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Human Resource Management in an industry which is centered on its consumers or customers is focused on the people dimension of the organization. For achieving the objectives and the goals of the organization, Human Resource Management has to perform certain functions. Typically it has been stated that for the purpose of achievement of the objectives of the organization, one must establish a proper relationship between the functions of the organization and the organizational goals and objectives. This section of the essay shall be focusing on the human resource functions which are considered to be primary actions on the part of the Human Resource Department of an organization.
Job Design and Job Analysis is one of the primary functions of the HRM. It is considered to be the process which is used for providing a description of the duties, operations and the responsibilities of a particular job. For the recruitment of an employee within an organization based on reasoning and scientific analysis, it is pertinent that the standards of the candidates be compared with a predetermined standard and qualities. The process about the analysis of a job consists of identifying the information about the job along with the understanding of the features of some personnel, which is required for carrying out the job effectively (Lauche, 2005). It is to be understood that the data which is being derived from the process of Job analysis is also helpful for the estimation of the value and the compensation of the personnel for the job.
The recruitment of the employees and their selection in the organization is also one of the primary functions of the HRM. It has to be understood that the efficient functioning of an organization is dependent on the employees in an organization, who have been selected from a pool of applicants for the job. Recruitment is the primary step in the employment process. It aims at obtaining and maintenance of the organizational staff for achievement of the objectives and aims of the organization. The process of recruitment is subdivided into three sections namely Recruitment, Selection and Placement. The three processes are carried out by the HRM by the use of various methods and functions.
After the Recruitment process, the HRM’s primary responsibility is to provide training and development programs for the employees of the organization. It has to be noted that any job or post in any organization needs proper training. The training programs help in improving the efficiency of the organization and the employees. All employees, be it new or old should undergo training programs for the improvement of the efficiency of the organization itself as well as for their personal development (Gregory, 2012). These training and developmental programs should be designed in such a manner such that it helps in the improvement of the skills, knowledge, abilities and the attitudes of the employees of the organization. Thus, enabling the workforce of the organization can take up more tasks which are competitive in nature.
The HRM of an organization is also responsible for management of the performance of an employee within the organization. The HR department monitors the activities of an employee within the organization. Based on their analysis of the performance of the employee, they provide feedback to the employee with suggestions regarding their improvement in their functioning within the organization. The HR department through its management procedure provides motivation to the employees to improve their performance within the organization.
The compensation and benefits are also a primary function of the HR department of an organization. The primary data pertaining to the compensation and benefit for a particular post in the organization is derived from the data generated from the Job analysis process. The compensation bad the benefits is a method for controlling the costs of an organization (DeVaro, 2010). It helps in the establishment of an equitable and fair remuneration for all the employees. The HR department utilizes the concept of compensation and benefits for motivating the employees within the organization and increasing their productivity within the organization for the achievement of the goals and objectives of the organization.
This section of the essay shall focus on 4 of the federal laws in practice for Equal Employment Opportunities within an organization. For the purpose of this essay, Amtrak has been chosen as the organization, for which the usage of the federal laws shall be highlighted. For the purpose of this essay, the four federal laws pertaining to Equal Employment Opportunities that shall be discussed are as follows: The Age of Discrimination in Employment Act, 1967, Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 1990, The Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act, 2008 and The Equal Pay Act, 1963 (Collins, 2003).
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 is a law which protects the individuals who are 40 years and above from being discriminated against due to their age. The law also states that it is illegal if there is any form of retaliation against the individual because they have filed a complaint about discrimination or has participated in the investigation or lawsuit pertaining to employment discrimination. In Amtrak it has been observed that there is no discrimination in the employment of an employee based on their age. Every job has their respective age group and the organization has a right mix of experience in the workforce with along with the youth. There has been no complaint against the organization pertaining to the discrimination of age in the employment process. Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, is a law that states it is illegal for discriminating against a qualified individual just because of some form of disability (Slaughter, 2008). The law clearly states that as long as there is no serious repercussion on the functioning of the organization, the organization should strive to employ disable but qualified individuals. In Amtrak, the job pertaining to the on-field activities is not up for application for the disable individuals, but the executive posts are available for employment for the disable individuals who are qualified for the posts. The Genetic Non-discrimination Act of 2008 and the Equal Pay Act of 1963 also served the purpose of upholding a fair process of recruitment by any organization (Collins, 2003). In Amtrak it has to be put forth that there is no sense of discrimination in the process of recruitment, every applicant is provided with a fair chance to present themselves and prove their worth and skills. The organization also provides the best in the industry salary and benefits for its employees for the various posts of working within the organization.
It has been observed that there are three significant trends in the present world, which has a major impact on the success and the functioning of an organization. This section of the essay shall be discussing the three trends that have been observed and their effect on the functioning of Amtrak. Firstly, the aging workforce, it is one of the biggest trends in the present organizational structure. It has been observed that there is an increase in the average age of the workforce of an organization. The same has happened because the top management and executives of an organization are working for a longer period as compared to the retirement age. It has been observed in Amtrak also. The same affects the employment rate of the organization and also provides fewer opportunities for the youth to be productive in the organization (Palthe, 2014). Moreover, there is a recent trend of diversity in the workforce. In Amtrak, the workforce is diversified in nature, which has helped the organization to increase the productivity of the organization by pooling in ideas from various individuals within the organization. It has been noticed that there is a growing trend of lack of skills among the workforce. It has also been observed in the case of Amtrak, but the organization has well-developed programs for training its employees and develop them so as to they can pick up the necessary skills and attributes needed for their success within the organization while improving the overall performance of the organization.
An organization needs to flexible so as to be able to remain competitive in the present market conditions. Two very common manpower strategies followed by an organization for flexibility also helps in cutting down the unnecessary costs of the organization. Telecommuting strategy helps the employees in an organization to be effective in their work while being at any location. The strategy also balances the personal life and official life of an employee. The flexible nature of the strategy allows the employees of the organization to be productive in nature irrespective of their absence from the organization’s premises. Temporary workers are often referred to as temps and are required by an organization depending on the nature of the project that they are working on. The temps improve the staffing of the organization during the holiday period and enable the organization to be productive in nature even during the times when the regular employees of the organization are off duty.
References
Collins, F. (2003). Genetic Discrimination: Time to Act. Science, 302(5646), 745-745. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.302.5646.745
DeVaro, J. (2010). A theoretical analysis of relational job design and compensation. Journal Of Organizational Behavior, 31(2-3), 279-301. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/job.596
Gregory, J. (2012). Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value: The Strengths and Weaknesses of Legislation.Work, Employment & Society, 6(3), 461-473. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/095001709263008
Lauche, K. (2005). Job design for good design practice. Design Studies, 26(2), 191-213. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2004.09.002
Palthe, J. (2014). Cross-Level Cultural Congruence: Implications For Managing Diversity In Multinational Corporations. JDM, 9(1), 51. http://dx.doi.org/10.19030/jdm.v9i1.8622
Slaughter, L. (2008). The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act: Why Your Personal Genetics are Still Vulnerable to Discrimination. Surgical Clinics Of North America, 88(4), 723-738. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.suc.2008.04.004
