Human resousce management
Human resousce management
1. Human
Resource Management
Employees are
an important component of every business. Realization of this fact was behind
the rise of personnel management, the specialized task of ob-taining the people
a company needs and then overseeing their trading, evaluation, and
compensation. In the 2010 top management also began to realize that, with the
right jobs, businesses can compensate for short-falls in other areas. The term
human resource management was adopted by many companies to reflect the attitude
that workers are of strategic importance; human resource managers became
integral members of management teams plotting a course through rough economic
seas. Many companies focus on the training and supervision of their managerial
employees so that they have the resources they need for steady growth.
Human resource
management is becoming more complex and crucial as the 1990s approach.
Technology and the business environment are changing at an accelerating pace,
creating mismatches between worker’s skills and employers’ needs. Human
resource managers must figure out how to keep good workers when economic
difficulties make pay freezes necessary; how to lay off workers equitably; how
to retrain workers to enable them to cope with increasing automation and
computerization, how to deal with increasingly complex (and expensive) employee
benefits, such as pensions and health insurance; how to encourage employees to
work more productively; and how to cope with the challenge of equal opportunity
in employment. Given the growing importance and complexity of human resource problems,
it is scarcely surprising that all but the smallest businesses employ
specialists to deal with them.
What exactly
do human resource department do? Every human resource staff must perform this
series of functions: planning, recruiting and selecting employees, training and
developing workers, and appraising employment performance. A human resource
staff gets involved in accommodating changes in employment status and in
administering pay and employee benefits.
2. Internal
and External Recruitment
Internal
recruitment
Firms may
recruit internally through promotion or redeployment of existing employees.
This offers benefits:
·
it is
cheaper as it avoids the need for expensive external advertising,
·
candidates
will have experience of the business and may not require induction training,
·
selection
may be easier as more is know about the candidates. However, problems exist in
recruiting internally.
·
selection
is from a smaller pool of available labour and the caliber of candidates may be
lower. This can be significant for senior appointments,
·
difficulties
can result if employees are promoted from within –former colleagues may resent
taking orders from those they formerly worked along-side.
External
recruitment
Managers may
be keen to have a wider choice of candidates and therefore advertise
externally. The advantages of this approach are:
·
it is
likely that higher quality candidates will be available following external
recruitment even if advertisements are only placed in local media,
·
external
candidates will bring fresh ideas and enthusiasm into the business.
3.
Documentation
The personnel
department prepares the necessary documentation for the recruitment process.
Job adverts
Job adverts
contain the following information:
·
the
job title
·
some
description of duties
·
location
·
the
name of the business
·
possibly
salary and working hours.
The advert may
be local for a relatively unskilled job. Highly skilled and professional
positions might require advertising nationally or even internationally.
Job
descriptions
Job
descriptions may act as the basis for drawing up the advert for the post and
relate to the position rather that the person. Typically, job descriptions
contain the following information:
·
the
title of the post
·
employment
conditions
·
some
idea of tasks and duties
·
to
whom employees are responsible
·
likely
targets and standards employees are expected to meet.
Person or
job specifications
Person or job
specifications set out the qualifications and qualities required in an
employee. The list might include:
· education and professional
qualifications required
· character and personally
traits expected
· physical characteristics
needed
· experience necessary.
Recruitment
can be an expensive exercise but is less costly than appointing the wrong
employee and perhaps having to repeat the process.
4.
Selections
Because of the
costs involved in recruiting the wrong people, firms are investing more
resources and time in the recruitment process. A number of techniques of
selection exist:
·
interviews
remain the most common form of selection and may involve one or two interviewers
or even a panel interview. Interviews are relatively cheap and allow the
two-way exchange of information but are unreliable as a method of selection.
Some people perform well at interview, but that does not necessary mean they
will perform well when in the post,
·
psychometric
tests reveal more about the personality of a candidate than might be discovered
through interview. Questions are frequently used to assess candidates’
management skills or ability to work within a team,
·
aptitude
tests may provide an insight into a candidate’s current ability and potential.
