization, balance and united development.

The economic convergence also goes for acquisition of the similar features of economic systems of the different countries under the condition of the preservation of some determined national characteristics. Economic convergence refers to the integration between traditional economic models that are largely geographically constrained, with newer models that take advantage of recent technological and globalization trends. Convergence is increasingly impacting the way organizations are structured and operated (Zivnuska et al).

This report analyzes the impact of the Converging Economy on the role and function of human resource management (HRM) practice and research. Several promising new ways, concepts, methodologies and theoretical perspectives required to apply in order to conduct future HRM researches will also be analyzed, finally it offers an opinion about the topic and the lessons learned.

E-commerce is one of the major technological factors of convergence and may be defined as a process by which business transactions are conducted through electronic networks (Boudreau, Loch, Robey and Straud,1998). These electronic networks extend to various organizations, linking them to customers ,employees, suppliers and partners.

The rapid technology driven transformation has resulted in increased competitive threats as well as huge opportunities for growth in both new and existing markets (Boudreau et al,1998). HRM activities are changing considerably in the evolving e-business environment. For example, in many firms, traditional HRM tasks such as recruiting, selecting and training employees are now heavily reliant on technology and the internet (Cascio 1998).

The role that HR specialists play in developing and fulfilling strategic objective is affected by internal organizational changes such as increased partnering, accelerating rates of innovation and learning of new organizational structures. Labor market changes and increased emphasis on flexibility and responsiveness are impacting the way the HR role is performed (Snell and wright,1998).

Drivers of the converging economy

There are three major drivers of converging economy and the first one is Information Technology. Increased use of powerful software systems has led to efficient operations in companies (Schmitz, 2000 Westland and Clark 1999). The second driver is globalization, whereby, in several countries, globalization has led to changes and reforms to more open markets for goods, capital, labor, technology and ideas. There is also increase of convergence among economic and political systems around the world (ohmae 1999).

The third feature of converging economy is the increasing importance of intangible assets and especially human assets compared to physical assets such as land, equipment and money. In today’s economy, many companies view intangible assets as primary source of value, growth, and sustained competitive advantage (Itami,1987, Pfeffer,1994). The above three mentioned forces have an impact on how companies obtain, develop and manage their human resources.

Information technology and human resource management practices

Information technology influences employees willingness to be mobile; consequently, turnover costs may also increase as technology savvy employees seek more flexible work hours. In order to stem these costs and increase retention, employers will need to make the work place as attractive as possible. Addressing these challenges involves creativity, innovation, incubators, knowledge markets, workplace attractiveness and blending of work and home.

IT Enabled and Self-Service HR Systems

Like outsourcing, the topic of self-service and IT-enabled HR systems has broader implications for the role and strategic effectiveness of HR. Potential benefits from these systems including cost-savings, speed, convenience, control, flexibility, increased productivity, better reporting, greater accuracy and consistency, and empowering and expanding the capacity of employees, managers, and HR staff.

Globalization and human resource management

This is the second major force, as companies compete in global workplace diversity of clients and employees will increase, Multinational companies are becoming increasingly important players in the global economy, and their HR practices are increasingly influenced by diverse cultures. Management practices that are congruent with the national culture have been associated with enhanced firm financial performance (P Wright, HR strategy, adapting to age of globalization(Alexandria; society for HRM foundation).

Intangible assets and human resource management practices

In today’s economy, there is a strong interest in intangible assets. As organizations come to value soft resources like people and knowledge as assets, they will find themselves competing for the very best employees in the market. Firms will be forced to rely on HRM practices in order to strategically attract and manage employees; more so, HR managers will need to help organizations in management of the process of identifying, obtaining, developing and retaining best employees to increase firms competitive advantage.

Implications for future research

There are two directions that future research might take. The first direction shows the concept of employees as valuable resources, strategic human resource management has adopted this perspective asserting that employees can be unique assets to develop sustained competitive advantage(Snell et al,1999).

The second research concerns management of HR functions which will be performed by employees organized by market for human capital, existing HR department acting in partnership and outsourcing. Strategic human resource management could benefit from incorporating ideas from theoretical perspectives, these theories are organized into four categories; evolutionary, economic, sociological and critical.

The concepts advocated by these theories range from those that advocate holistic organization-wide approaches to those that focus on niche approaches such as people driven, organization driven, response driven, relationship driven, hierarchy driven, philosophical, social psychology and creativity driven.

While each of the theories has its own merits, the applicability will be constrained by the prevailing situation. Thus, different organizations at different times may or may not be the best candidates for a particular approach. Thus, the concept of “SHRM best practices” is dependent on particular situations and there can not be a set of best practices that are applicable to all situations.

Conclusion

Due to convergence, the HRM function in both traditional as well as e-commerce firms is undergoing considerable change. For example, in many firms, traditional HRM practices such as recruiting, selecting and training employees are being performed differently and more efficiently than in the past, with technology taking center stage. Globalization presents new and unique challenges such as those experienced by multicultural teams.

