HR competences for the 21st Century
Competencies are the requirements that an employee should meet so as to be relevant in the job market. Different employees possess different competencies within their area of operations. The wake of the 21st century has witnessed a change in the competencies that an employee needs to have so as to remain relevant in the job market.
Employees who can appreciate the technology can give a company an upper hand to develop in the 21st century. 21st century has witnessed an era called an information era where only those who have information are regarded (Andrica, 1995). Computer knowledge is a competence that all employees should have to remain relevant in this era. Competencies such as flexibility and ease of change are another competence in the 21st century. A flexible employee can give the company a chance to adapt to the challenges that are faced such as high pay for workers. Personal attribute such as honesty and respect is another competence that all employees in the 21st century should demonstrate. Honest employees who are not corrupt can help the company save from not giving or accepting bribes.
Competence has been practiced in almost all of the companies is this modern era. In most cases, the HR will use a questionnaire to evaluate how well the staff understands technology. In the case, the results are negative; HR will take the initiative to teaching the employees on the relevant technology area. The other area where competence has been practiced is during the recruitment. Before any staff is recruited in any company, the HR will have to interview the applicant to make sure that they are competent as per 21st century.
The HR risks having an irrelevant workforce if they cannot apply this concept. The world shifting to an era where technology rules everything, all employees should be technological literate. Human Resource sends much money in hiring employees. Nofsinger (199) asserts that the money spent in hiring the employees should be reflected on the Returns of the Investment (ROI) of the company. If the staff is not able to make a quantifiable return, then the company will have a loss.
A company can only compete in the market when the workforce is competent enough. Ignoring the competencies of the staff will mean that the HR is not creating a conducive environment for growth. With the 21st century competencies, all the employees will be capable of understanding the challenges faced within the workplace and come up with the relevant solutions. An incompetent workforce will not be capable of coming up with the solutions of even very simple challenges.
Competencies are one area that needs to be dealt with care. All the applicants who apply for any vacancy should demonstrate other knowledge apart from what they have learned in class. A 21st century employee should be innovative and creative. Creativity is a competence that any employee who demonstrates it can never lack problem solution. A modern company should have a strategy that will make sure that before hiring any staff, their competencies are measured. Competencies can be measured through interviews. Apart from the interview other competence analysis strategies such as problem solving can be used. A questionnaire that requires person decision making can be added to interviews before hiring. Through a questionnaire, HR will be able to know how competent or not are the applicants.
Differentiation of rewards and segmentation of current and potential employees
Employee's reward differentiation is a way to choosing the employees who are rewarded and those who are not rewarded. Differentiation is a way of making sure that no reward goes to those employees who do not deserve to be rewarded. In this case, the traditional feeling that the performance of the company is attributed to all staff is removed. On the other hand, segmentation of employees involves learning the strengths and the weaknesses of the employees and assigns them responsibility as per their strengths.
Segmentation of employees is a good way of getting the best from the employee. The HR will learn more from the employees and know where their strengths lie. A strong workforce can be created when all the employees who are knowledgeable in the area are put to work together. This will boost the morale of all the workers and will work towards achieving the best. Through segmentation, greater ideas can be brought which will help the company to develop.
Reward differentiation is a method aimed at improving personal competencies rather than developing a group work. A company can have a hard working staff if the rewards are given on the basis of personal performances. All the staff will work harder to develop their area of operations so as to be awarded. A personal effort always has better returns than a group work. The returns of this strategy are helpful even to the other staff members as no one will be overburdened with work.
An example of the reward differentiation is the reward that an employee can receive in recognition of the effort made to implement technology in the company (Shiota et al. 2014). In the case, an employee is chosen on the basis of personal effort and the company does not connect such effort to other people in the company, then differentiation has been practiced. On the other hand, segmentation comes in when employees who are having the same qualifications are given the same job description. In this case, such employees are required to work together towards the same goal.
A company will risk poor performance when the employees are not segmented. If the HR lacks idea of their employees’ potential, they cannot assign such staff in the areas where they will be motivated to work in, Cherry (2014). Placing an employee in a place, he or she has no idea of will lead to time and money wastage.
