HRM – Ever Evoloving 1642 Essay Example

our nation. In rural regions, extended families cohabited and offered assistance while adhering to cultural traditions. However, in suburban communities, nuclear families became secluded within comparable neighborhoods. (1) Consequently, there was a need for products and services that were previously supplied by extended family and community members, resulting in the rise of new markets and employment prospects. Moreover, this shift necessitated the creation of worker management as a separate field of study.

Over the course of the previous century, our country has undergone a significant transformation in terms of business growth. Initially, our economy was primarily focused on agriculture, but gradually shifted towards industrialization. Factories emerged as the primary source of employment around the mid-1950s. However, they encountered substantial difficulties during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Consequently, there was a decline in manufacturing which ultimately led to its replacement by the service sector. It is worth noting that technological advancements have played a crucial role in shaping these services as we approach the end of the 20th century.

Survival requires adapting to changes, which includes updating physical facilities and training employees. It also involves adjusting our management approach towards them. Some people think that HRM literature suggests there is only one right way to manage individuals (2). However, Maslow on Management provides a different perspective, presenting conclusive evidence that not everyone benefits from a uniform approach. In other words, diverse individuals require different management techniques.

HMR models are based on the belief that there is only one correct method of managing employees, and this approach is using outdated workplace standards. The traditional model considers employees as individuals who work full time for an organization and depend solely on

that organization for their livelihood and career advancement. These employees were typically seen as subordinates with limited or narrow skill sets. (3)

These images of the worker may have been applicable in the past, but in the present, none of these images are sustainable. While most individuals working for an organization can be categorized as employees, there is a significant and consistently increasing group - who work for the organization - that no longer function as employees, but rather as outsourced contractors.

The concept of subordinate positions is gradually disappearing, even in areas considered lower level. With the increasing complexity of technology, specialized knowledge is now required in all operations. Subordinates are enhancing their skill sets and transitioning into associates. The secretary, equipped with expertise in specialized software, transforms into the Administrative Assistant. To ensure smooth functioning of the organization, individuals who excel in their roles often possess more knowledge about their job than their superiors. (4) For instance, the vice president of marketing may have extensive knowledge of sales but lacks understanding in market research, pricing, packaging, service, or sales forecasting. Workers in these positions may still report to the vice president but generally excel in their own respective areas.

Identifying Corporate Needs.

In the past, general managers could assign specific personnel tasks to specialists due to lower technological expectations and a well-defined hierarchy. Today, this approach would be ineffective and outdated. Failing to adapt to new demands would mean disregarding the various unprecedented pressures that require a broader, strategic perspective on human resources within organizations.

From a General Management perspective, the organization requires certain elements in terms of Human Resource Management (HRM). This viewpoint is based

on a global perspective, which was apparent in a survey conducted with Fortune 500 CEOs in 1989. The survey findings revealed that successful HRM should address corporate requirements in eight key areas.

The necessity for significantly improving human production is heightened by growing global competition, as evidenced by the struggles faced by the automobile and steel industries. To address this, organizations are adopting foreign management approaches, particularly Japanese models, to enhance HRM techniques. These techniques aim to bolster employee commitment and ensure a sustainable workforce equipped with the required skills and competencies.

2. With the growth and complexity of organizations, the accumulation of management layers has led to costly bureaucracies that are not very efficient. Furthermore, these multiple layers of management disconnect workers from the competitive environment in which organizations function.

Both company policy makers and middle management layering aim to bring workers closer to the competitive environment, in the hope of fostering commitment to the organization and sharpening the competitive edge. Managing human resources in multinational companies poses additional challenges, as policies need to be adapted to work within diverse cultures and vastly different social values.

3. In cases where companies encounter declining markets or slower growth, their ability to provide advancement opportunities and job security may be hindered. As a result, attracting and retaining a capable and highly skilled workforce becomes a challenge.

