Topic - The Human Resource Management develops future generation

of human capital to Australia

 INTRODUCTION :

In Australia human resources (HR) has strengthened its strategic positioning, HR professionals face
several challenges including: the potential narrowing of their career base; the need for improved
HRM metrics; and a broader commitment to attraction and retention initiatives. Results also reveal
that expectations of a more strategic business focus for HR are developing in the context of an
industrial relations climate that has increased HR’s responsibility for employee relations in the
workplace. In the face of these complex expectations, Australian HR professionals report positive
reactions to the changes that have occurred within the HR function; they remain optimistic about
their future and their capacity to manage the shifting ground that HRM occupies.

COUNTRY PROFILE :

Australia ranks as one of the best countries to live in the world by international
comparisons of wealth, education, health and quality of life. The sixth-largest
country by land mass, its population is comparatively small with most people
living around the eastern and south-eastern coastlines. In shaping its foreign and
economic policy, Australia first looked to Europe and the US but in the last 20 years has
developed stronger ties with Asia. It has acted as peacekeeper in the region sending
missions to Solomon Islands, East Timor and Papua New Guinea.
Although Australia remains part of the Commonwealth, the future role of the monarchy
has been a recurring issue in politics. An aging population, pressure on infrastructure
and environmental concerns such as climate change are some of the long-term
challenges facing the country.

Human Resource Management structure In Australia :

Australians are very straightforward when it comes to business, so they do not
need to build relationships for a long time before doing business with someone.
They encourage to new ideas.They appreciate modesty, If one manage to
impress them, they will not make it obvious. Australians
demonstrate modesty as much as they appreciate it. They can even downplay
their own success, so do not jump into conclusions straight away.

They  challenged to a controversial discussion during a meeting, do not worry –

it is nothing personal. They find debates entertaining and will initiate them by
making provocative statements, to which it is best to respond with humor!
The decision making will be slower than usually, as the work environment in
Australian business culture is collaborative. Top management will consult
subordinates.

Do not try to rush the decision – patience is very much appreciated.The good
news is that Australians do not find it hard to say “no”, so the answer will be
clear and straightforward.

Business hours are 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday to Friday.

Hiring
For many employers, the key to having a productive and high-performing
workforce is recruiting the right people. It is important for employers to be
aware that even before an employee commences work, there is a number of
legal issues that arise in the process of seeking, interviewing and selecting
candidates for a position.

Job Applicants
Employers are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of an attribute
(including sex, race, pregnancy, age, impairment, political belief or activity)
against job applicants in determining who should be offered employment. .
When short listing or selecting candidates, employers should ensure that any
decision is based on consistent selection criteria, which are not discriminatory.

Employers not discriminate against a person in the terms upon which

employment is offered to them or by refusing or deliberately omitting to offer
employment to a person.

Employment Contract
In formulating the employment contract, an employer should be aware of the
minimum statutory terms and conditions set out in the Fair Work Act, applicable
long service leave legislation and applicable superannuation legislation.

The basic terms usually include the duration, position, duties, probationary
period, remuneration including any bonuses, other benefits such as car
allowance, leave (including annual leave, personal or carer’s leave, parental
leave, long service leave), superannuation, notice of termination, the right to
summarily dismiss, protection of confidential information and intellectual
property, post-termination restrictions and governing law and jurisdiction.

Managing

A wide range of matters arise during the employment relationship that

requires careful management in order to ensure that a positive ongoing
relationship is maintained, and that there is compliance with relevant
legal obligations.

Benefits and Entitlements

Modern awards apply to national system employees in a particular industry or
occupation. Enterprise awards apply to particular employers. These awards and
the National Employment Standards set out the minimum requirements with
which an employer must comply in respect of benefits and entitlements for their
employees, including the minimum wage. If employees are covered by an
enterprise or collective agreement (an agreement negotiated collectively
between employees (and/or a union) and the employer), this will set out
employees’ benefits and entitlements.

