role of the human resource department

role of the human resource department

Question 1

In modern business, human capital is a term which speaks volume. The department is responsible for multiple functions in an organization. The main functions fall under five core activities; development, staffing, safety and health, compensation, and employee and labor relations. Within every one of these primary activities, HR performs a wide variety of activities. Staffing includes roles of hiring new part and full-time employees, terminating contracts, and hiring contractors (Mondy & Martocchio 2016). Also, they write and negotiate salaries and benefits given to the employees. They utilize the various recruitment technologies to help in reaching a high volume of applicants and capture the best talents in the market. Besides, HR plays a role in giving resources needed for development and continuous productivity in the company. They offer training and prepare new employees for their duties.

Compensation is yet another crucial role of the human resource department, which involves identifying the salaries and benefits of the employees (Noe et al. 2017). The compensation levels are set in order to match the market standards for a given function. Also, they perform negotiation of retirement plans, insurance rates, and other benefits with the third parties. Also, they discuss it raises and or decreases in the compensation rates of their employees.

Safety and health is another HR function meant for achieving the best practices when it comes to and health concerns of the employees (Noe et al. 2017). Safety and health concerns include the implementation of new safety measures upon changes in the law in the industry. Besides, they discuss safety issues and compliance with the unions and relevant government departments.

The HR department works to defend employee rights, mediating disagreements between the organization and the human resources and coordination of the unions. These are generally employee and labor relations activities performance (Mondy & Martocchio, 2016). They mediate disagreements between the employees and the employers and employees and other employees. Also, they discuss employee rights with stakeholders, unions, and management. During any broader organizational issues, the department acts as the voice of the organization and the employees. They are also involved in checking claims of harassment and other workplace abuses.

Evolved in contemporary organizations

Organizations are functioning in a dynamic market since the business world is ever-changing. Thus, the roles of human resources are evolving in the business world. A human resource is a critical tool for bringing success in the business world. The internal and external forces affecting business are ever-changing, thus causing changes in their roles. The traditional roles are not sufficient in the current business environment. Competition has grown high, making human resources a strategic part of the organizational objectives. As a result of talent poaching, companies struggle to retain a skilled and talented workforce who are part of the competition. Thus the HR department is highly focused on talent retaining and development and retention of their staff members.

Improved service requirements in which companies are now calling for increased customer service from their internal services. The companies are now redesigning the HR function to be more responsive to the company’s needs as well as adding value to the organization. Besides, HR leads in the transformation process the companies are undergoing in order to align then with the market standards. HR also functions to improve on the performance of employees as well as ignite the motivation towards development.

HR strategies are another aspect aimed at integrating the organizational culture, people, systems, and organization towards attaining the organizational goals. The HR strategies consist of four dimensions, which include organization, HR system, people, and culture. People are made of the companies’ employees in addition to their skills, expertise, and capability. The culture of the organization includes norms, management styles, beliefs, and values. The organization is made up of structure, job roles, and organizational hierarchy. Finally is the HR system, which is made up of communications, selection of employees, career development, and others.

Technological influence is a significant source that has enabled the natural flow of information, both internally and externally. The application of the internet in HR has changed the nature of HR professional and work. Rather than doing much paperwork, HR spends time focusing on the services provided, employees, and customers in general.

 A brief justification

Employee relations are critical emerging issues around HR that have risen in contemporary organizations. Other issues like diversity, inclusivity, and ethical considerations are increasing from the public; thus, the companies have to focus on them. The function of HR is increasing in complexity when compared to the traditional concept of personnel management alone (Trevino & Nelson 2016). The increased complexity means that the only organizations which will succeed are the ones that will adapt to the changes. Contemporary issues such as professionalism, ethics, and honesty are part of creating an organization’s positive image. Upon practicing ethics and professionalism in the HR department, staff will be highly motivated. Unethical practices are associated with poor firm’s image. This leads to a reduction in organizational customers.

Question 2
a summary 

Staff development is one of the leading HR objectives in most organizations. Recruitment is not complete in ensuring that employees stay for long and deliver productively (Price, 2007). For instance, in service firms, it is always important to have talented and competent employees since they are always in contact with the customers. Employees spend the most time doing face to face transactions with the customers. Thus, the organization needs to ensure that the employees are adequately prepared to deliver the services to the customers and that they are capable of engaging customers satisfactorily. This calls for employee training on the way to handle all types of customers from troublesome ones to the ones in need of technical assistance. The HR department needs to set up classes and meetings for addressing fresh recruits on how to perform their duties (Price, 2007). Besides, the recruits get a template with all the details needed to follow when dealing with customers in order to ensure uniformity in service delivery. Continuous appraisal keeps employees with up to date information, thus benefiting the company in the long run.