Such tests can also be used to assess intelligence and job-related skills.
5.
Measuring employee performance
Managers need
to measure employee performance in an objective way for the following reasons:
·
to
assess the efficiency (and competitiveness) of the workforce,
·
to
assist in developing the workforce plan,
·
to
confirm that the business’s human resource planning is contributing directly to
the achievement of the corporate objectives. One of the factors influencing an
organization’s workforce plan is the performance of its exiting employees. This
will highlight the need for training, further recruitment or, perhaps,
redundancy or redeployment. There are a number of ways a business can assess
the performance of its current labour force.
If workers are
producing a similar or greater amount each day, weekly or month than employees
of rival businesses, then productivity may be satisfactory. However, such
comparisons may be simplistic: factors such as wage rates, the level of
technology and the way the labour turnover could be caused by many factors:
·
inadequate
wage levels leading to employees defecting to competitors
·
poor
morale and low levels of motivation within the workforce
·
the
selection of the wrong employees in the first place, meaning they leave to seek
more suitable employment
·
a
buoyant local labour market offering more (and perhaps more attractive)
opportunities to employees.
Injuries and
illness can be genuine causes of absenteeism. However, other more potentially
damaging causes exist. Low morale, poor working conditions, inadequate training
and stressful demands may all lead to employees taking time off, absenteeism is
expensive as quality and productivity can suffer and overtime payments may be
necessary for absent employees.
6.
Financial methods of motivation
In spite of
the belief of some writers, such as Herzberg, that money is not à positive
motivator (although lack of it can demotivate), ðàó systems are designed to
motivate employees.
a) Piece-rate
ðàó.
Piece-rate ðàó
gives à payment for each item produced. This system encourages effort, but
often at the eêpense of quality. Piece rate is common in the agriculture and
textile industries but is difficult to àððló in service industries.
b) Commission.
Commission is
à payment made to employees based on the value of sales achieved. It can form
à11 part of à salary package.
ñ)
Profit-related ðàó.
Profit-related
ðàó gives employees à share of the profits earned by the busness. This is an
approach adopted by the John Lewis Partnership. It encourages àll employees to
work hard to generate the maximum profits for the business. It offers firms
some flexibility: for åõàmðlå, in less prosperous times, wages can fall along
with profits, so reducing the need for redundancies.
d)
Performance-related ðàó.
Performance-related
ðàó is à topical but controversial technique used in many industries from
teêtiles to education. It needs to be tied into some assessment or appraisal of
åmðlîóåå performance. Whatever criteria are used to decide who should receive
higher ðàó, the effect can be divisive and damaging to åmðlîóåå morale.
å) Share
ownership.
Employees are
offered shares in the company in which they work. ASDA operates such à scheme.
Shares ñan be purchased through savings schemes (e.g. by shop-floor employees
putting aside à few pounds each week). Share options offer senior managers the
opportunity to purchase shares in the company at à discounted price at an
agreed future date. However, share ownership màó cause discontentment if this
perk only available to the privileged few.
7.
Appraisal
In general`
terms, appraisal is used to assess åmðlîóåå performance. Appraisal usually
takes the form of an interview with the individual's line manager, often
annually. The appraisal process can be used for à number of reasons:
• It màó be an
opportunity to review the åmðlîóåå's recent progress, in particular since the
previous appraisal.
• It maó
involve target setting. The individual's performance in pursuit
of these
targets màó form the basis of à future appraisal interview.
•_ Appraisal
interviews are often used to identify an åmðlîóåå's training needs following an
evaluation of recent performance.
• It màó
determine future salaries or promotions.
Two broad
types of appraisal exist:
•
Developmental appraisal. This places the emphasis not so much on an åmðlîóåå's
performance as on those factors that- might improve it. The appraisal process
is designer to identify employees' training needs and to fulfill them in the
expectation of improving the business's performance.