Wages
Employees may be paid weekly, fortnightly or monthly. Employers must issue
pay slips (in hard copy or electronically) to each employee within one working
day of their pay day, even if they are on leave.

Those employees covered by a modern award (or enterprise award) are entitled
to be paid at least the minimum wage set out in that award. The National
Employment Standards set out the national minimum wage applicable to
employees who are not covered by a modern award. This includes senior
employees, for example managers and executives, as well as professional
employees such as accountants, marketing and information technology
specialists. Employers may express an employee’s wage as an overall annual
salary, which has entitlements such as overtime and penalties built into it.

Modern awards often have provisions related to the manner and timing of the
payment of wages.
The Fair Work Act prohibits employers from deducting money from employees
without their written authorisation. The agreement must specify the amount of
the deduction. The deduction must also be principally for the employee’s
benefit.

Performance Management System in Australia 

The online employee performance management system is the most simple to

implement, easy to use and reliable performance management software for small
and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia. It allows them to
run performance reviews, staff and manager ratings, 360-degree
feedback, individual performance plans, goal setting, learning and development
plans, feedback and recognition, employee engagement surveys, and regular
health and wellbeing checks across your organisation. The performance
management system and employee engagement platform help them to build trust,
drive engagement and improve productivity across your whole organisation in a
way that makes everyone feel part of their success.

 Training and development procedure in Australia

Training and development process in Australia aimed at improving the

performance of the individuals and groups of employees in their
organizational settings. It is an organized activity for increasing the
knowledge and skills of the employees. It involves systematic procedures
for transferring technical and management skills to the employees. Training
process is an important activity both for the organization as well as for the
employees. Skills acquired by the employees through training are assets
for the organization. The enhancement of the skills also provides the
employees job security as well as opportunities for career advancement.
In the modern industrial environment, where technological development is
outpacing all other things, there is a continuous need for systematic training
and development of the employees. Through ‘training’ employees are
taught specific skills while through ‘development’ employee’s personality
and management skills are enhanced. The training in an organization is
necessary since there are:

 Advancement in technologies
 Demanding customers

 Thrusts for boosting productivity

 Requirements for improving the motivation levels

 Needs for improving the quality of output

 Necessities for effectiveness in management.

Training is a continuous process and it should not stop at any stage. The
management should ensure that a training programme should attempt to
bring about positive changes in the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of the
employees. The objectives of a training programme are as follows.

 To prevent obsolescence in the organization

 To improve employees knowledge for doing specific job

 To impart skills to the employees systematically so that they learn the

same quickly

 To impart multi skills in the employees so that they become capable

of handling different jobs

 To bring about the change in attitude of the employees towards

organization and the fellow employees
 To improve the overall performance of the organization by inculcating
technological discipline in the employees

 To train the employees in efficient handling of materials, plant and

equipment

 To educate employees towards conservation of resources, pollution

prevention and avoidance of wastages

 To provide safety as well as occupational health training to the

employees for man and equipment health and safety

 To develop management skills in the employees so that they are

prepared to take up higher responsibilities and position.

WORK CONDITIONS:

Yearly average working hours in Australia, 1 730 hours in 2010, are very
close to the OECD average of 1 745. Fewer annual holidays per year mostly
offset shorter weekly working hours. The median absence rate across the
APS in 2010–11 was 11.1 days per employee. Workplace absence covers
five categories: sick leave, carer’s leave, compensation leave, types of
miscellaneous or other leave, and unauthorised absence. Agencies have
implemented a broad range of strategies to help manage workplace
absences.

CHALLENGES :

Operating in a constrained fiscal environment – e.g. through the

  imposition of an additional efficiency dividend for the 2012-2013 financial
year and other savings measures. Developing adaptive leadership
capability.

 Developing enhanced capacity to work in the Asian Century.

 Increasing workforce participation of disadvantaged groups,

 particularly people with disabilities and Indigenous Australians.