A company that does not reward its employees will demoralize the employees. Most of the employees will get motivated to work hard so as to be awarded. The standards of awarding the employees will be very important. Unfair rewarding normally demoralizes workers towards work. A company that ignores rewarding employees risks having a demoralized workforce.
Rewarding should be attributed to a group work. In most cases, many companies have rewarded some of the employees on a very unfair ground. Through corruption, most of the employees have risen through the rank. To avoid this, differentiation should not be practiced. On the side of segmentation, the HR should analyze the competencies of all the employees and segment each in a group aimed at one goal. Through segmentation, all the employees will relish working in the company as they will be working in their area of profession. Problem solving will also be very easy since the segments will have people who face the same challenges.
Employment branding
The labor market is stiff as each, and every company strives harder to make sure that they attract the best employees. The good image that a company can create to show that they are the best working partners can be termed as employer brand. Internal marketing is another term that can be used as a replacement for employer branding.
A good image of the company can be created when a company has a good brand. Most of the employees usually want to know more about the company before applying for any chance within the company. Bright minds can only be attracted in the cases of a good employer branding. Employees also feel relaxed and comfortable working with a company with a good image. They will feel motivated and will always work harder to make sure that they help the company maintain a good image. Through the hard work, the company can increase its profits and have a change in the balance sheet.
Most companies use visions and missions that show that the company is the best. When most of the missions and the visions of most of the companies are analyzed, one will realize that the company tries to create a brand of it. The other way a company will create an employer brand is by offering pays that are higher than that of a competitor. Through high payment, employers feel the importance and work hard to go on working with the company. Another way of putting employer brand into practice is when a company offers tea and other refreshments to the staffs. The company will build a good image when the workers are taking out for vacations during the holidays. Through branding, no employee will feel bored and will maintain the efforts put at work always to be ahead of the competitor.
A company will risk having employees if it cannot have an image of its own. It the world of today, advertising for the vacancy is just as the same as advertising a new product in the market. How the buyers of the product will depend on the faith they have on the company that depends on the company’s image. The same applies to the job market; an employee will only accept a contract with the company when the company has a good employer brand. Apart from risking employees, the company will also not be an attractive site for many customers (Russell 2009). The reputation of the customers towards a company lacking a brand is always very poor. Ignoring the employer brand will have a devastating effect on the morale of the employees also. Most of the employees will work but with a divided attention. Most of them will need to work with another company that a better image than the one they are currently working with.
All companies should have something unique that they can be identified by in the market outside. The company will only be an employee attraction site when the image of the company is good. Better payment is not the only way a company can create a good image in the market. The best way to create the best image is to appreciate the work of each and every worker. This can be done when a company has fair ways of promoting the staff. A company can have an image if it is fond of producing managers. This means that no employee’s work is undermined. An open arena for decision-making can also decorate the image of a company. Most employees will feel more attracted to work with an employer who will be ready to listen to their views before any decision is made. In this case, the relationship between the employer and the employee is what will determine how the image of the company will look.
References
Andrica, D. C. (1995). The 21st Century Executive: New Competencies for Success. Nursing Economic$, 13(4), 257.
Cherry, R., & Gatta, M. (2014). Introduction: The Need for Gender-Targeted Workforce Development Initiatives. Journal Of Women, Politics & Policy, 35(2), 93-109. doi:10.1080/1554477X.2014.890839
Nofsinger, M. M. (1999). Training and Retraining Reference Professionals: Core Competencies for the 21st Century. Reference Librarian, 30(64), 9.
Russell, J. (2009). Web 2.0 Technology: How Is It Impacting Your Employer Brand?. Nursing Economic$, 27(5), 335-336.
Shiota, M. N., Neufeld, S. L., Danvers, A. F., Osborne, E. A., Sng, O., & Yee, C. I. (2014). Positive Emotion Differentiation: A Functional Approach. Social & Personality Psychology Compass, 8(3), 104-117. doi:10.1111/spc3.12092
Tüzüner, V. L., & Yüksel, C. A. (2009). SEGMENTING POTENTIAL EMPLOYEES ACCORDING TO FIRMS' EMPLOYER ATTRACTIVENESS DIMENSIONS IN THE EMPLOYER BRANDING CONCEPT. Journal Of Academic Research In Economics, 1(1), 46-61.