Employee relations in HR objectives can be attained through the implementation of the appropriate labor policies (Price, 2007). Besides, the interpretation of all laws about employment matters helps in the delivery of this objective. Issues such as ethics are very critical in the current employment environment; thus, the department has to focus on its proper implementation. An ethical code of conduct has to ensure that the HR department delivers in all its functions.

Analyze HR function

Despite that, HR departments share common goals and objectives of plan development and practical problem solving; however, they differ in the paths taken in reaching these goals. Responsibilities, resources, size, and recruiting methods are critical differences between HR functions in large and small businesses.

These differences are highly observed in the presentation and implementation of policies as well as procedures all through the company. Based on HR practices, the HR departments strive to meet their daily goals while creating a path for the future (Bratton & Gold, 2017). HR leaders create practices that build the future. However, the process of building the future for the HR department is what differs between small and large businesses. The small and large companies may have common goals for problem-solving, recruitment, and development but have varying processes of achieving the goals.

Company size is a crucial source of differentiation for small and large companies. This is in terms of the number of employees to office space and the number of customers to production levels. Anything in the HR department of small companies is also small. Thus HR managers in small companies will also handle other tasks besides the HR duties (Bratton & Gold, 2017). Large companies will have HR manager overseeing the HR assistants because of the various layers of management which are not there in the small organizations. In small companies, the roles of the HR always overlap; for instance, one may serve as an HR manager and still hold the office of administrative assistant. Also, in small companies, the roles of HR managers may not only be working for two positions, but also they include literally all HR tasks, including staffing, recruiting, employee development, payroll, organizational planning, and benefits.

Contrary, large organizations set aside a whole department for handling HR tasks. The whole department focuses on handling payroll, recruitment, organization development, employee benefits, and policies; thus, no single person focuses on handling everything since it is a shared responsibility (Bratton & Gold, 2017). Every area of work does have an expert leading the team. Support is of importance, and large organizations have it from within. Working in a large company will give one the advantage of having assistance as well as back up coming from all directions. Besides, it gives one a lighter workload since you are not trying to do all the things on your own.

Resource availability difference between small and large companies is another source of difference between what the HR department can do. Visible, the small companies do not get the same amount of income with the large companies limiting the HR department on aspects like training, development, policy, and team building (Bratton & Gold, 2017). Thus, small companies do not ignore these roles, but they have to approach them differently. In small companies, one has to get prepared to come up with creative ways to motivate the employees and encourage growth from within. For instance, recruiting is a significant money and time cost for small companies as opposed to large companies (Bratton & Gold, 2017). While large companies set aside funds to conducting multiple interviews, small companies only do searches on social media and bring potential employees for the last interview. Small recruitment methods like positing job openings in social media, LinkedIn, advertising in newspapers, and referrals are all the small companies does because of time and money factor.

Question 3

Theories of change management

Change management is a continuous process that needs expertise, time efforts, and dedication to implement and run. It needs people and the employees to get involved since the change may also affect them. Before the adoption of one of the approaches to change, an organization has to figure out why the change is needed and how the organization will benefit from it. Some of the theories of change include Kotter’s change management theory and the ADKAR model.

Kotter’s change management theory

This theory was introduced by John P Kotter, Harvard business school professor and author of books on change management. This theory is divided into eight stages in which everyone focuses on a critical principle that is associated with the response people have to change (Pollack & Pollack, 2015).

Stages

Increase urgency– This is a step of increasing urgency amongst people in order to motivate them to move towards the set objectives.

Build the team- This step involves getting the right people on the team through a selection of skills, expertise, and knowledge.

Get the vision correct- In this step involves letting people understand the vision

Communicate- This step involves communication with people regarding change and its importance (Pollack & Pollack, 2015).

Get things moving- For one to get things moving, there is a need to empower people, give them support, remove roadblocks, and work on constructively getting feedback.

Focus on short term goals- This involves dividing the significant goals into small and achievable goals in order to achieve them without pressure

Do not give up- Persistence is needed in order to get things done.

Incorporate change- In addition to managing change effectively, it is essential to reinforce it and make it part of the workplace culture.

ADKAR model

This is a goal-oriented model that makes it possible for change management teams to focus on those activities directly related to the goals. The goals are defined in this model using a sequence. Thus, while working with this model, one should get the results in a particular order for the change to be sustained. The model can also enhance managers find loopholes in the change process in order to offer practical training for the employees.

