The Role of Human Resource Management

Key Concept Links (Ethics/Creativity)

Key Concept Link: Ethics

  • HR’s role is to achieve business objective through the effective use of an organization's workers —> increasing the productivity of its employees

  • Many ethical decisions at play in all aspects of Human Resources Management (HRM)

For Example:

  • New technology replaces expensive labor with cost-efficient capital —> people become redundant

  • How do you ethically manage reducing your workforce without impacting overall company culture or employee morale?

Other ethical considerations:

  • Should employers allow workers to have tattoos? Is it appropriate for teachers in schools to have visible tattoos? Should there be a law about exposing tattoos in the workplace?

  • Should employment laws be enforced across the globe to prevent discrimination against race, gender, marital status, age, religion, and sexual orientation? Why or why not?

  • Is it ethical for senior executives to receive end-of-year bonuses that are more than double their employees’ annual salary?

  • Is it more acceptable for companies to hire more part-time and flexi-time workers in order to lower their production costs?

  • Should a business deliberately/intentionally hire a culturally diverse workforce? Why or why not?

Key Concept Link: Creativity

A creative workforce and culture of creativity can give a business competitive edges

Consider the following examples:

  • Airbnb has become the world’s largest property rentals company, but it doesn’t own any properties

  • Amazon.com has transformed the (online) retail industry, putting lots of traditional retailers out of business in the process

  • Google Maps and mobile technologies have wiped out the demand for satellite navigation devices

  • iTunes and Spotify have revolutionized the music industry

  • Netflix is the world's largest provider of movies, but it doesn’t own any cinemas of its own

  • Tesla’s innovatively designed products have sparked huge interests in al electric vehicles

  • Uber, the world’s largest taxi operator, doesn’t own any taxis

How do these examples impact the role of HRM?

  • Spark the creativity and innovation of workers

Chapter 7 - Intro to HRM

Chapter 7: Intro to Human Resources Management

Role of HRM

  • Human resource planning

  • Talent management

  • Recruiting and retaining

  • Training and development

  • Reward and performance management

  • Employee relations

  • Employee welfare

  • Human resource compliance

Human Resource Planning

  • Analyzing and forecasting the ….that will be required by the organization to achieve its objectives

  1. Number of workers

  2. Skills of those workers

  • Getting the right # of people, with the right skills, experiences, and competencies in the right jobs at the right cost

Short-term workforce planning

  • Used for immediate needs (such as replacing workers who go on maternity leave, enter retirement, or suddenly dismissed

Long-term workforce planning

  • Used to support the strategic plan of the organization (e.g. expansion of the business in new locations and… )

Human Resource/Workforce Plan

  • The 1) number of workers 2) skills of the workers required over a future period of time

Workforce Audit:

  • Check on the skills and qualifications of all existing employees

  • Starting point for HR planning

Stages of Human Resource Planning:

  1. Forecast of number of Employees

    1. How can you appropriately forecast

      1. Demand for firm’s product

      2. Productivity level

      3. Business objectives

      4. Labor laws

      5. Turnovers and absenteeism

  2. Forecast of Skills Requires

    1. Pace of Technology

    2. Flexible/Multi skilled staff

Labor Turnover

  • Measure the rate at which employees are leaving an organization

    • Measured by ( # of employees leaving in 1 year/average number of employees) x 100

External Factors

  • Demographic change

    • Natural population growth/decline

      • More variety in skills → specialization

      • Opportunity for recruitment

      • Price of labor

      • Could lead to higher unemployment rates

    • Net migration – immigration/emigration

      • High qualified workers from other countries

        • Workers will work for a lower pay

    • Aging population

      • Older population have more experience in the workforce

      • Could be reaching retirement age

Changes in Labor Mobility

Occupational Mobility of Labor

  • Extent to which workers are willing and able to move to different jobs requiring different skills

    • Helps a country achieve economic efficiency

    • Helps keeps structural unemployment low

Geographical Mobility of Labor

  • Extent to which worker are willing and able to move geographical regions to take up new jobs

    • Can lead to overcrowding and poor living conditions in towns and cities

Internal Factors

Flexi-Time Contract

  • A flexible way of working that allows employees to fit their working hours around their individual needs to allow for other commitments outside of work

Gig Economy

  • A labor market characterized by the widespread use of short term contracts; are freelance work rather than jobs with permanent contracts

Other Internal Factors

  • Size

    • Larger firms need more involved HR planning

  • Strategic Direction

    • Is growth is priority, HR planning will need to account for more workers

  • Organizational Structure

    • Clear structures aids in planning for ease of viewing vacancies and redundancies

  • Finances

    • Understanding funding for attracting workers

  • Motivation in the Workplace

    • High motivation = high

  • Corporate culture

Reasons for change in the workforce

  • Relocation

  • Change of ownership (example: take over)

  • Change of senior management

  • New working practices and employment contracts

  • Changes in technology and the workplace skills required

Reasons for resistance to change in the workforce

  • Fear of the unknown ( change = uncertainty)

  • Fear of failure (new skills & abilities that may be beyond individual capabilities)

  • Self-interest losing something of value (i.e job status or security)

  • Misinformation: false beliefs about the need for change (not properly communicated to workers )

  • Low tolerance; lack of trust

  • Inertia (change requires considerable effort)

Strategies for Implementing, Managing, and Controlling Change

Understanding what change means

  • The continuous adoption of business strategies and structures in response to changing internal pressures or external forces

    • Can be either

      1. evolutionary/incremental change (occurs slowly over time → electric vehicles)

      2. dramatic/revolutionary change (pandemic operations)

Change Management

  • Planning, implementing, controlling, and review the movement of an organization from its current state to a new one

Recognize the Major Causes of Change

  • Technological innovation (new products & processes)

    • Macro-economic changes (i.e fiscal policy, interest rates, fluctuations in business cycle)

    • Takeover by another business

Understand the Stages of Change Process

  • Managers must first consider the below before enacting change:

    1. Where are we now and why is change necessary?

    2. New vision and objectives

    3. Ensure resources are in place to enable change to happen

    4. Plan the timing of the change

    5. Involve workers in the plan for change and its implementation

    • Communicate (advance and enough → want employees to be informed)

    • Introduce initial changes that bring quick results

    • Focus on training (assess the skills that your employees have and the skills that they need)

    • Sell the benefits (bring back to how the workers will also reap the benefits)

    • Always remember the effects on individuals (the quicker that you can provide things that can help workers in the transition process)

    • Check on how individuals are coping and remember to support them

Lead Change, Not Just Manage It

  • Management vs. Leadership?

    • How do you lead change instead of manage it?

      1. Shake an organization out of complacency and away from resistance to change

      2. Motivate staff at all levels

      3. Acceptance of change as part of culture

      4. Visible support to all senior managers

Use Project Champions

Project Champion

  • A person assigned to support and drive a project forward and who explains the benefits of change and assists and sports the team input from different specialists

Use Project Groups or Teams

Project groups or teams

  • Created by an organization to address a problem that requires input from different specialists

Planning and Promoting Change → TIMING OF CHANGE IS KEY!!

  • Establish a sense of urgency

    • Create an effective project team to lead

    • Develop a vision and strategy for change

    • Communicate this change vision

    • Empower people to take action

    • Generate short-term gains

    • Consolidate gains

    • Build change into culture of organization

Chapter 8 - Organizational Sturcture

Chapter 9 - Leadership and Management

Chapter 10 - Motivation and Demotivation

Chapter 12 - Communication