Introduction
The turn of the century saw a dramatic change in the business world and the shift to globalization presented new dynamics in how management plan, attract, onboard, manage and retain their talent. War on talent became the order of the day as new business models required critical skill and scarce talent. Talent mobility became prevalent, however, diverse workforce coupled with the generational gaps brought even more complexity in the workplace for management. There is no doubt that people are the most important resources on the universe and there is no organization that can succeed without employees (Andriotis, 2018).
Machines, goods, and buildings cant give profits to owners without people. But humans differ from machines and buildings and their management is multifaceted, hence, Human Resource Management (HRM). Human Resources as defined by the business dictionary is the process of hiring and developing employees so that they become valuable to the organization. Human Resources Management includes conducting job analyses, planning personnel needs, recruiting the right people for the job, orienting and training, managing wages and salaries, providing benefits and incentives, evaluating performance, resolving disputes, and communicating with all employees at all levels.
This is, however, a process-based definition. The HRM function has evolved to embrace the organizations strategy and policies according to Berdwell and Holden (1994).
Besides, in 2009, Senyucel argues that organizations are formed by the rules and resources drawn upon and enacted by people, and the nature of organizations is a result of peoples action. It is against this context that dealing with humans is a complex element of management. Management of people according to Davidson (2018), will always throw a curve ball of things unexpected related to managing people. Davidson, however, discusses the following as challenges which management have to grapple with related to people management (Davidson, 2018);
Managing a Diverse Workforce.
As clearly observed, the workplace has evolved considerably from the early ages where the configuration was only dominated by the male gender. Women are now many in the workforce just as men. More so, globalization has brought about a myriad of diverse issues in the workplace. Cultural dimensions and different generations all present unique challenges for management. The main challenges prevalent in such unique circumstances include amongst others, marginalization and miscommunication brought about by different employee backgrounds, harassment, and discrimination. It is incumbent upon HRM personnel to provide processes and policies which protect the employees against possible discrimination and marginalization. T
Increase in Employee Productivity through Technology;
Most businesses rely on people to deliver a service and to perform business-related processes in the back-end. Management has to ensure that they maximize their workforces output in a short space of time as customers expectations have doubled, and faster turnaround times is the new order. Most businesses use this as competitive advantage. Managers need to endeavor to enhance processes and enable them with technology in order to increase their employees efficiencies.
Attraction and Retention of Top Talent;
The is a common challenge for managers in Human Resource Management. Choosing the right person (with the right skill set) for the job isnt that easy. It is crucial for management and Talent specialists to ensure that the recruitment methods and platforms they use will attract the best talent for their organization as well as assess the relevance and appropriateness alongside. Consequently, retaining the right talent is difficult too as employees are unique and not all are motivated by money alone. This is also because of demand in skill-set, competing companies would offer better salary to hire those talents. Talents that are not motivated by money are motivated by a work life balance, while the technocrats would possibly prefer to work remotely occasionally. However, managers should not fall to the trick of increasing the salary as the way to stop a resource from leaving the company. And an employee does not always leave company for more money but for job satisfaction. HRM can train managers and supervisors to be effective to increase job satisfaction among existing employees. Providing them better work life balance, training and roles that they desire would definitely help them find self fulfilment. Employees who does not feel valued or heard, leave too (Ryan,2017). Furthermore, in our present economy, employees are motivated to work for emerging organizations and those that are embracing innovation. To keep employees motivated, managers should provide an environment which fosters innovation and nonstop improvement. Employees should have a channel within the organization to fetch their ideas and feedback and an operative mechanism that incorporates such feedback to achieving organizational goals.
Personally, if I were a Human Resource Manager, my biggest strength as a HR manager will be to identify talents that would fit my organizations needs. This is because I would focus my hiring consideration on whether he/she has the performances that will beat the expected goals? Be a person who is able to learn what is needed to be learned, speedily, in order to use these needed skills promptly? Possess the passion to work in the expected field? Be creative on the job? If I find the needed employees, I would help them to learn, develop, and use their strengths. There may be a specific weakness in some employees. But through teamwork they are able to work together to make up the inadequateness for each other. And then, each of them is able to fully express their unique talents (St-Aubin, 2018). On the other, in reference to the biggest challenge, I believe having to terminate the employment of someone will be challenging to me because I don’t have that experience yet. But as with everything in life, there is always a first time and a learning opportunity in each experience.
Conclusion
The challenges outlined above are not at all exhaustive, businesses across the globe and government regulations are all adding complexity and the evolution of the Human Resource Management function. Multinationals are having to manage a diverse workforce with inharmonious cultures as well as language barriers. It is against this background that Human Resource Management function is becoming interesting and challenging and as the discipline offers a rewarding career.