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HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT.
Term Paper ID:30799
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Essay Subject:
Discusses the field of HR.... More...
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12 Pages / 2700 Words
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Paper Abstract:
Discusses the field of HR. Its purpose and activities. Problems created in the workplace by industrial relations, and impact of new technologies. Training of workers. Response to affirmative action programs. How Information technology (IT) has changed the workplace. Impact of computers on worker flexibility. Retention of workers. Federal and state regulations.
Paper Introduction:
Introduction
The idea has been advanced that human resources management solves the problems created by industrial relations. In this context, "industrial relations" encompasses such diverse issues as unionization and collective bargaining (Labor-management relations), worker satisfaction (as well as absenteeism and job turnover), recruitment and promotion of workers, affirmative action and other regulatory structures impacting upon the workplace. Additionally, the field of Human Resources (HR) is one that has been enormously impacted by new technologies, new strategies for enhancing worker productivity, and new ideas regarding what constitutes job satisfaction and effective motivational programming. As Jennifer Laabs (1998) has commented, today's HR professionals are "required to have a vast amount of
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Further, thelegislation will link local businesses more closely to the long-standingJob Corps program which offers residential educational and training fordisadvantaged youth. Anonymous. HR managers have, however, responded to the various affirmativeaction mandates handed down in recent years. Schine, Eric. Training often focuses on the followingissues: - learning to recognize and avoid stereotypes; - valuing the unique qualifications that characterize different racial, ethnic, and gender groups; - renouncing the ethic of conformity and assimilation; - creating sensitivity training programs for non-HR supervisors and managers; - developing "outreach" programs to actively identify, recruit, train and advance members of minority groups as well as women and the disabled (MacDonald, 1993). are currently dissatisfied with their current training anddevelopment systems and want to improve them, positioning HR as the logicalfocus for such an effort. Additionally, managing diversity advocates insistthat their's is not only a formula for social justice but also a hard-headed way of boosting profits. Eric Schine (1991) reportedthat at Hughes Aircraft, aggressive efforts to respond to these mandateshas resulted in the creation of a total staff that contains a fully one-third minority representation, up from 13 percent in the early 197 s. Laabs, Jennifer. Frozen Food Age (1999) reported in June 1999 that a new federalsafety law will go into effect on December 1, 1999 to facilitate moreeducation, training, and job development for forklift operators. (1998a). The best Black. Workplace flexibility, the advent of thevirtual office and technology-driven workplace shifts implicit intelecommuting and video-conferencing and e-mail as a replacement for face-to-face interactions are effects with which HR has come to terms in shortorder. King, Ralph. HRFocus, 75 (11), 4. (1999). Carter, Stephen. Thoughmost of these regulations are not accompanied by financial incentives orassistance, private sector employers are financially penalized for failureto comply with education and training mandates established under such laws. Quitting quotas. Myron, David. One major problem faced by HR professionals is thatemployees hired n response to affirmative action program have disturbinglyhigh attrition and low promotion rates; diversity advocates argue thatincipient, often thinly disguised racism and sexism are responsible forthis situation. Whiletargeted to government and not-for-profit agencies, the legislationrecognized that a partnership between public and private sector entities isvitally important in providing the kind of job-specific training that canfacilitate placement of workers. InformationWeek, 738, 125. (1995). This has become an important function in HR, particularly inmanufacturing and industrial organizations which are heavily scrutinized byOSHA and other regulatory agencies. The newlegislation, 29CFR 191 .178, takes its place among the Occupational Safetyand Health Administration's regulations which focus on employee safety andhealth protection. Thepurpose of this report is to examine this and other legislative efforts tofacilitate, among other things, the movement of undertrained, under- orunemployed men and women, including those formerly dependent upon publicassistance subsidies, to meaningful and economically viable paidemployment. Introduction The idea has been advanced that human resources management solves theproblems created by industrial relations. Diversity consultants, therefore, offer training incultural sensitivity and other areas. HR plays acritical role in this area by identifying employee needs and linking thoseneeds, the company's own concerns, and cost-effective and carefullytargeted learning opportunities. Most significant isthe fact that the legislation will extend the availability of these taxcredits to smaller businesses, those that have thus far been largelyignored in the process of developing