HR managers have to be more culturally aware and emotionally sensitive in order to develop a culture that helps the organization to achieve its core mission. On the other hand, globalization does create a vast pool of talent that was previously beyond reach of traditional companies. This presents an opportunity that can be harnessed for competitive advantage. Finally, in order to fully exploit convergence, organizations need to develop and harness their intangible Human Resource assets.

References

Rafter, M Sept. 2005, Promise fulfilled. Web.

Wright, P 2008, HR strategy: adapting to the age globalization, Alexandria VA, society for HRM foundation.

Westland C, & Clark O 1999, Business & Economics, MIT Press, USA.

Zivnuska, S et al. Strategic Human Resource Management, Blackwell publishing, UK.

Businesses require human and physical resources for effective production. Both the resources need planning to ensure that at any one point, they are neither excess nor insufficient. Human resource management department of a company assisted by line managers and teams themselves undertakes the role of managing human resources.

They set internal rules governing human resources relation and put on measures to comply with national and international labour laws. A well managed human resource lead to a company that enjoy intellectual and knowledge assets in human beings. Whether a business is a multinational, large scale, state corporation, micro or small-scale enterprise (SMEs), human resources management cannot be over-looked (Garengo , Stefan, and Umit 25-34). This paper looks into human resource management in small organisations (SMEs).

Small Scale enterprises (SMEs)

According to European Union (EU), a small-scale business is any business that has a minimum of 10 employees and a maximum of 250. In Germany, an SME is a business with employees ranging from 10 to 300 while in United States; it has separated small scale and medium scale. Small-scale businesses have 10 to 100 employees while medium has 100 to five hundred employees. It does not matter the number of employees but for an effective and efficient business, management should ensure that they manage their employees well.

Special characteristic of SMEs human resources

In most cases, SMEs are family business; family members with some entrepreneurial characters/attributes form them. This makes the leaders not to be highly trained in management more so human and personnel management. They may be specialists in a certain field that does not guarantee that they can manage their human resources effectively.

In some micro and small-scale businesses, there are not separate department that looks into human resource issues; the management/entrepreneur doubles as the overall leader and the human resource manager.

Secondly, these organizations lack a long-term vision and thus defining their employee’s career path is a problem. With the uncertainty, employees are constantly looking for better offers. This reduces motivation among the employees.

In most case, SMEs management are impatient in development of talents especially if they take a long period to emerge. They focus on immediate results from people who are highly innovative and creative. To tap this intellectual asset, there is need to manage human resources effectively (Garengo , Stefan, and Umit 25-34).

Human resource management theories assume that SMEs are a “scale down” of large organisation and thus HRM strategies applicable in large institutions are applicable in SMEs. This is not the case. The following are the strategies that SMEs can use to manage their employees effectively:

Planning of human resources

The decision to employ, deploy, train or fire employees should not be a decision from intuition thinking of the entrepreneur. The owner or manager should consult other line managers on the best move to take. He should not be the sole owner of information and decision-making.

In case there is a human resources department, the department should collaborate with all departments, when developing a human resource team. Well planned human resources means that the company will get experts and professionals in different areas; they will have adequate number of employees for an effective production at the right cost.

Planning takes an interpolation of current need, future needs and the supply of human resources in the economy. Knowing the number of employees who are likely to retire in a statutory manner (for example because of age) is important to plan a replacement strategy. Some areas require an in-house experience developed in new entrants, in such case new entrants should be employed early enough to have them develop the required experience before they are left to work alone.

Hiring

After the management has recognised, the experience, education level and gender required, hiring follows. The required number of employees and terms of employments should be clear before the process starts. When looking for the right employee, there are different ways. It may be internal through promotions and transfers or it may be from external market. The trend that SMEs have been using is employing people that they know; this method is outdated.

They should create equal chances and the qualified applicant wins. Adverts should be take place in areas that people qualified in the required section could be found. The media is a good method of advertising for positions especially if the required employees are professional. Minimum qualification and basic information on the post advertise should be well elaborated in the adverts. After applicants have applied, they should be shortlisted. Those who qualify are contacted for an interview and them who do not are sent regrets letters.

Depending with the post and organisational culture, there are different interviewing methods. Some companies take one on one interviews, some have aptitude tests while other have an on job practical interview.

Others use a combination of those methods. Whichever the method used, it should have high level of integrity and transparency. After the successful candidate has been recognised, there should be a probation period. Once again the period depends with a company, country and task involved. It is a period that the new entrants should be oriented in the organisational culture of the SME.

Outsourcing is another method for hiring employees. Some services do not directly contribute to the core business of a company. These include cleaning, security and catering. They can be outsourced to assist the company concentrate on its main core of business. Taking care is important to ensure that reliable outsourcing companies are contracted (Tocher, and Matthew 455-479)

Training, appraisal and motivation

Employees need regular training to sharpen and improve their skills. Training should be on current market changes to make them relevant and more productive. Though training should be a continuous process, there are areas, which may call for immediate training.

