Challenges the Human Resource Professionals Faces during Designing a Better Environment for the Firm - Term Paper Example

Table of Contents Safety and Health The issue of safety and health remains one of important problems to be handled by the Human Resources. Safety and Health at the workplace is the right of every individual as stated by many laws of the country. These laws clearly make it the responsibility of the Human Resources to make sure that the individuals working in particular companies are provided with instruments and tools which are safe and do not affect their health. Moreover, these individuals should also be managed by the human resources if a mishap occurs at the work site. It has been known that many workers in the third world countries are not given proper care in their workplaces and thus this has lead to adversary affects to the health of these workers. The affects are so adverse at times that a precious life of a worker is lost during this process. Similarly these unsafe practices at the work places also lead to great economic losses to the companies. These adversary affects has led many of the research departments to look for a solution to this problem. As it can be seen nowadays that almost every company takes measures to ensure that their workers are being given an environment which is safe and healthy for them. An example can be quoted here of Deere & Company. The workers in this company work in the circle of forestry and other turf care stuff. The company has made efforts in the past to reduce injuries and provide proper safety to its workers. Moreover, the company has introduced special workers who are in charge of checking any sort of health issues to the workers during their practice of work. The Human Resources has been assigned the job of not only making sure that the workplace is safe but also assigns it to make sure that the workers are aware of healthy and safe practices during work. Hr is supposed to inform its workers as to which practices during work are safe and which are not. They should also inform the workers as to why these practices are safe. This problem of safety and health has become a problem of global intensity and thus organizations from all over the world are making sure that the workers are provided with safety and health. Two major organizations which ensure safety and health in workplace are International Labor Organization and World Health Organization. It has also been seen that the nature of a job can lead to certain safety and health concerns at the workplace. Thus it is the duty of the hr to make sure that the nature of the job is properly sought so that the employees are satisfied and not overburdened. To ensure this ergonomics has been introduced in the workplaces which make the human resources change the job environment according to the mental and physical capabilities of the workers. Moreover, it is the duty of the hr to check the stress and comfort level of the workers so that these workers are not harmed by over-work (Jackson, Schuler, Werner & Jackson 2009). All the current knowledge about the advantages of safety and health at the workplace has led to prosperity of many companies. These companies have earned a better image globally because of their alignment with the work and safety acts. Through this strategy not only the expenses of the company are controlled but also precious lives are saved. Conclusion 8 Bibliography 11 Introduction Human Resource professionals are playing an important role in structuring the whole organization in terms of workers and environment. They are not only helping to manage the workers but also helping the firm to work smoothly. The Human Resource Department is known to structure the whole job schedule and flexibility a job offers. This paper would further tell as to what challenges the human resource professionals have to face in regard to designing a better environment for the firm. It would further tells as to how these situations should be tackled by the Human Resource Department and it covers specific aspects of the Human Resource Department which include human resources planning, recruitment and selection, safety and health and employee and labor relations. Human Resources Planning, recruitment and selection With the increasing demand of flexible workers through out, the hiring process has proved to be very difficult for the Human Resource professionals. Different strategies are being sought by the professionals to overcome the difficulties during the process of recruitment. Temporary workers are hired through the process of either formal or informal recruitment. However nowadays it is being hard for the hr professionals to hire these temporary workers. Formal Recruitment is one form through which hiring is done by these professionals. In this kind of process the nature and the requirements of the jobs are posted over different forms of media inviting the individuals who are deeply interested in the job. Thus an intermediary is selected by the formal recruitment team and this role of intermediary can be played either by the media or an agency (Marsden and Campbell 1990). The date and the location are usually set up by the company who is recruiting and both these factors are kept specific. Similarly after the process applications are reviewed by the company’s recruiting panel and qualified applicants are called upon. Furthermore, the recruitment takes place under the supervision of the Hr professionals. Formal Recruitment has its pros and cons. It is known that this technique of recruitment has proved to be positive for newly emerging companies or companies who are moving to a different location. Through this type of technique a large amount of applicants are called upon and thus the amount of variety increases. Similarly this will also help to invite the individual of the exact requirement that the company needs. For e.g. a larger amount of applicants would help the recruitment team to possibly select the best one i.e. has a greater experience and the right qualification (Campbell and Rosenfeld 1985; Fevre 1989; Haulman et al. 1987; Windolf 1986). However on the other hand formal recruitment also has its disadvantages. It is confirmed through different researches that a massive amount of investment is required to undergo the process of formal recruitment and the quality acquired from that investment is also not assured. The amount of applicants which is generated through a mass campaign of advertising is massive and is difficult to screen. Thus defects are observed when screening different applicants. Similarly it also gets expensive for the company to screen the massive amount of applicants’ together (Marsden and Campbell 1990; Wanous 1980). Furthermore the process of formal recruitment is known to be quite