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Trends and Challenges in Human Resource Management

Conference Paper · April 2012

DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.13604843

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 Trends and Challenges in Human Resource Management

Trends and Challenges in Human Resource Management

- Dr. A. SathishBabu*
- K. Sripathi **

Abstract

The most valuable assets for any organization is undoubtedly its Human
Resources. These Human Resources help the organizations realize the vision and give
the organization great competence to fight the competition. With the changing
demographics and volatile global economic conditions, the need to retain the human
resources has become very essential. Organizations are currently facing great
challenges to deal with the diverse human resources. To deal with the individuals, the
organizations are trying different strategies. Some of the organizations are being more
innovative and evolving with the best HR practices.

With the ever changing needs of the organization, the human resources must
be always ready to combat problems. Hence there is a great need to use innovative HR
techniques. The present paper discusses some of the current day HR techniques that
are being practiced by the organizations. The paper explains the techniques and how
they are being implemented in the organizations. The issues that need to be focused by
HR managers while implementing these techniques were also discussed in the paper.

Trends and Challenges in Human Resource Management

The field of Human Resource Management is developing very fast & every
department of human activity is realizing its importance in the smooth functioning of the
organization. Innovative techniques are developed to improve the work culture, so that the
employees are motivated to give in their best to the organization. There is tough competition
everywhere & to survive with grace, one will have to accept the changes in this modern
world and adopt the latest human resources practices. Those who refuse to change will be left
behind & will have to accept defeat. So, it is imperative to implement the latest human
resource practices in the organization.

Sodexo has conducted a research study with the title “Workplace Trends 2012” has
identified Top 10 Workplace Trends of 2012. They are:

 Integration of Workplace Solutions: Creating Higher Value

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Ph.D., Associate Professor, P.G. Dept. of Commerce & Management Studies, VRS & YRN (P.G.)
College, Chirala
** MBA., M.Phil., (Ph.D)., MIMA, Asst. Professor, School of Management Studies, Vignan University,
Vadlamudi

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Management : Issues and Challenges for the Decade

 Workplaces That Promote Sustainability

 Inclusive Workplaces
 It’s All About Me: Rewards & Recognition
 Virtual Workforces
 The Built Environment as a Driver of Employee Engagement
 Evidence-based Space Design
 Quantifiable Employee Health & Wellness Initiatives
 Psychological Health in the Workplace
 Flexible Workplaces

Some of the above trends seem to be introduced long back, but they did not reach into
many firms. The present day business challenges for HRM make the HR managers to quickly
adapt these trends into their organizations and reap their benefits.

Another firm ‘Business & Legal Resources’ has published similar work , in which it
also identified Top 10 priority areas for HR Functions. The list includes :

 Health Care initiatives

 Paid leave initiatives
 Ethical practices
 Social media
 Environmental responsibility
 Workplace wellness
 Classifying employees
 Retirement of baby boomers
 Identity theft
 Communications

However, as the Human Resource function has gained the global momentum, all the
organizations may not believe in the truth and success of these trends. It can only be
projected that, if needed organizations have to be ready to take up these challenges.

Some of the latest techniques in the field of Human Resource Development are:

Employees for Lease

Sometimes the organizations depend upon consultancy agencies or individual
consultants for their expertise to tap and utilize their expert knowledge. The consultancy
agencies offer expert advice and the execution of the advice is left to the employees of the

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organization. The employees may in some of the cases fail to covert the know-how into a
project. Under such circumstances, new types of organizations will emerge, which would be
called as Employee Leasing Organization. These leasing organizations will be principal
employers and send the required number and kind of employees to various organizations on
lease basis. They collect the fee & other charges from various industries & pay the salaries,
provide benefits to the employees. The Leasing Company will pay complete salary and
benefits to the employees irrespective of the number of days that the employee is sent to
various organizations on lease. This type of agreement is beneficial to the leasing company,
specialist employees and the industry. The industry with limited budget can utilize the expert
advice & service of most competent human resources.

