Managing People and Efficient Utilization of Employees - Essay Example

? Managing people Introduction In the current business environment, organizations encounter stiffer competition from rivals. This is because of globalization and free markets. To counter competition, firms have enacted various strategies. Efficient utilization of employees denotes one of the numerous strategies that firms apply in countering rivals. The human resource is the most imperative resource that an entity has at its disposal. Therefore, increasing efficiency in its utilization will enable an entity improve its competitive advantage and realize its targets. Managing of the workforce is a tough challenge to human resource (HR) managers. Managers encounter various constrains owing to the firm or the environment. The internal constrains would entail reducing overheads associated with the workforce. It is vital that any profit-motivated business maintains its profitability. Irrespective of an entity’s motivation, one of the key managerial obligations entails ensuring that remuneration expenses do not spiral out of control. The organization and the HR department encounter various challenges from the external environment in managing this vital resource. The challenges relate to recruitment, remuneration, and maintaining employees. Companies invest heavily in the employees through training and refresher courses to improve their productivity. Subsequently, an entity that invests heavily on its employees will seek to ensure that it retains such employees. However, this may be challenging owing to the presence of organizations that offer better terms. The above situation denotes one among the countless external challenges that organization encounter in management of personnel (Deckop & Deckop 2006, p. 78). The challenges that the HR departments encounter fall into various distinct categories. These categories include political, economic, technological, and legal. These denote broad categories, which contain various distinct challenges. The political category contains various factors, such as the government policy on workers and industrial actions. Entities are always aspiring to increase their profitability. Thus, they adopt employment terms that will reduce the costs. As such, most entities prefer to employ on casual or contract bases. This has been a factor, which has triggered legal battle between companies, governments, and labour unions. Hiring employees on a permanent basis will results in higher costs since the company will have to pay numerous costs. These costs include health care contributions and union charges. Consequently, most corporations will opt to employ on contract basis or casual terms. The government’s directives, which lean towards permanent terms for employees, affect HR departments significantly. The HR departments have to enact such governmental directives. This may require the company to adjust various departments to accommodate changes. This may culminate in reduction of employees. As such, companies may opt to realign department based on the work force constrains. Employment conditions are key external factors, which affect entities in a massive way since some entities will opt to mechanize. This would require massive initial capital outlay. Nonetheless, the entities will reduce their overheads on the long run. Mechanization also results in criticism since it shows that entities are unwilling to hire human labour owing to their profitability ambitions. However, the company can address these costs in various ways (Werner, Schuler & Jackson 2012, p.90). In the tasks that require high human labour, the entities can outsource. This would ensure that specialist who will deal effectively with human labour intensive activities undertake tasks. Outsourcing would ensure increased efficiency in the entity since it would reduce employees in the entity. Additionally, outsourcing may increase the quality of work. Companies can adopt organizational structure which will reduce the volume of employees required. Under the political category there are also other concerns. Such factors include the campaigns held by industrial unions which seek better welfare for their employees. The campaigns air issues, such as importation of employees, remuneration, gender balances. In the current business environment the entities have slim profit margins. Hence, the only way to increase profitability is via cost reduction. This is because the sales are not increasing owing to awful economic times. Therefore, reduction of salaries is always one of the first options of cost cutting. One of the ways of reducing cost is via reduction of employees. However, organizations cannot reduce employees. Thus, companies will gradually replace the local workers with foreigners who demand lesser wages. Industrial groups are against importation of employees. The HR departments that have undertaken such strategies have to change their employment policies to employ locals. The company can address this concern by following the government’s requirements on expatriates strictly (Sparrow 2010, p. 40). As a manager at Wal-Mart, it is vital to indicate that remuneration is a key external factor that influences the manner in which the organization manages people. Employees are continually seeking higher salaries. These salaries result in reduced profitability. Consequently, it is vital for the organization to adopt policies that will results in higher productivity. Organizations are adopting strict policies to ensure that they get the best out of their employees. However, to improve productivity HR departments are encouraging organization to adopt various measures, such as motivating the work force. Most people perceive that employees are motivated only via pay rise. However, motivation to the modern employees entails various strategies. Wal-Mart is changing HR policies by evaluating employees’ satisfaction and fulfilment. This is a vital aspect - the entities which employees overlook. As such, there may be high employee turnover as they pursue career fulfilment. This would be a key loss to the entity owing to expenditure incurred in training workers. As such, Wal-Mart’s policies aimed at boosting productivity does not view salary increases as the only way to motivate employees. The organization is analyzing means of ensuring that employees have professional