For example in case new machinery has been bought to replace the old one that has broken down, there is need for training the operators although the training may not have been planned initially. Certain departments, individuals and teams may be having a certain weak point that can be addressed through training.

Other than training of skills, employees need to be aware of rule governing them in the organisation. These are both international and national laws. Human resources should conduct numerous seminars to inform and remind human resources laws in the company. These include policies on promotion, code of conducts among others. It is at these meeting that grievances from employees should be addressed (Hill, and Stewart 105).

Appraisal is another role played by human resource management departments. In case an SME does not operate a separate, HRD, then managers responsible should undertake this task regularly without favour, prejudice and bias.

Appraisal helps management to recognise performers and reward them according as well recognising better employees blending for improved results. Scientific methods of appraisal involves appraising employees one on one, guide day certain parameters an example is the use of balanced score card method of appraisal.

Employee motivation is a continuous process where management ensure that they have good relations with their employees. There is different method of motivation and each company have its own style responsive to its employees. Human resource should devise the method to use for this purpose. Motivated employees remain in an organisation for a long period and are willing to innovate and create better ways of doing business.

Employees retaining and knowledge management

To retain employees is a deliberate move by management. Employees always need to be assured of continuity in their careers and want to know that the organisation they are working in has a future for them. To retain employees, the company should have good compensation, good and efficient career development mechanisms in the company.

There are numerous advantages a company gains from retained employees; they include a pool of knowledge developed through experience that can be use to make decisions for competitive advantage. Over and above information in the industry, experienced people offer insight thoughts that can result to better organisation decisions (Raymond , Hollenbeck, Gerhart, and Wright 34).

Conclusion

Small-scale enterprises suffer inefficient human resource management. Entrepreneurs have played the role of both company’s leaders and human resources managers, which has lead to inefficiency. To manage human resources effectively, the process should start by planning, then hiring, training, appraisal and finally have mechanisms for retaining employees. An SME with well-managed human resource will grow to a large enterprise faster.

Works Cited

Garengo, Patricia, Stefano Biazzo, and Umit S. Bititci. “Performance measurement systems in SMEs: A review for a research agenda.” International Journal of Management Reviews 7.1 (2005): 25-47. Business Source Complete. EBSCO. Web.

Hill, Rosemary and Stewart, Jim. “Human resource development in small organizations. ” Journal of European Industrial Training 24.2/3/4 (2000): 105. ABI/INFORM Global, ProQuest. Web. 10 Dec. 2010.

Raymond A., Hollenbeck, John R., Gerhart, Barry and Wright, Patrick M., (2009) Human Resource Management, 3rd ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Tocher, Neil, and Matthew W. Rutherford. “Perceived Acute Human Resource Management Problems in Small and Medium Firms: An Empirical Examination.” Entrepreneurship: Theory & Practice 33.2 (2009): 455-479. Business Source Complete. EBSCO. Web.

Organizations require competent and experienced personnel to exploit available resources effectively. Well-managed human resources result to orchestrate teams; human resources department is responsible for planning, deploying, employing, training, retaining, and dismissal of employees.

Although Soap Producers and Distributors Ltd human resources management team have enacted a proper staff compensation policy, the company still suffers high staff turnover. This paper evaluates the company’s current state and gives recommendations on how it can improve its human resources management policies.

Additions that the company needs to enact

The company’s staff compensation policy is said to be 10-11% higher than similar jobs in the same industry; in addition to the high wages and salaries, the company has medical schemes, paid leaves and holidays, and employees enjoy charismas bonus. Despite above package, that is attractive, the company still suffers high staff turnover.

The most probable reason for the high staff turnover is the employment environment that the management has created. To retain employees, management should ensure that the organization has favorable environment that nurtures talents and creates room for innovation, invention, and creativity among staffs.

The human resources management team should focus on the operating environment that employees work in; in this context, the management should ensure that employees enjoy their duties. Some of the policies that the company can implement in that effect include having orchestrated team, involving subordinates in decision making, and developing effective communication strategy with an organization.

Cafeteria Approach

The compensation policy adopted by Soap Producers and Distributors Ltd seems not too commensurate with the kind of requirements that the company’s employees.

The company should consider adopting a cafeteria approach; cafeteria approach encompasses the needs of employees’ preferences for benefits; according to the approach compensation should not be standards but should be based on individual preferences. There are people who would be motivated by monetary compensations while others may need non-monetary benefits like promotions.

With the diversity that the company has when recruiting employees, the human resources department should consider developing an effective cafeteria approach of compensation as it improves the company’s operating environment.

Recruitment program for Soap Producers and Distributors Ltd

Soap Producers and Distributors Ltd management should ensure that employees’ needs at one particular point are known and measures taken to ensure right number are maintained. Ensuring that the right numbers of employees are maintained starts from personnel needs planning; planning involves using past staff needs and predicting the future needs.