Moonlighting by Employees

This is a situation, which arises among employees on account of dissatisfaction from

present wage & salary structure. They feel that employer enjoys the increased profit and that
they are being exploited by the employer. Consequently they agitate for hike in wages or take
up another part-time job or business simultaneously with that of the original job. This is also
known as Double Jobbing.
Moonlighting by employees affects almost all the functions of Human Resource
Management. The effects of Moonlighting would be mostly negative & it poses challenges to
the personnel manager. Presently very limited number of employees does moonlighting, but
the number of employees will go on increasing due to change in employee values &
expectations. Management will have to take all possible care in selection process about the
possibility of moonlighting by the prospective candidates.

Dual Career Groups

There has been a tremendous increase in the number of female employees in all types
of organizations due to: -
 Increased career orientation among women in recent years.

 Creation of variety of jobs.

 higher level commitment

 Better performance.

 Less demanding & agitate oriented.

 Economic Freedom.

 Better Social Status.

 Aspirations for quality of work life.

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Management : Issues and Challenges for the Decade

Due to dual career groups, both wife & husband will be loaded with grievances &
problems as both of them share their problems, both at work and off the job. In view of
overloading of the problems to both the members in dual career groups, they spend heir time
and energy in solving the problems or in getting the grievances redressed for both the parties.
So, there will be possibility of less commitment to the work in the organization by both the
parties.
Due to this new trend in HR, in a nutshell, the HR manager should treat people as
resources, reward them equitably, and integrate their aspirations with corporate goals through
suitable HR policies.

Instant rewards
Recognizing and rewarding performers is one of the most effective tools to attract and
retain the right talent. Companies in India are looking at rewards systems more seriously, and
are adopting total rewards practices that include compensation in both cash and kind. Apart
from lifestyle perquisites such as a house, a car or a club membership, profit-linked
incentives, deferred gratuity, and wealth-building programmes in the form of stock options
and soft loans, companies are also including work-life balance programmes; competency pay
packages where niche skills are compensated; and career opportunities, such as overseas
assignments, new projects, etc., to reward staff. These rewards can be tailored to suit the top
performers’ aspirations to achieve maximum effect.

Flexi-time & Flexi-work

The number of hours in a day, number of days in a week and work schedule when the
worker has to perform is normally stated in the Job Description. The concept of Flexi-
time has been introduced in order to suit the convenience of the workers without affecting the
organizational functioning. Flexi-time is a program that allows flexible entry and leaving
times for employees. Flexi-time increases productivity, decline in absenteeism, and reduction
in employee turnover & increase in morale. Flexi-work - It is a program that allows
flexibility in handling the type of work in various departments of the organizations in
systematic way by the employee during his tenure of employment in an organization. For
example, a candidate may be selected as a clerk in the Personnel Department and after two
years he may be allowed to take up work in any other department of the organization.

Managing aspirations
As aspirations of organizations grow, so do those of employees. And, with the
changing lifestyles and profiles of the workforce, personal and professional aspirations of
employees are not just varied, but are increasingly on the rise. Experts say people as well as
organizations have aspirations, and when the two get aligned, achieving business goals
becomes easier. Companies should be clear about goals of individuals as well as of the
organization, and the role each needs to play. The firm should also communicate the goals,
and have robust and reliable processes to execute them.

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Training & Development

Organizations spend a lot of time and resources in training, developing and educating
their employees in tune with the job awareness and organizations' requirements. This is
mostly due to the absence of linkage between the industry and universities. Organizations in
future will establish their own educational institutes. These institutes will frame their course
curriculum to suit the requirements of various jobs in the organization as a whole. These
institutes will go on changing the course curriculum depending upon the changes in
technology, work methods, production process and activities and so on. The intake of these
institutes depends on exclusive requirements of organization. After the completion of the
course, the candidate will be awarded a diploma and absorbed by the organization. This
management arrangement will automatically take care of the problem of unemployment and
underemployment. This arrangement will also minimize the duration of time to be spent by
the candidate in his educational process.

