Analysis of Trends and Their Implications for HR - Research Paper Example

Demographics of the Workforce: Analysis of Trends and their Implications for HR and Section # of > Introduction In accordance with Baldwin (2007), the focus and responsibilities of human resource management has enhanced from a support function, decades back, to a core strategy formulizing department in an organization, signifying the importance given to the human resources today. In earlier times, human resource department was almost invisible, with most of the activities included as a function of the other departments; for example, the appraisals were the responsibility of the concerned department, salaries were disbursed through the accounts and finance department, and promotions were decided by the managers in consensus with the department heads, and so on. According to Armstrong (2008), with the compilation of the tasks to the human resource department, the scope has also enhanced; hiring, training, etc. all have come well under the umbrella of human resource department. One of the most challenging tasks for human resource department today is the fact that workforce within organization comprises of cross-national individuals i.e. people coming from various backgrounds, cultures, countries, etc. This essay is about how the demographics of a workforce are changing or have changed over a period of last decade or so i.e. identifying the trends and how it poses a threat or otherwise, implying to the human resource management. The following section is about the trends occurring and witnessed amongst the demographics of the workforce at a global scale. Demographics of Workforce – trends… The attempt of making the world a global village, in accordance with Mathis (2007), has brought about a lot of changes in the global landscape – particularly there has been a rising trend amongst individuals wanting to move away from their home country in an attempt for enhanced earning, improved life style, and increasing the quality of living for their families in their own regions. As a complement to the same, organizations have also initiated the program of cross boundary hiring, with their own reasons to follow. Firstly, as stated by Bateman (2010) having cross boundary hiring is expensive, which is the downturn of the same; however, in the long run, it is cheaper primarily because in third world countries, very talented human resources are very cheap and easily available. Consider the live example whereby employment posts are held mainly by Asians in countries offering bright prospect of jobs such as UK, US and the Middle East; here individuals get good earnings, mainly due to the currency differential, they earn a lot more then they can do in their home town, and since most of these live alone, they tend to save a lot. For a local employee, the organization needs to abide by a number of regulations; though the ministry takes care of expatriates working but still the requirements are not so stringent. This leads of a lot of cost saving. Secondly, Bateman (2010) further states that the workforce with varying demographics brings about varying experiences, different thought processes, unique ideas, creative exception handling skills, talents, etc. into the organization, thus the overall strategy formulation gains a momentum whereby ideas from all over the world are present within the organization. Similar to the topic of cross functional teams, and their advantages, workforce with varying demographics is advantageous to the organization. Considering both of these critical aspects, it can be visualized that there has been a growing trend of expatriate workers moving primarily from the under developed or developing economies to the first world states that allowed them opportunities to grow. Implications of Trends on HRM This changing trend has had signification implications on the human resource management. Current researches, as per Rue (2008), reveal that human resources have been found to be an irreplaceable competing advantage for organizations, and this highlights the significance of human resource management. Therefore, firstly, competitors seek cutting edge over their competition through cost cutting, and here human resource management can play an integral role in identifying cheap prospect workforce and attract them to ensure reduced cost of labor for the organization on the whole. Subsequently, there is an implication for the organization’s human resource management to utilize optimal resources, for example getting in touch with headhunters in their targeted region i.e. where the human resource pertinent to respective business operations is cheaper and available in abundance, thereby, developing a pool for selection of candidates with ease, developing the much needed strategic edge. Dessler (2007) states that the hiring and firing activities are another critical aspect and their significance is an implication for the human resource department/management, because cross border hiring requires arrangements with relevant ministries such as medical facilitations, visa approvals, authorizations, citizenship, work permits and so on. This all is included in the responsibilities of the human resource management. With the rising trend of terrorism activities and individuals changing identifications, it is vital for the human resource management to identify the background and other relevant information of the candidates to ensure that nothing wrong happens in the future in pertinent to this. In accordance with Noe (2007) Maintaining such human resources is a difficult task and a challenge to the organization on the whole and this