Generally, human capital can be sourced internally or externally: the method adopted depends with the availability of the qualifications available. The main aim of human resources planning is to ensure that there is the right number of employees, at the right time, at the right place, and at the right cost. Human resources planning are a continuous process as long an organization is operating.

When recruiting human capital, Soap Producers and Distributors Ltd recruiting team should work closely with departments requiring the capital to devise proper recruitment program. Successful candidates should undergo continuous coaching, mentoring, and training to enable them performs their duties diligently.

Continuous employees performance appraisals assist management enacts training programs; some organizations have employees training as a continuous process to ensure that employees are up-to-date with the changes in the industry. Motivational measures should be put in place to ensure that employees are loyal to the organization and they work efficiently.

Executive Summary

This report provides the analysis of a human resource management plan and provides the components for successful implementation of the plan.

The report for the plan involves procedures of gathering information, which enables the management to come up with accurate decisions. The information presented in the report also provides the outline for accurate actions that favour the objectives of the organization. The details of this writing equally provide various factors one has to consider when planning to implement a HRM planning programme.

This paper in the same way provides various aspects that are currently key elements influencing the management of a planning process especially in this technological world. The report finally makes recommendations for future expectations such as utilization or underutilization of technology to determine specific cumbersome tasks and enhance ease transfer of information across linkable elements, in assurance of practical and economical ways of utilizing available resources.

Introduction

Evidently, majority of the companies have embraced the aspect of Human Resource Management as a better and improved style of conducting business especially in this age of Information System revolution. Competition calls for total integration of technology in the human resource management plans and policies in the aim of reshaping the pattern of conducting transactions and maintain competitiveness in the global economy.

Like the early motive, today’s organization’s plans and policies especially in the human resource departments entail procedures aimed at enhancing easy operational procedures and services delivery in the aim of satisfying the societal needs (Canzer, 7, 2003). The main difference between earlier and current human resource management plans and policies entails the use of technology for better enhancement and thus quicker and higher gains on growth.

Given the resolution of the society to embrace change, this report paper forms a strategic plan of the Human Resource Management. It also includes the policies required for an organization or firm that is undergoing change or innovations such as integrations of technology. The paper eventually addresses the future expectation for the professionals.

The HR management plan involves incorporation of business strategies in organization to utilize the available source of resources such as the assets. Failure to incorporate IT solutions is one of the root cause of the current collapse or liquidation of some firms. There is eminent need for an organization to shift with the societal norms less it perishes. Dynamism has to be part of the HRM plans and policies, required to engage clients and employees’ behaviours completely.

A professional planner must engage the logistics and various facts based on the past performance as a way of predicting the future. Davidson’s et al (34, 2009) prediction indicates that future HR managers need to use the technological advancement, to control three aspects of business namely the “business strategy, HR mastery and Technology” considering the current situations, the prediction is already evident in the ever-dynamic world of technological management.

A HRM planning procedure has to incorporate the processes where managers regulate and monitor the effectiveness and efficiency of an organization’s performance. The employee’s efforts to achieve the organization’s goals are also a key factor in the plan (Davidson et al, 34, 2009).

The procedure includes precise collection of information about a system, individuals and work groups in order to make obligatory decisions. The plan has to include precise management of collected information because of the need to reduce errors in service delivery process, and the need to facilitate the role of meeting the client’s necessities. Sound planning is the key foundation of effective decision-making.

The management plan has to include both the short and long-term goals. The strategic and tactical plans assist the planner to ensure full inclusion of organizational goals in various departments such as marketing, human resource, production, information technology or financial. The primary use of a HR management plan is to ensure resource management.

Strategic Human Resource Management in the 21^st Century

Today most organizations have realized the key role of the HR departments. To increase profitability, the HR department should be the key business strategic planner through deployment of the technology such as the web-based analysis of economically influential factors.

Discovery of knowledge as the key resource for the department is the basis for the future predictions, which HR management plan necessitates for new and radical management strategies and practices. According to Hargreaves (4, 2003) today the field of information technology ought to be part of the important administrative tasks entitled to HR department in majority of the organizations.

The managers in the department should be the strategic business associates, who ought to ensure the business gains form its planning strategies. In accordance with Mathias et al (34, 2007), the HR management system should have the sole role of ensuring maximization of turnover margins through enhanced quality and technology based on human management as a way of creating value to the organization

Technological requirements for HRM plans

The network technology required for the HR management include intranet or internet technology, electronic education for the clients as well as the employees, self-service for the client, gathering of the client’s responses and, procedures for gathering virtual surveys and electronic comments (Northhouse, 39, 2009).

The HR management plan is a branch to the main organizational strategic plan, especially for an association that is considering innovations or complete change. The plan can therefore utilize approaches that are similar to those in a strategic plan.

The initial step of planning involves thorough analysis of the current situations, also known as the environmental analysis. The HR manages are able to garner some important and relevant information from the procedures for the surveys and assessments. The procedure assists in identification of plausible problems that the organization can encounter in future.