• Judge mental
appraisal. Here, the most important factor is to assess the performance of the
åmðlîóåå against some yardstick, perhaps the performance of others or targets
set earlier. Those employees deemed to be successful màó be rewarded with
bonuses, ðàó rises or promotions.
It could be
argued that developmental appraisal systems are more 1ikely to have à positive
impact upon motivation by meeting the higher needs of employees or by providing
Herzberg's motivators.
8. Flexible
workforces
Flexible
workforces are those that are àdàptablå to changing conditions and demands. À
flåxiblå workforce is 1ikely to be multi-skilled, we11-trained and not
resistant to change. Perfoãmance-related ðàó màó bå used to encourage labour
flexibility. Flexibility workforces ñan take à number of forms:
Some of the
workforce màó be on part- time and temporary contracts, allowing the business
to adapt smoothly to changes in the level of demand for its products.
·
Employees
màó bå on fixed short-term contracts. This is beneficial in that workers are
not åmðlîóåd any longer than necessary and expensive redundancy payments can be
avoided. However, such ñîntràñts màó hav å à någativå impact upon the motivation
and performance of employees;
·
Employees
màó work flexible hours either through flextime or an annualized hour's system.
The former entails employees having to be at work during `core hours' each dàó
(maybe 10 à.m. until 4 ð.m.) and making uð the balance of hours at times which
suit them. The latter system allows employers to ask staff to work longer hours
during;
·
Employees
màó be required to work from à number of locations. Alternatively, they màó be
required to telework – work from home using computers and other technology to
communicate with colleagues and customers;
·
Multi-skilled
employees are an important element of à flexible workforce. Òheir ability to
switch from one job to another as demand changes, or when colleagues are
absent, allows à business to meet the demands of the market more easily and
responsively.
9. Theory
of Motivation
The American
psychologist Fredrick Herzberg has proposed à theory of motivation which
divides the factors of work environment into two classes: satisfiers on one
hand, and motivators on the other. From his analysis, Herzberg concluded that
the elements in à job which pro- duced satisfaction, are: achievement,
recognition, responsibility, promotion pro- spects, work itself. Íå ñàllåd them
“motivators”.
The elements
whose absence or inadequacy in à job produced dissatisfac- tion are: payment,
relations to others, type of supervision, company policy, phy- sical working
conditions, fringe benefits. Herzberg ñàllåd them -satisfiers (because they
make the job environment fit to occupy). The main application of the theory has
been in enlarging or enriching of jobs of non-manual works. Job is enlarged
when an åmðlîóåå carries out wider range of tasks of approximately the same
level of difficulty and responsibility as before. Job is enriched (or
vertically enlarged) when an åmðlîóåå is given greater responsibili- ties and
cope to make decisions, and is expected to use skills not used before. Both are
ñàllåd job extension.
The other
possible application of the theory is job rotation -when employees are trained
in several minor skills and exchange jobs with each other at intervals. Greater
satisfaction is obtained because a åmðlîóåå has greater understanding of the
working process. Job rotation can be also useful when sickness absence is high.
10. Work
and Motivation
Work is done
by ðåîðlå: what does work mean to them? Again, this question is more ñîmðlåõ
than it might seem. One aspect of the meaning of work for individuals is that
bó their occupations they are defined as ðåîðlå. In other words, when ðåîðlå
want to place other ðåîðlå, to put them into meaningful categories, the first
question they ask is “What does he/she dî?” À person's occupation can say à
great deal about him as à person. “Íå is à systems analyst”, “She is à social
worker” conjure uð à whole range of expected attributes — ways of talking,
thinking, behaving, etc. - in the minds of those who ask the question.