ADKAR model stands for

Awareness- being aware of the need for the change

Desire- the desire for bringing change and participating in it

Knowledge- the knowledge of the way to bring about the change

Ability- This is the capability of incorporating change consistently

Reinforcement- of keeping it implemented as well as reinforced later.

Evaluation of ADKAR

ADKAR change management theory is an outcome-oriented change management model that aims at reducing the resistance of organizational change.

Awareness and desire are aimed at moving one from the current state in which change is needed but has not yet begun. Knowledge and ability happen in the transition period, while reinforcement is about the future. Since the ADKAR model is outcome-oriented, it can be useful in change-facilitation and setting a definite milestone to be attained all through the process (Tang, 2019). Everyone involved in the process has to reach their goal at different times. For instance, one individual may be having the desire to change while the other one is still at the awareness stage — the five stages of the model point at the areas of resistance (Loganathan, 2019). For instance, is a person unable to change since they do not understand why it has to happen (awareness)?  How will the change happen (Knowledge)? Thus, the model helps an organization to be better prepared to get through the process through understanding the stage they are stuck in.

In creating awareness of the need to change, functions like providing clear explanations of why a change is needed are essential. The employee must understand the reasoning behind the need and also come to agree with it (Loganathan, 2019). Focus on the benefits of the change as they apply to the employees. Also, encourage them to ask questions about the change and how it will be implemented. Second, create a desire to see the change. Simply because employees understand the need for change does not mean that they need the change. Choose change leaders to communicate the change daily in the routines done daily. Resistance to change is a significant barrier in this step since people are always scared to change. Thirdly, give them knowledge on the way to change. This is majorly done via education and training. The knowledge provided has to touch on the specific teams since the change has to be viewed on individuals.

The fourth step is giving people confidence in their ability to make the change. For instance, while many football fans understand how to kick the ball, not many understand the mechanics behind playing the ball, not all would make great footballers. Thus, in order to bridge the gap between knowledge and ability, there is a need to have the change leaders coach individuals on the change. Finally involves reinforcing the change step (Loganathan, 2019). The created momentum may move one to the final line. However, one will not finish if the employees go back to old habits. Correct poor behavior and mistakes in private the time people go back to the olden habits. Also, praise in public so that people can celebrate as one.

Question 4

There are several ways useful in HR evaluation. The important ones are analytical approach, benchmarking, qualitative and quantitative approach, balanced scorecard perspective, and audit approach.

Audit approach

This is the process of evaluating the HR function contribution. An audit approach is a financial approach that consists of elements like gathering data and analysis, a clear objective, and action in response to the findings. This approach is beneficial since it helps in reducing HR costs, identifying HR problems, and improving the HR function (Kane & Trochim, 2007). Besides, it provides clarifiable data on HR performance while clarifying the HR duties and functions. The HR audit may be done wholly or partially in which the partial cover few areas in HR. For instance, it may cover the compliance of managers and supervisors to established HR practices and principles. For better results, the approach taken should be comprehensive to ensure that all HR functions are covered. For evaluation, auditors may utilize any of the five approaches, including outside authority approach, compliance approach, statistical approach, comparative approach, and management by objectives approach (Kane & Trochim, 2007). In a comparative approach, the auditors identify another company to be used as the model with the results gained compared with those of the other company. With the statistical approach, the auditors use the past companies’ statistical data to come into conclusion. In the MBO approach, specific goals are set against which performance is evaluated.

Analytical approach

The analytical approach is the second approach to HR evaluation. This approach focuses on cost-benefit analysis, also known as the utility approach. The approach uses economic terms and is highly useful to decision-makers (Kane & Trochim, 2007). HR functions that have been evaluated with this approach include training, employee hiring, turn over, and appraisal systems. The utility approach represents a quantitatively superior means and has broad applicability as well.

Qualitative and Quantitative indices

There are various quantitative and qualitative metrics available for determining HR effectiveness. For instance, it can be used in calculating cost per hire, absinthism, lead time for filling vacancies, cost of turnover, and training costs (Morgeson et al. 2019). Also, it can be used in calculating employee behavior about customer behavior and profits.

Balanced Scorecard

The balanced scorecard helps in the evaluation of HR effectiveness as well. The scorecard is made up of four dimensions, including customer service, the capacity to learn and grow, the organization’s financial performance, and the internal business processes (Morgeson et al. 2019). In these areas, the management has to identify key performance indicators which it should track. For instance, the financial area shows the contribution of both long and short term contribution to a financial activity. Customer service, on the other hand, is a measure of the aspects like the way customers view the organization, satisfaction, and retention. The internal process looks at areas like cost per order, operating statistics, production, and order fulfillment. The capacity of learning and growing looks at the way human resources and capital are managed for the company’s benefit.

