Research Articles Base: HRM Case Studies

Case Study On FedEx HR Practices

Case Study on FedEx HR Practices     Federal Express Corporation or (FedEx) has a reputation of being one of the most employee-friendly organizations in the globe.  This   international company   started in June 1971 by Frederick W. Smith at Little Rock, Arkansas in the United States.  He thought that airfreight, being a service business is needed to expedite documents quickly across the world.    Generally, FedEx has a human resource management that focuses on the suitable working environment for the employees.  At the same time, it encourages the workforce to come up with advanced solutions and innovations for the further growth and development of the company.  The most amazing part here is to know that the entire workforce has been shown their total commitment to the company.  And, it has been proven once; this was the time that FedEx experienced a series of severe financial difficulties for the first few years in the industry.  The employees were selling their personal belongings; as well as used their   credit cards just to be able to finance the delivery of the packages of the customers to different places.   During this period, the employees did not even receive their salary on time, but still they decided to stick with the company.  This is a very rare story of an exceptional loyalty of the employees, and it would not have been happened if FedEx were not a company worth fighting for. Meaning, there must be something in FedEx that the employees believed in that   the company was worth for their sacrifices and great contributions.  (http://www.casestudyinc.com/hr-best-practices-at-fedex-best-company) Furthermore, there after, this company has able to rise into something great that even made it one of the leading companies all through out the world. After few years in the business, FedEx even developed a tremendous innovative and standard human resource programs for their workforce.  Since then, many other companies in the world   have started to pattern their human resource programs from its HR system.  In 1973 to be exact, the founder and CEO of the firm Smith had developed and implemented the “People-Service-Profit (PSP) principle.  This principle had based on the fact that the company truly and genuinely cares for its employees.  And, this has been the major reason that the employees even go out of their way to become more effective and efficient with their service to the customers. Admittedly, this   solidarity and harmonious relationship between the FedEx’s owner or employer and the employees provide a great benefit to the company through generating more revenues all through out the years of providing air freight service to the diversified customers.  In addition to that, the owner even implemented an SFA program; this helped the HR management to take fair and balanced decision on employee promotion in the organization.  This was even enhanced in 1992 by the introduction of automated online survey system in the United States.  Regularly, every employee is being required to participate in the online survey.  When the results are already collected, the HR managers would give feedbacks to their employees; as well as to discus with them if there is any identified problem; the managers   provided assistance to resolve it and   help the employee to even become better in the job.  For this outstanding leadership practices with the employees, in 1988 FedEx, launched a Leadership Evaluation and Awareness Process (LEAP) in order to further encourage the non-managerial employees to aspire to move to the managerial position in the company. (http://www.scribd.com/doc/44369453/Case-Study-Best-Practices-at-the-FedEx-Corporation) Aside from that, FedEx also implemented an employee communication program which provides a Guaranteed Fair Treatment Procedure and Open Door Policy for the employees.  Along with this program, an effective strategy was being included in order to address and resolve employees’ grievances.  Besides of the formal communication system provided to monitor the employees in the organization.  Correspondingly, FedEx also designed a Job Change Applicant Tracking System or (JCATS).  This is an online computer job posting system that permits the workforce to post any available post in the internet.  On the other hand, the company never forgets to give various forms of employee motivation, and   some of them are the recognition and reward scheme, where the employees are rewarded for their work.  In view there of, FedEx has been ranked as the excellent international organization that tremendously created an excellent HR strategy for the employees that even   gives the company ample productivity and profitability. In the final note, FedEx enables to show best HR practices in the recruitment, employee selection, training and development of the entire workforce. It has also the best appraisal system; as well as employee retention strategies. (http://www.brainmass.com/homework-help/business/management/383239/e) References: http://www.casestudyinc.com/hr-best-practices-at-fedex-best-company http://www.scribd.com/doc/44369453/Case-Study-Best-Practices-at-the-FedEx-Corporation http://www.brainmass.com/homework-help/business/management/383239/e   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Case Study On FedEx HR Practices

Case Study on FedEx HR Practices Federal Express Corporation or (FedEx) has a reputation of being one of the most employee-frien...