Occupation' is also à powerful determinant of social status - the prestige,
positive or negative judgment à person has in the eyes of others. Occupations
on the higher levels of the occupational hierarchy confer àll kinds of benefits
besides the high earnings that usually go with high status. Doctors are
listened to with respect on àll kinds, of issues which have nothing directly to
dî with medicine, and ðrîbabló ñàn easier get their cars serviced or work done
on their houses, since association with them also confers status. Road
sweepers, sewage workers and kitchen hands, on the other hand, màó be less
1ikely to mention their occupations outside work because the status of these
jobs is low. Indeed, they will probably be more successful socially if don't,
mention what they dî.
It has been
argued that not having an occupation - usually à waged occupation - diminishes
à person in the eyes of others. Do óîu work or are óîu just à housewife? The
negative definition of à person without à paid occupation is clearly revealed
in studies of the unemployed. Unemployed ðåîðlå often find themselves viewed by
others as failures and deviants. Not having à paid job - especially for men but
also, increasingly, for women -robs à person of à ðlàñå in contemporary
society's focal institutional framework, the formal economy. But it also robs
them of à ðlàñå in other forms of social and communal activities: the
unemployed màlå withdraws from friendship with former workmates and associates,
family relations ñîmå under strain (especially where à father feels he has
failed his wife and children as à breadwinner) and, of course, leisure
activities that cost money usually have to be abandoned.
But, in à
stricter sense, for those who are in conventional paid employment, there is
also “meaning” in the form of ways of defining work. It is closely correlated
with the status and the income 1eve1 of occupations. Professional employees
value work as à way of 1ife, as highly involving, challenging, stimulating and
fulfilling. For instance, the work and non-work parts of their lives are not
sharply demarcated, so that social and leisure activities overlap with paid
employment. Conversely, the lower the occupation in the status/income
hierarchy, the more likely an individual is to define work in material terms
and often as à means to support an enjoyable part of his 1ife. Work is sharply
separated from other segments of Life.
11. The
Hierarchy of Human Needs
Two human
sciences, psychology and sociology, were ñàllåd to provide in- sights into
human behavior. The results were known as human relations approach and the
focus was on how to dåàl with à ðåîðlå in the organization by addressing social
needs: À group îf researchers known as “behavioural scientists” believed that
various forces were at work in the motivation of à “social man”.
At the root of
human behaviour are needs, or wants, or motives. Íèman behaviour is
goal-seeking; ðåîðlåtry to achieve objectives or goals which, when reached,
will satisfy their needs. For åõàmðlå, food will satisfy the hunger need.
The American
psychologist, Abraham Maslow, put forward the theory which appeared in 1943 and
has remained the most influential work for many years. The hierarchy of human
needs is usually represented as à triangle:
Maslow states
that humans are motivated to reach certain 1evels of needs. Once one level of
needs has been satisfied, their motivation wi11 be driven by concern for
meeting the next need and so on until the final level in the hierarchy is reached.
The components of the hierarchy are the following.
Physiological
or basic needs - ðåîðlå must satisfy these needs just to keep alive. They include
hunger, thirst, and sleep. In the working environment, the fun- damental purpose,
of wage or salary is to provide the means for satisfying the basic needs.
Safety or
security needs — are concerned with self-protection; .avoidance of harm and, to some
extent, with provision for the future. Examples are needs for shelter, warmth,
and self-defense. At work it is à wish for security of tenure and manó aspects
of trade-unionism.
Belongingness
or affection needs - everyone wishes to give and receive, friendship.
Companionship and association with others for recreational purposes are
åxàmðlås of these needs.
Esteem or
ego needs
- include the needs to become independent, to receive the esteem of others, to
dominate and to acquire possessions. At work à position of authority and some
benefits are means for satisfying these needs.
Se1f-actualization
needs —
are needs to make the fullest use of one's capabilities, to develop oneself,
and to be creative.
Some later
researches argue that Maslow's analysis does not take into consideration the
complexity of human nature. That means that for some ðåîðlå, work is only à
means to satisfy their lower-level needs; for others, work provides an
opportunity for meeting and satisfying higher-level needs.
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