MEETING PRESENT AND EMERGING HUMAN RESOURCE CHALLENGES
Our HR department takes care of hiring, training, organizing, recruitment, planning, remunerating, and firing employees.
Our HR department makes several strategic choices such as encouraging reward and incentive provision to workers to ensure employee security .
The environmental factors that affect our organization include workforce diversity, technology application, globalization, competitors, and rapid changes in the market .
The organizational characteristics our organization are consistency in quality performance, strong management system, high ethical standards, and tight cost control.
The main challenges affecting the human resource needs of our organization are intense competition, resistance from employees, and high labour turnover .
Our HR department meets HR challenges by coming up with better strategies that meet the challenges head on.
MANAGING WORKFLOWS AND CONDUCTING JOB ANALYSIS
Although team work is encouraged by our HR department, it is not fully implemented in the normal day to day operations.
Our HR manager establishes SMART goals that each employee should work towards, since they provide a sense of direction for everyone.
The HR manager also ensures that factors such as the nature of the work and the working conditions are properly addressed.
Our HR manager is always evaluating how the work process is going so as to come up with better ways of improving the workflow.
Our establishment out-sources some workers who possess skills that are difficult to teach within the organization, which ends up saving on training costs.
Our HR department also motivates all employees so as to encourage maximum employee productivity.
UNDERSTANDING EQUAL OPPORTUNITY AND THE LEGAL ENVIRONMENT
The organization has been training managers and supervisors on all matters that relate to discrimination of any kind.
Our organization advocates for equal pay to be given to both men and women who are doing the same job, irregardless of their gender .
The HR department is also very careful not to discriminate any worker due to their age, especially those over 40 years old .
Discrimination against any worker due to pregnancy is also a challenge that has constantly faced the HR department, since most pregnant women have to be given a few months off, which the HR manager considers a waste of valuable company time.
The HR department is also required to give equal job opportunities to both able and disabled people, as long as the job in question can be handled by the disabled persons .
MANAGING WORKFORCE DIVERSITY
The HR department has always made sure that it has recruited people of different races, ethnicities, and gender during each recruitment period .
Stereotypes in our workplace setting about people of certain races, cultures, and religions are also discouraged, since they affect worker productivity.
I applaud the fact that our organization has a diverse workforce, since the variety provides for better ideas and ways of working out various problems.
Our establishment also ensures that all managers and receive ample diversity training so as to reduce on discrimination among workers in the establishment .
However, diversity usually brings about various challenges for the organization such as how to balance all the different groups so that they are properly represented.
The organization usually holds various extra-curricular activities which involve people from all the various diverse groups to come together and create strong bonds .
I think that the organization should come up with better principles and strategies on workplace diversity and incorporate them in all the important functions of human resource management.
RECRUITING, SELECTING, AND SOCIALIZING EMPLOYEES
The HR department is responsible for the recruitment, selection, and socialization of employees . There are clear policies that govern these three processes.
Before conducting any recruitment exercise, our organization usually looks at any predictors that may have been used before to determine the perfect workforce, and the current size of the workplace .
Our HR department also conducts performance reviews and vacancy analysis prior to conducting the recruitment exercise.
Recruitment is the first step and it involves getting a number of people who would be suitable to fill the position.
The pool of qualified people may already be in the organization or out there. The organization therefore evaluates both possibilities before settling on the best candidates.
Selection is then done to determine whether or not to hire each applicant for the said job. The selection process involves the use of a few tools, such as application forms, interviews, recommendation letters, and personality tests .
Once the best candidate for the job is chosen, the selected employees are then socialized or taken through orientation. This accustoms them to the organization’s departments, procedures, and expected performances.
MANAGING EMPLOYEE SEPARATIONS AND OUTPLACEMENT:
I noticed that, the last time our organization terminated some of its employees; there was a huge impact on the remaining employees’ morale. Most of them were afraid that they would be next to be let go, which really put them down.
It is very clear that the decision a company makes about employee separation and outplacement can make a lasting impact to the organization’s operations long after the employees have already left the organization.
One of the greatest challenges that faced the HR department at our organization during one of the separation activities was whether the separations were fair, and which legal issues could arise as a result .
The HR department undergoes various replacement costs after every separation and outplacement process such as recruitment, selection, training, and separation costs .
As much as separation could negatively affect the running of the organization, it has several benefits such as better chances for diversity, increased innovation, acquisition of better performers, and reduction in current labour costs.
I conversely think that our organization should ensure that it gives the workers to be separated enough warning prior to the separation.
When outplacement is properly done, the separated employees are able to get comparable jobs more quickly, which leads to less litigations for the company.
However, when all is said and done, involuntary separation should be the last resort after every other option has been exercised.
APPRAISING AND MANAGING PERFORMANCE:
The HR department at my workplace has clear work standards that it expects all employees to reach.
Pay rises are usually given to employees who perform better than expected, and pay cuts done on any employee who performs below par.
Our organization usually gives its employees feedback on their performance so that they can improve on it .
Promotions are based on the workers’ performances.
The HR manager trains supervisors on how to improve on their monitoring and appraisal skills.
Our organization usually gives monetary incentives to workers to motivate them to improve their performance.
I have however discovered that most employees are motivated by other factors other than money.
TRAINING THE WORKFORCE
Our organization trains its staff so as to improve its competitive edge.