particularly stands valid for the human resource management. Expatriate employees are generally opportunists; they leave their home town in hunt of higher salaries therefore, the chances of a job switch are very high, as any incremental salary offer would attract them. Therefore, human resource management has a challenge of retention associated with their task. As mentioned previously, cross border hiring is expensive, but once hired the fruits of cheaper work force can be yielded in a long run perspective. Another implication or challenge for the human resource management, according to Jones (2010), is the fact that individuals for varying backgrounds have varying needs. The gurus of management state the fact that individuals from varying backgrounds have various points that motivate them into being loyal to the organization, alongside their needs in terms of growth, monetary terms, etc. also vary based on their cultural values and regional history. For example, Indian and Bangladeshi workers across the world have a higher tendency of saving; the workers would take two meals a day and save money. Additionally, they would live in a joint accommodation to save maximum. Subsequently, the human resource management has a challenge to deal with individuals on a one on one basis because if managed in a mass manner, satisfaction may be drastically reduced. Jones (2008) states another major implication or challenge for the human resource management, following such a trend, is to ensure least biasness or favoritism; i.e. there have been instances where expatriates tend to favor individuals from their own region or caste when departmental hiring is done. This has an advantage i.e. like minded individuals are more supportive in attitude but at the same time, as a disadvantage, there seem to be creation of work place non-productive groups within departments that end up losing productivity, and formation of consortiums that do not allow anyone but individuals from more or less similar demographics in the department. The human resource management also sees a big challenge, as stated by Ghillyer (2008), when it comes to ensuring the avoidance of cross-cultural argues, political debates, regional conflicts, etc. A prime example of the same has been the expatriates from regions like India and Pakistan – countries that have hardly had friendly political ties in the past, and this reflects in all walks of life. Avoidance of such and similar conflicts is a major challenge to ensure that the work environment remains friendly and productive, rather than hostile. Developing respect for culture is another crucial point herewith; something that the human resource department foresees as a major challenge within the working of cross border individuals i.e. each member of the workforce should have respect for the cultural values of other individuals. Mutual respect should be an organizational norm on the whole, however; in circumstances such those under review in this report, the need for such respect and care enhances. Last, but not the least, another major challenge for the human resource management in accordance with the research of Kinicki (2008) is to abide by the regulatory requirements set by the government as well as those set by the relevant ministries to ensure the right level of compliance because issues and complaints raised by the workforce members can lead to major reactions on the business and the organization. Conclusion Conclusively, quoting Hill (2006) and Benowitz (2001), it can be stated that the increased demographical movement i.e. expatriate employment has posed a huge challenge for the human resource department, and many of these have been discussed in this report. The nomenclature is complex; but organizations need to ensure that they react appropriately to the challenges because this trend of varying demographics of the workforce is what is driving the business competition today and would continue to do so for years to come. Selecting the right candidates from the right pool, offering them the right package and ensuring their stay with the organization is the real crux of what the human resource management owes to do as its operations, while all the other operations constitute as subsections within the scope. References Andrew W. Ghillyer (2008) Management - A Real World Approach. McGraw Hill (pages 200-320) Angelo Kinicki, Brian K. Williams (2008) Management. McGraw Hill (pages 87-159) Charles W. L. Hill, Steven McShane (2006) Principles of Management. McGraw Hill (pages 302-409) Ellen A. Benowitz (2001) Principles of Management. Cliffs Notes (pages 75-157) Gareth R Jones, Jennifer M George (2010) Essentials of Contemporary Management. McGraw Hill (pages 274-399) Gareth R Jones, Jennifer M George (2008) Contemporary Management. McGraw Hill (pages 573-609) Gary Dessler (2007) Human Resource Management. Prentice Hall (pages 222-398) Leslie W. Rue, Lloyd L. Byars (2008) Management. McGraw Hill (pages 97-157, 205-398) Raymond Noe, John Hollenbeck, Barry Gerhart, Patrick Wright (2007) Human Resource Management. McGraw-Hill/Irwin (pages 338-399, 504-669) Robert L. Mathis, John H. Jackson (2007) Human Resource Management. South-Western College Pub (pages 99-209) Sharon Armstrong, Barbara Mitchell (2008) The Essential HR Handbook: A Quick and Handy Resource for Any Manager or HR Professional. Career Press (pages 72-129) Thomas S Bateman, Scott A Snell (2010) Management - Leading & Collaborating in the Competitive World. McGraw Hill (pages 173-209, 298-357) Timothy Baldwin, Bill Bommer, Robert Rubin (2007) Developing Management Skills - What Great Managers Know and Do. McGraw Hill (pages 199-257) Read More