Monday, July 18, 2011

Human Resource Management and Organizational Effectiveness

1. Introduction

"Organizational effectiveness depends on having the right people in the right jobs at the right time to meet rapidly changing organizational requirements. Right people can be obtained by performing the role of Human Resource (HR) function. Below is an outline and explanation of how to assess the HR functions of an organization by using HR activities in an architectural firm as an example. Human resource management (HRM), as defined by Bratton, J. & Gold, J. (2003), is

"A strategic approach to managing employment relations which emphasizes that leveraging people's capabilities is critical to achieving sustainable competitive advantage, this being achieved through a distinctive set of integrated employment policies, programmes and practices."

According to this definition, we can see that human resource management should not merely handle recruitment, pay, and discharging, but also should maximize the use of an organization's human resources in a more strategic level. To describe what the HRM does in the organization, Ulrich, D. & Brocklebank, W. (2005) have outlined some of the HRM roles such as employee advocate, human capital developer, functional expert, strategic partner and HR leader etc.

An important aspect of an organization's business focus and direction towards achieving high levels of competency and competitiveness would depend very much upon their human resource management practices to contribute effectively towards profitability, quality, and other goals in line with the mission and vision of the company.

Staffing, training, compensation and performance management are basically important tools in the human resources practices that shape the organization's role in satisfying the needs of its stakeholders. Stakeholders of an organization comprise mainly of stockholders who will want to reap on their investments, customers whose wants and desires for high quality products or services are met, employees who want their jobs in the organization to be interesting with reasonable compensation and reward system and lastly, the community who would want the company to contribute and participate in activities and projects relating to the environmental issues. Common rules and procedures of human resource management must be adhered to by the organization which forms basic guidelines on its practices. Teamwork among lower levels of staff and the management should be created and maintained to assist in various angles that would deem necessary in eliminating communication breakdowns and foster better relationship among workers. The management should emphasize on good corporate culture in order to develop employees and create a positive and conducive work environment

Performance appraisal (PA) is one of the important components in the rational and systemic process of human resource management. The information obtained through performance appraisal provides foundations for recruiting and selecting new hires, training and development of existing staff, and motivating and maintaining a quality work force by adequately and properly rewarding their performance. Without a reliable performance appraisal system, a human resource management system falls apart, resulting in the total waste of the valuable human assets a company has.

There are two primary purposes of performance appraisal: evaluative and developmental. The evaluative purpose is intended to inform people of their performance standing. The collected performance data are frequently used to reward high performance and to punish poor performance. The developmental purpose is intended to identify problems in employees performing the assigned task. The collected performance data are used to provide necessary skill training or professional development.

2. Affirmative action has assisted many members of minority groups in creating equal opportunities in education and employment. Who could object to assisting these minorities, who suffered years of discrimination, in getting the equal opportunity they deserve? The problem is, affirmative action promotes racial preferences and quotas which cause mixed emotions. One time supporters of affirmative action are now calling out "reverse discrimination". If we want a stronger support for affirmative action we need to get rid of the preferential treatments.

The back bone of affirmative action began with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment. The amendment abolished slavery and any involuntary labor, is showed there was a calling for equal opportunity for all South Africans.

A comprehensive Human Resource Strategy plays a vital role in the achievement of an organisation's overall strategic objectives and visibly illustrates that the human resources function fully understands and supports the direction in which the organisation is moving. A comprehensive HR Strategy will also support other specific strategic objectives undertaken by the marketing, financial, operational and technology departments.

In essence, an HR strategy should aim to capture "the people element" of what an organisation is hoping to achieve in the medium to long term, ensuring that:-

o it has the right people in place

o it has the right mix of skills

o employees display the right attitudes and behaviours, and

o employees are developed in the right way.

If, as is sometimes the case, organisation strategies and plans have been developed without any human resource input, the justification for the HR strategy may be more about teasing out the implicit people factors which are inherent in the plans, rather than simply summarising their explicit "people" content.

An HR strategy will add value to the organisation if it:

o articulates more clearly some of the common themes which lie behind the achievement of other plans and strategies, which have not been fully identified before; and

o identifies fundamental underlying issues which must be addressed by any organisation or business if its people are to be motivated, committed and operate effectively.

The first of these areas will entail a careful consideration of existing or developing plans and strategies to identify and draw attention to common themes and implications, which have not been made explicit previously.