The main objective of training at our organization is to change the behaviours and attitudes of employees.
I discovered that training also ensures better cohesiveness at work and increased commitment from the employees.
I have witnessed that training helps improve the current and future performance of employees in our workplace.
The HR manager always provides guidance to any employee interested in training opportunities to improve on their skills .
Training has long-term benefits for both the organization and the employees.
Different employees undergo different training programs that fall within their job descriptions.
TRAINING AND DEVELOPING CAREERS
Our organization trains us so that we can help it to realize its set strategic goals.
Being trained gives employees critical knowledge and skills to meet the various challenges at work.
Our organization constantly encourages its employees to acquire extra training so as to improve both personal achievement and organizational achievement.
Training helps the trainees to gain extra competence in specific areas.
Employees who acquire extra skills are more likely to develop their careers.
At our workplace, programs on career development are offered regularly and are open to all the employees.
Training and development may be costly for the organization, but it is worth it in the long run.
Employees are encouraged to participate in training programs that help them improve on their expertise, which increases their chances of moving ahead in their careers .
MANAGING COMPENSATION:
Our organization knows the importance giving its employees nice compensation packages.
Good compensation acts as a motivator to employees to do their best at work.
Our HR department gives compensation benefits as per what the industry standards are.
Strategic compensation enables our organization to retain its employees.
Our HR manager always looks at reliable compensation data as opposed to headlines before effecting any changes to the compensation.
The compensation given to all workers is in line with the organization’s overall mission, goals and objectives.
Compensation can be either monetary or non-monetary at our establishment.
At our organization, jobs in the same class are within the same pay grade.
Every month, employee evaluation is done and the top five performing employees are given their compensation based on merit.
Our organization always does its research to determine what the maximum and minimum pay rates of each position are so as to remain within what is stipulated by the law .
Some time last month, our establishment lost a number of workers due to the compensation practices at that particular time. However, the compensation packages have been improved since then.
Given the current economic situation, however, our organization is keen to award compensation packages that are strictly within the set budget.
Since most of the staff at our workplace is very well skilled and talented, our HR department is always keen to compensate them well based on those skills.
REWARDING PERFORMANCE
Our organization constantly rewards good performance so as to maintain the employee focus on the firm’s goals and needs.
Our HR department has a quarterly system, whereby bonuses are given to workers who have performed extremely well in that quarter.
Last week, one of our departments successfully completed a project, and they were given cash rewards for their good work.
Workers who perform their duties very well in line with the organization’s mission and goals usually receive some rewards so as to encourage even better performance.
Every month, before rewards are given, constructive feedback on how employees have performed is given, which assists them in bettering their performance even more.
At times, performance is rewarded via promotions, which gives the other employees more morale to perform even better .
If an employee’s performance is below what is expected, our HR manager usually talks to them to determine exactly what is causing the problem, and then motivates the employee to perform better next time.
MANAGING BENEFITS
Benefits management makes our organization more competent in its operations, since it considers its workers’ needs as well as its own.
Our establishment always gives both monetary and non-monetary benefits packages to staff after their retirement.
Benefits give employees at my workplace the feeling that the establishment values their efforts and cares about their needs.
Benefits are also usually given after an employee has performed really well so as appreciate their performance.
Benefits given to workers include pensions, health care, perks, and other flexible benefits. All these are meant to appreciate the employees’ good work at our establishment .
Our establishment has noted an increase in productivity ever since it started giving its workers additional benefits at work.
DEVELOPING EMPLOYEE RELATIONS:
Our HR department has a member who ensures that all policies regarding employees are followed by the management.
The HR member is also in charge of consulting with the supervisors and employees on better ways to relate with each other.
The HR department is very serious about having a proper communication channel through which employees relay their matters and issues to management.
Having an established employee relations policy helps our establishment prevent unnecessary problems in the workplace, and deals with any emerging ones before they go out of control .
Our establishment recognizes the importance of giving feedback to all employees in regards to their behaviours.
Feedbacks to the workers and the management are given through formal and informal communication.
Whenever employees exhibit negative behaviours, the HR manager talks to them co that they can improve on those behaviours.
Employees at our establishment are also encouraged to constantly give their feedback on how the establishment treats them, which helps in strengthening relationships between the establishment and the employees .
Weekly meetings are usually held that involve all the employees, supervisors, and department heads. These meetings allow all these parties to communicate and give feedback to each other .
MANAGING DISCIPLINE
Our organization has a very strict disciplinary process for all employees who violate the set principles and procedures.
All employees are expected to stick to a certain behaviour standard and code of conduct in all the organization’s operations.
Our organization has made it very clear to us what exactly it expects from each and every one of us.
All disciplinary procedures are provided in writing to all workers at our establishment.
All disciplinary procedures are fair to all employees and they do not discriminate against any specific groups of people.
I have noted that employees who follow the guidelines set by the organization perform better at their work.
All employees are given a chance to contest the disciplinary procedures at our establishment if they find them to be too harsh. The HR department considers their views, and then gives them feedback.
All these chapters clearly address employee issues at the establishment I work in. I however think that improvement could be done in all the aspects represented by the various chapters.
Works cited
Sims, Ronald R. Human Resource Management: Contemporary Issues, Challenges, and Opportunities. New York: IAP, 2007.