Management Participation in Employees' Organizations

With the formation and recognition of employees' organizations, the management
cannot make unilateral decisions those affect employee relationship directly or indirectly.
Decisions relating to policies on employment, training, transfer, promotion, adoption of latest
technology etc. are no longer determined by unilateral action of management and must now
be discussed with the representatives of employees' organizations. Decisions on the policies
and administration may still rest with management, but they are frequently subject to question
and criticism by union representatives under a formal grievance procedure. This technique
enables the two parties to exchange ideas, opinions, information and knowledge to
understand each other's viewpoint, with an open mind and thereby avoid all
misunderstandings. Thus, the management representatives may provide effective plans,
suggestions, advice organization and directions for sound management and functioning of
federations and unions for the common good of both the parties.

Right skilling
Right skilling, or matching jobs with a particular level of training rather than hiring
overskilled workers, is gaining currency. Companies use this strategy to tide over a
manpower supply crunch and to broaden their talent base. Apart from IT and ITeS firms,
organizations in the banking and financial services sector, too, have been increasingly hiring
graduates and training them.

Collaborative Management
It is the general practice that the owners and/or their representatives manage the
organization. But most of the organizations have started allowing their employees to
participate in management. It is viewed that different parties concerned with the
organizational activities will manage the organization through participation. Such type of
management system is referred as 'Collaborative Management'. Employee's participation in
management was initiated to satisfy workers' psychological needs, to develop a sense of
belongingness and loyalty to the organization.

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Management : Issues and Challenges for the Decade

HR Managers should concentrate on the following areas to ensure success: -

 Use workforce skills and abilities in order to exploit environmental opportunities and
neutralize threats.
 Employ innovative reward plans that recognize employee contributions and grant
enhancements.
 Indulge in continuous quality improvement through TQM and HR contributions like
training, development, counseling, etc.
 Utilize people with distinctive capabilities to create unsurpassed competence in an area.
 Decentralize operations and rely on self-managed teams to deliver goods in difficult
times e.g. Motorola is famous for short product development cycles. It has quickly
commercialized ideas from its research labs.

Recommendations
Change is the law of nature. It is necessary way of life in different circles. Though
there may be some discontentment during the early days of change, people learn to meet the
changes and adopt themselves to the changing situations. The management in future will try
to:
 Give up authoritarian style of leadership and adopt participative style of leadership.
 Follow human relations approach and partnership approach towards employees.
 Encourage creative skills and abilities and reward those talents.
 Shift the emphasis from legal and rule bounded approach.
 Participate in trade union activities; recognize human resource as a profit centre and as a
basic instrument to earn profits rather than as a cost centre.
 Understand the fact that human resource management will dominate all other functional
areas of management.

Further, the role of all Personnel Manager will also change. Those changes will be as follows:

 Personnel manager and individual manager will give emphasis on overall development
of human resources.
 Human Resource Management function will be extended to cover career planning and
development, organization and development, organize climate, role analysis, national
wage policy, social justice etc.

Today competition is very tough and if an organization has to survive in the race
gracefully, it has to constantly upgrade its skills and sharpen its capabilities. Many new
techniques are implemented in the organizations to motivate the employees and to help them
perform to their optimum capacity. By using the above-mentioned techniques and many other

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Trends and Challenges in Human Resource Management

programs, the organization tries to make the workers and employees more competent,
committed & comfortable to do a given job.

Conclusion
Human resource management is a process of bringing people and organizations
together so that the goals of each other are met. The role of HR manager is shifting from that
of a protector and screener to the role of a planner and change agent. Over the years, highly
skilled and knowledge based jobs are increasing while low skilled jobs are decreasing.

References
1. Goodall, K., and M. Warner. 1999. Enterprise reform, labor–management relations, and
human resource management in a multinational context. International Studies of
Management and Organization
2. Huselid, M.A. 1995. The impact of human resource management practices on turnover,
productivity, and corporate financial performance. Academy of Management Journal
3. Hackman, J.R. and G.R. Oldham. 1976. Motivation through the design of work: Test of a
theory. Organizational Behaviour and Human Performance

Websites
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for-hr
2. http://www.ceridian.ca/en/news/2005/10trends.pdf
3. http://asbbs.org/files/2011/ASBBS2011v1/PDF/C/CrouseP.pdf
4. http://www.chillibreeze.com/articles_various/human-resources.asp
5. http://hr.blr.com/HR-news/HR-Administration/HR-Strategy/nt2-10-Workplace-Trends-
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