Q.1. Describe and critically appraise the recruitment, motivation and retention process at an organization.
The process of recruitment is highly critical for every organization as the human resource is one of the key elements important for proper functioning of a company or an organization. The objectives of the recruitment process are to find suitable candidates for any available post for improving the organizational performance. The process starts with preparation that includes advertisement of the posts and other necessary arrangements. The next phase in recruitment is selection in which suitable candidates are selected on the bases of the information provided in the application. Most frequently used method for the selection procedure is a face to face interview. The last phase in the recruitment is the process of evaluation and decision making. Here human resource specialists take decisions on the basis of the gathered information via different methods like references, psychological testing, work sample etc. At the end of these procedures the most suitable candidate is selected that is competent enough to meet the requirements of the job and of the organization.
Roberts. G (1997) defines the process in his book as ‘Selection is the process of matching people to specific job’. The candidates once selected and on job, need to be enthusiastic and motivated as motivation is a very important driving force for an employee for delivering positive outputs. The managers role here is to use positive motivation strategies as today’s world and its dynamics have changed a lot, the needs and desires of people have taken a completely different form. It is the company’s responsibility to take care of the employee’s needs and problems, directly or indirectly wherever relevant.
Retention of the selected employees is another fundamental human resource function as after selecting a candidate that is most suitable for a company, it is now company’s responsibility to make the job lucrative enough for its employees so that they learn and deliver the acquired skills in that very organization. The process could involve incentives, bonuses, retirement plans, insurance and other monetary and non monetary benefits.
Q.2. How might the Human Resource activities of recruiting, performance appraisal and pay, be related to corporate strategy of the company?
Corporate strategy of a company is a combination of strategic alternatives through which an organization opts as it operates simultaneously across several markets and industries. Hence along with developing strategies for industry and market at individual level, they also develop a comprehensive strategy that is helpful in defining the mix of markets and industries.. Boyd, Claude, and Walker (2002) are of the view that “if a business keeps in mind the corporate goals along with its corporate strategies then it will surely be a successful and profitable business. And to ensure that these components are taken care of efficiently, all the business departments, be it marketing department, finance department or human resource department, all work together towards predetermined goals”.
The employees are individuals having their own perceptions and mental maps, they have their own personalities and own goals, an organization shall therefore be able to the individual as well as its psychological aspects. Human resource department is responsible for hiring the right candidates, then gauge their performance, train their, reward him and provide them best opportunities of developing their career, so that the employees stay content and loyal to the organization.
In an article on Human resource management Promoni, (2009) says “Because just as a satisfied employee will add to the bottom line, an unsatisfied employee will take value from the company” .It is therefore of the utmost importance that such a strategy shall be devised that meets the objectives of the organization and the keeps the employees satisfied in parallel.
Another responsibility of the human resource department is the performance appraisal, which according to Business Glossary is “a personnel evaluation method seeking the measurement of employee work effectiveness using objective criteria”. The system works on gauging the employee performance aiming on achieving higher productivity. It judges on the criterion of job specification, that how well can an employee meet his job description, if he is ill to perform up to expectations, it is the department’s responsibility to figure out and fix if not can eliminate the issues hindering the employees expected performance.
This is a challenging task for the department as it has to devise such performance standards that on the priority maintain the organization’s objectivity as well as are achievable.
Next to appraisal comes the responsibility of compensation. Darlington. H (2005) defines compensation as “all the rewards that employees receive in exchange for their work, including base-pay, commissions, bonuses and other incentives”. A sound compensation system makes it easy for the management to comply with the labor acts. It encourages and motivates the employees to perform better. A good Reward System generates a healthy relationship between the employees and the employer. A perfect remuneration system also provides bases for a contended workforce, which in turn minimizes the labor turnover leading the business towards stability. The company is thus able to retain their best hunted talent by compensating them with adequate rewards as a consequence of which the employees restrain from searching and switching over to another job
These procedures of Human resource department like recruitment, selection, evaluation, appraisal and compensation when incorporated into business objectives confines in a comprehensive strategy that is firm enough to meet the company’s goals and along with that is flexible enough to keep the job lucrative for the employees so that they continue adding value to the organization. Organizational Psychology suggests that prosperous organizations not only owe their success to sustainable competitive advantages and market realities. In fact successful companies account their human capital as the most prior asset. Lunthons F, (2005) is of the view that “Facts and figures are the quantitative elements of successful management, yet the qualitative, i.e. the cognitive aspects, are those that actually make or break an organization”.