fulfilment. Career fulfilment emanates from the ability of an employee to achieve career advancement, recognition for their contribution to the entity. Consequently, the management has adopted a changed approach towards managing employees. Earlier on, the organization opted for stricter company rules. This resulted in a tense environment where employees’ feel restricted as to what they can do. Therefore, the employees could not apply their creativity in undertaking company tasks. The work definitions were rigid thus limiting creativity and innovation among employees. This did not spur higher productivity among employees, but resulted in employees working like machines to accomplish their duties (Martin 2009, p. 145). Modern trends in management have emerged. This is because employees needs and management challenges have changed. In the past, managers aimed at achieving profitability. As such, employees were not a key concern. Employees were just an economic factor like other factors such as capital. Present developments in management science reveal that employees have become vital stakeholders in the organization. Therefore, managers look into ways of getting the best out of their employees through various ways. Emergence of social responsibility and ethics has also altered HR management significantly. Ethics denote virtues that the management should uphold in undertaking company’s tasks. Ethical conduct influences the image of a corporation significantly. Failure to act ethically will results in a poor corporate image, which may contribute to reduction in sales. The manner in which Wal-Mart handle its work force contributes significantly to its ethical conduct. Therefore, organizations have to address industrial grievances appropriately. Ethical conduct in relation to the HRM entails proper remuneration, provision of leave, and appropriate compensation of employee for injuries. Ethical conduct has resulted in Wal-Mart changing its HR policy to ensure that its employees are treated ethically. Employees receive appropriate compensation for injuries, leaves, and remuneration (Talwar 2006, p. 231). Social responsibility entails the organizations have an infelt responsibility towards other stakeholders other than the shareholders. Employees are stakeholders in an entity. Consequently, the entity should not only maximize the shareholder’s value without any consideration of the employees’ plight. Consideration of the plight of the employees will entail the firm ensuring that employees work under humane conditions. Wal-Mart should remunerate employees appropriately. Additionally, the employees should contribute to the formulation of policy in the entity. Social responsibility entails appreciating the contribution of employees in the entity. Overall, social responsibility has contributed to HRM policy. This is an external factor which has affected HR policy significantly. The company has responded appropriately to the above ethical and social responsibility concerns by enacting apposite policies. Wal-Mart had enacted an opposite system to handle complaints from employees pertaining to vital issues. Future trends favour strengthening of such programmes that empower employees. The participation of employees at this level would be vital. It would increase employees’ motivation since they participate in other aspects of the organization traditionally reserved for the management (Kleynhans 2007, 195). The increased involvement of employees has resulted in various activities, such as team building exercises. Team building denotes an array of doings that aspire at bringing together workers on a different set up. As such, employees get to interact outside their employment set up. This ensures that the employees bond adequately. Bonding outside the working premises contributes to the resolution of conflict in entities. Wal-Mart has undertaken firm step to ensure that team building is an integral part of the company’s policy. Despite the cost that incurred, the HR department views that team building will contribute to the organization significantly. This is because most of the benefits emerging from team building cannot be quantified. The culmination of team building is harmony, efficiency, and job satisfaction. Team building denotes an emerging trend that organizations should promote (Sharma 2005, p.46). In the current business environment, rivalry has increased significantly. Thus, businesses have adopted a strategy which entails ensuring clientele’s satisfaction. Clientele satisfaction ensures customer royalty that is essential in the current environment. Therefore, most organization will enact a recruitment policy which ensures that they recruit staff members that will enable an organization realize its aspirations. The recruitment policy is normally competitive to get the best employees. Organization cannot make compromises on their workers. Additionally, there is an intensive training that will ensure that employees can enable the entity accomplish its targets. The competitive nature of the market has necessitated company not to take chances on the quality of services or products. This has affected how organizations manage workers. Workers are under massive pressure to ensure customers’ satisfaction. Therefore, most entities employ new employees on a contract basis. This allows them to assess the progress that the employees are accomplishing. The management latter makes a decision on workers’ future at the entity. This strategy has emerged owing to stiff rivalry and profitability. However, many workers’ unions have criticized firms as being over capitalistic. Wal-Mart has also addressed competitiveness by reducing its prices. Subsequently, the entity has enacted measures to reduce the cost to maintain profitability margins. Therefore, the organization opts to hire workers on a contract basis at the initial stage prior to permanent hiring. This trend will continue into the future since organizations face various constrain. Such constrains include competition and limited resources (Price 2011, p.78). Technology has triggered revolutions in entities across the economic divide. Technology has presented efficient ways of executing various activities in the business sectors. This has increased output and opened up new opportunities. However, some of the inventions and innovations have resulted in some negative industrial