Current organizational undertakings require proper monitoring to determine how they can influence future responsibilities. During the environmental analysis, the HR management planners have to mull over various external influences such as government sways, competition, economical conditions, the workforce demographics, and availability of resources. The analysis precedes planning which entails formulation, development, implementation and evaluation.

Formulation mainly calls for alignment of the HR culture with the overall organization. Vision assertion of an organization is an ultimate guide into achievements while the activities to pursue appear under the mission for achievement of goals.

Focusing on the mission and vision enhances the team spirit or motivation, and focuses members to aching the goals thus the need to include them in the plan. Lastly, in the formulation of the plan, there is need for a good definition of values of each department as an outline of the important elements. Establishment of these aspects also determines the employee’s behaviours in responding to the values of the organization.

Secondly, the developmental phase enables the planner to understand the status quo of the organization, in order to assist in planning the future endeavours and aspirations.

The process may include the SWOT or other analysis to determine the organization’s strengths, weaknesses, external and internal opportunities as well as threats. According to Davidson et al (37, 2009), “SWOT Analysis include staff capabilities, benefit programs, employee services, information systems, office facilities, and the reputation of human resources within the organization.”

The implementation phase involves connection of the objectives that ensures employee’s commitment and productivity. Lastly, the evaluation ensures following of procedures and provides the use of alternative strategies to achieve desired results.

Steps of HRM planning

HRM planning is a systematic analysis of the organizational needs to ensure the right number of qualified employees and other resources are available as per the requirements. An organization that is undergoing innovation or change needs forecasting, inventory management, data auditing, HR planning, auctioning, monitoring and controlling the plan. Employees have their objectives, and therefore the organization need to put this into consideration, to avoid unnecessary poor performance and irregular actions.

The planning process begins with gathering of data that relates to the organizational objectives, mission or goals. Forecasting process is a procedure that portrays the objectives and the procedure for achieving the purposes of the organization. Employee’s needs emanates from objectives, which are either short-term or long-term goals.

The plan should also involve conversion of goals to workable budgets for instance the costs and time limits of establishing new offices and the analysis of the anticipated returns for the actions. The HRM plan therefore has to include a forecast of the organization’s strategies into logical results, and within a budget to allow conversion for easier numerical references and skills requirements.

Secondly, the plan has to include an inventory since the organization has to have specific number of employees. The employee management in the HRM plan has to include the analysis of skills and qualifications beside the age, location or number requirements in a department.

The inventory management enables the organization leaders to have valid information regarding the technical and professional skills/qualifications, which are immediately available for advancement. This measure also helps to relate to the HRM requirements that the company anticipates to gain.

Thirdly, the organization requires auditing. Dynamism of resources requires proper collection, systematic analysis and examination of collected data. The auditing procedure is an analysis of the past occurrences to predict the future of the organization.

The HRM plan has to include the career plans because the employees are the greatest assets of an organization. According to (MacMillan, 18, 2000), “The Organization is at liberty to develop its staff at full pace in the way ideally suited to their individual capacities.” The alignment of the organizations objectives with viable employees’ capacities provides an optimal scope of the potentials to meet the general management plans.

The career planning is succession planning that concerns the use of the available talents of current and future provisions. This also enhances employees’ satisfaction on career growth/advancement. A good plan has to assign individual talents to anticipated posts, in the organization’s plans, as a measure of ensuring proper preparation of employees for the advancement or change.

There is equally need for setting the plan into action. An efficient HRM plan requires clear indications that are acceptable to the top managers and knowledge over the availability of financial or technical management. A HRM plan that is in action is a corporate arrangement for the organizations long-term endeavours.

Lastly is the need to monitor and control the plan. Once accepted, the implementation of HRM plan occurs but it need to be controlled and followed to ensure proper usage of resources, in the aim of ensuring improvement of the status quo or enhance change-over.

Current trends of HRM Plans

Today the technological advancement has become more vibrant and therefore management styles in organizations and is more dynamic. The human resource departments are focusing attention on the most important procedures. A good management plan has to ensure that the leader remains at the centre of attention over other’s thought at all times.

Current trends indicate that the leader’s values must substantiate human value. It is therefore important for a manager to have good solid knowledge and approaches to combat the organizational differences as well as engage in continuous and alternative choices, which steers organization forward in terms of development (Hargreaves, 155, 2003).

One of the most fundamental issues to consider in a HRM plan concerns the ability to enhance effective communication. At present, a good manager must be in a position of convincing employees to base their focus on the ideas perceived to be important and developmental.

The methods and styles of communication lack good definition in most organizations. Every manager has a personal way of pronouncement, which varies from formal to casual in both written and spoken structures. The main aim of a management plan is to have consistency on the ability to mange allocation, responsibilities and peoples’ actions.