Hence the primary builders of any successful organization are the employees. And for this reason every company has a human resource department and this is what corporate strategy for human resource all about. A good corporate strategy on human resource is reflected in every department of the organization, from office environment to the company’s financials. As vice versa goes for a bad one. The companies researched by Watson Wyatt showed that during a 5-year time period, high quality HRM provided a 64percent total return to the stakeholders as compared to 21percent return for the organizations with comparatively weaker HR practices.
It can be concluded from the above discussion that the Human Resource activities of recruiting, performance appraisal and pay, are closely related to corporate strategy of any company. HRM is a complex art rather science of managing the people and ensuring that meet the expected goals on individual as well as organizational level. Darlington (2008) says that “five things are suggested that companies should strive to accomplish if they truly want to be the very best they can; Hire the BEST, Train the BEST, Communicate the BEST, Motivate the BEST and Compensate the BEST”.
Q.3. What Human Resources challenges does the organization face today?
The strategic face of business world has changed a lot in the past decades, now the system is many times diversified and a lot more new dimensions have been introduced. The Human resources have to face new challenges every now and then and it is certain that in this challenging environment these issues will never cease to emerge. It is therefore of the utmost importance that properly devised Human Resource techniques shall be applied and practiced to coup with these challenges. The aim of HRM is not only to achieve the quantitative outputs, but also to enhance the cognitive aspects qualitatively and improve the organizational culture. The managers today are facing myriad challenges with issues regarding the diversified workforce, technology, innovation, legislation and many more. To counter these issues the managers need to use their expertise and leadership skills.
In every organization the human resources department has to confront the challenge of devising strategy and plan of action that can make the organization "employer of choice." A company where people prefer to work as the company offers good remuneration and additional benefits. In these organizations the hiring standards are quite high and it is difficult to get a job there, yet it’s a dream company and attractive for all. Such a company enjoys a status of selecting the most competent people from the industry which in turn contribute to the company’s prosperity. However achieving and retaining this position is a complicated and difficult task. The HR managers have to work hard on strategy build up and policies.
Other challenges that the HRM has to face are the employee retention, compensation, diversity management, talent management and HR outsourcing. These issues may not be new but with the changed time, these have certainly taken new forms with many more dimensions. Along with that technology has made the job tougher from one aspect and easier from the other.
The challenge of retaining the employees is being faced by every employer at all levels, retaining the best employees is the most difficult of all, as they are competent and they beside the company, other company’s and the employee himself knows that he is strong, as a consequence at time the employees exploit the company for gaining additional benefits, also other companies keep on offering them lucrative offers so that they may switch over. To coup with this situation it is essential to have a smart strategic plan that ensures that the employee stays offering him compensation and benefits in the exchange of contracts or any other form of legal bindings, that satisfy’s the employee as well.
Budgeting and compensation is another challenge that the organizations have to face, in order to keep the employee satisfied the company has to offer good monetary rewards which can be a problem for the finance department. For this some organizations pay competitive wages and offer standard benefits whereas others offer high wages and minimal benefits
The definition of workplace diversity has changed much more than differentiating on religion, race, sex, color and national origin. Diversity today incorporates the differences attributed to communication, generation, work style and language. Now the HRM has to learn how to provide feedback and leadership to every single employee by understating the motivational forces of the individuals at the workplace in such a diverse environment.
Talent Management and HR outsourcing are two of the many challenges the HRM has to face today. Unemployment, labor issues, development and training lead the managers to strive at the competitive edge. HR leaders and practitioners have to work way too hard on taking the decision on whether or not outsourcing the human resource. There are a number of firms offering lower cost outsourcing facilities which at times makes it feasible for the organization to outsource rather than hiring and maintain a whole department. On the other hand in house expertises are also an essential element of any business. These two dimensions make it challenging for the managers to take the right decision. Lastly the innovation and ever improving technology in every field has made the HR environment much challenging.
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