Free «The Challenges of HR Executive in 2013» Essay Sample

Introduction

Human Resource (HR) executive is the body that is endowed with the responsibility of ensuring that all members of an organization are working in accordance with the rules and regulations of the organization. To ensure that all the organs of the organization are running smoothly, the HR executive which in most cases is run by the HR does the following activities. To begin with, the HR manage, realizes the need for employment of new employees. After realization of this need, the management takes the next step of selection of the new employees for those who have shown the interest in the job. The selection of the employees is usually done without any favors towards some specific applicants.

On the point of selection, exceptionally clear heads must be in place. This should be upheld since this new blood in the organization is going to determine whether the organization goes ahead by making profits or goes down by making, losses. This point in HR management is proving to be a tremendous huddle in the current times. The case of halo effect, getting in the way of the selection process have continued to be cited as the cause of selecting individuals in positions that they are utterly incompetent.

The suitability of the employees in their jobs is one of the most notable aspects that will propel an organization to greater heights. Employees, who perform well in their work place, ensure that the good name of the organization is uplifted higher, and it shines all the time. The organizations HR department, have the responsibility to have an inner eye to scrutinize each of the recruits so that, only the best land into the organization’s system. This is an enormous task to the HR department since at the time of recruitment the decisions have to be made within a split second. This decision is particularly delicate since one might end up choosing the wrong person for the job.

After selection of the thought best future employees, the executive HR team has the responsibility of making it known to the workers what is expected of them. This will entail the activity of taking the newly selected individuals, to training that will prepare them with the skills that will be truly essential in their working experience, in the organization. It is during this same time of training that the HR manager will outline what the company requires from the employee as well as what the employee should expect from the company. This briefing of the expectation will ensure that there is smooth relationship between the two parties. That is the organization and the employee, based on the laid out terms and conditions of work.

According to Cyr, the HR executive is facing another challenge still in dealing with staffing the organization. Not only do the organization incurs a lot of money in the recruitment, as well as the training programs, but also deal with assessment of  performance of the employees on grounds of the output they have managed by the end of the given activity or process. Gauging employees is a positive way to go as proven in many organizations. The identification of the performers and the nonperformers are beneficial since it helps in determining what precautions should be in place to make all members work toward a common goal which is success (Cyr, 2003).

Rewarding and appreciation is one of the key factors that ensure that the best employees get recognized for the excellent work they do. Recognition of performance can act in both positive and negative way in an organization. For this reason, it is expedient for the executive HR team to be fully transparent and ensure that there are no cards that exchanging hands under the table. When the best performers get the recognition, they will be motivated to put more effort more and more so that they can retain the reward they get. For the under performers, it is a challenge that makes them pull up their socks with the aim of getting the rewards too. In a situation that, this process of rewarding is not based on merits, there occurs a division that arises when some employees who feel are the best get slapped in the face. In this connection, the HR executive should ensure that only the best are rewarded based on the best performance.

When all is done in recruiting and having employees in the organization, the executive HR team acts as the bridge between the employees and the organization. The work of the HR is also to maintain the checks and balance of the organization. When employees are unsatisfied with the prevailing condition in the organization, they communicate their grievance to the workers leader who in turn relays the information to the HR department who in turn pass the same to the organizations’ management so that they can see on the best way forward.

The employees have unending concern about the way they should be perceived by the organization. All this concerns are directed to the HR team that is expected to smoothen the way in the work place to avoid scenes of employees taking to the streets in the name of demanding their rights. The most common concerns of the employees that Snell and Bohlander  notices are; their job security, health issues, retirement benefits, gender issues, education level, work attitude, employees rights and lastly the family concerns. All this issues are left to the HR managers to deal with accordingly. It is clear that this is an immense deal of task that the team has to wrestle with all the time.