lengthy and time consuming. It costs the company more and takes more time to cover the applicants. Informal recruitment is a process, through which the employers hire workers through valuable sources such as old employees, associates or any other social network. This type of recruitment has proved to be favorable to many companies. Word of mouth is commonly taken as a recommendation in the process of informal recruitment. In this a personal recommendation is passed to the employer through valuable sources as given above. These recommendations are given importance by the employer and therefore mostly the suggested employee is hired. Similarly social and family networks of the employer play an important role in recommending the suitable candidates for the designation. Informal recruitment has many advantages when seeking the right applicant. It is shown through extensive research that this method of recruitment is usually preferred by firms due to its cost efficient nature in relation to the other formal methods (Corcoran et al. 1980; Granovetter 1995; Maim 1974; Marsden and Campbell 1990; Pissarides 1984; Rees 1966; Rees and Schultz 1970). The process of recommending is known to be very important in informal recruitment as it helps to determine the right candidate hurriedly. Similarly the sources who recommend about a certain employee inform the candidate about the work procedures and other details of the work. This would help the recruits to have a better understanding of the nature of the job and the candidate who can settle in the environment will accept the opportunity. This will also help to ensure that the quality of the work is not affected. (Wanous 1980; Williams et al. 1993). Nowadays with the increasing rate of flexible work practices the challenges undergone by managers have also increased. They have to keep a check on the flexibility given to the labors and have to remain unbiased in nature. This is due to the difference in treatment of different employees because of their nature and work. It is also known that at times the flexibility of programs leads to hectic situations for the managers. As quoted by Martha H. in Management Review (1994) "Far too often, flex is embraced for its 'family-friendly' aspects long before the corporate support needed to manage it takes root. In these companies, flex policies are outlined in the employee manual but implementation is left up to individual managers. Then, when managers try to implement these programs, they discover that to be fair, flex requires them to treat different employees differently" (Management Review 2004). This shows that at times flexible arrangements do not prove to be beneficial as the employees are unwilling to work by the new standards and this certainly makes the task of handling more difficult. Similarly the HR department finds it difficult to manage the new schedule imposed on them and is at times not able to cope with it. As work flexibility comes into play different statuses are building up in the company which gives way to more discrimination amongst the workers themselves and this causes further conflicts in managing the staff. Similarly the core workers are of immense importance to the company and thus the management has to give adequate time to their needs. The age levels of these employees should be set up according to the demand of the work as these employees are more likely to get offers from other companies. The amount of training provided to these core workers should be limited so as to their work schedule does not get hectic. This would help to ensure that these core workers are satisfied with their job (Jewson & Mason 1986). Employee and Labor Relations Nowadays with the increasing rate of flexible work practices the challenges undergone by managers have also increased. They have to keep a check on the flexibility given to the labors and have to remain unbiased in nature. This is due to the difference in treatment of different employees because of their nature and work. For firm operations to go smoothly one has to make sure that the employee relations with the human resource department are perfect. The biased nature of the human resource department can lead to many implications. It is also known that at times the flexibility of programs leads to hectic situations for the managers. As quoted by Martha H. in Management Review (1994) "Far too often, flex is embraced for its 'family-friendly' aspects long before the corporate support needed to manage it takes root. In these companies, flex policies are outlined in the employee manual but implementation is left up to individual managers. Then, when managers try to implement these programs, they discover that to be fair, flex requires them to treat different employees differently" (Management Review 2004). This shows that at times flexible arrangements do not prove to be beneficial as the employees are unwilling to work by the new standards and this certainly makes the task of handling more difficult. Similarly the HR department finds it difficult to manage the new schedule imposed on them and is at times not able to cope with it. As work flexibility comes into play different statuses are building up in the company which gives way to more discrimination amongst the workers themselves and this causes further conflicts in managing the staff. Similarly the core workers are of immense importance to the company and thus the management has to give adequate time to their needs. The age levels of these employees should be set up according to the demand of the work as these employees are more likely to get offers from other companies. The amount of training provided to these core workers should be limited so as to their work schedule does not get hectic. This would help to ensure that these core workers are satisfied with their job (Jewson & Mason 1986). Moreover, the relations between the workers and the human resource department can be affected if the hr treats its employees inferiorly or in a biased manner. This would lead the hr to take bias decisions and hence would lead to business complexities. It has been noted in many cases that such decisions by the hr can lead to harmful effects to the business. Human Resources should be encouraged to work on merit rather than on favoritism. In other words the Hr should act professional and should take all the facts and figures into their view before taking any decision so that the relations between the hr and labor are not affected. Similarly this adverse affect of bias decisions and thus the worsening of employee relations with the hr has lead to different researches. These different researches clearly show that worsening of the relations of the hr and employees can lead to less productivity and hence the harm of the company. Moreover, if the