The most difficult areas of the Human Resource (HR) activities to collect information are the risk management and performance evaluation. Risks are inevitable within an organization and can hinder the business operations of a firm if not well managed. There are four risk areas in an organization with HR implications namely: operations, strategic, financial, and compliance ("Focus on the HR Risks That Matter Most"). Strategic risks can prevent a firm from achieving its strategic objectives. They include lack of succession plan, poor talent management, unethical behavior, and poor payment and compensation models among others. Operational risks deal with the administration of employees to attain efficiency. This is based on internal control mechanisms such as policies and regulations, training and development programs. Compliance risks arise from failure to align business operations with set regulations. Financial risks come from the accounting, compensation, and cost management practices in use by the HR ("Focus on the HR Risks That Matter Most"). Collecting information related to these risks is critical in identifying a solution in case the risks come up. The best way to deal with this is first to determine the cause or source of these risks. The HR can then analyze the impact of each risk to an organization and then categorize them into lower risks, moderate, or severe. Possible solutions and alternatives should then be developed. Once all sources and possible solutions are identified, the HR should ensure daily or weekly monitoring for them to be able to manage the risks early before they become unmanageable.
Performance evaluation can be used by the managers to determine compensation schemes for employees, promotion as well as identify strength and weakness of the workforce (Rothwell et al.). The information for this exercise is collected from employees. It is hard to get honest and accurate information especially when employees realize that this could come with either a punishment or reward. According to Rothwell et al. (2012), it is even worse when employees are not involved in informed and educated beforehand of the purpose of the evaluation. To improve this process, the HR should collectively engage all staff. The evaluation should be based on the current job description of the employees, not the old one when one was employed. A sample of employees should be provided with evaluation forms. They should be asked of where they feel the form does not depict actual working conditions or description of the job. Necessary changes should then be made to factor in employees concerns. Immediate supervisors of each employee should also be used to verify the accuracy of the forms and the filled information based on daily duties and responsibilities.
Works Cited
"Focus On The HR Risks That Matter Most". HR Daily. N.p., 2012. Web. 29 Apr. 2016.
Rothwell, William J et al. The Encyclopedia Of Human Resource Management. San Francisco: Pfeiffer, 2012. Print.