As much as the organizations have to deal with the entire internal environment which entails the employees, they also have to look at the external environment that challenges the development of the organization. Some of the external challenges that many organization are facing in present time are on a higher technological level due to the world advancement in almost all sector. Some of this challenges, we are going to outline apply to most of the organization across the world. To mention but just a few of these challenges are; change in the market place, globalization, technology, containment costs and leveling the employees difference.

Competition is the order of the day; all organizations are out to offer their customers the best of the products and service. For the best product or service to be achieved, the organization must set all its input right. It is the duty of the HR managers, to give this appealing service to the organization. The best employees are of, extraordinarily high value and are difficult to find. For this reason, every organization is ready to give anything to land these best performers in their pay slips. This competition is at time unhealthy since the small organizations that cannot be able to dig dipper into their pockets, will end up losing all their best employees to the big and the rich organizations.

Still on the issue of competition, the organizations are trying to outdo each other. To cope up with the pace, the HR managers have revolutionized the organization to be highly dynamic. Only the dynamic organizations are able to withstand the heavy turmoil that is prevailing in the market currently. The present day customers, in alluding to the words of Snell and Bohlander, need to get whatever they want whenever and wherever they are at that particular time (Snell & Bohlander, 2008).

Only a fraction of companies can to manage this need of the customer, and as it is always said the customer is always right. An excellent example of such a company is the Coca-cola international. This organization has its product to almost every country in the world. To make it even more appealing, their; products do reach even the most remote places. With such a strong marketing skill, it is evident as to why the company is one of the best organizations in the world. Without dynamic leaders in the management, the organization stagnates and the result will be diminution, and falling out of business.

The current situation in the world is exceptionally demanding. The levels of inflation have gone a notch higher. It is just a matter of time, before the employees start to demand a pay rise. The executive HR offices will be having a terribly hard time come the year 2013. As if this is not enough, the cost of production has gone up way far than any other time in history. The balance between the employee’s payment and the extra cost of production need careful balance to ensure the survival of many organizations. To deal with such uncertainty, the HR department will have to come up with very dire decisions among them, retrenchment. Many people might find themselves jobless as a result of the bad economic times (Dawn & Hartman, 2009).

Modern technology requires that the organization be ready to face any difficulties that come their way. The ability to adapt to the various conditions in this dynamic world is extremely essential. Adaptability has proven to help organizations grasp opportunities as well as manage to overcome obstacles. The market place needs the HR managers to be up to the task and understand all the ongoing issues in the market that the business is taking part. With all the information on the market situation, planning will be so easy, and success will almost be assured. This issue of market information will be a challenge both in terms of financially capability as well as how well the organization can be the first to identify the situations and act accordingly in time before the opportunities slips through their fingers.

 The other challenge that the HR managers have to face in the coming years is the issue of globalization. The internet connection across the world has turned the whole world into a wired world. In the real sense, the world is currently regarded as a global village. Business transactions have not been left behind. The business of present day is, conducted even between people who barely know each other. This is possible by the use of the E-commerce form of transaction. The management teams have the responsibility of maximizing this new opportunity as it scrutinizes the advantages as well as the disadvantages of this practice. Risks of this form of business are high just the same way its advantages are appealing.

Globalization needs a lot of logistics to be put in place. For an organization to go global, it must have in place supremely competent personnel whose main objective is success. This calls for recruiting of individuals who are motivated to do a presentable job. Going big does not just come so easily, it needs inputs such as capital. Getting the capital to expand in many organizations has proven to be a challenge to many organizations, which make working out the best plans to hit a hard rock.

One way to get a breakthrough in the quest to get global is merging. When two organization come together, they enjoy re-energization of each other thus enjoys some synergism which propels them to better position to be able to compete in the world of business. One of the good examples of this is the Coca cola international which have found a breakthrough in penetrating new market sectors by merging with other organizations that are performing equally well.