MANAGING CULTURE

Introduction Over the last two decades there has been a profound shift in thinking about the role that people play in the success of the business, with growing perception that the HRM is a key organisational capability and one which should be highly integrated with the strategic aims of the business. “Human Resource Management (HRM) is a strategic approach to managing employee relations which emphasizes that leveraging people’s capabilities is critical to achieving sustainable competitive advantage, this being achieved through a distinctive set of integrated employment policies, programmes and practices.” It is undeniable that the world is full of competition and it is essential that every individual should have the ability to compete especially those who have the responsibility to manage the people within the organisation i.e. HRM.  The statement means that HRM who are assigned to manage the employees must be able to strategically consider their staff as the most important part of the organisation, that without them, the mission, vision and goal of the organisation to competently adjust with the stiff competition of the marketplace will not be successfully achieve. Managing people in an organization or a working place is commonly the responsibilities of the human resources management of an organisation.  It includes a variety of activities, decides on staffing needs such as how to fill needed positions within the budget, employing, orienting and training the working force and ensuring that these employees will perform well in order to contribute for the growth of the organisation.  In addition, the HRM are also accountable for managing employees’ benefits and compensation, keeping employee records, legal issues, and relations with unions.  Consequently, it is significant to note the HRM plays a vital and essential task in the organization in order to make the employees be a valuable asset for the whole organization. HRM has a key role to play in leveraging the knowledge of the organization including the employees. In addition, the HRM is the one who sets boundaries, expectations and ensure that the workgroup or the organisation per se is on track with its objective and mission and that it meets the organisational needs.  In addition, they need to “manage’ a certain relationship, structure and systems which are not in a controlling or manipulating sense but in the sense of nurturing with proper consideration and understanding, intervening, growing, supporting and directing.  It is very important to know that the effective and strategic management of human resources is increasingly being recognized as a major determinant of success or failure of an organisation, in practice many organisations are still coming to terms with the human resources issues associated. HRM is considered as one of the main assets for every organisation. The proper management of Human Resources is significant in determining the success of a certain organisation. Being aware of management value and the ability to manage the human resources in an organisation-wide will have great impact on progress results. Consequently, it is said that the philosophy of HRM is based on the simple belief that human resources are the most important asset in achieving and sustained business success. This realisation became the driving force behind the creation of HRM resulting in organisations taking a strategic technique to manage their human resources. Human Resource Management (HRM) is a strategic approach to managing employee relations which emphasises that leveraging people’s capabilities is critical to achieving sustainable competitive advantage, this being achieved through a distinctive set of integrated employment policies, programmes and practices. Personnel policies, including welfare programs, sports, and recreational activities, are initiated by management unilaterally or in consultation with plant or works committees which are usually separate from the union. Managing people in an organisation or a working place is commonly the responsibilities of the human resources management of an organisation.  It includes a variety of activities, decides on staffing needs such as how to fill needed positions within the budget, employing, orienting and training the working force and ensuring that these employees will perform well in order to contribute for the growth of the organisation.  In addition, the HRM are also accountable for managing employees’ benefits and compensation, keeping employee records, legal issues, and relations with unions.              In human resource management, there are certain issues and concerns that must be given attention and one of this is managing culture.  The goal of this paper is to determine whether culture management is an important aspect of high performing organisations.   Cultural Diversity Issue The concept of diversity has been described roughly as groups of two or more individuals which characteristically denote demographic dissimilarities among group members. Concurrently, recent studies have been created to describe the abundant dimensions for categorising these demographic dissimilarities. Nonetheless, it is recurrent that hypothesising diverse results for individuals and work clusters, particularly those relating to the level and disposition of those diversity. To illustrate, the study of created one set of calculations regarding the implications of ethnic diversity among the members of the group clusters. He have also posited another assertion regarding the implications of functional background diversity, which is fundamentally centring on the manifestation of race as well as other work-related operating setting. On the other hand, the works of other scholars were created to discern the implications of diversity dependent on the cultural differences of the group members, corporal, intrinsic and unassailableor those relating to role and job-related miscellany.  Similarly, it is noted that cultural identities originate from affiliation in factions that are socially and culturally divergent. They are time and again connected with specific physical (skin colour), biological (genitalia), or stylistic (dress) attributes, despite the fact that these may be comparatively exclusive, depending to a certain extent on people’s alternatives about whether and how they yearn for to be acknowledged by others. Affiliates of a cultural identity group have a propensity to contribute to certain worldviews, norms, values, goal precedence, and socio-cultural legacy. The cultural indicators of such clusters can be publicised through communication techniques, rules, communal connotation, and even vernaculars or verbal communication, which others may or may not admit as ethnically connected. The level to which one individually distinguishes with one’s cultural distinctiveness and the worth one consigns on them modifies transversely through cultural factions and across members within cultural groups. Additionally, a human being may vary in the degree to which he or she associate with, principles, or articulate a specific cultural personality at any prearranged instance, dependent on the salience and denotation of that characteristics in the perspective within which he or she is in commission. For this reason, cultural identity, as understood in this selection, is communally constructed, multifaceted, and self-motivated. The views on effective management of diversity in general and cultural diversity in particular, are scattered and it is hard to find a common line of agreement among the earlier writers. In one stream, there are writers arguing that a culturally mixed work force holds a potential competitive advantage for organisations. In another stream are the writers who stress that similarity helps to develop cohesion which, in turn, is related to the success of a group. There are some other authors whose position lies in the middle of these streams. Leadership is a key issue in the development of groups, organisations and nations. The study of leadership plays a crucial role in the behavioural and management sciences. It is generally accepted that good leadership is essential to the functioning of an organisation. It may be useful to think of the leadership process as the interaction between the situation, the leader, and the followers. Leadership is behaviour so it is defined as a function of the leader’s personality. Culture is an important factor in understanding organisation, because for any organisation to operate effectively it must for some extent have a general set of believe and assumptions. Because understanding the term of the culture metaphor helps organisations to be aware of how employees are thinking about the organisation phenomena, and to recognise how different attitudes, value and beliefs affect the workplace. Understanding and assessing the national culture and organisation’s culture can mean the difference between success and failure in today’s fast changing organisational environment. Cultural assessment can provide measurable data about the real organisational values and norms that can be used to get management’s attention. Accordingly, culture is inseparable form the nation of human society which makes defining it a complicated task.  As a result, there are many definitions for culture. define culture as “an integrated system of learned behaviour patterns, characteristic of the members of any given society”. In addition identifies culture as “collective programming of the mind”.   Cultural Assessment       Culture is an important factor in understanding organisation, because for any organisation to operate effectively it must for some extent have a general set of believe and assumptions. Because understanding the term of the culture metaphor helps organisations to be aware of how employees are thinking about the organisation phenomena, and to recognise how different attitudes, value and beliefs affect the workplace. Understanding and assessing the national culture and organisation’s culture can mean the difference between success and failure in today’s fast changing organisational environment. Cultural assessment can provide measurable data about the real organisational values and norms that can be used to get management’s attention. Though, it can be said that the basic assumption, values and norms drive practices and behaviours. Hence when a culture is created it becomes a driving force for the shape and scope of the organisation. The framework for national culture has been developed by researcher. While the respective merits and drawback of different framework are widely discussed, the Hofstede basic module of culture can be seen as a helpful framework to illustrate the major issues that need to be considered in change process. Culture environment is one of the important principles that influence the organisation.  Some studies had been able to identify four dimensions that differentiate cultures at a national level (power distance, individualism-collectivism, masculinity-femininity, uncertainty avoidance), which help to understand that people arrive to organisations with their own national culture. Therefore, it is only necessary to understand the relation between organisation itself and its culture. For that reason Hall (1979) identifies two classifications of culture that have an impact on business activity, the “High Context Culture” and the “low context culture”.  The high context cultures have a very high prevailing homogenous view on nationality, religious values and beliefs. Such culture can be found in Japan and Arab countries; the context of communication is more valued such as body language and gestures.  However in the low context culture, communication context is more of formal written records, such culture can be found in the UK and USA. Many studies about international organisations have been undertaken. However, a brief review of the literature about the sociology of international organisations indicates that these studies which have been conducted mostly by former employees of such organisations and were largely undertaken by white males who have tended to belittle the role of staff members from developing countries. These authors have suggested that employees of international secretariats, hailing from developing countries are responsible for incompetence and inefficiency in these organisations as they are employed due to the principle of equitable geographical distribution and not because of their competence, qualifications and experience.  The process of making an organisation is simultaneously the growth and maintenance of relationships among individuals who are working towards a common goal and the actual accomplishment of tasks, individually and collectively. In any organisation, there exist two dimensions. The technical dimension includes elements that are generally visible but hard to decipher like the control systems (recruitment mechanisms, administrative rules and procedures, etc.), structures (departments and divisions and physical facilities), and techniques and procedures (performance, working methods).     The cultural/political dimension is more intangible and strategic in nature. This dimension explains the assumption about the essence of the Secretariat’s culture. It includes rituals and myths, symbols and games. Due to the common behavior, an internal integration within the organisation is developed. In a sense, all cultural learning reflects the original values of individuals and their sense of what ought to be as distinct from what is.  Argues that organisations build their multicultural capacities in three ways. Affirmative action creates a diverse staff by recruiting previously excluded individuals into homogeneous organisations. Valuing cultural diversity builds understanding and helps people learn to appreciate this new diversity. Managing diversity attacks institutional racism, reallocates power, and promotes justice in the work place while enhancing the work environment. Diversity is otherness or those human qualities that are different from our own and outside the groups, to which we belong, yet present in other individuals and groups. Dimensions of diversity include, but are not limited to: age, ethnicity, ancestry, gender, physical abilities/qualities, race, sexual orientation, educational background, geographic location, income, marital status, military experience, religious beliefs, parental status, and work experience. It’s important to understand how these dimensions affect performance, motivation, success, and interactions with others. Institutional structures and practices that have presented barriers to some dimensions of diversity should be examined, challenged, and removed.   Cultural Diversity and Managing Culture Defines cultural diversity as the “representation, in one social system, of people with distinctly different group affiliations of cultural significance. ” To identify and measure the effects of diversity, it is necessary to examine an organisation’s culture. Traditionally, organisational culture encompasses the shared values, beliefs, behavior, and background of the organisation’s members. Members share a common socio-cultural heritage. Culture once portrayed ethnic or nationality groups but in recent years cultural factors now include race, gender, sexual orientation, age, or disability.             People of different ethnic backgrounds possess different attitudes, values, and norms. Increasing cultural diversity in both public and private sectors focuses attention on the distinctions between various ethnic groups in their attitudes and performance at work. For example,  examine the similarities and differences in work climate perception and levels of job satisfaction among Anglo-American and Mexican-American local government employees.   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

MANAGING CULTURE

Introduction Over the last two decades there has been a profound shift in thinking about the role that people play in the success of the...