Improving performance management governance, systems

 practices and capabilities.

The impact of Covid-19 on human resource management

Many organisations in these country are using remote working for the first time. HR
professionals are having to improvise daily, write Eileen Aitken-Fox, Jane Coffey, Kantha
Dayaram, Scott Fitzgerald, Chahat Gupta, Steve McKenna, and Amy Wei Tian

While there is now a great deal of discussion concerning the impact of Covid-19 on and
implications for working practices and human resource management (HRM), much of
the content and comment on these topics tends to be of a general nature, offering
observations and/or guidance that seek to define what a ‘new normal’ might be. For
example, that remote working will become the norm, or that working practices will
become more flexible. While this may be indeed what happens, because Covid-19 is a
global pandemic, we need to understand its impact on working practices, well-being and
HRM in specific contexts. It is likely many changes will be common across country
contexts, but we should also expect, given institutional differences, that there will be
localised nuances. In Australia, through a survey of and interviews with managers and
others with people management responsibility, our ongoing research has highlighted
some important outcomes.

First, while the majority of industries have been negatively affected by Covid-19,
particular industries and sectors have been affected positively. For example, in
Australia, amidst some reports of negative impact, many respondents from healthcare
and social assistance, public administration, finance and insurance and mining have
reported a positive impact. As would be expected, the majority of our respondents so far
have moved to remote working, but most have not made positions redundant and have
worked to retain staff without using government subsidies. In some sectors, some
additional hiring has been undertaken while in most, hiring freezes have been put in
place.

Second, while many commentators are predicting an increase in remote working in the
future, this is not at all clear from our responses up to now. As we would expect,
organisations are reviewing the effectiveness of remote working almost on a daily basis,
but many are yet to make any commitment to long-term remote working.  It appears that
organisations do not yet know how remote working is affecting performance and
productivity, which is hardly surprising given that most are using it for the first time.
There is also the requirement of putting in place new systems, policies and procedures
for remote working which in the Australian context is not something that can be
introduced without due diligence. Organisations are certainly debating the issue with as
yet no clear-cut decisions as to whether remote working will continue beyond the
pandemic.

Third, respondents are highlighting some key issues across a range of people
management topics as they work to deal with changing working practices. Overall, the
general sense is that people management is having to become more agile and more
responsive as a consequence of the changed situation. In particular, respondents have
mentioned the need to differentiate between compliance that is required in the
Australian context (for example, the importance of compliance to changing legal
circumstances) and compliance with internal policies and procedures that can be side-
stepped to provide greater agility and flexibility. This balancing act will not be relevant to
all national contexts where the law relating to employment matters can be ignored or
side-stepped.

More specifically, respondents have indicated that because many of the central issues
involved in business continuity are around working practices and people management,
they themselves are feeling much more valued.  Issues being highlighted by our
respondents include the more prosaic issues of ensuring that staff have functioning
technology at home as well as ensuring effective communication, supervision,
productivity and performance management, employee engagement and support, re-
aligning employee benefits and re-designing policies in relation to remote working. The
role of HR professionals and their expertise has increased in significance in many
organisations as they seek to make agile and effective adaptations in the Australian
context.

Fourth, it is also apparent from our study that employee well-being and safety is of
crucial importance. The move to remote working does not suit everyone and even in
Australia, where a full lockdown has never been implemented, psychological well-being
and safety is an issue. The elements involved in this are obviously many. Not only will
individuals respond to the demands of remote working differently, but the home context
will also be specifically important in influencing well-being and safety, for example, in
relation to spatial arrangements and family demands. These aspects of employee
welfare create the need for different and new areas of HR expertise to be applied in
organisations.