The growth that is aimed at reaching the international standards can also be achieved through partnerships. Through partnership, the organization is able to get into contact with new market outlets. An example of an organization that has gone global is the BMW (Snell & Bohlander, 2008). This company has for a long time been producing cars only in Germany.  With the entry of globalization, they are now producing in China and America as well as their native country Germany.  Snells and Bohlander believes that, it is only the best companies with sheer skimming HR executive that will be in a position to convince other companies to get in the partnerships, as well as the merges. Come the year 2013 the organization management team will have to deal with this reality and they have to get the best way to get through.

Employment has gone to a new level all together. In the USA, for example, the congress tries to put up measures that, helps in controlling how the employer-employee relation fairs. The congress, on the other hand, has no mandate of telling the employers on whom to hire in their work place. In this case, the employer is at free will to get anybody that can fill the vacant position. On the other hand, the individual getting employed must be willing to get into the job or contract without any duress.

The congress stamps its feet hard on the ground and spells that, no employee will be dismissed from their places of work without a good reason. In case of such a move by the employer, the employee is entitled to a legal redress that will see that the employer not biased in baseless dismissals. In more case than not, the organizations are finding themselves on the wrong side of the law, and have no option but to take the employees back to work. The HR department will have a difficult time in dealing with such scenarios.

In the current times, the employees are protected against racial discriminations, as well as gender biases. Any employer who raises this against any employee will find themselves on corridors of justice. According to Dawn and Hartman, the government is protecting the employees so that they are not exploited on any ground. To ensure that there has been set the minimum wages that will determine the pay for each job position by putting into consideration factors such as, gender and the race of the employees. The employees are entitled to what has come to be known as ‘power relationship’ which is in the spirit of getting fair and equitable agreement between the employee and the employer (Dawn and Hartman, 2009).

The HR management has the responsibility to determine the terms of employment. This is to say that one has to be clearly notified whether they are working on a contract basis or is in a position of an employee. The need to clearly define these two positions is that, the employer is responsible for the employees’ payment of some taxes. The employer should cater for the employees Medicare as well as retain a percentage of the employees wage to pay the government tax among many other deductions (Robert, 2011). On the other hand, the individual who is working on a contract, the employer has no mandate to deduct any form of taxation from the wage. It is then the responsibility of the contracted person to go down the road of clearing entire requirements including the medical care.

The affirmative action that protect against racial discrimination, only applies to employees and not to the people on contracts. Individuals who are employed on a contractual basis are not covered under the federal act of anti discrimination. The contracted people, are still on a losing end since even the national labor relation only recognizes employees leaving the contracted personnel to fend for themselves. The main aim of any employer is to reduce the cost of production, in trying to do this the managements then opts for hiring people on the contract basis (Burgess & Connell, 2006). This mechanism will help in reducing the cost of production and at the same time, the company will have reduced liabilities to deal with, this is one of the crucial decisions that each HR executive team has to make.

As it can be clearly seen, the work on a contractual basis looks more enticing both to the employer as well as to the employed. Even though, this kind of agreement is posing a challenge to the HR executive. The reason as to why this is advantageous is that, the employer can be in a position to terminate the contract of the employee at any time of their free will as long as they can be able to clear all the wages and, benefits that had been agreed on the condition of the contract. To the employee they are at a disadvantage because, their job security is not assured. At the end of each contract, they just depend on hope that their contract is going to be extended (Robert, 2011). On the side of the employee, they have the advantage that they are assured job security. Their employment unless there is a potent and substantial, reason for doing so.

Technology has not only brought good with it, on the down side, technology has led to a large number of people losing their jobs. When there is a situation that some people have to be sent home, the HR department goes through a lot of stress in convincing the employees to go home. Technology has made working to be mechanized. In mechanization, there is the advantage that the company cuts down the money they would have spend on the employees’ wages. Those that is lucky to have been retained. On the other side, technology improves efficiency of work thus more profits will be realized (Burgess & Connell, 2006). The transition so as to embrace the new technology in the system will still be a huddle that many HR managers will have to deal with come 2013.