Today the successful HRM system is realizable from a plan that supports the notion that, there exists no single and specific method of guiding. The management style highly depends on various group’s situations, and therefore calls for an ability to come up with the most appropriate leadership behavioural patterns, to combat a situation at hand. This is the only right and most appropriate procedure because it involves those affected and triggers the competency levels (Taplin, 133, 2007).

According to Greene (109, 2009), HRM plans have a close connection to establishment of behaviour patterns. In the assessment of human resource system needs, it is necessary to translate skills to communicative behaviours.

For instance, if a certain group needs strong guidance, the management plan should support the ability to suggest direction, make different assignments, and possibly vet unrealistic suggestions. Managerial and proper planning skills call for ability of finding and balancing thoughts of members, supporting facts, and giving authority to act.

All the HR departments base their undertakings on the strength to communicate, as opposed to skills, experience, or personality. The connection between management, clients and employees, brings about cooperation and unique managerial styles that solve group problem effectively, thus making the group to become more effective (Northhouse, 74, 2009). A good or efficient HRM plan only requires a small, early, but strong guidance to become and remain productive.

Elements to consider for Future Human Resource Management Plans

Most of the employees as well as the clients have access to computers and internet connections. Today the aspects of electronic transactions are already acceptable among users. Inline with Daft and Marcic (150, 2008), the future implication and planning of these technological advancements calls for employees’ participation as a strategy to improve organization’s productivity and general performance of the.

According to Heldman (300, 2009), the drastic changes on undertakings have to be tactical and well thought through to avoid resistance or human misinterpretation. Does technological advancement plans cause retrenchments. Technology is one of the fears that a good planner has to consider in implementation of an advanced human resource plan.

During the integration of the information technology into an organization, the aim is to improve management of the client’s demands eventually. It also entails management of the intelligence in the organizational setting, planning for the resources, management of people especially in terms of the knowledge, supply chain management, enhancement of electronic trade as well as and supporting decision making procedures (Daft and Marcic, 244, 2008).

Most organizations have majority of these aspects in place, but the future expectations are the system’s ability to support all the transactions. Any future endeavours of IT related departments are to generate improved performance/effectiveness through reduction on cost, but maximization of profit margins (Mathias et al, 57, 2007).

Today utilizing the available technology is inevitable, the question remain whether organizations are utilizing the technology in the right manner especially in management of human resources. According to Daft and Marcic, (368, 2008) what lies ahead is a human resource department focused on a knowledge based economy, where the race remain on the ability to enhance fast and flexible learning as well as embracement of technology by employees in organizations.

This is in the aim of taking advantage over the already technologically acquainted markets. The technological advancement allows collaboration and exchange of information over contraction, resource management or the recent common merging programs.

Major future understanding of Information Technology integrated in the HR management plans entails definition of intended and anticipated outcomes. The current increased usage of technology in the workplace shows that, it is inevitable for the HR departments to adopt the advancements such as the current need to use web-based systems that supports client’s interactive aspects.

In future, users expect the human resource information technology to manage organization’s benefit plans and all the employees’ information. The benefits management plans enable the HR department to deal with the ever-growing databases and perform quick accurate analysis. The human resource units face the challenge of dealing with dynamism and limiting of resources due to expansion of databases and growth of information.

Selecting the finest Human Resource Management Plan

Some fundamental elements that the human resource management planner has to consider includes, first the HRIS., In a close link to writing’s Swanson and Holton (235, 2009), the future expectations shows that the Human Resource Information System (HRIS) or Human Resource Management System (HRMS) will be flexible and scalable enough, to allow importation of data form various computer applications.

The systems provide the users with friendly interfaces compatible with all types of systems. Secondly, the filtering of data ought to occur form various stored data types through the automated systems. This means that the plan should support information access from different servers or locations.

Today most systems require some manual manipulation of data before updates into the system. The future expectations are existence of systems that will eliminate all manual procedures and integrate with any eligible system. This means that people expect the use of intelligent systems. Engaging all this anticipated aspects makes the plan stronger and viable over a feasible period.

Importance of an automated human resource systems

Today, most organizational evaluations regarding clients and employees eligibility issues employ the use of database sort and search engines, which utilize the use of a combination of rules and strategies such as messaging, prompting and other eligibility rules of the organization.

A good plan should incorporate a technology that enhances development of dynamic databases, especially by incorporating the ever-growing requirements especially the employee’s databases, which has to entail the new employment qualifying rules and regulations.

The thresholds of the Human Resource Management plan are its ability to ensure that HR system elements measure up to demands and integrate with other management systems such as the payroll systems. Such procedures require eliminating the need to duplicate information such as the employees’ bio data.

The client is the most important entity of any automated system; therefore, an interactive system is important for engaging clients into deep levels services requests, especially data entry. In line with Mathis et al (72, 2007) today, virtual systems require automated interaction, where the feasible client can logon to a system through the network and enter, edit or update their profile or engage transactions without involving management, thus relieving them the overwhelming procedures.

