Individual Essay
Human resource management refers to the function that concentrates on the management, recruitment of employees and provision of guidance to employees within an organization. When all the human resource components are carried out and accomplished optimally, it will be said to be effective human resource. In human resource, there has to be a sociological framework which is used to effectively explain the workplace behavior of employees. This framework has to be as compelling as possible to ensure that the explanation of the employees’ behavior is well identified and explained comprehensively and accurately. There are also psychological theories that are very essential and critical in ensuring that human resource management is done to the satisfaction of the employees, the Human Resource practitioner and the workplace. The human resource manager has to apply the appropriate human resource sociological framework that will enable them explain employee actions at the workplace. The manager also has to apply various theories of work psychology in order to effectively handle the task of human resource management.
Human resource practitioners have two major roles to fulfill. The first is functional part of human resource management. Human resource management has several areas which all have to be fulfilled. The functional areas include recruitment and selection of new employees, planning of jobs and number of employees to be employed, job analysis, training of new and existing employees. Other functional areas are development of new job slots, performance management of the existing employees, reward management, management of change and management of diversity at the work place, OH&S, legal compliance and the resolution of disputes at the place of work. The second major role of a human resource professional is to apply workplace psychology theories in human resource procedure, practice and processes. This will help in the adherence to the universally accepted practices of human resource at the place of work.
Sociological theories or frameworks are very useful for practicing human resource professionals because they provide a basis for proper understanding of the employees’ behavior at their place of work. This is because sociological imagination is said to enhance the human resource management’s understanding of employee’s actions and behavior at their place of work. The best sociological framework to apply in a human resource profession is the one that will reflect the functional areas in human resource management.
Human resource planning has four major components. These are forecasting, implementation, planning, investigation and analysis. Each of these components of human resource planning has its own role in ensuring a proper sociological framework. The human resource manager has to carry out an employment planning practice which involves coming up with plans to seal any future openings with respect to the positions that will be expected to be available and whether they will be sealed by candidates from within or from outside.
Job analysis is one of the most compelling sociological frameworks in the explanation of employee behavior at the place of work. Job analysis is done with the objective of producing a systematic set of data about jobs that employees do. His will include the responsibilities of each employee, nature of jobs done by every employee, the conditions of working, the required equipment and the job position in the organization. After job analysis has been done, the results can be utilized to make an individual specification for a job role or a job description. The results can also be used to influence employees’ lives crucially and they also have an effect on the validation and design of procedures of employee selection, development and training, evaluation and job design.
With the study of the nature of the job an individual performs, one can be able to explain the employees’ behavior at work and the nature of the work. The employees’ behavior is related to the nature of the job they perform at the workplace. For instance, if an employee’s nature of work involves shouting because they work in a noisy environment, they will most likely speak in very loud tones. Such an employee’s behavior has been affected and determined by the nature of work they perform. An individual whose job requires that they dress and speak formally, for example, a sales executive, will always act formally, speak and dress elegantly because the nature of the job requires them to be that way.
The responsibilities of an individual at the place of work can also be used to explain the behavior of an employee at the place of work. Job analysis involves the analysis of the responsibilities of every employee at the work place. Responsibilities are easy to use to explain the behavior of employees. Employees with more responsibilities tend to behave authoritatively because they have the mandate to coordinate and oversee the accomplishment of tasks at the place of work. Such individuals usually act responsibly when they are at their place of work. Junior employees who have few responsibilities are not usually busy and their behaviors are more inclined to following instructions and carrying out their few responsibilities. Their behaviors are flexible because they have time at the work place. An employee whose responsibility is public relations will most likely have the best public relations behaviors, interacting with other employees easily.
The working conditions can be used to explain the behavior of employees at their place of work. When analyzing the job of an employee, working conditions are one of the important areas considered. It is said that employees’ behaviors at work are dependent on the conditions under which they are working. Those employees who work under hardship or tough conditions usually have a negative attitude towards their work environment. Therefore their behavior will be weird and negative because they are not happy with the conditions under which they work. In fact, research has shown that employees who work under unfavorable conditions are less motivated, less productive and are more likely to take part in strikes than those who work under good conditions. Employees who work under goo favorable conditions are motivated, happy and productive because they feel comfortable at their place of work. A human resource manager should consider the working conditions of every employee to ensure that they are happy hence productive.