4. The increased involvement of the government in human resource practices necessitates a re-evaluation of HRM policies and the creation of new ones. An illustration of this can be seen in the revision of HRM policies in companies nationwide due to the Americans with Disabilities Act.

5. With the workforce in America becoming

more educated, it is important to reconsider assumptions about employees' skills and how responsibilities are assigned. An underutilization of employee talent leads to high turnover rates in the workforce.

6. The changing expectations and values of the workforce, specifically regarding authority, necessitate a reassessment of the amount of involvement and influence workers should have. It is important to establish means for employees to express their concerns and address them with appropriate procedures.

As workers prioritize life and career satisfaction, corporations are reevaluating traditional career paths and exploring alternative options that accommodate employee lifestyle needs.

Due to the increasing presence of women and minorities in the workforce, corporations are reconsidering how they treat, support, and provide opportunities for these groups. Consequently, organizations must review all factors that influence women and minorities.

When developing human resource policies, it is important to take into account various factors and adhere to a structured approach.

Both General Management and HRM departments are affected by universal General Management issues. The impact areas identified by HRM professionals closely align with major corporate needs identified by General Managers.

Human Resource professionals have explored strategies to create a conducive work environment and boost productivity. In the early 1990s, the advisory board of Commerce Clearing House was tasked with identifying the factors that would impact the role of HR functions in the coming decade. The board identified four key areas in HRM where current issues would significantly influence the role of human resource function in the near future: compensation, communication and personnel practices, employment relations, and Equal Employment Opportunity requirements. (6)

Compensation issues, such as worker diversity, pay-for-performance plans, and the regulation of employee benefit plans, can be effectively addressed by HRM

practices that prioritize flexibility and adaptability. These practices generate outcomes such as job sharing, staggered scheduling, and flex time. Pay-for-performance plans offer the potential to reward productivity and provide monetary motivation. However, the successful implementation of such plans relies on effective performance evaluations. Attempting to implement compensation systems without valid, reliable, and standardized assessment instruments may result in legal disputes.

The issue of fairness greatly impacts human resource managers at a national level. It is important to abandon personnel plans that solely prioritize organizational needs in order to benefit both workers and organizations. An example of this is the increasing prevalence of two-career couples, which demands a reexamination of nepotism policies. HRM professionals need to rethink policies in order to effectively manage and prepare people for change. As workers navigate through change, new demands for functions like retraining arise.

Training and professional development are essential in all areas of operation, as even the most basic positions require knowledge of the latest advancements resulting from technology. However, technological progress not only alters job functions, but also renders some roles obsolete. During times of company reconfiguration, downsizing and divestitures are inevitable if retraining is not feasible. Thus, it is crucial to create and implement outplacement policies in anticipation of such needs. HRM professionals recognize the importance of developing effective HR auditing tools to assess employee perceptions of management fairness and the atmosphere for effective communication within the organization. The insights gathered from employee attitude surveys can prove highly valuable to supervisors but only if they have received proper training to utilize this information effectively.
(7)

The legal environment of personnel management is comprehensive and encompasses various aspects, including the Occupational Safety

and Health Act (OSHA) and the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) regulation. OSHA, enacted in 1970, imposes regulations to ensure workplace safety. The EEO regulation covers a wide range of areas and significantly impacts HRM by safeguarding workers against discrimination based on race, color, creed, and age. It is crucial for organizations to develop sensitivity towards age-related issues due to the rise in age discrimination lawsuits. Consequently, they need to formulate policies specific to older employees.

A new development stemming from EEO is the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). ADA has necessitated the establishment of new protocols for accommodating employees with disabilities and handicaps. The growing consensus that Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) qualifies as a disability introduces policy considerations regarding AIDS testing. This situation has the potential to create conflicts in meeting the needs of all employees, posing a challenge for HRM.

Companies must be ready to offer resources for benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), ensuring efficient management of those plans. Failure to comply with ERISA's disclosure, reporting, and fiduciary standards may result in employees filing lawsuits against non-compliant plans.