Issues on Human Resource Management

Make at least 3 X 300 word contributions to the Tutorial Forums in Blackboard ™ during the course of the Trimester.   The nature of the contribution is left to the individual student.   As a guide, the contribution could be based on thoughts that arise after completing the week’s readings or the weekly activities.  The thoughts may be based on personal experiences in a not to be named organisation (past or current), or perhaps from a website, journal article or mass media item that is relevant to the week’s topic.  The thoughts that are posted to the Forums should be considered and reflect logic and rationale discourse.   The intention with this Task is to generate discussion about topics that are of interest to individual students and to make material in the text “come alive”.    Students who make comment / observations / remarks about other students’ contributions (in an appropriately supportive way) will further enhance their marks in this Task.   At the end of Week 11 of Trimester students should “bundle” what they consider to be their three best contributions together and post them to Turnitin.  Combine the three contributions into ONE DOCUMENT called Your.Name – Exam (for Smith.John-Exam – your family name will come first, followed by your given name).  This helps us to quickly file your work and then to re-locate it for marking.   Students are advised to make contributions from the very first week rather than leaving it to Weeks 9, 10 or 11 to make their minimum contribution.  The workload at the end of the Trimester is heavy enough without adding the extra demand of having to make all three X 300 word contributions in these last few weeks.   The limit of 300 words, plus or minus 10% is to be strictly observed for the choice of “three best contributions” submitted for assessment.  Print the word count on the second line of your submission, and your surname and given name on the first line. Should your combined three forum contributions exceed the 1000 word limit, then edit to cut it back. Assessment Criteria:   Ø      Demonstrated familiarity with (at least) the set reading Ø      Evidence of critical reflection – application to workplace or real life situations Ø      Evidence of evaluation and judgment Ø      Evidence of the ability to apply knowledge to a practical situation Ø      Demonstrated ability to discuss and / or debate issues response to colleagues   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Issues on Human Resource Management

Make at least 3 X 300 word contributions to the Tutorial Forums in Blackboard ™ during the course of the Trimester. The nature of the co...

Analysis of HRM

It is has been a cliché that the people are the most important resource in business. Effective use of people makes seems to be one of the primary assets of a business aside from its financial, technological and physical resources therefore it has to be managed effectively and strategically. Defining Human Resource Management, HRM, it is a range of management activities which aim to achieve organizational objectives through effective use of employees (Obliging, 2006).             Human resource was first coined by Peter Ducker with his book The Practice of Management. After that, theoretical development of HRM emerged, accompanied by the development of different HRM models in several schools of management in the USA and the UK. These models are currently applied to different companies and businesses especially in multinational enterprises, Manes, which needed effective HRM.             The focus of this paper is on the significance of HRM Models in the formulation of HRM strategies in Manes in the hospitality industry. The paper analyses the different HRM approaches of organizations within the hospitality industry as well as the influence of local national environments on the effectiveness of human resource policies in hospitality Manes. HRM Models There are two famous HRM models that exist today. One of these is the Michigan School Model which was developed by Fibrin, Itchy and Deanna (1984). This is also referred to as the hard HRM which emphasizes on treating employees as a means to achieving the organization’s strategy. Organizations that practice this model monitor investment in employee training and development to ensure to ensure it fits with the firm’s business strategy. The management’s principal reason for improving the effectiveness of HRM in this model is increasing productivity. The Michigan model also assumes that HRM will respond to the external and internal environment appropriately and a contingency approach to HRM. The Michigan model is hard HRM because it is based on strategic control, organizational structure and systems for managing people. Although it acknowledges the importance of motivating and rewarding people, it concentrates most on managing human assets to achieve strategic goals (Pennington & Edwards, 2000).             Another HRM model was developed by a group of academics from the Harvard Business School thus it was called the Harvard Model. The Harvard Model (Beer et al, 1984) proposes that people can be dealt with within four human resource categories. The first category is the employee-influence which refers to the amount of authority, responsibility and power voluntarily delegated by and is compatible with the purpose and interests of the management. The second is the element of human resource flow, which refers to decisions on recruitment, selection promotion, exit, job security, career development, advancement and fair treatment. The reward systems is concerned with intrinsic and extrinsic rewards such as the work itself, sense of purpose, achievement and challenge, pay, bonuses, insurances and flexible working hours. The reward system should always be aligned with the overall business strategy and management philosophy. The last category is that of work systems which deals with the arrangement of people, information activities and technology (Colombo, 2006). This is a highly prescriptive model of HRM which emphasizes a number of presumed long-term benefits of acting on stakeholder interests and situational factors, assuming that there is a set of predetermined and superior human resource policy choices (Sisson, 1994). Organizations adopting this model would ensure that employees were involved in work, have opportunities             The Michigan School Model emphasizes the strategic resource aspect of human resources and is considered to be the ‘hard’ variant of HRM (Obliging, 2006) which considers employees as one of the key resources of organizations, arguing that human resource should be used effectively in order to achieve organizational goals. On the other hand, the Harvard model stresses the human element in the human resources formulation (Obliging, 2006) and is considered as the ‘soft’ variant in HRM. The soft version of HRM is linked to the human relations school while the hard HRM version is seen as emerging from the strategic and business policy thoughts (Guest, 1989).             These two models are the most commonly use HRM models in businesses today aside from other models that has been theorized and formulated by some academics. Based on the definitions and explanation of each model, it can be concluded that the soft model is more advisable to be practiced by industries within the service sector while the manufacturing sector would be better to use the Michigan Model of HRM for increased production.     HRM Approach in Hospitality Manes             While the manufacturing industry uses human for increased production and innovation in products, the labor-intensive hospitality and tourism industry especially the international companies or the multinational enterprises, Manes, due to the fact that the industry relies on the kind of services they provide, needed an appropriate HRM model that will help the industry formulate HRM strategies that are aligned with the objectives of the company. Schuler (1992) proposes that strategic HRM is about integrating people issues with the strategic needs of the business. Therefore, business strategies provide the foundation for HRM strategies, policies and processes to be linked and a good HRM model will serve as a guideline in formulating HRM strategies.             Also, Manes should be able to adapt to the changes in the environment that may influence the present and future survival of an organization. Manes should have the ability to exist in different countries adopting its culture, economy, politics and the market. HRM in international context is important in the operations of Manes (Schuler, Dowling and De Cirri, 1993). Management of human resources and HRM practices may differ from country to country. For example, organizational structures in Japan may be decentralized while in the US and UK firms may be more centralized and bureaucratic. Employees in Japan may not be very productive and efficient when the bureaucratic approach of management is implemented to them.               Emmett & Hutchinson (1998) cite the most common factors driving organizations to adopt flexible working practices as increased competitiveness both nationally and globally; new technology; changes in Labour markets and employee demographics and government policies. Human resource policy of a hospitality firm in the US might differ from the HR policy in UK or in China because policy is influenced by first, the employees. Employees in the US might have different attitudes compared to employees in China. Also, corporate and HR policy is influenced by the culture especially in the hospitality industry where diversification of culture is important. Since China is a communist country, it is expected that they have different legal and political structures compared to the US. The legal structure and culture are usually the basis of HR policy of an MEN in a particular country. The parent company will incorporate its HR policy with its firm in a host country and make some necessary changes in order to adapt with the environment, making the firm more competitive within that country.              The hospitality and tourism industry’s primary asset is the services it provides. No matter how good the service a hotel, for example provides its customers, it will still rely on the manner the staff or the personnel deliver the services to the customers. Thus, as with the HRM definition above as an effective used of employees, the hospitality Manes should formulate strategies that will enhance customer service and at the same time give emphasis on the value of the employees, providing them opportunities and making them highly committed with the organization. HRM strategies should not only be focused on the organization’s objectives and goals and competitive advantage but also with the training and education of employees making them highly competitive in the global market of Manes.             HRM models play key roles in formulating HRM strategies; it serves as guidelines to companies on to what approach they will use with their employees. Whether a multinational company opts to have a hard or soft HRM approach, or the consolidation of both approach, the effectiveness of HRM strategies depends on the implementation of the HRM model chosen and the environment of the firm. Some countries may be best implemented with hard HRM approach while some will create effective employees with the implementation of soft HRM approach. Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Analysis of HRM