On the same note of technology, communication sets in, for any transaction to be conducted; there must be proper communication from the most basic level. To start with there must be excellent communication between the organization management team and the employees. The link between these two bodies is the HR management. In failure of the link between the two, hitches are likely to arise and lead to a standstill in the organization. This disagreement in the organization reduces productivity and hence the organization makes a loss and can most likely run out of business.

The technology has made the functioning of the organization better. With every new technology that comes in, there need to be manpower to operate this machinery. The HR managers are faced by the challenge of choosing the right person for the job. This takes us back to the issue of hiring. Most of the employees and even in some case the HR manager themselves have no clue on how the operation of the newly installed mechanization operates. To run, they have to employ people who are experienced in it which come at a greater cost. The world is moving exceedingly first, and every day new technologies are coming to the market. The HR has to deal with this reality and have to make the right choices so that the organization makes profits in the most efficient way (Robert, 2011).

The people across the world have come to the realization that they have rights. Gone are the days when an employer would be unashamed to violate the rights of the employees and get away with it. If an employee feels that their rights are being violated they can seek legal assistance to help iron the issues out. Any employer who violates the rights of their employees will face the law and this can be the source of failure. A good example of this is the civil rights act of the 1964. This act protects against any form of oppression. In the words of Dawn and Hartman, any form of discrimination in any of the grounds of color, race, religion gender and nationality will be punishable by law (Dawn & Hartman, 2009).

The HR department as have been previously noticed by many research, are opting for the contractors who work for the stipulated time. This has an advantage to the company in that, there not so many logistics that come with this. The problem with this arrangement is the hiring managers have to be exceedingly careful with the words used in giving the contract. According to Dawn and Hartman, in a case where the employer terminates the contract before its full duration, and in the contract they had agreed on the fee to be paid for the whole contract, the contractor can seek, to be compensated the full amount of money that was agreed upon even if the work is not yet complete (Dawn & Hartman, 2009).

The struggles in trying to balance the resources in an organization needs people who are extremely open minded. As much as some sadist may say that technology is of no importance to the society since it results to sucking of the employees, on the larger picture it is the opposite. With technology, the organization gets more profit out of which it has the opportunity to expand. These expansions need manpower and hence job opportunities are created.

Dynamism is one of the seriously need values in the present day. For the organization to be better performance in the future, the HR office should put a lot of efforts in fixing this issue of dynamism. Moving with times puts the organization at an advanced passion to aid in the competition. The competition is not only based on the sales. The well performing organization will attract the best employees and hence better result. It is the work of the HR executive to put the organization in good books in terms of performance. The employees, who work in the best performing organization, are motivated to deliver and feel as part of the organization.

To deal with the non- performing employees, the management must come up with programs that will be motivational toward performance in the work place. Rewarding employees helps in that, those that are not rewarded will put more efforts so that they can also be rewarded. Reward in the organization can be in two forms, one is the individual rewarding and the other one is the group reward. The group reward serves as motivation towards team work. This will enhance cooperation between the employees who will be the supervisors of each other. By doing this, the organizations objectives are met and hence outstanding performance (Burgess & Connell, 2006).

Individual rewarding make individuals be the role models of the others. The unfortunate part about this form of rewarding is that, it may make the person who has been rewarded to be proud and hence underperforming in the work place. On the other hand, it may discourage other employees who are known to be slower in performance they will have a formed mind that they can never be the best.

In conclusion, the HR executive have to come up with exceedingly informed strategies that will best  arm the organization to fight in the world of competition. At the same time the organization by the help of the HR executive should be well versed with all the laws that govern the employment. This will help the organization from going on the wrong side of the law by violating any employees’ rights. To improve the stands of quality, the HR executive should play a part in adopting the best operation standards such as Total Quality Management systems (TQM). With such standards in place, transparency and hence quality of work will go in the positive direction.