The second area should be about identifying which of these plans and strategies are so fundamental that there must be clear plans to address them before the organisation can achieve on any of its goals. These are likely to include:

o workforce planning issues

o succession planning

o workforce skills plans

o employment equity plans

o black economic empowerment initiatives

o motivation and fair treatment issues

o pay levels designed to recruit, retain and motivate people

o the co-ordination of approaches to pay and grading across the organisation to create alignment and potential unequal pay claims

o a grading and remuneration system which is seen as fair and giving proper reward for contributions made

o wider employment issues which impact on staff recruitment, retention, motivation etc.

o a consistent performance management framework which is designed to meet the needs of all sectors of the organisation including its people

o career development frameworks which look at development within the organisation at equipping employees with "employability" so that they can cope with increasingly frequent changes in employer and employment patterns

o policies and frameworks to ensure that people development issues are addressed systematically : competence frameworks, self-managed learning etc.

The HR strategy will need to show that careful planning of the people issues will make it substantially easier for the organisation to achieve its wider strategic and operational goals.

In addition, the HR strategy can add value is by ensuring that, in all its other plans, the organisation takes account of and plans for changes in the wider environment, which are likely to have a major impact on the organisation, such as:

o changes in the overall employment market - demographic or remuneration levels

o cultural changes which will impact on future employment patterns

o changes in the employee relations climate

o changes in the legal framework surrounding employment

o HR and employment practice being developed in other organisations, such as new flexible work practices.

Finding the right opportunity to present a case for developing an HR Strategy is critical to ensuring that there will be support for the initiative, and that its initial value will be recognised by the organisation.

Giving a strong practical slant to the proposed strategy may help gain acceptance for the idea, such as focusing on good management practice. It is also important to build "early or quick wins" into any new strategy.

Other opportunities may present the ideal moment to encourage the development of an HR Strategy:-

o a major new internal initiative could present the right opportunity to push for an accompanying HR strategy, such as a restructuring exercise, a corporate acquisition, joint venture or merger exercise.

o a new externally generated initiative could similarly generate the right climate for a new HR strategy - e.g. Black economic empowerment initiatives.

o In some instances, even negative news may provide the "right moment", for example, recent industrial action or employee dissatisfaction expressed through a climate survey.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2844811

Human Resource Management: How to be a Successful Leader

The Human Resource Management (HRM) can function with a variety of responsibilities. One key duty among them is deciding what working needs you have and whether to use the services of independent contractors in hiring employees.

The HRM have to fill these needs, since recruiting, training and educating new employees is important in maintaining the high standards of the organization.

The HRM also deals in ensuring high quality performance to their current employees and dealing with performance issues. In addition, the HRM handles staff and management practices in conforming various regulations and policies. New projects and activities include managing tasks on how the company can approach employees with their benefits and compensation.

For small businesses, they handle these activities and tasks by themselves since they cannot afford to have a Human Resource management team. However, they should always be aware of the need to regulate personnel policies. These policies are mostly seen in human resource handbooks, which all employees should have.

You should also take note that the HRM's duty is mainly on major management activities. Since you are considering improving your career in the Human Resource Management department, leadership traits and trainings are important aspects in acquiring your dreams and goals in the company.

For large scale businesses, Coaching is providing feedback usually to the supervisors and executives on how they reach their personal best in their Human Resource leadership role. HRM coaches usually works with every manager and supervisors at every level in the company. This what makes the human resource coach as challenging and exciting. Here are some tips on how to become an effective leader or coach.

1. Effective coaches and leaders should define the boundaries of his relationship with his managers.

2. You should also pay attention to your team's concerns and issues. Allow yourself to receive feedbacks and comments on what areas you want to improve on.

3. Help the manager to obtain a 360 degree feedback and implement action plans to increase his capabilities as a good leader.

4. As a human resource management leader, you should push the window with each manager in assisting each employee to grow professionally. It is also important to promote the success of each employee in the company.

5. A good leader should always listen to his personnel in the organization. You should allow ideas and thoughts of your employees to help form the vision and mission of the organization.

6. You should provide each employee what they want and deserve within his capabilities. You can share rewards to your team if the organization is performing well.