It is has been a cliché that the people are the most important resource in business. Effective use of people makes seems to be one of the...

Proposal HRM

Content   Introduction.. 1 Objectives. 1 Background.. 2 Analysis and Impacts of Problems Facing Recently. 4 Theoretical Background.. 6 Forecasting Personnel Needed Payrolls Estimation Methods Methodology. 9 Forecasting Personnel Payroll Estimation Methods References. 11       Introduction   This project is going to work on the Human Resource Department of a deluxe hotel in Landau Island in her expansion. Due to the Hong Kong Disneyland opened last year, and there was a positive forecast of business in this theme park. Although there are some hotels nearby, it was still not enough to satisfy the demand of tourists. So now we decided to expand our hotel by building one more tower.   In the following, we will focus our human resources planning on how to estimate the additional staff needed, the payroll cost and the cost of benefit in the future.   Objectives   1)          To draft the organizational chart for the expanded wing of the hotel. 2)          To estimate the required employees in the hotel expansion of 200 rooms through a systematical way. 3)          To budget the payrolls and benefits required in the future in fulfilling the increase of employees.     Background   Our hotel is a deluxe hotel; it is located in Landau Island. Because of positive forecast of business by Hong Kong Disneyland, so we decided to expand the hotel size from 300 rooms to 500 rooms. We decided the future plan is to build up another tower with 200 rooms, adding facilities: a deluxe spa, a Japanese restaurant and an Italian restaurant. This tower is planned to be completed by January 2007.   Actually the main problem we facing is the Hong Kong Disneyland as it is the main competitor for our hotel. Hong Kong Disneyland has two hotels in the park. As this is a new theme park with well-known international brand in Hong Kong, this could attract tourists to go. As a result, we decide to expansion.   We planed to build up another tower, adding more facilities. This was due to raising demand, and these also can have competition with Hong Kong Disneyland. Our aim was providing high quality service to our customers. So that we had to ensure there would be quality staff to provide such services.   There will be more attractions in Landau Island in the future, such as Tung Chung Cable Car. Together with the existing ones, like Grant Buddha, Po Lin Monastery and Landau Peak. We believed these could raise the number of tourist to the region and to us.     Analysis and Impacts of Problems Facing Recently   After the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland, it was forecasted that there would be a positive growth rate on the numbers of tourists. This would also increase relatively the demand of hotel accommodation in the future. As our company decided to expand the hotel size from 300 rooms to 500 rooms, we predicted that it would be a shortage of labor to run the hotel in daily operation. A proposal would need to be done on determining the no of shortage employees, the additional payrolls and benefits in the expansion. However, there are a series of problem presented during planning.   First, we needed to analysis what kinds of job position were necessary to fulfill, junior or senior. Different departments may have different ratio of additional staff. Some department may need to merge.   Second, in the financial aspect, it was significant to make a judgment about setting budget cost. We should have a well-planned budget on the cost of hiring staff in paying them salary and benefits. The purpose of budget setting is to prevent over budget in the estimation of the payroll cost for the staff and cost of benefits.   For further consideration, we should decide what method and criteria will be used as selecting a right employee. It will take a long time in the selection process. We should also calculate the leading time to the whole recruiting procedure.     Theoretical Background   In the theoretical background, we review the relevant literature relating to the forecasting personnel needed and payrolls estimation methods.   Forecasting Personnel Needed   According to the Dressler (2000), there were several methods to forecast the employee needs: They were Trend Analysis, Ratio Analysis, Scatter Plot, using computers to forecast personnel requirements and managerial judgment.   Firstly, Trend analysis was the study of variations in the firm’s employment levels over the last few years to predict future needs. Thus human resources management might compute the number of employees in a firm at the end of each of the last five years, or perhaps the number in each subgroup (like sales, production, secretarial, and administrative people) at the end of year. Secondly, Ratio analysis was another technique for determining future staff needs by using ratio. For example, sales volume and the number of employee required. Thirdly, Scatter plot showed graphically how two variables such as a measure of business activity and firm’s staffing levels are related. Fourthly, using computers to forecast personnel requirements could help to determine the future staff needs by projecting sales, volume of production and personnel required to maintain this volume of output, using software packages. With programs like these, employer could quickly translate projected productivity and sales levels into forecasts of personnel needs, and estimate the effects of various productivity and sales level assumptions on personnel requirements. Another one was managerial judgment. The manager made the decision rather than the systems in considering the situation of each individual department. The manager may also fulfill the additional personnel needs through internal transfer. The main task for the manager is determining which current employees might be qualified for the new position. Mostly manager used several manual devices to track employees, such as position replacement card and personnel replacement chart which show the present performance for each position’s potential replacement. It helped the managers to replace the positions by current employees. Another possible method was the bottom up approach which forecasted the number of employee from the most basic level in the whole organization. For example, from the operational level to head of operation department to back offices to middle management and push upwards to determine the needs.   Payrolls Estimation Methods   Recently, there are several approaches established for calculating the pay rates of employees and they were summarized by Dressler (2005). The following were the summarized steps mentioned by Dressler (2005). Altogether 5 steps were needed in estimating the pay rates. First is the salary survey. This was a formal or informal searching of data from other sources, other firms’ offers. By choosing a benchmark jib, it could help to estimate the rest of the positions according to its relative worth to the organization. Second is job evaluation. This was the step after you have the benchmark. Jobs were evaluated by determining its worth to the organization. A formal and systematic way could be set up in this stage in order to have a clear mind of the factors affecting the estimation. Several methods could be used in the job evaluation. The most commons were ranking, job classification, point method and factor comparison. Ranking was the method to rank all the jobs into order and set salary according to it. Job classification was the method to classify job according to their natures and difficulties Point method was quantitative one that evaluated by marks. Factor comparison was similar to ranking but for more kinds of jobs. The third one was to group similar jobs into pay grades in terms of the points get fro m last step. The fourth set was to assign pay rates to each pay rates. Then, use current wage curves to show the average current rates for the grades. The last step was the fine-tune pay. Using pay ranges which was the vertical grading instead of one rate in this step enabled organization to attract experienced employees with higher pay to come. There were also other factors that affect the fine tuning, such as equal opportunity issues, government policy and local labor law.     Methodology   Forecasting Personnel   In this research, we are going to use the trend and Bottom-Up Approach to determine the needed personnel for the expansion of the hotel. First of all, we would use trend method. We would gather the information from HOT to know about the rough idea of the personnel needed for such high end hotel. Secondly, we would use the bottom-up method to count about the personnel needed for each individual department. This could help us to have a clearer picture of the personnel needed and budget the cost in the future.   Payroll Estimation Methods   In estimating the payroll, we would gather the information through the internet firstly. That information from the job hurting websites could give us brief impression of the market salary of each position nowadays. Secondly, we would use both classification and point method at the same to draw the detail encountering of each position. Dressler’s (2005) 8 points of grade definition would used as a blue print to encounter the decision criteria needed for estimating payrolls and point method would be used to grade for each criteria. This method could us to have a clear and systematic way to estimate the payroll at one time. Thirdly, we draw a salary curve by the information gathered through the internet as a benchmark and calculate the salary for each position needed to calculate as we don’t have real information from the company. Finally, we would fine-tune the salary into ranges in order to have the flexibility of getting the potential personnel into the organization. Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Proposal HRM

