Changing Environment of H.R.M

Assignment By! Name:

Nauroz khan

Class:

B.B.A 6th

Subject:

H.R.M

Topic:

Changing Environment Of H.R.M

Teacher:

Sir.Fakhre Alam

Date:

15/04/2010

Abasyn University Peshawar

Changing Environment of HRM: We all need to consider the environmental factors when wanting to implement anything. We all require a contingency approach to be more effective in the present world. The same holds true for organizations. The purpose of this topic is to unravel the mystery surrounding external and internal factors that complicate the job of an HR manager in actual practice. Thus you see, an HR manager works in a varied environment. He can only do his duties well if he is updated with the changing needs of the employees. And for this he naturally has to keep himself abreast with not only the environment in which the organization exists, but of the environment from which the employees are coming to work. Here, let’s take few of the environmental factors which have significant impact on the organization. The term 'environment' here refers to the "totality of all factors while influence both the organization and personnel sub-system"

External Factors influencing the Personnel Function: • • • • • • • •

Technological Factors Economic Challenges Political Factors Social Factors Local and Governmental Issues Unions Employers’ Demands Workforce Diversity

Internal Factors influencing the Personnel Function: • • • • •

Mission Policies Organizational Culture Organization Structure HR System

Each of the external factors separately or in combination can influence the HR function of any organization. The job of a HR manager is to balance the demands and expectations of the external groups with the internal requirements and achieve the assigned goals in an efficient and effective manner. Likewise, the internal environment also affects the job of a HR manager. The functional areas, structural changes, specific cultural issues peculiar to a unit, HR systems, corporate policies and a lot of other factors influence the way the

HR function is carried out. The HR manager has to work closely with these constituent parts, understand the internal dynamics properly and devise ways and means to survive and progress. In addition to these, the personnel man has to grapple with the problem of workforce diversity. All these factors individually or in combination pose challenges to HRM practices and philosophy. The challenges are:

• • • •

Going Global Embracing new technology Developing human capital Responding to the Market • Containing Costs • Increasing Productivity • Managing Changes To manage change, thus all managers need to have a vision—strategic, have open communications with all the employees, set clear expectations for performance and develop capability. Thus all managers are facilitators in terms of managing change. So we find that the role of HR management is ever increasing. It has taken up the important role of a) Boosting productivity b) More responsive and innovative c) More integrated In today’s world it is a must to be integrated in the system to survive. The gist is that HRM will have to be more strategic in nature that is visioning, planning and organizing a way ahead of times. It has to be more pro-active. HR is today heavily involved in the execution of most firms' downsizing and restructuring strategies, through outpacing employees, instituting pay-for-performance plans, reducing health care costs, and retraining employees. And in an increasingly competitive global marketplace, instituting HR practices that build employee commitment can help improve a firm's responsiveness.

Web-Based Human Resources: Today’s Human Resources function is being transformed by the Web. Web-Based Human Resources shows HR professionals how to use online technologies to offer more services to more employees at a lower cost. It offers concrete tips on which approaches are most effective in small, medium, and large organizations; provides a framework for transforming HR from a support function to one centered on organization-wide productivity and learning; and explains all the key web technologies and trends that are changing the HR function for the better! Walker states that if HR technology is to be considered successful, it must achieve the following objectives:

Strategic Alignment: Must help users in a way that supports the users.

Business intelligence: Must provide the user with relevant information and data, answer questions, and inspire new insights and learning.

Efficiency and Effectiveness Activities: Must change the work performed by the Human Resources personnel by dramatically improving their level of service, allowing more time for work of higher value, and reducing their costs. But, despite extensive implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) projects, Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS), and HR service centers costing millions of dollars, Walker concludes that few organizations have been entirely happy with the results. Why is this? Cutting HR staff, outsourcing and imposing technology on what was left, has implemented many systems. Arguably this approach should, at least, have cut costs. But Walker argues that survey results demonstrate that overall HR departments have actually increased their staffing levels over the past decade to do the same work. Moreover he considers that: "Most of the work that the HR staff does on a day-to-day basis, such as staffing, employee relations, compensation, training, employee development, and benefits, unfortunately, remains relatively untouched and unimproved from a delivery standpoint."

