Challenges in Human resource management department include designing relevant performance systems and discipline in labor management. The articles, the practice of discipline: evaluating the roles and relationship between managers and HR professionals by Saundry & Jones and Talent management in academia: performance systems and HRM policies by Brink, Fruytier, & Thunnissen dwell on the above issues.
Thus, this reflective treatise attempts to explicitly review challenges in human resource management as opined by the authors of these articles. In the conclusive part, the paper makes recommendations for handling these challenges.
Across the globe, HRM departments endeavor to have a pipeline of talent to work towards achieving long-term objectives. In support of the goals, the department has organized several tailored training and development schemes designed to help its people fulfill their potential. The training and development programs are both on-the-job and off-the job. For instance, the Succeed program has gone a long way to support these policies.
It is build around the core business values and is firmly aligned with the business strategy – developing skills that will support future growth of the business. Unfortunately, implementation of this program has been faced with series of challenges ranging from lack of planning, redundancy, and personal interest.
As a result, supportive programs such as support for the homeless, disabled, lone parents and unemployed don’t accomplish the intended corporate social responsibility. Due to self interest and gender based discrimination, training programs for women employees to build confidence and prepare them for full responsibility has yield little or negligible impact.
Training and development forms part of organizational strategy mostly because human resource department is characterized by constant dynamics in management since labor market is constantly affected by market swings. Consequently, there is a need to merge organizational skills, knowledge and culture with the new challenges and demands. Therefore, there is constant need to use training and development largely because the department operates in a highly stratified environment.
Thus, “three key dilemmas in talent and performance management are (a) transparency versus autonomy, (b) power of HR versus power of academics, (c) equality versus homogeneity” (Brink, Fruytier, & Thunnissen, 2012). HRM departments should realize that there is no better way to achieve this rather than through the use of training and development.
Further, HRM should evaluate effectiveness of training and development in realizing the goals and objectives of the group. Finally, the department should use outcomes of trainings and development in decision making relating promotions and transfers within organizations.
Another challenge to HRM department is properly undertaking several career development programs concurrently. It were properly integrated, such would be necessary for attracting and retaining human resource base.
Therefore, the department should consider providing job compensation structure that supports organizations as well as individuals’ growth and development perspectives. This is achievable through proactive evaluation of employees besides designing succession pipe-lines for vital job positions in organizations (Brink, Fruytier, & Thunnissen, 2012).
The appraisal procedure should be all encompassing and reflects the actual performance by the staff members for the reason that it involves both the line managers and the staff members. Also there is comparison of the actual and expected performance and any variances are noted and actions inform of trainings, development and disciplinary measures are taken to improve on future performance.
The performance management across HRM departments often lacks satisfactory results because overall strategic goals are never fully cascaded down to departments and further to the individual staff members. Therefore work done by each employee may not be recorded in the contribution to the overall strategic goal. Further, performance of the staff members is not uniformly cascaded upwards. Therefore, the actual performance of the department may not be appropriate for making comparison with the forecasts (Saundry & Jones, 2011).
The outcomes of performance appraisal are not only influenced by job performance of the employee, there are other several other factors that may influence performance appraisal rating of the employees. For instance, a line manager’s attitude towards the employee may influence his/her decision on the grade to award such an employee. This grade may not reflect the true performance of the staff member.
Further, errors in the system especially for automated human resource processes may give faulty results. A planned change approach is required with the initiation and implementation of change being driven by management with the aid of a ‘practioner’. Magnitude of change is quantum as large changes involving culture, structure and strategy of the company is required.
Transformational change is a relatively new count to organizational change. It is concerned with drastic change and is fundamentally about altering the way that the organization is perceived both internally and externally as well as how it functions. This type of change would be particularly relevant to HRM department as it needs to radically alter how it operates in the face of labor competition and social issues.
The best way to motivate employees is by giving them responsibilities for achieving something and the authority to do it in their own way. Through this approach, employees will be empowered and they will feel trusted and valued by the management personnel and the company as a whole. Naturally, human beings would wish for motivation through mutual consent and internalized empowerment and appreciation.
Empowerment unleashes plenty of energy and motivation. Reflectively, the motivational and energy aspects of appreciation functions simultaneously at micro and macro levels to facilitate optimal functionality or productivity (Saundry & Jones, 2011). Empowering employees ensures a stable and sustainable a win-win situation as employees will be motivated to work without much supervision from the management or their supervisors.
When properly incorporated within and without different departmental segmentations as an active component of the company goals and vision, the complete manger between the management and other staff will contribute to value addition, good performance and healthy working environment.
Upon empowering employees to participate more in the decision making process, culture of independence in reasoning and consultative approach when handling work related duties will be internalized. In fact, the employees will appreciate the need for free consultation rather than doing the same as a condition imposed on them by their superiors. In the process of carrying out consultative functionalism, the mind will be tuned to appreciate the need for flexibility in decision making science which is compatible with the goals and vision of the organization.
In addition, the entire workforce operating under this approach is likely to positively embrace change element that may be introduced in the organization. Irrespective of the consequences of the change element, the dynamic essence of change proponent would not facilitate any state of quagmire or conflict as the unnecessary pressure associated with change would be integrated.
References
Brink, M., Fruytier, B., & Thunnissen, M. (2012). Talent management in academia: performance systems and HRM policies. Human Resource Management Journal, 22(2), 201-223.
Saundry, R., & Jones, C. (2011). The practice of discipline: evaluating the roles and relationship between managers and HR professionals. Human Resource Management Journal, 22(2), 123-146.