Content Introduction .. 1 Objectives . 1 Background .. 2 Analysis and Impac...

CONTRIBUTION OF HOTEL AND RESTAURANT MANAGEMENT GRADUATES TO THE PRODUCTIVITY AND PERFORMANCE OF AN INDIVIDUAL IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

Introduction               One of the fastest growing sectors of the economy nowadays is the hospitality industry. The hospitality industry alone is a multi-billion growing enterprise. It attracts diverse kinds of people with different fields of interest. In addition, the hospitality industry is one of the oldest businesses in history. People have always gone out to eat sometimes and traveled for work or leisure purposes, and with these HRM staffs are needed to accommodate them. The hospitality industry is defined as the activity of providing lodging, food and beverage, and recreational services, which include but are not limited to hotels, motels, clubs, casinos, restaurants, recreation facilities, tourism, cruise lines and theme parks. Furthermore, hospitality management involves the planning, organizing, directing, and controlling of human and material resources within the lodging, restaurant, travel and tourism, institutional management, recreational management and meeting and convention planning industries (2006). All of these separate yet related segments of the hospitality industry are interrelated to deliver kind and generous services to guests. Different Career Paths in the Hospitality Industry             Entering the hospitality industry means that you can direct your own career path. There are many different career paths in the hospitality industry. Everything from receptionists, chefs and sales managers; from hotel jobs to restaurant jobs to airline jobs. “Cross-training” is a buzzword in the hospitality industry; it means the acquisition of skills in more than one area (2008). . Managers encourage cross training because it gives them a multi-talented workforce who can be utilized as required in various departments. And having experience in more than one area means that even more choices are possible on one’s career path. There are wide ranges of courses offered for the hospitality industry. It depends on the school where you are going to take it up. Some of the universal courses that is unquestionably offered in an hospitality industry career are management of food and beverage service, hospitality sanitation and safety, hotel management, The following are specific career opportunities you can obtain in the hospitality industry: LODGING – Hotel Manager – Sales Manager – Travel Journalist – Front Office Manager – Reservation Manager FOOD & BEVERAGE – Restaurant Manager – Kitchen Manager – Banquet Manager – Chef – Bar/Club Manager   RECREATIONAL SERVICES – Campground Manager – Tour Escort/Operator – Meeting/Conference Planner – Travel Consultant – Recreation Specialist (, 1999).         The Need for Training and Skills   Employers have difficulty finding workers who possess basic “soft skills,” which are often a prerequisite for success in a customer service-oriented field (1988). English proficiency is a key challenge because a large percentage of the hospitality workforce does not speak English as their primary language. Employers seek language training programs that allow workers to effectively perform their job, which includes providing quality customer service and understanding safety requirements. Employers will be just as interested in the personal qualities of the employee. The hospitality industry is extremely customer focused so being able to demonstrate a genuine interest in providing excellent customer service is an utmost importance. Being interested in people, energetic, outgoing, flexible, creative, hardworking, reliable are skills that are needed because the hospitality industry is a social business. Furthermore, with the hospitality industry’s growth rate increasing, the importance of finding good employees, especially youth workers, is a high priority. Historically, the hospitality industry has drawn heavily from the youth labor pool to meet their workforce needs, but in recent years, the industry has been left with an insufficient pipeline of new workers to satisfy demand (, 2008). Faced with a shrinking pipeline of workers, the hospitality industry is increasing its recruitment efforts towards youth and developing targeted strategies for previously untapped labor pools. Being an HRM graduate is truly an advantage in penetrating the hospitality industry scene—with the right amount of skills and knowledge—it surely is the path to success Benefits of HRM The Human Resource Management degree examines the role of the individual in an organization as well as aspects of organizational structure, culture, and change. Other areas studied include the role of groups and teams; comparative aspects of commercial, public, and voluntary organizations and the behavior of individual firms. It aims to develop an appreciation of the broader context in which all organizations operate, such as the influence of government policy, the impact of social and economic change and the demands of internationalization.   References   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

CONTRIBUTION OF HOTEL AND RESTAURANT MANAGEMENT GRADUATES TO THE PRODUCTIVITY AND PERFORMANCE OF AN INDIVIDUAL IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

Introduction One of the fastest growing sectors of the economy nowadays is the hospitality industry. The hosp...