programs. While mostcompanies (6 percent) tend to rely on externally developed trainingprograms, these new technologies and IT in general are mandating that HRdevelop company and application-specific training and development modulesfor managers and workers. Tuition that is paid topublic institutions and private schools would also be eligible for suchcredits at tax time. (1997). (1998). The diversity industry. As Jennifer Laabs(1998) has commented, today's HR professionals are "required to have a vastamount of knowledge on a wide array of topics, of which those mentionedabove are but a small part. Tuition reimbursement is but one way thatHR is accomplishing its across-the-board mission of facilitating thedevelopment of a technologically competent, motivated workforce.Capowski (1998) has commented that many HR professionals are using suchmechanisms as skill-based pay (a direct artifact of the IT revolution!) tochallenge and motivate employees to increase their knowledge. Adjusting to the fruits of affirmative action -- increased cultural,racial, ethnic, and gender diversity in the workplace -- has also beendifficult for HR managers. Job bill gives power to locals." AmericanCity & Country, 113(11), 14. Title V of the legislation also created "one-stop employmentcenters" that would effectively link private and public sector actors whoare critical in the movement of workers into the work setting. Anonymous. (1998). MacDonald, Heather. The brevity of the report prohibits a thoroughgoinganalysis of all of the workplace problems encountered by HR managers, butthe foregoing discussion is indicative of the scope such issues. (1989). The aforementioned "one-stop" service centers will provide informationregarding local job opportunities and HR needs, link trainees and jobseekers to private sector work opportunities, and otherwise assist bothemployers and potential employees in finding one another. Adults,youth and dislocated (or downsized) workers will also benefit from thisshift in emphasis; HR will benefit by being provided with a pool of trainedworkers ready to take their places in the market. (1997). One example of this paradigm shift was identified by Mateyaschuk(1999), who reported on an intranet HR software program calledKnowledgePoint that helps personnel managers, including IT managers, trackemployee performance and write performance reviews and evaluations. The purpose of this report is to examine some of the activities of HRmanagement with respect to problems created in the workplace by industrialrelations. HR professionals are therefore required to remain current with theseregulations and to take a lead role in designing, implementing, monitoring,and evaluating job training effectiveness to ensure compliance with thelaw. Additionally, David Myron (1999) has reported that a nationalcoalition of businesses has been formed under the aegis of the ComputingTechnology Industry Association (CompTIA) to lobby for federal and statelegislation that would crate tax credits for training in the informationtechnology (IT) sector. Greengard, Samuel. Mateyaschuk, Jennifer. Anonymous. Other issues facing today's HR professionals are plans foreducational reimbursement of workers, lifelong learning programs (acritical factor in worker retention and morale/motivation building), andnew methods of motivating employees and offering meaningful and valuedincentives (Laabs, 1998). Notonly will HR have to take a lead role in training workers for IT; it willalso have to "train the trainers" to capitalize upon emergent technologies.IT has affected literally all aspects of corporate life and work, and HRhas its own internal challenge to meet in mastering this technology. Hettinger, James. In this context, "industrialrelations" encompasses such diverse issues as unionization and collectivebargaining (Labor-management relations), worker satisfaction (as well asabsenteeism and job turnover), recruitment and promotion of workers,affirmative action and other regulatory structures impacting upon theworkplace. How technology will change the workplace.Workforce, 77 (1), 78 -83. Lowry (1995) has stated that private sector firms have "moved" intothe affirmative action business either willingly, for public relationspurposes, or unwilling, in response to laws like the Civil Rights Act of1991. It's what you know. Workers arerewarded with higher pay and even tuition reimbursement when they succeedin improving skills and knowledge and demonstrating the productivityeffects of such improvements. (1999). Kirchhoff, Sue. Forklift training programs available to help meetnew OSHA regulations." Frozen Food Age, 47(11), 5 . Inaddition, to help identify qualified minority recruits and to foster thecreation of a pool of such recruits, Hughes also provides in excess of $2million each year in financial aid to Black colleges, launched (under HRmanagement) a program to bring students and faculty to Hughes to work withcompany scientists, and invested some $25 , to help start a new math andscience engineering public high school in Domingus, California, where mostof the students are Black. Lowry (1995) states that the role of the federal and stategovernments in overseeing business and industry in this regard is enormousCorrespondingly, the costs of such oversightare equally high for the regulatory agencies and the businesses andindustries themselves.HR and Affirmative Action Ralph King (1988) commented that affirmative action has shifted someof the key roles and functions of human resources managers, who now playsome of the roles once held by