The focus on union representation has shifted due to government regulation, prioritizing individual employee rights. This shift is important to consider when planning personnel and policies. The role of unions as bargaining units is declining and will continue to do so as labor relationships stabilize, resulting in fewer strikes and NLRB cases. Although advantageous, other factors must also be taken into account. Businesses may face more employment-at-will and wrongful discharge lawsuits. Employers hiring temporary employees should be cautious due to the increase in lawsuits filed by temporary employees alleging unlawful activities. All

these factors should be considered when deciding staffing policies.

The human aspect of business has gained significance due to various pressures. It is noteworthy to ponder why this aspect was not addressed sooner. One potential explanation is that managers were predominantly educated, developed, and trained to prioritize analytical and technical aspects. Consequently, they often failed to recognize the significance of employee relationships in improving productivity.

Companies are now seeking solutions to business problems in the human side of enterprise due to increasing societal pressures. The concern over blue-collar jobs in the 1930s, as well as civil rights and equal opportunity legislation in the 1960s and 1970s, has led to the restructuring of HRM policies to acknowledge and address changing social values. In simpler terms, alternative methods to enhance employee productivity and organizational effectiveness have been unsuccessful. (9)

Identifying the needs of workers.

The primary factor impacting worker performance is not the work environment, but rather external factors such as family needs. These needs, including childcare responsibilities, significantly contribute to absenteeism, tardiness, and decreased productivity.⁽⁹⁾ Several factors contribute to this issue. Firstly, there has been a continuous increase in the number of women entering the workforce. In 1970, only 20.2% of women worked outside the home; however, by 1995, this percentage had risen to 73.8%. This trend has provided families with financial stability and personal fulfillment but has also created a gap in caregiving traditionally undertaken by women. Another significant contributor to family-related workplace challenges is the rise in single-parent households. The proportion of single-parent homes increased from 12% in 1970 to 49.8% in 1995.⁽¹⁰⁾ When a worker bears sole responsibility for raising children, managing childcare arrangements

and attending to school obligations become more likely obstacles affecting their attendance and productivity.

Another social phenomenon that puts pressure on workers and disrupts the workplace is the increasing longevity of the population. This means that people are living longer, allowing them to delay marriage and having children. Nowadays, it is quite common for couples to wait until their late thirties or early forties to have their first child, a time that used to be dedicated to preparing for an empty nest. Instead of enjoying their retirement as grandparents, these older parents find themselves dealing with teenagers and figuring out how to financially support them through college.

Furthermore, a significant portion of the workforce now faces the challenge of caring not only for their own children but also for their elderly parents. This adds to the already existing family pressures that workers have to navigate. They have both moral and financial obligations to fulfill in order to ensure the well-being of two generations. As a result, American workers are experiencing a double whammy as they strive to meet the needs of their families.

The increasing longevity of the workforce is a factor that needs to be considered when it comes to the retirement rate. It is projected that in the next two to three decades, developed countries will have to raise the retirement age to around seventy-nine. This age is equivalent, in terms of health and life expectancy, to sixty-five in 1936 when the United States implemented a national retirement plan called Social Security. As the population continues to age, a considerable portion of the workforce will have specific geriatric needs, which will affect their expectations for

employee benefits.

The challenge for businesses in the future is determining the monetary worth and benefits of age and experience. The Armed Forces are currently facing this dilemma as they have an excess of senior officers, which is affecting the allocation of funding for personnel and putting the efficiency of military organizations at risk. This issue is also relevant to private organizations, public agencies, and government entities. Many of them are resorting to retirement incentive bonuses as a means to reduce the size of their aging workforce. The question is whether this strategy will continue to be effective in thinning out an older workforce.

Family pressures, salary and benefits, and quality of life are all factors that concern the nation's workforce. While compensation and benefits are important for employee satisfaction and productivity, emotional satisfaction is also valued in the workplace. These emotional perks can come in the form of additional training, added responsibility, recognition, appreciation, and creativity. Businesses need to consider the social implications of this information and address the needs of their staff in order to develop successful HRM policies.

