HRM Session 3 : Challenges to HR Professionals

Source : Personnel Management by Edwin B. Flippo (pg:10-22)

Challenges faced by current crop of HR professionals Changing mix of the work force Changing personal values of the work force Changing expectation of citizen-employees Changing levels of productivity Changing demands of government

Changing mix of the work force Increased no.of minorities

entering occupations requiring greater skills Are they equipped with required

levels of skills & education Increasing levels of formal

education for the entire work force Jobs don’t match with the

personnel Frustration, absenteeism,

grievances, turnover More female employees

Is it better? Increased consumer spending Adaptability to unemployment Overall rise in productivity Increased tendency to acquire

professional education & training

Surprise greetings As a working mother with an office in my

home, I pride myself on maintaining a professional image. One key to that image is my answering-machine greeting, which is often the first contact clients have with me. I worked on making it sound upbeat and enthusiastic, and thought I had succeeded until a friend left this message: "Judy, this is Pam. I love your greeting, but do you know that you can hear your little boy in the background saying, 'Mommy, I gotta go potty'?"

Changing mix of the work force More married female employees More working mothers

How best to help them Flexi hours Job sharing Child care

Blue collar to white collar shift White collar employees do not tend to form unions Have greater expectation in terms of individual

treatment Difficult of evaluate performances Leads to participative appraisal systems like

“management by objectives”

Changing personal values : Earlier days

Changing personal values : Now

How to tackle changing personal views Assign repetitive, less challenging jobs to those willing Pay for the skills possessed than skills demanded by

job Fringe benefits Flexi time

Flexible starting time usually a band Core working time where all are present Flexible leaving time Issues : no of hours worked, monitoring, customer confusion Benefits

Enhanced productivity Reduced employee tardiness & absenteeism Improved moral & reduced turn over

Changing expectation of citizen employees External rights of citizenship penetrating

business enterprises Freedom of speech

Whistle blowing When is it acceptable

Proven desire to improve organization or protecting public

Right to privacy How much to divulge while joining an organization? Organizations are prying on employees life Employee perceives invasion of privacy when

personal info distributed without permission Personality info rather than productivity data is disclosed Personal info distributed to outsiders

Changing levels of productivity Productivity changes because of

Laws & regulations regarding environmental protection, health & safety .. Have increased cost of doing business

New employees into business increased because of laws Influx of female & minorities makes productivity dive in

the initial periods Mangers having short term goals tend to concentrate

more on marketing and ignore vital research, development & new plant investments

Maturing economies shift from manufacturing to service and achieving higher productivity levels in a service economy becomes difficult

Adverse relationships with labor unions Employee alienation & poor employee attitudes

Changing demands of government Government rules keep on changing regarding

the operative functions of HRM HR needs to keep himself updating and

reacting proactively Balancing organization objective and

government legislations becomes a challenge

Some more challenges for the new age HR professional

HR Management Challenges Globalization of Business

The threat of terrorism- How does this impact what we do?

Economic and Technological Changes Occupational shifts from manufacturing and

agriculture to service industries and telecommunications.

Pressures of global competition causing firms to adapt by lowering costs and increasing productivity.

Technological Shifts and the Internet Growth of information technology

Changing demographics

Fastest Growing Jobs to 2010Fastest Growing Jobs to 2010

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov.

HR Management ChallengesWorkforce Availability and Quality Concerns

Inadequate supply of workers with needed skills for “knowledge jobs”

80% of manufacturing jobs report shortage of qualified workers Education of workers in basic skills

Not enough specific skills, not enough technology skillsGrowth in Contingent Workforce

Represents 20% of the workforce Increases in temporary workers, independent contractors,

leased employees, and part-timers caused by: Need for flexibility in staffing levels Increased difficulty in firing regular employees. Reduced legal liability from contract employees Boeing Strategy- manage employment cycles in suppliers and

partners

Quality of work life QWL is the level at which the members of an org. can satisfy their

personal requirements through their experience in the org. Its main obj. is to focus on creating a good working environment as a

result of which employees work together in a cooperative way and contribute their best in achieving the organizational goals

Employee expectations are Fair & reasonable Pay Safer Environment Employee Benefits Job Security Job satisfaction Empowerment Career Opportunities