7. You can set the pace through your own expectations and by examples.

8. Always establish an environment of continuous improvement.

9. Provide new opportunities to employees who deserve to grow. This can be professionally or personally

Success of businesses may depend on the capabilities of a good human resource management. Recruiting good leaders that want to take advantage of the knowledge, experience, and thoughtfulness of talented employees is important.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/325468

Human Systems Management Vs Human Resources Management

Prelude: The Evolution of Human Resource Management

From the dawn of the Computer Age to the birth of the Internet, technology and business have evolved with unprecedented speed. Technological advances have produced competitive advantages. However, competitive advantage is no longer achieved or maintained solely by technological innovation.

With the rapid ability of product developers to create new products, the only remaining competitive advantage in business to capitalize upon is not technology, but people. Simply put, those firms attracting and retaining the best people and making the most of their human resources will thrive. Those who don't, will not.

As an increasingly competitive world forces business to change, adapt and respond more quickly, companies are reconsidering the very essence of how they conduct business. These demands produce new expectations of how people contribute to organizations. People must possess greater knowledge, play new roles and operate to higher standards of performance.

The New Role of Human Resource Management

Because the emphasis today is on people and what they can bring to the business, it's only natural that the Human Resource (HR) function would one day reexamine how it supports a firm's business plan. That time is now. Once merely thought of as the organizational police, administrators or the company store, the Human Resource function is finally becoming a true strategic business partner in progressive companies.

Some say HR's mission is to add value. Regardless of its characterization, the new HR role is to make a business more successful. Just like the order of movements in a symphony score, a business and its objectives must first be understood. The HR function, long associated with understanding and working with a company's human element, is well suited to apply and integrate its organizational knowledge with the strategic business plan for maximum impact. The net result? The new HR function can now contribute to the success of the firm in ways which weren't possible in the past. In fact, the new HR role is so different, it deserves a new name - Human Systems Management.
What Is Human Systems Management

Human Systems represents any organizational system in which the role, impact, and reaction of the human element are of critical importance. Human Systems Management encompasses much of what Human Resource Management has become, and more. In it, the HR function is re-creating, redefining, and essentially retuning for the Post-Modern and Information Ages. The system may be exclusively human (e.g., the process of team building) or sociotechnical (i.e., the interaction of people and technology). It may involve the redesign of work or the design of new pay systems to improve employee satisfaction and organizational performance.

The key element is, and always will be, the human element. The desired outcome is twofold: improved individual as well as organizational performance. At its core, however, is business strategy.

New Knowledge, New Opportunities

The Human Resource function, with its overall view of the business, has a great opportunity to capitalize upon and synthesize the new knowledge we have gained about organizational behavior.

For example, we know that employee involvement is vital to the success of many companies and business programs today. People who do the work know the work best. They should participate in decision making that affects their jobs, workplace and livelihood. People, therefore, will acquire skills by choice, if given the opportunity.

We also know that well-designed jobs and pay systems encourage skill acquisition and increase job satisfaction. In addition, we have learned that teams of people can be self-directing with equal or greater effectiveness than supervisor-led groups. When people are self-managing, the challenges and the rewards of achievement increase the meaning of the work they do.

The HR Department must also reexamine its traditional role. For instance, roles like Employment, Compensation and Training are performed in new ways to free the HR department to focus on other value-adding activities. This can be achieved through outsourcing, internal consulting, automation, the assumption of HR functions by line management, leaderless teams, team-based decision making, self-guided computer training, the Internet, reverse interviewing, as well as other strategies.

The result? The new proactive HR function can act more like a strategic partner.

A Strategic Partner for Human Systems Management

But how can organization's move forward from Human Resource Management to Human System Management?

They should seek out a strategic partner who specializes in Human Systems Management. This allows the partner to orchestrate new strategies that will enhance a business' chance for success and to serve as a centralized resource for data and ideas.

The strategic partner should not only provide a level of professional expertise usually found only in larger, more costly consulting firms, but also form more personal working relationships with an organization's management team. This means that management can then always depend on the strategic partner's ongoing availability and support.

Specifically, a strategic partner can help orchestrate the transition to Human Systems Management by:

- serving as an organization's entire HR function where none exists;

- complementing the role of small HR functions in mid-size firms;

- and consulting with larger, well-established HR functions on new ideas for improving performance.