New HRM Models

The management of human resources focuses on one main aspect of the management process: staffing. The HRM professional's responsibility is to find the appropriate individual for each job. Although recruitment is a precise aspect of HRM, motivation plays a more important role in employee productivity. Motivation methods are crucial for developing successful HRM models. Motivation might seem like a simple concept, but it is actually one of the most intricate aspects of human resource management.

Motivation is a simple concept in human behavior – people are driven to behave in ways that they find rewarding. Therefore,

the task of motivating others is straightforward: identify what they desire and offer it as a potential incentive or reward. However, this becomes complicated when dealing with a diverse workforce, as what holds value for one worker may be meaningless to another. Additionally, the significance of incentives may vary over time. For example, while everyone needs to eat, a steak dinner can only serve as motivation if the person is hungry. If they have recently eaten, the offer of a steak dinner loses its appeal.

An additional aspect in the motivation equation is the feasibility of obtaining the reward. If a person believes that achieving the task is nearly impossible, telling them that they will be promoted to sales manager if sales in that jurisdiction increase becomes meaningless. According to Vroom's expectancy theory of motivation, two conditions must be met for motivation to arise. Firstly, the person must highly value the specific outcome, like receiving a promotion. Secondly, the person must feel that there is a reasonably good chance of accomplishing the task and attaining the desired outcome. This process constitutes motivation. (14)

Theories of motivation revolve around the fundamental question: what do people desire? According to Abraham Maslow, humans have five essential categories of needs: physiological, safety, social, ego, and self-actualization. These needs are prioritized based on their significance to individuals. After fulfilling the basic physiological needs like food and drink, they cease to function as motivating factors. Instead, the focus shifts towards security and protection as the primary driving force. As individuals have their basic requirements met, they progress up the hierarchy of needs.

Frederick Herzberg has categorized Maslow's hierarchy into two planes: one catering to

physiological, safety, and social needs, and the other catering to ego and self-actualization. According to Herzberg, the best motivation comes from fulfilling these higher-level needs. In his research, Herzberg found that the factors that fulfill lower-level needs, referred to as hygiene factors, are distinct from motivators that satisfy higher-level needs. Herzberg asserts that if hygiene factors are insufficient, workers will become discontented; however, once these factors are fulfilled, there is no incentive to perform. Consequently, hygiene factors are essential for preventing dissatisfaction but not effective in fostering motivation.

Job content serves as the driving force behind motivation. Motivating employees involves offering them opportunities for achievement, recognition, responsibility, and more challenging jobs. These motivating factors are effective because they address higher level needs that are never fully fulfilled. According to Herzberg, the most effective approach to motivating employees is to incorporate challenge and opportunities for achievement into their jobs. Herzberg refers to this approach as job enrichment. Essentially, job enrichment entails enhancing the job by incorporating motivators such as opportunities for achievement, making it more engaging and demanding.

This theory presents a different approach to more traditional HMR models. It suggests that job enrichment can be achieved by granting employees increased autonomy and involvement in tasks such as planning and inspection.

a supervisor, which is the complete opposite of rigid hierarchical models.

The changes in HRM practices are best illustrated in the table below that compares traditional and innovative HRM models.

Table of Alternate Work Systems

Keep the and their contents intact:

Traditional Model vs High-Commitment Model

___________________________________________________

Narrowly defined jobs

Broadly defined jobs

Specialization of workers and rotation through jobs.

and cross training

Pay based on the specific job content or the skills mastered.

Closely

supervised work. Self or peer supervision.

Team assigns members to assignments or transfers.

The cover of the rule book requires flexibility in its design.

No opportunities for career development and learning growth.

Employees as distinct individuals and employees working together as a team

The employee is kept ignorant about how the team operates as a business.

Business data is extensively shared.

Status symbols were once used to indicate differences in status.

