CHALLENGES OF MODERN PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

We need not look far to discover challenging problems in the field of personnel management. Manager may
ignore or attempt to bury personnel problem, but these will not lir dormant because of the very nature of the
problem component. Many problems are caused by constant changes that occur both within and without the
firm. Among the many major changes that are accurring, the following five will illustrate the nature of the
personnel chalanges.

Changing mix of the work force

Changing personal of the work force
Changing expectations of citizen-employees
Changing levels of productivity
Changing demands of government

CHANGING MIX OF THE WORK FORCE

Tough each person of unique and consequently present a challenge to our general understanding, one can also
appreciate broader problems by categorizing personnel to delineate and highlight trends. Among the major
changes in the mix of personnel entering requiring greater skills, (1) increased number of minority members
entering occupations requiring greater skills, (2) increasing levels of format education the entire work force, (3)
more female employees, (4) more married female employees. (5) more working mothers, and (6) a steadily
increasing majority of white-collar employees in place of the blue-collar.

CHANGING PERSONAL OF THE WORK FORCE

The changing mix of the work force inevitably leads to introduction of new values to organizations. In the
past and continuing in the present, the work force of America has been heavily imbued with a set of values
generally characterized by the term’’ work ethic,’’ work is regarded has having spiritual meaning, buttressed
bye such behavioral norms as punctuality, honestly , diligence, and frugality. One’s job is a central life interest
and provides the dominant clue in interpersonal assessment. A work force with this set of productivity ,
efficiency , and effectiveness.
Though flextime fix quite well with the new values of the modern work force, such
plans has also been found to have a number of advantages to the employer. Among
those suggested are the following;

Enhanced productivity: Though there is little hard evidence, surveys indicate chances of improving productivity
very from one-third, with the probable size of the gain in the range of 5 percent to 14 percent. Explanations for this
include better morale, better fit of work time to the emplouee’s ‘’body clock,’’ improved handling of fluctuating
workloads, increased customer service because the establishment is open longer, and less ‘’killing time’’ until
quitting time because of reluctance to begin a new task.

Reduced employee tardiness and absenteeism. When contemplating a late arrival under a fixed schedule, the
employee is often tempted to skip work altogether. If the approved arrival time is within a two-hour flexible band,
both tardiness and absenteeism from this source are eliminated. Personal errands can be taken care of without the
necessity of being officially absent for all or a portion of the day.

Improved morale and reduced turnover. Flextime provides the employee with some control over the workday,
thereby constituting a type of job enrichment. Employees are treated substantially in the same fashion as managers
and professional personnel. In germany, where flexitime/had its start, commuting was reduced from 20 to 30
percent since the employee could adjust starting a finishing times to avoid peak traffic periods.

CHANGING EXPECTATIONS OF CITIZRN-EMPLOYEE

These are increasing signs that external rights of citizenship are penetrating the boundaries of business
enterprises in the interest of improving the quality of work life. Two prominent illustrations are: (1) freedom of
speech , and (2) the right to privacy. Should employees be allowed to speak up and criticize the organization’s
management and its product without jeopardizating their job security? In public organiztions, this right of ‘’
whistle blowing’’ is fairly well protected. Tough some private firms have voluntarily adopted policies favorable
to employee freedom of speech, others have been forced to such practices through court cases.
 Employees are also becoming more concerned with the information the must provide in order to obtain and
hold jobs. They feel that many questions are an invasion of privacy, such as whether one is pregnant or not,
drinking habits, kinds of friends, type of neighborhood in which one lives, records or arrests, ability to pay bills,
and whether the job applicant has ever received psychiatric counseling.

CHANGING LEVELS OF PRODUCTIVITY

Perhaps the most serious current problem facing all managers, not just personal managers, is the declining
productivity of the economy.

There have been many reasons proposed for the recent declines in productivity:

1. Numerous federal regulations and laws have added to the cost of doing business without
enhancing productivity in the short run, such as environmental protection, health and safety,
affirmative action, and so on.

2. Such laws have led to increased numbers of employees new to the business environment.
The influx and minorities may have resulted in less productivity during the introductory period.

3. American managers typically have a short-term profit orientation in making business

decisions. With pressures from stockholders, stock markets, and financial institutions, they tend to
postpone vital research, development, and new plant investments in the interest of short-term
showings. The leads to declining productivity over time. It is also contended that various tax laws
have discouraged innovations and new plant investment.

4. With maturity, our economy has increasing become more of a service, rather than
manufacturing, type of system. Achieving gains in productivity when providing services is
considerably more difficult than becoming more efficient in production processes.

5. Adversarial relationship with labor unions reduce cooperative effort that would enhanced
productivity. Numerous union-negotiated work rules designed to protect job and income in the
short run have disastrous results when employers must compete on the world market.

6. Employee alienation leads to refused to refusal to collaborate in the interest of improving

productivity. It has been suggested that poor employee attitude have been caused y such factors as
high job insecurity, narrow and meaningless jobs, and autocratic, managers who deny significant
employee participation in decision affecting the work and the quality of work life.