employees feel that they are being cheated by their management they would not work to the fullest level to increase the productivity of the company. Thus this would also ruin the image of the company. Safety and Health The issue of safety and health remains one of important problems to be handled by the Human Resources. Safety and Health at the workplace is the right of every individual as stated by many laws of the country. These laws clearly make it the responsibility of the Human Resources to make sure that the individuals working in particular companies are provided with instruments and tools which are safe and do not affect their health. Moreover, these individuals should also be managed by the human resources if a mishap occurs at the work site. It has been known that many workers in the third world countries are not given proper care in their workplaces and thus this has lead to adversary affects to the health of these workers. The affects are so adverse at times that a precious life of a worker is lost during this process. Similarly these unsafe practices at the work places also lead to great economic losses to the companies. These adversary affects has led many of the research departments to look for a solution to this problem. As it can be seen nowadays that almost every company takes measures to ensure that their workers are being given an environment which is safe and healthy for them. An example can be quoted here of Deere & Company. The workers in this company work in the circle of forestry and other turf care stuff. The company has made efforts in the past to reduce injuries and provide proper safety to its workers. Moreover, the company has introduced special workers who are in charge of checking any sort of health issues to the workers during their practice of work. The Human Resources has been assigned the job of not only making sure that the workplace is safe but also assigns it to make sure that the workers are aware of healthy and safe practices during work. Hr is supposed to inform its workers as to which practices during work are safe and which are not. They should also inform the workers as to why these practices are safe. This problem of safety and health has become a problem of global intensity and thus organizations from all over the world are making sure that the workers are provided with safety and health. Two major organizations which ensure safety and health in workplace are International Labor Organization and World Health Organization. It has also been seen that the nature of a job can lead to certain safety and health concerns at the workplace. Thus it is the duty of the hr to make sure that the nature of the job is properly sought so that the employees are satisfied and not overburdened. To ensure this ergonomics has been introduced in the workplaces which make the human resources change the job environment according to the mental and physical capabilities of the workers. Moreover, it is the duty of the hr to check the stress and comfort level of the workers so that these workers are not harmed by over-work (Jackson, Schuler, Werner & Jackson 2009). All the current knowledge about the advantages of safety and health at the workplace has led to prosperity of many companies. These companies have earned a better image globally because of their alignment with the work and safety acts. Through this strategy not only the expenses of the company are controlled but also precious lives are saved. Conclusion A firm which promotes flexibility in its work should maintain its policy from the management to the recruitment department. Recruitment and selection have an important role to play in a flexible firm as they are the one who determine the required employee according to the flexible conditions. And with these flexible conditions comes a tight schedule for the recruitment department because of the increasing demand of employees. Thus with a lot of burden over them the HR managers are to select the right individual for the right kind of work. These managers are also to make external sources to get recommendations. These recommendations can help to fill up vacant positions hurriedly. However this can result in the forming of a PLM which would further involve informal recruitment methods to be adopted by the firm. And while this informal method has its benefits it brings with it the problem of discrimination amongst the workers and the management. The worker and employee relation should be properly handled by the human resources as mentioned above. And the last but not the least the issue of safety and health at workplace should be handled properly the Hr to ensure that the company has a better image globally. Bibliography Marsden, Peter V. and Karen C. Campbell. 1990. "Recruitment and Selection Processes: The Organizational Side of Job Searches," in Social Mobility and Social Structure, R. Breiger, ed., Cambridge, MA: Cambridge Press, pp. 59-79. Fevre, Ralph. 1989. "Informal Practices, Flexible Finns, and Private Labour Markets." Sociology 23: 91-109. Haulman, Clyde A., Frederick A. Raffa, and Brian Rungeling. 1987. "Assessing the Labor Market Intermediary Role of the Job Service." Growth and Change 16: 66-71. Windolf, Paul. 1986. "Recruitment, Selection, and Internal Labour Markets in Britain and Germany." Organizational Studies, 7:235-54. Jackson, S. E., Schuler, R. S., Werner, S., & Jackson, S. E. (2009). Managing human resources. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Corcoran, Mary, Linda Datcher and Greg J. Duncan. 1980. "Information Networks in Labor Markets," in Five Thousand American Families: Patterns of Economic Progress. Vol VIII, Greg J. Duncan and James N. Morgan, eds. Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, pp. 1-37. Granovetter, Mark S. 1985. "Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness." American Journal of Sociology 91: 481-510. Malm, F. Theodore. 1974. "Recruiting Patterns and the Functioning of Labor Markets," in Management of Human Resources, Paul Rigors, Charles A. Myers, and F. T. Maim, eds. McGraw-Hill: New York, pp. 383-400. Pissarides, Christopher A. 1984. "Search Intensity, Job Advertising, and Efficiency." Journal of Labor Economics 2: 128-43. Rees, Albert. 1966. "Information Networks in Labor Markets." American Economic Review 56: 559-66. Rees, Albert and George P. Schultz. 1970. Workers and Wages in the Urban Labor Market. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Williams, Charles R., Chalmer E. Labig, Jr. and Thomas H. Stone. 1993. "Recruitment Sources and Posthire Outcomes for Job Applicants and New Hires." Journal of Applied Psychology 78: 163-72. Wanous, John P. 1980. Organizational Entry.. Recruitment, Selection and Socialization of Newcomers. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Read More