unions, and disputes over fairness areturning into costly court battles. A hard climb in a downturn. CQ Weekly (1998b) also noted that the House version of the Bill,which was incorporated in the final act passed by the Senate and signedinto law by the President, encourages school districts (which provide muchof the vocational, technical, and other educational and training servicesthat are covered) to form partnerships with local community colleges,technical schools, and private businesses to improve training. The NewRepublic, 2 9(26), 22-29. D'Souza, Dinesh. Targeted rewards monetary and otherwise) are nowbeing employed more commonly to initiate and sustain motivation; rewardsare being linked to specific performance measures reflecting the firm'svision, mission, values and goals. The emphasis on fairness has forcedmanagement to develop standards for hiring and promoting as well asevaluating employees that are viewed by many HR managers as tooconstraining. SamuelGreengard (1998) has stated that computers have automated and come tomanage almost every type of process-succession planning, training, skillsdevelopment, retirement and government compliance -- all functions in whichHR is intimately involved. A tax break to encourage training?"VARBusiness, 15(7), 51. Vocational Education overhaul measure clears,heads for Clinton signature." CQ Weekly, 56(4 ), 2732. As a direct result, the amount spenton HR management has tripled over the last decade, to $75 per employeeeach year, for a representative selection of 7 U.S. (1988). Both Houses of Congress have already seenlegislation introduced in the current session that would, if passed,provide tax breaks for businesses making expenditures on individualcourses, programs, certification exams, books, software and supplies usedto achieve industry certifications or degrees. Not only do they make availablefinancial resources for improving worker qualifications, they also have thepotential to assist corporations in fulfilling their socialresponsibilities with respect to the disadvantaged, the downsized ordislocated worker, and the older worker. BusinessWeek, July 8, 58.----------------------- 15 For HR professionals, these legislativeinitiatives are extremely significant. (1993). Issue: Job training." CQ Weekly,56(45), 31 4-31 6. Dinesh D'Souza (1995) has noted that willingly or unwillingly, theresponse of corporate and industrial America to affirmative action hasfocused attention on the problems inherent in the very concept of "managingdiversity." For human resources professionals, confronted with loweremployee morale produced by affirmative action, the idea that purchasingthe services of a diversity consultant might work to improve morale isinherently appealing. Carter, Stephen. James Hettinger (1997) reported that the Senate's Labor and HumanResources Committed approved a revised "workforce partnership" bill thathad the express goal of consolidating vocational education, job training,and adult education. The move will, it is anticipated, involve shifts from thevertical to the horizontal organizational structure; HR will have to ensurethat managers have the skills needed to lead workers into the nextmillennium. Thechallenges confronting HR managers are myriad and likely to become morecomplex as the very nature of the workplace changes in response to emergenttechnologies. This is the climate in which human resource (HR) managers mustfunction. Xerox also links manager compensation to achievement ofspecific diversity goals.Conclusions This report has demonstrated that the role of HR managers is toresolve many of the problems created in the workplace by industrialrelations, and has identified some of the more important current issues inthis general context. Stephen Barlas (1998) described the Workforce Development Act as notradical, but as having the potential to fuel local economic development andassist job seekers and employers in finding one another. Lifelong learning opportunities -internally within the firm and via colleges and universities, company-funded workshops and seminars, other development programs -are being usedby HR to simultaneously enhance job satisfaction, reduce costs, and linkincentives and rewards to actual company needs and concerns. (198). Senate committee passes Voc Ed/TrainingBill." Techniques: Making Education & Career Connections, 72(8), 6. Reconstruction, 1,4 -14. The End of Racism.New York: The FreePress. Forbes, 142(11), 116-118. Additionally, the field of Human Resources (HR) is one that hasbeen enormously impacted by new technologies, new strategies for enhancingworker productivity, and new ideas regarding what constitutes jobsatisfaction and effective motivational programming. In response to criticisms that suchefforts and programs were antiquated and redundant, Congress moved inNovember 1998 to approve an overhaul that gives both individuals and statesnew powers to design systems tailored to meet local, specific needs. Clearly,this legislation will have a direct impact upon some critical HR functions. A broad definition of "industrial relationships" reflectingvarious issues such as the impact of new technologies and the HR response,training of workers, and response to such programs as affirmative actionwill be employed herein.HR and New Technologies: Training as a Mission Information technology (IT) has forever changed the workplace. Greengard posits a strategic role for HR as the new technologies(including Intranets and the Internet) force HR to look at human assets inbusiness terms; HR executives will be asked to quantify