“If you want to manage people effectively, help them by making sure the org chart leaves as little as possible to the imagination. It should paint a crystal-clear picture of reporting relationships and make it patently obvious who is responsible for what results.” – Jack Welch, Winning
What will it take for businesses to succeed in the competitive environment of today and the future? It will take more than information and knowledge ahout marketplace trends; those are in ample supply. What's less common, but required, is the work force.
There are 5 main components to the competitive business environment of the 21st century, centering on economic, demographic, geographic, consumer and workforce trends. The major challenge that the businesses face these days is to improve workforce trends / have a focused Human capital to grow and maintain their business processes. This results in he visibility of the changing role of HR Managers that is more challenging. The role of HR Dept in any organisation is to be totally different that was in the past.
What has drastically changed from past is the changing motivational methods for the employees. In the past, employees were driven through basic needs. Today they are driven throuh social & intellectual needs. Such change in motivational factors has led to the challenging role of HR. Still this is going to be more challenging in the future as in the years coming ahead the trend will be “People drive themselves”.
To survive in the competitive environment companies not only have to keep updating themselves in terms of technologies but also in terms of keeping young workforce motivated and challenged at all time. The breed of young and energetic individuals is challenging a lot to the time tested theories of employee recruitment, staffing, motivation and general HR practices. There are lots of challenges that HR managers faces in terms of
Such and many more challenges have made the role of HR people more challenging. In the coming years the role of HR would be perceived as :
In today’s organizations, to guarantee their viability and ability to contribute, HR managers need to think of themselves as strategic partners. In this role, the HR person contributes to the development of and the accomplishment of the organization – wide business plan and objectives. In order to perform this role HR professionals should have:
As an employee sponsor or advocate, the HR manager plays an integral role in organizational success via his knowledge about and advocacy of people. This advocacy includes expertise in how to create a work environment in which people will choose to be motivated, contributing, and happy.
Fostering effective methods of goal setting, communication and empowerment through responsibility, builds employee ownership of the organization. The HR professional helps establish the organizational culture and climate in which people have the competency, concern and commitment to serve customers well.
In this role, the HR manager provides employee development opportunities, employee assistance programs, gainsharing and profit sharing strategies, organization development interventions, due process approaches to problem solving and regularly scheduled communication opportunities.
CHANGE CHAMPION :
The constant evaluation of the effectiveness of the organization results in the need for the HR professional to frequently champion change. Both knowledge about and the ability to execute successful change strategies make the HR professional exceptionally valued. Knowing how to link change to the strategic needs of the organization will minimize employee dissatisfaction and resistance to change.
The HR professional contributes to the organization by constantly assessing the effectiveness of the HR function. He also sponsors change in other departments and in work practices. To promote the overall success of his organization, he champions the identification of the organizational mission, vision, values, goals and action plans. Finally, he helps determine the measures that will tell his organization how well it is succeeding in all of this.
It is also important to develop latent talent of employees in an organization, which ultimately impact the quality of their decision-making abilities. However, the investment in HR programmes should not be directed solely at individuals who are in the ‘high talent’ category but to concentrate the investment in people whose performance can be enhanced with effective training.
HR, now days, is much more than just recruitment. The role of senior HR managers is mainly focused towards delivering customer needs. In this case, employees in other departments are equivalent to customers. HR managers should play an influential role in various departments, like marketing communications, logistics and finance. Their contribution should be able to influence the performance of the organization and should be recognized by employees as an initiative that makes a positive difference to the company.
HR is taking a more proactive role today in the organization. It improves the operational outcomes directly. HR managers have to view their job with a broader perspective and that is vital to the company. Ultimately, the trend is changing to being a business manager and rather than a simple advisor.
To have better HRD practices into the organization, it is important to have a conductive atmosphere. Quality of work life is one of the most important factors that lead to such conductive factors. According to me this will lead to an atmosphere of good interpersonal relations and highly motivated employees who strive for their development. Though monetary benefits still occupy the first place in the list of motivational factors but others should not be ignored like: job restructuring and job redesign, career development, promotional opportunities etc.
In any industry Human resource is the vital resource as they are raw material and it is one’s responsibility to take care of them. Whatever company does for the welfare of its people should have human touch in it. Gone are the days when candidates use to change jobs just for salary, now what they are looking for is what companies are offering beyond salary. This can be easily justified from the fact that most of the IT companies are concentrating more on the non-financial benefits.
Companies should plan to have get - together to celebrate achievements made by teams and individuals. B'day's gift to be given. dinner coupon on their marriage anniversary. Flexi time, paid vacation, cards/ mail to recognize personal achievement, appreciation letter, outing of project team at the end of the successful completion of the project, free health check-up, canteen facility, recreation room etc. These activities will definitely motivate employees to work with full concentration which in turn will increase their efficiency. One need to increase the credibility of HR within the organization that can be done by:
Human Being is the most underutilized resource and a large amount of human potential lies untapped. By understanding human beings and providing the appropriate environment it is possible to harness that latent power within the human being, which will make all the difference between success and failure in the time to come, the power of the human spirit.
The main objective of this article is to draw attention towards the changing trends of workforce the role of HR Dept. to change along with this changing trend and to help business grow and maintain themselves in this competitive environment.
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