The HR Function: Walker advocates the business process re-engineering the HR function first, then Eengineering the HR work. He suggests the formation of re-engineering teams of providers, customers and users to examine the whole range of HR activities - including those, which are not being done at present. The end product is a set of processes organized into broad groupings such as resourcing, compensation or training and development. These processes should then be examined by the re-engineering team and redesigned to: 1. Be better aligned with organizational goals. 2. Streamlined so as to be cost-effective in comparison with the 'best in class'. 3. Have a better integration with other processes. From this redesign comes the picture of a new HR function. What next? The organization could be restructured and the tasks handed out existing or new staff. But Walker argues that the most effective approach is to introduce new technology to deal with the redesigned processes.

Learning Organizations: Learning organizations are organizations in which: - The capacity of people to create results they truly desire is continually expanding; - New and open-minded ways of thinking are fostered; - People are given freedom to develop their collective aspirations; - Individuals continually learn how to learn together. This set of goals may seem somewhat ambitious but they can be achieved through the gradual convergence of five 'component technologies', the essential disciplines that are: •

•

• • •

Systems thinking. People in an organization are part of a system. Systems’ thinking is a discipline which integrates the other disciplines in a business. It allows the 'whole' (organization) to be greater than the 'parts (people, departments, teams, equipment and so on). Personal mastery. This discipline allows people to clarify and focus their personal visions, focus energy, develop patience and see the world as it really is. Employees who possess a high level of personal mastery can consistently generate results which are important to them through their commitment to lifelong learning. Mental models. These are internalized frameworks, which support our views of the world, beliefs in why and how events happen, and our understanding of how things, people and events are related. Building shared vision. Developing 'shared pictures of the future' together so that people are genuinely committed and engaged rather than compliant. Team learning. Teams as a vital element of a learning organization. Hence there is a great significance in the ability of teams to learn.

There are at least 17 major areas of human resource in business today: -Organization structuring and design -Selection/succession -Orientation -Communication -Goal Setting: Individual -Goal Setting: Team -Performance Feedback -Career management support -Individual Learning support -Organization development -Job/work design -Benefits -Pay/rewards systems -HR information systems -Individual assessment -Organization assessment -Performance support

IT and the changing role of HR: In today's competitive business environment, company workforces are in a continual state of flux - skill sets and job requirements as well as the regulatory environment change at such a rapid pace that the staff needs of tomorrow are very different to those of today. HR has therefore become a huge investment for medium and large companies across industries, with people-related costs averaging over 60 percent of total corporate expenditures. The leading firms have been taking steps to ensure that they extract maximum value from their HR investments, introducing models that go beyond basic HR functionality to embrace new ways of improving the quality, efficiency and productivity of their workforces. These businesses recognize that, to be fully effective, HR programs require new processes, supported by leading technologies. The backdrop to the introduction of these new systems is the uncertain business conditions that followed the economic downturn. This situation has resulted in a relentless drive for cost control, which affects the HR department as much as any other. HR now has to demonstrate that it can develop and deliver programs as efficiently as possible, providing greater value at a lower cost. The current economic environment has also forced firms to become more nimble. The time to evaluate before taking action has decreased dramatically; organizations now have months or quarters instead of years to modify and execute business plans to take advantage of opportunities. As a result, increasing workforce flexibility and responsiveness is a key objective for HR departments in leading companies.

Control and Measure Results: A HR Manager must conduct regular organizational assessments on issues like pay, benefits, work environment, management and promotional opportunities to assess the progress over the long term. There is also a need to develop appropriate measuring tools to measure the impact of diversity initiatives at the organization through organizationwide feedback surveys and other methods. Without proper control and evaluation, some of these diversity initiatives may just fizzle out, without resolving any real problems that may surface due to workplace diversity.

Conclusion: The role of the HR manager must parallel the needs of the changing environment of organization. Successful organizations are becoming more adaptable, resilient, quick to change directions, and customer-centered. Within this environment, the HR professional must learn how to manage effectively through planning, organizing, leading and controlling the human resource and be knowledgeable of emerging trends in training and employee development.