Reinforce hierarchy minimized

No employee feedback

Broad employee participation

Keep the and their contents intact while and unifying the text below:

In summation,

It is evident that HMR practices have evolved towards worker-friendly models due to necessity. Studies indicate that the use of specific practices, known as "high performance work practices," improves overall organizational practices. A 1995 study determined that extensive recruitment and training procedures, incentive compensation, and increased employee involvement are linked to decreased turnover rates, improved productivity, and better financial performance.

When it comes to finding the right HR system for promoting innovation, a rigid and definitive HR model might not be suitable for an innovative organization that constantly evolves. Instead, organizations may benefit from a flexible approach that combines traditional and high-commitment practices, as well as other practices that align with an innovation-focused strategy. This adaptive approach is crucial for remaining competitive.

Notes

H. Stephen Glenn is the author of the book "Developing Capable People."

(Rockland CA: Prima Press 1989) 14-21

In his book "A Short History of Human Resource Management," Martin Isenberg discusses the topic of strategic human resource management. He states that this field has its origins in the early 1990s and highlights the importance of this approach in managing human resources effectively. The author further elaborates on the content

of his book, including the exploration of various readings and research on this subject. Isenberg's work was published by the University of Massachusetts Press in January 1994, making it a valuable resource for those interested in gaining a deeper understanding of human resource management.

3. Peter F. Drucker, Management Challenges for the 21st Century, (New York: Harper-Collins, 1999) 17

4. Drucker, 112

The reference to a book written by Beer, Spector, Lawrence, Mills, and Walton titled "Managing Human Assets" is given as (London: Collier Macmillan, 1984) on pages 49-55.

6. Gary Dessler, Personnel Management, 4th Edition, (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1988) 706

7. Dessler, 323

8. Drucker, 154

The source "Social Perspectives on Labor Markets" by R.P. Kalleberg (1991) discussed the topic from page 119 to 149 (p. 119-149).

10. The data base of the US Bureau of Statistics is available at http://www.stats.gov.public.

11. Drucker, 189

12. Jan Nybor, "More Than a Few Good Men" Navy Times, 14 Sept. 1994, 16

13. Dessler, 388

14. Victor H. Vroom wrote a book called "Work and Motivation" in 1964, published by Wiley. The book covers pages 350-367.

15. Fredrick Herzberg, "One More Time: How Do You Motivate Your Employees?" Harvard Business Review, vol. 47 Jan-Feb. 1968

16. In April 1976, Pritchard, DeLao, and Von Bergen conducted a field test on the techniques of expectancy-valence incentive motivation in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, volume 15 number 2. The citation is as follows: 111

17. Dessler, pages 323-338

Beer et al. (165-167)

According to Tushman and O'Reilly, the book "Winning Through Innovation" was published in 1997 by the Harvard Business School Press, and it is referenced on page 299.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

Collected Documents

Nybor, Jan. Navy Times, 14 Sept. 1994

Pritchard,

DeLao, Von Bergen conducted a field test called "A Field Test of Expectancy - Valence Incentive Motivation Techniques" in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, volume 15.

Herzberg, Fredrick, "One More Time: How Do You Motivate Your Employees?" Harvard Business Review vol. 47

Electronic References

US Bureau of Statistics Data Base

Books

Glenn, H. Stephen's book Developing Capable People was published in 1989 by Prima Press in Rockland, CA.

Isenberg, Martin "A Short History of Human Resource Management," Strategic Human Resource Management Readings, (January 1994) University of Massachusetts Press

Drucker, Peter F., Management Challenges for the 21st Century, New York: Harper-Collins, 1999

Dessler, Gary, Personnel Management, 4th Edition, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1988

Kalleberg, R.P. (1991). Social Perspectives on Labor Markets. New York: Academic Press.

The book titled "Work and Motivation" by Victor H. Vroom was published in New York in 1964.

Tushman & O'Rielly published a book titled Winning Through Innovation in 1997, which was released by Harvard Business School Press in Boston.