Fifth, respondents have highlighted some employee behaviours and actions that they
recognise as having been helpful in business continuity. For example, employee
willingness to collaborate with each other and with human resource professionals and
departments in making changes, and employee willingness to be flexible and adaptable;
complying with necessary changes to safety measures and; a willingness to learn and
upskill quickly. Such positive behaviours have enabled some organisations to manage
rapid change effectively. In terms of unhelpful behaviours, respondents have highlighted
that managers have had problems with accepting remote working because of their
perception that it negatively affects performance, which leads to micro-management.
HR professionals need to be expert at advising managers how to effectively manage
performance of a remote workforce, while the issue of micro-management is often a
cover for the lack of trust managers have towards their staff once they are ‘invisible’.

The issue of trust is clearly important, in that managers who lack trust in their staff in the
office will not suddenly develop it when their staff are working remotely. Given that trust
(and fairness) are central tenets of effective management and employee performance, it
is unsurprising that managers who micro-manage will see a fall in productivity. In the
longer term these are issues that need to be addressed by organisations in a broader
context.

From the responses to our study so far, and we continue to gather data, HR
professionals and others with people management responsibilities in Australia are
having to bob and weave almost on a daily basis. As part of the requirement for them to
be more agile, they are having to learn new skills, develop new expertise and disrupt
some old practices. They are having to learn very quickly how to support remote
working. In particular, this is with respect to issues of performance, changing benefit
scenarios and psychological well-being. In addition, they are dealing with managerial
trust issues concerning remote staff and micro-management.

Our respondents are indicating that they have to be much more ‘tech savvy’ in offering
support and in other aspects of their support role as HR professionals. They have also
to develop new policies, but more importantly, practices, with respect to performance
management.  Respondents also highlighted that to have business and people
management continuity plans in place has now taken on much greater urgency for the
future.

Comparison with Bangladesh Human Resource Management :

To clarify differences and characteristics in HRM between the Australia and

Bangladesh enables organizations to adapt their HRM practices to local
norms.While Australian firms have more managerial autonomy, their HRM
is more restricted in management of employees. In bangladesh transitional
economies,HRM departments need to develop organizational learning for
knowledge organization toincrease innovation.

Firstly, impact of culture on HRM can be seen in individualism and

collectivism,and differences in short- and long term orientation.

In a recruitment decisions less individualistic cultures such as Bangladesh

managers may place more weight on group cohesiveness while in
individualistic culture such as the Australia might emphasize individual
characteristics related to performance.

In addition, the Australian and Bangladeshi firms can differ on long-term

orientation.

Secondly, institutions affect on employment practices in australia and

also provide guidence for HRM practices . In our county’s powerful
institutions represent Asian ideological frameworks, and govern the way
individuals and firms behave. Labor regulations and trade unions have an
impact on communication with employees in Australia.

Thirdly, multinational companies (MNCs) can transfer their HRM

practices that depends on the degree of host country institutional, legal
and cultural compatibility with HR practices.

Transitional economies in Asia such as Bangladesh have different

requirements in HRM. Firms need human capital, knowledge and
technology development to increase their innovation in order to compete
with global competitors. Thus, HRM in our country should develop and
retain more knowledge human resources because global companies are
emerging in Asia.

On the other hand, universalistic model may be more valid for australian
firms. Because their firms have human capital and resource-based view
qualities (example - innovation,competence and capability) in order to set
up a simple linear relation between HRM and firm performance.
Conclusion :
Australia has a very high level of delegation of HRM practices to line ministries and the
utilisation of strategic HRM practices is higher than any other OECD country. Regarding
HRM delegation, there are limited aspects in which the central HRM unit sets and
applies policies, primarily workplace relations and senior executive staffing matters.

Most of the responsibility lies with ministries. Overall, delegation measures have led to a
broadly comparable framework within ministries, but with significant differences
between them. Regarding strategic HRM practices, regular assessments of ministries’
HRM capacity are done, HRM targets are considered in performance assessment, and
forward planning that considers a range of aspects is utilised. The only scope for
expansion is through the formalisation of a systematic workforce planning process
across the whole of government and to consider outsourcing possibilities in forward
planning.