Mohammad Mosaddek Hussain :
(From previous issue)
Freeman (1993) cited the details ways by which an organization can develop a systematic way of developing long term plans for HR management. She suggests that a management formulate a long-term human resources plan in line with the organization’s strategic plans that needs careful review and analysis.
Moreover, human resources plan should be appropriate to address the employees’ long term goals, requirements and needs, their growth opportunities, employees’ placement considerations, the organization’s hiring and promotion practices, as well as legal matters. She further adds the management can formulate such plans by conducting consultation sessions with workers and labours, where both sides can review each other’s perspectives on the issue.
Rating of performance can be made to assess their capabilities in light of current human resources practices of the organization. In this connection, Ivancevich (2009) also discusses the importance of planning and development in human resources practices. In the context of considering HRM as a profit center, human resource managers should solve related issues according to the profit-oriented paradigm, “assessing and interpreting costs/benefits” of HR issues,” and formulating planning models to empirically determining viability in attaining goals.
Further, Ivancevich (2009) revealed that companies are primarily suggested to implement intra-organizational reforms. These include: producing well trained and highly-motivated employees, improving job satisfaction among the employees, achieving a balanced quality of work life mix, mitigating change and compelling faster processes within the organization. In order for firms to accomplish most if not all of these goals, companies should be able to develop a systematic way by which organizations can promote well-planned and highly organized HR practices to achieve the goal and maintain a harmonious relation throughout the organization..
Again, Ivancevich explains organizations should clearly enunciate their HR strategy, policies and procedures. Doing so will enable them to know what will be their thrust in human resources (i.e. retaining old employees vs. hiring new employees) and how these will be specifically implemented in the interest of the organization. The major step will be determining employee satisfaction with their advancement/growth opportunities. Organizations may conduct surveys among them. The management may use the results to alternate changes in HR policies if it deems fit and possible. Then they can formulate procedures to implement these revised policies and rules to the demand of employee development.
Other important factors for the HR personnel are to govern HR hiring, planning and development phases. First, they must consider the size and span of the HR department. The larger this unit is, it needs more employees and resources to implement systematic, clear and objective HR practices according to needs. Secondly, HR managers and operational managers need to work together in order for the practices to be smoothly implemented. However, Ivancevich himself admits that relationships between the two kinds of managers have not always been smooth due to their differing views on operations and concepts.
As Ivancevich (2009) also highlighted that the increase of “Generation Y” or young employees born in relatively recent decades may affect the efficacy of HR practices be implemented in an organization. Correlating with a study mentioned earlier about young employees’ problems with harassments, the members of the “Y Generation” may also have challenges in adjusting with their older colleagues’s perceptions on work, life and even religion. HR managers should consider these differences in behavior and attitudes since they are subjective, something which must be carefully treaded on in crafting workplace policies.
Moreover, HRM practitioners need to consider the kind of skills needed in the market as per demand of the situation. In this relation, Grugulis (2009) in response to a review, explained in this way “today’s job market has more complicated and complex definition on whether a skill is “soft” or “real”. This is because of the “diversity of level and practices” being sought for by employers and are available in the market. This, she says, is part of the development of job skills from technological or “muscle-based” work to one that is more social and communicative in nature. Further Grugulis recommends that HRpractioners and experts to carefully study these skills so that they can determine the specific needs which may be addressed to the situation.
Needless to say that this is also an important subject to be studied upon by HR managers/HrR practitioners/ specialists/ researchers since many of the young applicants-and employees- may possess some of these “soft” skills. The challenge will be to shift through them so that only the best talents can be hired and retained for the benefit of the organization.
Designing programme of Compensation and Benefits
This is a very critical task to determine the levels of salary and benefits for the new employees. Careful consideration should be attributed during this sensitive task. If the employees are young and are relatively new on the job, compensation may well focus on the performance of their jobs. Human Resource personnel need to objectively determine who among those young adult employees deserve higher pay and who among those employees need to paid the standard rate. A similar situation exists for benefits, primarily those being offered by the company for excellent performance.
Plan For EmployeeSafety and Health
Among other functions, keeping the employees safe in workplace is a very vital task for the organization. HR management should perform this work for employee’s safety and security. Ivancevich (2009) cites the example of Aaron Feuerstein who decided to hand out benefits and salaries to his employees after the Malden Mills plant in Massachussets burned down in 1995. For three months, the firm paid out salaries to its 1,400 displaced workers. Feuerstein also continued to give benefits to these employees for nine months. When the plant was rebuild, 90% of the displaced employees opted to return to Malden Mills. Feuerstein’s example showed how HR management can mitigate an otherwise disastrous/bleak incident into a showcase of concern and goodwill toward its employees. It is also important that the organization instill safety concerns among the employees right at the beginning of their employment. At the same time, firms should be prepared to set aside money in case any work-related accident occurs among its employees.
Congenial Employer-Labor relations
Considering the above discussion it is manifested that an efficient management of human resources greatly helps promote cordial employer-labor relationships. Because they stand in between the two parties, human resources specialists can view each party’s concerns and interests more objectively. This is very helpful when the employees are primarily young and newly hired, who may have to adjust with their jobs within the few months.
It is revealed further that Human Resources practioners have formulated new concepts and procedures in handling new and old employees simultaneously. Young, newly hired employees have more opportunities to work in the jobs of their choices. However, policymakers as well as employers need to do more on : a.) protecting young newly hired employees from possible abuse from colleagues and b.) addressing possible conflicts in behavior and ideas between the young employees and their older colleagues. On the other hand, the young, newly hired employees need to adjust in their working environments by changing their mindset that their workplace’s ambience will be to their liking.
So, it is to be said that appropriate strategic direction for managing human resource is the key element for ensuring organizational growth, success and stability. At the same time, satisfied employees are the value adding asset (VAA) for any organization. Thinking of it, a proper HR direction process should be formulated by the human resource department with a view to retaining best employees in the organization for long years in the interest of the top management and earning stable profit in the years to come.
(Mohammad Mosaddek Hussain, MCHRD, MIPM)
(To be continued)