repercussions. Advancement has resulted in countless workers becoming redundant. Despite the efficiency and the increased production, technology has culminated in a problem that organizations have to address. Layoff of the workers is one of the most messy challenges that companies encounter. Companies have to compensate employees. Wal-Mart has not shied off from introducing technology since it will result in increased output which can enable the entity to cover its redundancy costs. Therefore, Wal-Mart has sought to address this concern by ensuring the provision of proper compensations to workers who lose livelihood owing technological advancement. Technology is advancing rapidly; hence, employees may in future lose their occupation. However, companies should not shy off from integrating technology in their procedures since it will give their business competitive advantage. Despite resulting in layoffs, technological advancements also triggers emergence of other opportunities in various sectors of the economy (Dransfield 2002, p. 74). Countless entities have embarked on an expansion strategy. This strategy has entailed either going global or regional. Undertaking expansion will result in the firm encountering with clients of different cultures. This is a challenge that numerous employees encounter in the new nations. Multiculturalism influences an entity significantly. Therefore, most entities may opt to hire a large proportion of its employees from the new nation it has made an entry. Failing to do so, the organization will be viewed to be exploiting the new market without providing opportunities to the local people. Subsequently, many companies resolve this problem by ensuring that the HR department hires a considerable proportion from the native proportion. Part of making an entry in a nation entails winning the population. As such, providing employment opportunities is central into creating awareness and goodwill. Failing to create goodwill for a new entrant may result in failure. Failure would result in massive losses especially for capital-intensive industries. Wal-Mart is the leading retailing entity globally. It has encountered this problem since its employees require to communicating with customers. However, it has addressed this problem via appropriate strategies. Wal-Mart recruits employees from the new nation which will enable bridge the cultural gap. Entities should embrace globalization in their quest to expand their operations. The most vital aspect is market research and planning which ensures that an entity can address any eventuality (Mol, Born, Willemsen & Molen 2005, 16). Various sectors of economies impact organizations in diverse ways. Industries, such as aviation, influence the hiring of employees significantly. As such, an entity in the aviation sector should adhere to the required personnel requirement. This denotes an external factor which seem to affect the HR policies of the sector. This means specialized sectors that have unique requirements face such challenges. An organization has to address such concerns to operate lawfully. The above requirements that are specific reveal the legal hurdles that some businesses encounter. However, the HR department has to address such concerns. Entities that encounter such legal requirements in their industries should not commence operations prior to fulfilment of such conditions. This would endanger the public who are customers or participants in the activities of the industry. Wal-Mart also has to hire some approved employees, such as accountants and financial analysts. These enable the entity to publish credible statements that reveal the entity’s financial results. Failure to have such employees would results in legal actions since credible statements are vital for taxation. Therefore, such legal and professional requirements have massive implications of the HR departments in organizations (Wright, Gardner, Moynihan & Allen 2005, p.400). Conclusion Human resource is a vital resource in any organization. Thus, it is important to ensure proper management of this resource. Failure to manage this resource appropriately would culminate in underutilization of factor of production. As such, an organization’s productivity would be below par. The HR department’s basic duty is to manage this resource. There are various external factors which influence management of this resource. These factors have altered HR management that is a constituent of management theory. The above external factors have resulted in changes in management theory since employees productivity is dependent on other issues not previously considered. Some emerging trends, such as ethics and corporate social responsibility, have massive impacts on HR management. Ethics denotes virtues and value that entities must observe. Employees prioritize career fulfilment ahead of remuneration. This is a factor contributing to satisfaction massively and clearly indicating changes in the workforce. The HR department should consider such changes and plan accordingly. Entities should consider ensuring that employees have professional fulfilment to reduce employee turnover. Other external factors include legal requirements, culture differences and industrial action. Bibliography Deckop, R & Deckop, J 2006, Human Resource Management Ethics, Information Age Publishing Inc, USA. Dransfield, R 2002, Human Resource Management, Rob and Dransfield, Oxford, UK. Kleynhans, R 2007, Human Resource Management, Maskew Miller Longman, Cape Town. Martin, J 2009, Human Resource Management, Sage Publications, California. Mol, S, Born, M, Willemsen, M & Molen, H 2005, Predicting expatriate jobperformance for selection purposes: A quantitative review, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, vol.36, pp.1–31. Price, A 2011, Human Resource Management, Cengage Learning, UK. Sharma, K 2005, Human Resource Management: A Strategic Approach to Employment, Global India Publication, New Delhi. Sparrow, P 2010, Globalizing Human Resource Management, Routledge Publisher, New York. Talwar, P 2006, Human Resource Management, Isha Books, New Delhi. Werner,S, Schuler, R & Jackson, S 2012, Human Resource Management, Cengage Learning, Canada. Wright, P, Gardner, T, Moynihan, L & Allen, M. 2005, The relationship between HR practices and firm performance: Examining causal order, Personnel Psychology, vol. 58, pp. 409–446. Read More