Conclusion and Recommendations

An effective HRM plan should have provision for any requirements, such as the need to track, analyze or process employees’ information, for instance from the previous employers databases. Advanced human resource information systems avails customization probabilities that caters for unique business needs. The employees are in a position to do personal benefit analysis and updates such as changing profiles, for instance their personal addresses, thus relieving the management most of the strategic functions.

With such connecting intelligent system, it is easy to facilitate equal treatment of data pertaining management of employees, development of knowledge, development of careers and facilitation of equal treatment. There is eminent need for future systems plans to have provisions that enable employers to collect and analyze information legally, with the aim of benefiting form ethical assistance and provisions that support easy reporting procedures.

This report recommends provisions for a Human Resource Management Plans that caters for the future expectations. The plan ought to involve the ability to determine specific cumbersome tasks that may be obstructing anticipated achievement thus reducing the organizational value. The plan should indicate advancement in technology that allows easy transfer of data and information from one application or server/ provider to another within the organization, without involving any unnecessary charges (Mathis et al, 72, 2007).

References

Canzer, B. (2003). E-Business: Strategic Thinking & Practice Massachusetts, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company. Print

Daft, R .L, & Marcic, D. (2008) Understanding Management Kentucky, KY: Cengage Learning, Print

Davidson, P., Simon, A., Woods, P. & Griffin, R. W. (2009) Management (Fourth Edition). John Wiley & sons Australia, Ltd. Print

Greene, J. (2009). Head First PMP: A Brain-Friendly Guide to Passing the Project Management. California, CA: O’Reilly Media Inc publishers. Print

Hargreaves, A. (2003). Teaching in the Knowledge Society: Education in the age of Insecurity New York, NY: Teachers’ College Press. Print

Heldman, K. (2009). PMP: Project Management Professional Exam Study Guide Indiana, IN: Wiley Publishers. Print

MacMillan, R. (2000). Leadership succession: Cultures of teaching and Educational change. New York, NY: Routledge/Falmer Publication Press. Print

Mathis, R, L., Jackson, J. H. and Elliott, T. L. (2007) Human Resource Management Ohio, OH: Thomson Southwestern Publishers. Print

Northhouse, P. G. (2009). Leadership: Theory and Practice London, UK: SAGE Publication press, Print

Swanson, R. A, & Holton, E.F. (2009) Foundation of Human Resource Development California, CA: Barrett-Koehler Publishers. Print

Taplin, R. (2007). Outsourcing and human resource management: an international Survey. New York, NY: Routledge publishers

Abstract

Strategic management, as a practice that assists the managers in executing their work is perceived as fresh idea yet it was established in 1950s and 60s. The idea has been accepted across all the sectors as a gateway to solutions.

Changes in work environments can only be incorporated in the long-term plan of the business through strategic management. There are other grand strategies some of which have been adopted by organizations. It includes diversifications, mergers and acquisition, concentrated growths, product development, innovation, turnarounds, integration and strategic alliances.

Discussion

It is believed that strategic human resource management is a recipe to the success and continuous growth of many organizations. With its utilization by many organizations, there has been development of technologically based products like mobile phone banking and e-banking as well as moving to new markets and developing new banking products (Armstrong, 2000, p. 51).

The three options under this Strategic human resource are looking-in, looking-out and looking-ahead. “Looking in” refers to making an important decision internally such as the best way of use of resources. “Looking out” entails ascertaining boundaries to your company in order to come up with desired goals, be acquainted stakeholders and be dynamic to changes.

“Looking-ahead” entails connecting the company requirements with the formations and the possessions in order to attain the set objectives. It laso helps in the process of aligning the approach at any time towards the objectives. With globalization and growth in technology, many organizations are made up of systems, and sub-systems that are known as departments and sections.

The structure of the organization stems from the number of departments and sections. Human resource as a department and the focus of this essay is considered as the lifeblood of the organization (Mello, 2002, p. 59).

The purpose of this essay is fourfold. First, the essay will provide an explanation on the historical development of human resources. Secondly, it will establish the role that strategic human resource managers play in staffing and selection.

Moreover, it gives an explanation on how to prepare the job organization structure including job description. Finally, it gives an insight on evaluation of performance management, as well as how to design training for each employee (Gilmore & Williams, 2009, p. 59).

Strategic human resource management sets out to ensure that both organizational and individual goals are achieved. It seeks to establish a respectful relationship between employers and employees. Human resource is an umbrella that house functions such as organizing, planning as well as utilizing the work force.

As such, staffing and selection is a management process that form the integral part of any organization human resource management. The two functions work hand in hand since the objective of the organization is to select and recruit an employee with the required qualification and competence.

To ensure that this objective is attained, an organization, especially professional companies, design strategies and programs to aid in appraisal, selection and development of labor force to fill the roles designed into the structure. The process should be effective in order to ensure that competent personnel are discovered and obtained and higher performance by placing right persons on the right jobs.