Job analysis also provides the best framework in the assessment of employee behavior at the place of work through the study of the equipment used or required at the place of work. The equipment that employees use determines their productivity and attitude. Employees who use old and defective equipment are less productive. Such employees are usually under pressure to improve their performance which leads to frustration at the place of work. The equipment is poor and hence affects the employees’ attitude negatively. Those employees who have efficient and new machinery or equipment look happy and are very productive hence they behave normally. Human resource practitioners should ensure that employees operate with the appropriate required equipment. This would help in assessing the behavior of employees at work easily and accurately.
Job analysis basing on the job positions in an organization is also very useful in explaining the behavior of employees. The rank an individual holds in an organization is likely to influence their behavior. Those individuals who hold high ranks in an organization will have to behave like role models and responsible people to ensure the organization is led and headed in the right direction. The people who hold lower ranks can be said to have the behavior of people who follow and adhere to the rules and instructions in the organization. Human resource practitioners can however not rely fully on these approaches of job analysis to make decisions on the workplace behavior of employees.
There are various theories of work psychology that are used by human resource practitioners to ensure effective practices in human resource. Effective practices are those practices that enhance and create a favorable working environment for the human resources in an organization. The major three theories that are widely used in human resource and tend to give a clear reflection of human resource work psychology are; need theory, expectancy theory and the justice theory.
The need theory is based on John Maslow’s proposal that people need to be motivated in order to perform at their best. There are five major classes of human motivation that can be exploited to motivate individuals. The physiological needs can be fulfilled by the provision of things like biological needs, food and drinks. Esteem needs require that an individual be respected and valued by those around him or her. Safety needs can be settled by providing psychological and physical needs while self actualization needs can be fulfilled by the opportunities to achieve one’s potential.
The hierarchy of needs is useful in a human resource setting only to a small extend in analyzing workplace behaviors. The five major needs in the Maslow’s hierarchy can be simply classified into two needs; motivation to manage and achievement. This theory suggests that people at their work place are driven by the need to achieve the set goals. Sagie even devised a preference of six tasks to show the need for achievement in a human resource setting. The need to achieve is driven by uncertainty and not certainty, by difficulty and nor ease, by calculated risks and not excessive risks, by the urge to solve and invent and not just following instructions and by a personal responsibility rather than a shared responsibility. The needs theory helps the human resource personnel to plan and meet the needs of each employer to ensure they do their best at work.
The expectancy theory is a workplace psychological theory used to assess the kind of things employees expect to gain from their workplace in return of quality services. It is said that employees perform to a level proportional to what they are offered in return. The motivation to work is a calculating appraisal and cognitive of 3 major factors. The first is instrumentality where employees weigh if performing an action will result in identifiable outcomes. They do their best if there is a reward. Expectancy has to do with the results needed and the skills an employee has. Employees expect to perform according to their capability and necessary skills. Employees also consider the valence. This is where they weigh the level at which they value the results of what they do. If the rewards are attractive, they will have the motivation to give their best.
This theory can be used effectively in the workplace psychology assessment of employees by the human resource personnel. It is important in the logical analysis of the important factors that are involved in workplace motivation. However, the theory may end up over intellectualizing or over complicating the cognitive procedure that is involved in employee motivation. This may result in making wrong conclusions about workplace psychology and employee motivation.
Another important theory in workplace psychology is the goal setting theory. This theory is base on the preset goals at the work place. It is said that the nature of the goals an organization sets determine the performance of the employees. For instance, setting specific goals results in high levels of performance because employees work with their focus o achieving the main goal which is defined. Difficult or tough goals may also result in high performance levels because employees will work hard if they know they should achieve tough goals. The knowledge and feedback of the outcomes of the performance is important for the full benefits of the performance. Normally, success is partly dependent on individual employees’ commitment to achieving the goals, their willingness to stick to the goals throughout their working period and their determination to attain the goals. Setting goals helps in the improvement of individual work performance through the focusing of their attention and strategies.
Therefore, human resource practitioners should always have a sociological framework that will help them explain the behavior of employees at the place of work. The job analysis framework is the most compelling because it reflects the how the job affects an employee to act or behave in a particular way. The human resource practitioners should also have proper and credible work psychology theories that will help in enhancing effective and proper human resource management practice. The practitioners should have clear understanding of the sociological frameworks and work psychology theories in order to accurately understand and use at the place of work.
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