The balanced scorecard gives a balanced view of the current performance as well as the future (Morgeson et al. 2019). The scorecard helps the management to align the company’s financial, human resources, and physical units with the company’s major strategies.

Benchmarking

Benchmarking involves learning and application of the best practices learned from other companies deemed successful. The employees need to study practices from other successful companies in competition with the company (Morgeson et al. 2019). They then use the information gathered to evaluate their practices against the ones gathered. Either benchmarking enables the management to borrow best practices and adopt them in the company since it identifies what the company needs to practice in order to perform better. Also, evaluation of HR practices through benchmarking the need for change and improvement is identified for a company relative to other companies. Benchmarking involves several sequential steps;

Identification of HR practices needed to benchmark critical from the other competing company. Secondly is the creation of a core team for handling the benchmarking process and identification of benchmarking partners such as competitors, non-competitors, or companies known to perform better in a given industry (Morgeson et al. 2019).  Thirdly is data collection from the various benchmarking partners, analyze and interpret it. Fourthly is the preparation of a comprehensive report from the data interpretation. Finally is the development of action plans for improving HR practices and strategy as well.

Question 5

 Article findings summary

The article used is titled: the impact of HR practices on the performance of business units (Wright et al. 2003). The article examined the outcomes of commitment and concluded that HR plays a significant role in determining the type of attitude the employees possess. Besides, management practices in an organization influence the individual employee feelings when it comes to commitment. The article suggests several ways HR can foster employee commitment. The first one is the selection and staffing. For instance, the organization may invest in the selection process to get the best employees, invest in continuous skill development through training, which will provide employees with a conducive environment to thrive. Besides, the use of monetary incentives and valid management styles can improve employee attitude (Wright et al. 2003). The employees also feel they are fairly rewarded for their effort, which boosts performance further. Also, the presence of open communication and participatory systems allows the employees to be able to understand the competitive position of the organization as well as improving on the processes. The atmosphere created here makes people unlikely to want to leave, and they gain a personal identification with the organization while wanting it to succeed.

The organizations with highly committed employees are likely to experience increased productivity since their employees seek better ways of carrying on the required behavior (Wright et al. 2003). They seek to go beyond the regular job and devise ways of performing better. Besides, high quality performing employees is commonplace in these organizations. The employees have low chances of sabotaging their job. Besides, with committed employees, there is a lower probability of stealing or damaging goods, which can result in lower profits for the business.

The article proved a string relationship between HR practices and organizational commitment, which was also related to operating expenses and profitability (Wright et al. 2003). The results indicate that HR practices impact operational performance in some way through its impact on employee commitment. While the impact commitment has on profitability is highly attributed to operational performance. The results from this article show that businesses that manage their employees using more progressive HR methods expect to reap better results in the long run.

The article used a small sample size of fifty employees to carry out this study. The study studied the relationship for the relevant variables through bivariate correlations only. The researchers aimed at showing the relationship between employee commitment and HR practices (Wright et al. 2003). Besides, a hypothetical model was utilized. The HR practices are interconnected with organizational performance. Operational performance has factors like shrinkage, quality, productivity, and employee compensation. The outcome of this model is profits and expenses. The employees gave the information used and were free from bias.

My belief is that the connection between HR practices and organizational outcomes is convincing. Scholars have shown with enough evidence that best HR practices influence performance and employee attitude. These, in turn, lead to commitment, employee behavior which impact on organizational profitability.

Conclusion

Growing evidence demonstrates a positive connection between investment in human capital and organizational performance. This aspect can be attributed to the belief that market value depends more on human capital than does on tangible resources (Stiles & Kulvisaecha 2003). Selection and retaining employees is only part of the process. The organization has to develop skills through training and encouraging learning through the creation of a supportive environment.

Human capital is a source of competitive advantage. When the skills and competencies and not evenly distributed with some companies having more talent than others, then the profitability of the organization grows (Wright et al. 2003). They form a base of intellectual capital that has an economic value. The intellectual capital consists of social capital, organizational capital, and knowledge.

Also, research shows that those HR practices which focus on enhancing employee commitment like training, shared decision making, employee participation, and compensation have a relation to high performance (Stiles & Kulvisaecha 2003). On the other, the HR practices which focus on efficiency, control, and employee reduction are closed related to employee turnover and poor performance. Thus, there is a need to invest in positive HR practices, such as investment in hiring and employee selection, training, and incentive compensation (Stiles & Kulvisaecha 2003). These practices will majorly result in increased productivity, lower turnover rates, and improvement in employee performance. Besides, employee motivation and skills will be enhanced.