processes andpresent a business case for making changes to an organization and itsstaffing. This legislation, if signed into law, will directlyimpact upon the capacity of HR departments to facilitate the job trainingand development functions undertaken at their firms. More than 1, such centers are already in operationnationwide, and offer services that include follow-up (post-placement)counseling and assistance to workers for a period of 12 months afterplacement. Each of these initiatives furtherreflects the growing consciousness of government that American business andindustry desperately requires a more technologically skilled workforce inorder to capitalize upon the benefits of the IT revolution. (1998). In this general context, training will take on added significancewithin HR. Racial preferences - So what? (1995). MacDonald (1993) recently reported that a newconsulting industry has emerged in response to this expanded diversity --"diversity consultants," as they are called earn thousands of dollars a dayfor offering seminars on managing diversity to HR and other corporateprofessionals. Issue: Vocational education." CQ Weekly,56(45), 31 1. Companies train sights on improved training. Barlas, Stephen. For example, Kellogg not only offers diversity trainingprograms for employees but has announced that vice presidents of thecompany will be evaluated in part on their progress in minority hiring andpromotion. (1998b). This particular legislation (along with other education-focused mandates of OSHA and other regulatory agencies of the federal andstate governments) will also impact directly upon HR activities. HR managers for the net. In this general context, CQ Weekly (1998a) reported that HR 1385(Public Law 1 5-22 ), the House version of the Senate'sS 1186, established a format for consolidating more than 6 federalprograms related to this activity into block grants that the states willhave wide latitude in administering. Funding in theform of direct grants or tax credits is an important incentive for privatesector organizations, particularly smaller businesses which lack theresources of larger corporations. Sue Kirchhoff (1998) has noted that among the goals of the federallegislation that has been and will continue to be debated is increasingfunding available to facilitate the return of workers to the marketplace,improve the skill levels of those workers, enhance the qualifications offormer welfare recipients, and foster economic growth and development atthe state and local levels. National Review, 42(5), 26-28. They believe that HR and othermanagers must restructure their thinking to avoid the "white male"management practices that negatively impact upon women, the disabled andminorities in the workplace. Targeted rewards jump-start motivation.Workforce, 77 (2), 88 -94. WallStreet Journal, September 13, 1+. The bill was designed to promote coordination betweenthose areas while also streamlining and decentralizing the job trainingsystem. Fair - to whom? HR Focus, 75 (6), 2. HR professionalsare said to be pleased with the legislation because the One Stop Centershave the potential to achieve several goals: 1) identifying local jobmarket and employee skill and training needs; 2) training workers for thoseopportunities; 3) referring to HR candidates that are matched to real worldjob needs; and 4) offering such training and development to a broadspectrum of potential workers, including those excluded in the past fromfederally funded programs because they did not meet economic criteria orwere not directly characterized as "disadvantaged." This shift reflects agrowing awareness that the technological revolution of the current erademands a more comprehensively and technically trained workforce and,correspondingly, that many long-time workers lack these skills. Lowry, Rich. The company benefits by acquiring greaterflexibility in its workforce and greater value added to their human assets.These are but a few of the main trends impacting HR today.Regulations, HR, Training and Workforce Management Federal and State legislation and regulations have become anincreasingly significant influence in the field of HR, including the HRtraining and development processes. (1998). Capowski, Genevieve. Interestingly, D'Souza also notes thatsome companies have gone even farther in attempting to fulfill the literaland figurative requirements of affirmative action law and diversitymanagement. A 199 survey of 645 major Americanorganizations conducted by the Hudson Institute showed that over 5 percentof these firms had in place, or were in the process of setting up managingdiversity mentorship, training, and promotion programs. Vouchers will be given toindividuals, who can then use them to obtain or purchase training services. References Anonymous. (1999). These techniqueshave infiltrated many major companies including Apple Computer, AT&T, Avon,Coca-Cola, Corning, Gannett, General Motors, Goodyear, IBM, Xerox, DuPont,Motorola, and Proctor & Gamble. Traditionally, job related orvocational training and development efforts have been positioned within thegeneral context of public education and social service/human relationsdepartments or agencies operated by local government and private sectororganizations (CQ Weekly, 1998a). 1991. (199 ). A critical aspect of training will be technology-driven and intensive, with Web-based resources a key element. HR Focus (1997) recently reported that five of 1 companies inthe U.S. corporations polledby the Bureau of National Affairs.
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