The Human Resources Department

1.0 Background of the Study The Human Resources Department (HRD) is responsible for the employment-related activities involving human resources that are intended to influence the productivity and effectiveness of the employees within a company. Specific activities are done that integrate human resources with the overall effectiveness of the company operations, which include the following: administration of policy, recruiting and selection, employee development and organizational development, employment relations, compensation and benefits, risk management, and compliance with federal and state laws and regulations. The core HR activities are payroll, time and labor management, benefit administration and HR management. Note that some people distinguish a difference between HRM (a major management activity) and HRD (Human Resource Development, a profession). People might include HRM in HRD, explaining that HRD includes the broader range of activities to develop personnel inside of organizations including, career development, training, organization development, etc. These activities correlate with the HR objectives, which are largely the responsibility of Human Resources (Miller, 2007). Moreover, an HR staff needs to ensure that the company employs the right balance of staff in terms of skills and experience and that training and development opportunities are available to employees to enhance their performance in order to achieve the company’s objectives. Devising and implementing policies, which are essential for the selection, development and retention of the right staff needed to meet the company’s objectives. 2.0 Statement of the Problem The achievement of knowing the reasons behind each human resource activity is the main issue here. What human resource activities and programs can influence productivity? How does the human resources staff address issues regarding diversity, racial and cultural differences, prejudice, background, and the like? In managing diversity in the workplace, human resources must recognize the value of differences, combat prejudice, and promote inclusiveness. In meetings or other gatherings, individuals in the diverse work force are given the opportunity to speak while others listen and an effective HR should focus on personal awareness. HRs should develop ongoing training and mentoring and ensure the staff has comfortable places to communicate. What are the activities that HRs engages to in promoting good working environment? What are their different tactics in luring employees to join their company? How are human resource departments currently approaching their core activities? Efficient and effective HRs must increase the performance level of the employees and have the right balancing of tasks. 3.0 Objectives of the Study The main purpose of this study is to analyze the several activities or events that jeopardize effective handling of employees by the human resources. This research, specifically, purports to determine how these activities affect the employees. This research takes to account the activities that stimulate the development of people to be their best in order to meet the needs of a company. This paper seeks to explore the HR’s contribution to more effective company drivers and to the overall success of their company. This paper will also examine the key factors that link to successful HR outsourcing initiatives, the common measures used by HR departments to track and contribute to organizational performance, and involvement in strategic decision making within organizations. 4.0 Research Methodology This study will use the descriptive type of research. A descriptive research intends to present facts concerning the nature and status of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study and to describe present conditions, events or systems based on the impressions or reactions of the respondents of the research (Creswell, 1994). It is also concerned with relationships and practices that exist, beliefs and processes that are ongoing, effects that are being felt, or trends that are developing (Best, 1970). In this study, primary and secondary research will be both incorporated. The reason for this is to be able to provide adequate discussion for the readers that will help them understand more about the issue and the different variables that involve with it. The primary data for the study will be represented by the survey results that will be acquired from the respondents. On the other hand, the literature reviews to be presented in the second chapter of the study will represent the secondary data of the study. The research will be presented in written form with the addition of data charts, which will present the project’s results. Pie charts and network charts will be needed to illustrate some of the analyzed data. This cannot be confirmed, however, until the research data have been analyzed.   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

The Human Resources Department

1.0 Background of the Study The Human Resources Department (HRD) is responsible for the employment-related activities involving human res...

