Introduction
Many challenges mar the human resources function in the organizations. With the rising challenges in human resources, cases of competition have also risen between organizations. Human resources management is one way in which organizations garner a competitive advantage. While in their quest for acquiring a competitive advantage, companies are using certain activities of human resources management. Organizational capabilities for increased value purposes assure a given company of success. When dealing with matters employee engagement, improvement in productivity and management of diversity in the organization while at the same time reducing barriers, are just but examples of areas that require HR function address and setting up of initiatives to address the same.
Improving employee engagement
It is worth nothing that employees are in fact, looking for a job opportunity that is more than a job. Employee engagement programs address competitive advantage in employee recruitment and retention. Stronger financial performance outcome is assured in the organization. It is critical to note how an engaged task force looks and in this case, the teams will tend to have the feelings of; urgency, intensity, enthusiasm and being focused. Employee engagement is related to productivity in the sense that financial performance of the organization will be significantly improved. The impact of participation can be assessed by the measurement of the shareholder value. To improve engagement, strategic engagement initiatives can be applied where employees are aware of those priorities that are vital to the organization and why they exist and correlating that to the organization’s alignment with its culture, process, and practices, with the organization’s goal attainment (Macey et al., 2011). Engagement of the employees can be done through the embrace of activities like corporate social responsibility (CSR) (Mirvis, 2012).
Improving productivity
The environment that an individual is subjected in can either promote productivity or not. The environment has long been man’s surrounding where he has had the opportunity to manipulate for it to be comfortable. Part of an environment that enhances productivity as mentioned by Ajala (2012) is one that has employers who are enthusiastic, provides a safe workplace, better morale, customer satisfaction, sound workplace communication and finally, a sustaining organization. The initiative that is drawn from this is working in the environment that employees are subjected to, right from the lighting in the workplace to the compensation structure and effective organizational communication techniques.
Diversity advantages while minimizing potential barriers
Diversity involves the elements of acceptance and even respect with the understanding that everyone is different in their way. Enhancement of knowledge that is deemed to be collective and creativity that is noted to be I form of diversified idea generation is critical. Maximization of those advantages that accrue from dimensions that are personal, organizational both outer and inner dimensions must be critically assessed to ensure that barriers are eliminated with just the presence of advantages. Diversity management initiatives can, as a result, be employed in the organizations as a means of gaining a competitive edge and for the purpose of promotion of benefits of diversity. At the same time, scraping of negativities that arise from barriers that would, in fact, limit the advantages of the cause (Senichev, 2013). Items noted in potential barriers that inhibit workplace diversity benefits include but are not limited to prejudice, harassment, stereotypes, ethnocentrism, discrimination and backlash, just to mention a few. Limiting the barriers would employ the use of effective communication, fairness, equity and inclusiveness of others. Workplace diversity and the performance therein makes sense if it is in fact linked with matters recruitment, staff training, system evaluation, motivation, promotion, reward system, team spirit and employees job satisfaction. The topics mentioned above constitute HRM functionality and so have to be addressed in the sense of workplace diversity (Senichev, 2013).
Conclusion
The workplace is gradually changing by the day, and it is marked by certain features that are of importance. The goal of the organization, under the human resource management function, should be centered on best practices at all costs. The implication that would arise is improved productivity, improved engagement, gaining benefits from diversity in the task force by reducing the barriers that limit the abovementioned benefits. In this sense, individual initiatives have to be brought forward by the human resource functionality and as a result, improved financial performance would without a doubt be present.
References
Ajala, E. M. (2012, June). The influence of workplace environment on workers’ welfare, performance and productivity. In The African Symposium 12 (1), pp. 141-149.
Macey, W. H., Schneider, B., Barbera, K. M., & Young, S. A. (2011). Employee Engagement: Tools for Analysis, Practice, and Competitive Advantage. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.
Mirvis, P. (2012). Employee engagement and CSR. California Management Review, 54(4), 93-117.
Senichev, V. (2013). Human resource diversity and performance within the frame of organizations, teams and individuals. Business: Theory and Practice/Verslas: Teorija ir Praktika, 14(4), 337-345.