The Finale: Working in Concert

Today the challenge of Human Resource Management is to integrate the best traditional approaches with new and innovative techniques and strategies of Human Systems Management. When these elements work in harmony, and with the firm's strategic plan, the organization becomes the beneficiary.
However, a business needs to work under the guidance of a skilled orchestrator. Therefore, it is essential that a Human System Management consultant work in concert with an organization's leaders as a strategic partner to create Human Resource programs that align the efforts of people with the employers' objectives to achieve common goals that will benefit everyone.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6357579

Human Resource Management Relates Directly to The Success or Failure of Any Business

Most business owners realize that the core of any successful organization is its people. It is responsible for managing people, so it's natural to understand why it is essential that you have exceptional human resource management practices in place. Today, the business environment is often unpredictable and always competitive. In an article posted recently on The Borneo Post, human resource management is explored in-depth.

According to the article, human resource management once leaned more toward personnel-related tasks such as payroll, record keeping on employees and hiring. In fact, nothing could be truer; today, human resource management consists of much more, and is an integral part of senior management in larger organizations. In recent years, this has become one of the most challenging jobs; those who work in HRM may find themselves recruiting, training and developing employees, building industrial relations, handling compensation and benefits and much more. It's a complex position that requires exceptional skills and diversity.

What does effective human resource management training consist of? Once completed, individuals should be able to understand and appreciate the role that each and every individual employed by the company plays, and what their contributions are. They should also be able to ascertain how the contributions of various employees relate to the growth and success of the company. Those who train to work in the HR management arena should be capable of developing their skills, knowledge and abilities so that these skills can be applied to the job.

Today's HR management courses may offer an individual the opportunity to get a diploma; some courses are so in-depth that those attending may acquire a bachelor's or master's degree. In order to be effective in human resource management, it is essential that those in this career field understand the theories, concepts and applications of the profession. Strategic management, training and development, industrial relations and organizational behavior are just a few of the aspects that fall under human resource management today.

To break it down simply, human resource management is involved in people as a whole. Exceptional people skills is crucial in this role, as this position is one that is involved in attracting the right employee, then developing and rewarding that employee so that they remain with the company and work to build an organization that is competitive and successful. Workforce planning, induction, orientation, performance appraisal and labor relations are other aspects often found in human resource management.

Hakan Samad Graduated in University of Washington, majoring in Business Policy, International Business, Organizational Behavior, Business Communications, Consumer Research, Managing Information Systems, New Media Communications and business Leadership.
http://business-square.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5448233

Human Resource Management

The function of Human Resource Management contains a number of activities. The most important among them is to understand your small or home-based business's recruitment needs. HRM is responsible for deciding that whether to hire freelancers or appoint full-time workforce for the business setup you have. Hiring and training the best workers, making sure that they are high performers, ensure your personal management practices and try to be conventional to various policies are some of the Human Resource Management activities.

Mostly commercial or non-commercial small or home-based businesses have to carry out the human resource activities by themselves, as they cannot afford recruiting human resource management at their early stages. Conversely they should make the employee certain about the terms and conditions and the corporate policies of your business. Usually, those rules, regulations and policies are mentioned in the appointment letter provided to them at the time of their hiring. Besides that, do not make the Human Resource Management (HRM) confused with the Human Resource Development (HRD). HRD is a much broader spectrum of which HRM is a part.

The functions of HRM can be dealt easily and effectively in a small or home-based business setup by the business owner. Yet, the Human Resource Management functions are different for small, medium or large size entrepreneurs, and it place emphasis on how leadership, organization and devotion played important roles in organizational success.

Next to the general management work, HRM practices are the most important activity in small or home-based business ventures. Study shows that smaller firms grow in HRM practices if giving importance to training of its employees and group-based incentives on a basis of total quality management strategy. But the HR practices have generally languished in small or home-based business.

In short it is better to say that Human Resource Management (HRM) is a sophisticated means of managing quality workers, benefits and wages within the organization's budget.

The writer is maintaining a website Small Business Bible which has everything you need to know to run a successful small business.

When starting a business it is significant that the owner has a sound knowledge and prepared for any challenge. Small Business Bible is a site intended to guide starters and experienced entrepreneurs who plan to initiate a new home based business or a small business firm. This site provides comprehensive, easy to understand information on how to start up, maintain and solve problems in small business. Each section of the site has a variety of articles related to specific areas of small business and includes little known tips and pieces of advice for business owners at any stage.
http://business-square.com/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/315713