Discuss the challenges of Human Resource Management in the present business scenario.

Discuss the challenges of Human Resource Management in the present business scenario. Explain why HRM has become more important than ever. Explain with respect to the organization you know about, while describing the organization as well.

Answer. Human Resource Management is based on ideas and techniques developed to enhance worker motivation, productivity and performance. Human resource management involves all management decisions and practices that directly affect or influence the people, or human resources, who work for the organization.
The HRM challenges are
1. Managing the Vision: Vision of the organization provides the direction to business strategy and helps managers to evaluate management practices and make decisions. So vision management becomes the integral part of Man management in future.
2. Internal environment: Creating an environment which is responsive to external changes, providing satisfaction to the employees and sustaining through culture and systems is a challenging task.
3. Changing Industrial Relations: Both the workers and managers has to be managed by the same HRM Philosophy and this is a daunting task for the managers.

4. Building Organizational capability: Even in the adverse circumstances the employees have to be made to live in psychological state of readiness to continually change.


5. Job Design & Organizational structure: Instead of depending on foreign concepts we need to focus on understanding the job, technology and the people involved in carrying out the tasks.


6. Managing the large work force: Management of large workforce poses the biggest problem as the workers are conscious of their rights.

7. Psycho-Social environment: Nowadays employees participation required not only in performing job but also in democratizing and humanizing the institution.


8. Employee Satisfaction: Managers should be aware of techniques to motivate their employees so that their higher level needs can be satisfied.


9. Modern technology: There will be an unemployment due to modern technology and this could be corrected by assessing manpower needs and finding alternate employment.


10. Computerized Information System: This is revolutionary in managerial decision making and is having impact on coordination in the organization.


11. Legal environment: To meet the changes in legal environment, adjustments have to be made to the maximum utilization of human resources.


12. Managing Human Relations: As the workforce comprises of both educated and uneducated, managing the relations will be of great challenge.


Significance/Importance
Human resources play a crucial role in the development process of modern economies. There are great differences in development between countries which seem to have roughly equal resources, so it is necessary to enquire into the difference in human behavior. It is often felt that, though the exploitation of natural resources, availability of physical and financial resources and international aid play prominent roles in the growth of modern economies, none of these factors is more significant than efficient and committed manpower. It is in fact, said that all development comes from the human mind.


Why HR matters now more than Ever?

Companies today face five critical business challenges. Collectively, these challenges require organizations to build new capabilities. HR can play a significant role to meet the following competitive challenges:
‰ Globalization: Globalization requires that organizations increase their ability to learn and collaborate and to manage diversity, complexity, and ambiguity.


‰ Profitability through growth: Companies seeking to acquire new customers and develop new products must be creative and innovative, and must encourage the free flow of information and shared learning among employees.
‰ Technology: From video conferencing to the Internet, technology has made our world smaller and faster. The challenge for managers is to make sense and good use of what technology offers.
‰ Intellectual capital: Knowledge has become a direct competitive advantage.
Successful companies will be the ones that are the most adept at attracting, developing, and retaining individuals who can drive a global organization that is responsive to both its customers and the burgeoning opportunities of technology.
‰ Change: To thrive, companies will need to be in a never-ending state of transformation, perpetually creating fundamental, enduring change.


Objectives
The objective of Human Resources is to maximize the return on investment from the organization's human capital and minimize financial risk. It is the responsibility of human resource managers to conduct these activities in an effective, legal, fair, and consistent manner. Human resource management serves these key functions:
‰ Recruitment Strategy Planning
‰ Hiring Processes(recruitment)
‰ Performance Evaluation and Management
‰ Promotions
‰ Redundancy
‰ Industrial and Employee Relations
‰ Record keeping of all personal data.
‰ Compensation, pensions, bonuses etc in liaison with Payroll
‰ Confidential advice to internal 'customers' in relation to problems at work.



EXAMPLE CASE- HR DEPARTMENT FUNCTIONS AT PTU

Introduction

Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar was established in January 1997 for advancement of technical education & development. The University has under its affiliation 40 Engineering colleges,56 Management, 17 Pharmacy colleges ,6
Architecture 2 Hotel Management and 13 colleges imparting courses in Medical Lab Technolgy& IT disciplines. The University has an intake of more than 12700 and total strength of more than 60,000 approx. University has established 12 Regional Centres for M-Tech courses and has established school of Entrepreneurship.


About the Department of Human Resources

The Human Resources Department is responsible for the employment staff at the University and provides advice and guidance on recruitment, probation, promotion, terms and conditions and contracts of employment, appraisal, reward management, equal opportunities, grievance and discipline and retirement. The Department incorporates:
‰ HR Operations
‰ Staff Development
‰ Health & Safety
‰ Childcare Services.



Human Resources Operations

Human Resources Operations is responsible for ensuring that employees and associated personnel of the University have ready access to a range of quality HR services which are relevant, reliable, responsive and cost effective.


The main activities cover:
‰ HR Strategy, Policy & Planning
‰ Recruitment & Selection
‰ Employment contract administration
‰ HR Information & Records
‰ Employee Relations
‰ Equalities & Diversity

Each University department or service has an HR Manager & HR Administrator as designated points of contact which helps us to better understand their needs and work towards offering a more personalized service.