In addition, it will boost employee morale and job satisfaction of employees though fair compensation of their contributions and objective assessment. Staffing and selection will facilitate optimum utilization of human resources and in minimizing cost of manpower.

It ensures continuity and growth of the organization through the development of managers. Moreover, it enables the organization to cope with the shortage of executive talent (Mello, 2006, p. 62).

In addition, staffing and selection that is the most important thing in companies because we must recruit the best employee for our company needs. In addition, we must find employees who fit our organization so we should have recruitment strategies such as hire the superior workforce.

The human resources officer should determine the key requirements needed from the departments managers and which the certificates needed, traits, experience and characteristics you seek in candidates, all these things will assist the human resources officer to get to the best employee and adding the advertisement on the their website or on the recruitment website.

Nonetheless, strategic human resource managers concerns itself with job organization structure especially job description. The management should streamline accordingly the duties of all the employees so that there is no clash among them hence smooth running and performance of the staff.

The company executive among the stakeholders should ensure that adequate resources are availed to the employees. This covers the both human and other resources that ensures services delivery.

Job description is a written account of what an employee is to do on a particular job. It summarizes the tasks, duties and responsibilities. Job description is of the essence in professional companies since it aid in the development of job specification, which is necessary, in recruiting and selecting labor force.

Moreover, it is useful to designing orientation programs for the newly recruited employees, as well as in conducting job evaluation, performance appraisal and salary administration. Job description clearly indicates job identification such as title, job summary, job duties and responsibilities, relation to other jobs, supervision, working conditions and hazards. In addition, it states the use of machines, tools and equipments.

Performance management is critical aspect that oversees the duties and functions of all the company employees within their tasks and prepares them well for any future challenges. Performance management is an integral part of human resources management that follows each employee performance and preparing performance report for each worker.

The process is carried out systematically in order to give information on present performance and potential of the employee that are necessary in making objectives. The feedback of the assessment will form a valid database for personal decisions such as promotion, as well as punishment.

In addition, it enables the professional companies to test if their recruitment and selection process is effective. Not only will performance management improve the subordinate-superior relationship, but it will also provide counseling, coaching, career planning and motivation to subordinates (Legge, 2005, p. 29).

The procedure of performance management entails ascertains performance standards and escalating the standards. There is also measuring performance, matching the attained results to the standards, conferring the assessment, and correcting. The objective of performance management is to improve, change, develop and reinforce the current and future job and organizational requirements.

The appraisals are critical in determining the weaknesses and strengths of the staff and comparing it to the set standards. This helps in eliminating the loopholes and undesired work habits in the organization hence establishing an enabling work environment besides having the highly qualified personnel.

With the changing customer and organizational needs, training of the workforce has become necessary in any organizational setting. Training entails an increase in the wealth of knowledge and skills. In addition, it will augment the behaviour and performance of an employee. Training in organization aims at growing competence and skills as far as possible, in order for its future needs of human resources are realized internally.

For the organization to implement in fully its training program, it should follow some steps. This includes; identification of training needs, definition of the learning requirements, defining the objective of the training, planning training programs, facilities, methods, and trainers. It then proceeds to implementation and evaluation of the training. Therefore, training should be conducted based on individual employee needs.

The training should be executed based on the requirements of the staff and facing in their challenges in carrying out their duties. Companies should have such as in-service training at least after every 3 years for specific tasks to connect the staff and acquit them to the dynamics of the policies.

This also enables the staff to be up to date in performance and changes in their respective field. Responsibility is a critical aspect that customers and the stakeholders have entrusted the company staff irrespective of their positions. This guides them all through in the accomplishing of the desired objectives.

Conclusion

In conclusion, with the increase in the size of organization, advancement of technology, long-range need of workers, trade unionism, as well as human relation movement, human resource management has gained momentum in most organizations (Storey, Wright & Ulrich, 2009, p. 92). Efficient and effective human resource management is equated to organizational success.

Therefore, professional companies should incorporate human resource management especially training, selection, staffing, and performance management as their priority function. A well-managed workforce determines the future strength and position of an organization in the global market.

Moreover, as competition balloon among professional companies, it is necessary to recruit labor force, which is competent, efficient, and flexible to adapt to the ever-changing business environment.

In addition, all the departments are teamwork, but the human resources which is an important and vital jobs focus on how to select their employee and how to develop their employees which are very difficult; thus it is considered that the human resources is the most important department in companies.

References

Armstrong, M 2000, Strategic human resource management a guide to action, 2nd edn. Kogan Page, London.

Gilmore, S & Williams, S 2009, Human resource management, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Legge, K 2005, Human resource management: rhetorics and realities, Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire.

Mello, J 2006, Strategic human resource management, 2nd edn. Thomson/South- Western, Mason, Ohio.

Mello, JA 2002, Strategic human resource management, South-Western College Pub., Sydney.

Storey, J, Wright, PM & Ulrich, D 2009, The Routledge companion to strategic human resource management, Routledge, London.