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

INTRODUCTION   I agree in what ( 1987 , 1995 ) has said that ‘’HRM has the virtue of emphasizing the need to treat people as a key resource, the management of which is the direct concern of top management as part of the strategic planning processes of the enterprise. Although there is nothing new in the idea, insufficient attention has been paid to it in many organizations. The new bottle or label can help to overcome this deficiency’’. In my understanding, this could mean that the complexities surrounding the issues of personnel management can be as indicative of the contradictions that exist within the discipline labeled human resource management (HRM) such as ( 1992 ) distinction between `hard’ and `soft’ HRM identifies the need for `strategic interventions designed to elicit commitment and to develop resourceful humans’ and `strategic interventions designed to achieve full utilization of labor resources’. This tension within HRM has been noted by several processes used to reward individuals was then inspected (1992; 1995;  1995) rather than any integrated strategy which could be considered part of the distinctive HRM approaches.           Thus, one of the problems faced by the personnel practitioner is that of defining precisely the boundaries of his job ( 1978) as there is always the additional difficulty of defending the territory from other managers as people management is within the remit of every manager. In recent years, personnel managers have had to work even harder along with the human resource management (HRM), with its promises of participation and strategic focus as the function of general rather than human resource managers ( 1987;1987). Even if many personnel managers still concentrate on the old reliable of recruitment, training and employee relations, the major changes taking place within organizations suggest that there are opportunities for involvement in important areas and considers the role played by the HR function in the construction and implementation of such strategies (1995; 1995) and that human resource function needs to be involved in the construction, delivery and receipt of communication development within the organization because there needs to reside within the organization in the manner of understanding HR strategies and activities as well as the nature of its goals and outcomes as a major part of the strategic planning and process of the organization enterprises.           INFORMATION GATHERING   It is believed that the precise meaning of strategic HRM and HR strategy remains to be unclear to a certain process (  2000) as it involves the process of linking HR practices to business strategy’ (1997, ). Thus,  (2000, p. 6) describe it as ‘the process by which organizations seek to link the human, social and intellectual capital of their members to the strategic needs of the firm’. According to  (1997) ‘HR strategy’ is the outcome: ‘the mission, vision and priorities of the HR function’.  (2000, ) conceptualize HR strategy as an outcome: ‘the pattern of decisions regarding the policies and practices associated with the HR system’ ( 1990) the HR professional has a seat at the strategic table and is engaged in strategy formulation.  (1994) argue that those models which incorporate contextual influences as a mediating variable of HR policies and practices tend to lack ‘precision and detail’ in terms of the precise nature of the environment linkages, and that ‘much of the work on the linkages has been developed at an abstract and highly generalized level’             Furthermore,  (2003) mentioned that ‘’Human Resource Management (HRM) is a strategic approach to managing employment relations which emphasizes that leveraging people’s capabilities is critical to achieving sustainable competitive advantage, this being achieved through a distinctive set of integrated employment policies, programs and practices’’ ( 2003 ) and that ‘’Strategic human resource management is the process of linking the human resource function with the strategic objectives of the organization in order to improve performance’’. ( 2003 )   Thus,  (1994) argue that what actually determines HR strategy will be determined by decisions at all three levels and by the ability and leadership style of local managers to follow through goals in the context of specific environmental conditions. The conception of strategic choice might exaggerate the ability of managers to make decisions and take action independent of the environmental contexts in which they do business ( 1995). The concept of integration has three aspects: the linking of HR policies and practices with the strategic management process of the organization the internalization of the importance of HR on the part of the managers the integration of the workforce into the organization to foster commitment with the strategic goals. (1984,)     There examines the link between organization strategy and HR strategy as ‘Human resource strategies’ are taken to mean the patterns of decisions regarding HR policies and practices used by management to design work and select, train and develop, appraise, motivate and control workers. (2003) Studying HR strategies is appealing because of conceptual models that give HR researchers the ability to compare and contrast the different clusters of HR practices and further develop and test theory (2000).   The matching model   The interest in the ‘matching’ model was evident in Devanna’s work: ‘HR systems and organizational structure should be managed in a way that is congruent with organizational strategy’ ( 1984 ). According to  (2003) that in Devanna’s model, HRM strategy structure and are influenced by environmental forces with the notion of ‘fit’ between an external competitive strategy and the internal HR strategy is a central principle of the HRM model advanced by  (1984). There must be a ‘fit between competitive strategy and internal HRM strategy and a fit among the elements of the HRM strategy’ (1984, ).       The relationship between business strategy and HR strategy is said to be ‘reactive’ and that HR strategy is subservient to ‘product market logic’ and the corporate strategy. As  (1987, 1992, ) emphasizes, ‘HRM cannot be conceptualized as a stand-alone corporate issue. There is some theorization of the link between product markets and organizational design, and approaches to people management. Thus, the strategy involves a unique set of responses from workers, or ‘needed role behaviors’, and a particular HR strategy that might generate and reinforce a unique pattern of behavior (1992;  1987).   The control-based model   The first approach to modeling types of HR strategy is based on the nature of workplace control and more specifically on managerial behavior to direct and monitor employee role performance. (, 2003) The management structures and HR strategy are instruments and techniques to control all aspects of work to secure a high level of labor productivity and a corresponding level of profitability and focus on monitoring and controlling employee behavior as a basis for distinguishing different HR strategies in the study of ‘labor processes by industrial sociologists to control and discipline the interior of the organization. ( 2003 )     As  (2002, ) comment that, ‘control is not an end in itself, but a means to transform the capacity to work established by the wage relation into profitable production’ (, 2001; 1998). Moreover, the variations in HR strategy are not random but reflect two management logics ( 2000). The first is the logic of direct, process-based control, in which the focus is on efficiency and cost containment, whereas the second is the logic of indirect outcomes-based control, in which the focus is on actual results. Thus, when managing people at work, control and cooperation coexist, and the extent to which there is any ebb and flow in intensity and direction between types of control will depend upon the ‘multiple constituents’ of the management process. Implicit in this approach to managerial control is that the logic underlying an HR strategy will tend to be consistent with an organization’s competitive strategy ( 1987) which provides the source of inevitable structural tensions between management and employees ( 1987;  1995; 2002).                 The resource-based model   This HR strategy is grounded in the nature of the reward effort exchange and the degree to which managers view their human resources as an asset as opposed to a variable cost. The sum of people’s knowledge and expertise and social relationships, has the potential to provide non-substitutable capabilities that serve as a source of competitive advantage (1992). The resource-based approach exploits the distinctive competencies of a work organization: its resources and capabilities, organization’s resources can be divided into tangible and intangible resources. According to strategic management theorists, the distinction between resources and capabilities is critical to understanding what generates a distinctive competency (2001). It is important to recognize that a firm may not need a uniquely endowed workforce to establish a distinctive competency as long as it has managerial capabilities that no competitor possesses and adopts one of the control-based HR strategies.                 The integrative model    (2000) integrate the two main models of HR strategy, one focusing on the strategy’s underlying logic of managerial control, the other focusing on the reward effort exchange. This strand of thinking in HR strategy can be traced back to the ideas of  (1987), who made a distinction between commitment and control strategies (2000). The commitment HR strategy is characterized as focusing on the internal development of employees’ competencies and outcome control. Every HR strategy represents a distinctive HR paradigm, values and assumptions that is important to managers (1999). It is argued that an organization’s HR strategy is strongly related to its competitive strategy. ( 1998; 2002)   As HR strategy is associated with some HR practices that develops committed and flexible people, internal markets that reward commitment with promotion and a degree of job security, and a ‘participative’ leadership style that forges a commonality of interest and mobilizes consent to the organization’s goals ( 2000) and the assumption that the organization’s business strategy and HR system have a logical relationship given the evidence that strategy formulation is politically charged and subject to complex contingency factors (2000; 2001)   Thus, the notion of aligning business strategy and HR strategy applies only to the ‘classical’ approach to strategy (1995) involving the classical approach to strategic management argues that the image of the manager as a reflective planner and strategist is a myth ( 1986). The rapidly changing global environment with regard to competition and technological advances in the industry and ICL’s subsequent decision to shift from hardware to total systems differentiation, led the MD to pursue a new strategy based on strategic alliances. The main reasoning behind this was that it allowed the company to break into new markets and gain access to new technologies quicker than would be possible if the company were acting on its own. This new focus and the ongoing financial crisis led to the need to restructure the financial side of the organization and were achieved mainly through downsizing in a number of product areas and a series of redundancy procedures as it is difficult to make critical assumptions of the organizations. The availability of resources with the need for skills and financial resources appears to be a justification taken by the company. Armstrong (1999) defining culture as ‘the commonly held beliefs, attitudes and values that exist in an organisation with shifts in the product strategy and the recent collaborations came the difficult task of changing aspects of the cultural values of the organization. The organization embraced what theorists would generally refer to as a role culture and referred to organizations operating in stable environments with focus on hierarchy and bureaucracy rather than dynamism (2000).   For the organisation to succeed in the more volatile and competitive environment, its cultural values need to be revised to a certain extent. It started to become necessary that the top management understood the major changes that the company was undergoing and the need for refining of thinking processes and general management values. From the initial response by the organization, it appears that the organization did embrace the new values but as a short-term response to the ensuing financial crisis and not really the understanding of the business’ long term strategy to address strategic need for cultural change, a criticism may be leveled that this approach should have been adopted initially. Henceforth, ICL’s structure had been based on the concept of functional grouping such as dividing the organisation on the basis of the distinct functions they were aligned with, though the concept did foster good communication and co-operation skills within the functional units, there was the disadvantage of very little or no co-ordination across these functions. In the case of ICL, it was highly apparent in the lack of communication between the product development and marketing functions and the ensuing financial crisis brought about by it. The developers were into designing advanced and very high technology equipment for which marketing had failed to capture a market. With the company’s focus shifting towards product differentiation, decentralization of the organization into smaller self-managing business units based on the matrix structure.       The idea was to bring together the essential functions to work more closely together in achieving the company’s new strategic goals. Thus,  (2000) states the matrix system can be effective in the complex changing environment and the style is applicable to a high need for information processing. The firm has very much shifted its focus from technology to market-driven and there appears to be a danger of the marketing function dominating authority, thereby leading to operational problems along with the shift towards decentralized units and product differentiation within the need to restructure the essential skills of its engineering workforce. The major increase in the development of HR systems was achieved through a combination of upskilling of existing, and creation of a new entry-level grade of service oriented representatives. The majority of the new business initiatives had been implemented to reasonable success. Through various tactical changes made and the new product strategy, the company’s financial situation had stabilized and things were back to normal in the short term. During the period of the financial crisis, it appeared that there was a complete buy-in to the new strategy once the company had started to stabilise, the realisation that the cultural issues still very much remained, began to dawn. In order to achieve the long term strategic goals of the company, that after initial resistance, people gradually started to understand the concepts of the new strategy and the importance of human resources in gaining competitive advantage.       It is assumed that one of the biggest issues in the firm’s HRM strategy had been addressed eventually Shift from Personnel and HR Planning: In response to the significant changes that had been made to the overall strategy of the firm came the need to expand the HR aspect of the organization in lieu to the personnel aspect. The was a significant shift from personnel values such as industrial relations and employee relations towards a much broader, strategic and critical viewpoint of the company’s human resources with an emphasis on competitive advantage as it appears that the focus had shifted from the ‘soft’ to the ‘hard’ side of HRM. In order to achieve its new strategic goals and to ensure long term stability, the personnel function needed to actively forecast the firm’s future HR needs based widely on manpower planning and skills retention through a series of new processes including appraisals, pay flexibility, assessment and career planning. It managed to address most of the major HR issues associated with the implementation of a new business strategy and also added a new dimension to the personnel function of the organisation. A change in culture entails a change in individual beliefs, values and attitudes and the members of the organization require reasons to be willing to make changes to what is of personal assumptions.           In order to integrate an efficient HR strategy with the business strategy, it is vital to stress the goals of the organisation and also to place an emphasis on the needs and wants of the individual. The other area in which the strategy could be made more efficient is in the re-structuring of the firm. Taking into consideration the environmental factors affecting the company, the matrix structure appears to be ideal as it can be argued that every form of organizational structure has both strong and weak points, a structure that is applicable to the HR context that could be applied. In a growing number of organizations human resources are now viewed as a source of competitive advantage. There is greater recognition that distinctive competencies are obtained through highly developed employee skills, distinctive organizational cultures, management processes and systems. Increasingly it is being recognized that competitive advantage can be obtained with a high quality workforce that enables organizations to compete on the basis of market responsiveness, product and service quality, differentiated products and technological innovation the HR function as a strategic partner in the formulation of the company’s strategies in the implementation of strategies through HR activities such as recruiting, selecting, training and rewarding personnel.         In any business setting, a strategy exists in the formal process implicitly through a shared agenda on HR activities through which an organization is to determine it such as:   Ø      Marshalling resources that support the business strategy and implementing the chosen strategy Ø      Utilizing the full potential of the human resources Ø      Leveraging other resources such as physical assets and capital to augment the human resources advantage                             ANALYSIS The nature of HRM has provoked much debate (, 1995) which distinguishes the integration of personnel policies with business planning; a shift of responsibility from specialists to line managers; individualism in the management of employee relations and an emphasis on securing employee commitment and initiative.  (1995, ) identified some common elements, namely, human resources are valuable and a source of competitive advantage; HR policies are integrated with strategic business planning and used to reinforce an appropriate organisational culture; HR may be tapped most effectively by mutually consistent policies that promote commitment and foster a willingness in employees to act flexibly in the interests of the organisation. How organisations recruit, train, reward, motivate and discipline their employees is of central importance to business success ( 1994, ).  (1986) suggest that strategic HRM uses better approach to the design and management of personnel systems underpinned by some philosophy; matching HRM activities and policies to the strategy and seeing the people of the organisation as strategic resources in the achievement of competitive strategy. (1993,)       The strategy of a company, combined with the corresponding organisational structure is linked to appropriate approaches to the functions of selection, appraisal, rewards and development.  (1987) argue that what is needed from employees for the implementation of different strategies will differ and the approach to HRM needs to be designed of choice in HRM practice as planning, staffing, appraising, compensating, training and development and labour-management relations and suggests that internal consistency within these areas along with management values and assumptions regarding the management of people, represent the HRM philosophy of the organisation. However,  (1995) comments, there is little empirical evidence to support these links between business strategy and approaches to HRM in which different groups of employees within an organisation were treated. The importance of the role played by employees, it tends to focus solely on those employees who interface directly with customers. Clearly in many service organisations there are a significant number of employees who do not have direct customer contact. This presents some theoretical limitations when examining the notion of HRM and strategic HRM, since they are based on the idea of holistic approach and of an underpinning philosophy guiding the formulation of mutually consistent policies ( 1995).       Human resource management (HRM) entails planning, implementing and managing recruitment, as well as selection, training, career, and organizational development initiatives within an organization. The goal of HRM is to maximize the productivity of an organization by optimizing the effectiveness of its employees while improving the work life of employees and treating employees as valuable resources as it encompasses efforts to promote personal development, employee satisfaction, and compliance with employment-related laws. HRM departments focus on these activities: planning, implementation and evaluation. The planning function refers to the development of human resource policies and regulations. Human resource managers attempt to determine future HRM activities and plan for the implementation of HRM procedures to help companies realize their goals. Implementation of HRM plans involves four primary activities: acquisition, development, compensation, and maintenance. Acquisition entails the hiring of workers most likely to help a company attain its goals. The development function encompasses the training of workers to perform their tasks in accordance with company strategy. Thus, the evaluation function includes the assessment of a company’s HRM policies to determine whether they are effective. (2000; 1999; 1997 and  1992)       This is because organizational responses such as delayering, empowerment, work intensification, flexibility and redundancy appear to have gained as much weight as the macro-environmental drivers of HRM such as competition, technology, economic recession and political change (Anthony et al, 1996) as change in the external environment triggers organizational responses which may take the form of restructuring, mergers, acquisitions, splits and cost cutting, which triggers human resource management responses reflected in adoption of new employment patterns and new employer-employee relationships (1995;  1998). There is an agreement that the adoption of HRM signals business oriented and business integrated approach to the management of people (1984; 1985;  1987). Furthermore, HRM controversy has been fueled by the discrepancy between the rhetoric and reality of HRM. As a result,  (1995);  (1993) and  (1998) have raised much concern about the applicability of HRM ideas in organizations in the light of a turbulent and constantly shifting environment as reflected in management’s language and vocabulary which is  soft and the reality is reflected in management action and behavior that can be hard depending on the prevailing changes in the environment in which the organization operates (1999 ,1997, 1999).     The view that human resources make a fundamental difference in organizations, as it is human capability that distinguishes successful from unsuccessful organizations. Thus, HRM is an organizational matter of strategic importance hence management decisions involving people should be top management issues rather than personnel management’s and the key levers used to activate the HRM approach are clear communication of objectives, calculated deployment of human resources and evaluation of performance (1996). As such, HRM appears to imply a distinctive approach to employment management, which not only seeks to obtain competitive advantage through the strategic deployment of a highly committed and skilled workforce, using an array of cultural, structural and personnel techniques (1999). The emphasis in HRM therefore is on planning, monitoring and control rather than on problem solving and mediation. It is largely identified with management interests and is a management activity more than it is an employee’s activity ( 1992; , 2000).            CONCLUSIONS   This presentation attempted to explore the deeper aspect of human resource management and its influence within the organizations as it is notable that the HRM concept contains on certain HR status. As several HR proponents agree on the extent to which HRM can be said to be a coherent theory, no alternative concept has been found to challenge the centrality of HRM ideas on management of people centering on strategic integration, management of HRM, high commitment and high performance in having a challenge to the competence and ability of management to sustain the quality of performance necessary to prevent the resurgence of issues (1991). It appears therefore that HRM adoption by organizations may either lead to redefine the practice of organizations to give it a new role. However, the external and internal environments of organizations would be expected to moderate the culture so that it is possible to apply the essential aspects of HRM in any culture of the organization. It can be concluded therefore that the adoption of HRM cannot be assumed to be universal in treating people but it is contingent upon every process of situation in the extent to which HRM has been implemented and its implications for the organizations management.         RECOMMENDATIONS I agree that HRM practices appear to be influenced by ownership characteristics. In newly developed companies’ emphasis appeared to be placed on recruitment, creating a positive organisation culture, devising remuneration policy, training and development of staff, performance appraisal and the implementation of retention strategies. There was some suggested evidence that human resource departments with an HRM focus tended to pay more attention to the effective recruitment of staff in making improvements in the analysis of jobs, the collection and verification of information, the testing of practical skills and the elaboration of the characteristics for specific posts in the form of person specifications. Firms have begun to consider human resource policies and strategies and there have been some attempts to use the business plan as the framework for HRM policies and activities ( 1997; 1992;  1993; 1996;  1991). There is no explicit link made between the characteristics of human resources and the overall performance and continued success of the organization. Instead the focus tends to be on administration and welfare issues with only limited attempts at human resource planning. It is possible that the “strong” notion of HRM. ( 1991)       Human Resource Management need have to focus on the following aspects: Ø      The desire to achieve significant change in the organization’s management structure Ø      The emphasis on increasing the qualification level of employees Ø      The use of better ways for hiring personnel Ø      The systematic socialization of employees into the organisation and their understanding and acceptance of the goals of the organization Ø      The design of payment systems with efficiency and quality of work Ø      The implementation of professional training and development programs Ø      The development of workplace discipline procedures Ø      The creation of proper working conditions within the organization Ø      The organization and enhancement of the organisation’s information system           Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

INTRODUCTION I agree in what ( 1987 , 1995 ) has said that ‘’HRM has the virtue of emphasizing the need to treat people as a key...