UNIT I : INTRODUCTION

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT:

DEFINITION:

Edwin Flippo defines HRM as "planning, organizing, directing, controlling of procurement, development, compensation, integration , maintenance and separation of human resources to the end that individual, organizational and social objectives are achieved." 1.1 ROLE OF HR MANAGERS:

1 Manages and organizes multiple functional areas within Human Resources including providing technical direction to technical/professional and clerical staff within assigned areas.

2 Consults with and advises administrators and employee representatives on personnel-related policies and procedures.

3 Interprets and communicates laws and regulations to ensure the agency is aware of its legal responsibilities; in conjunction with the Legal Department

4 Develops and implements personnel rules and regulations, and interprets and administers human resources-related provisions of collective bargaining agreements.

5 Analyzes processes and procedures in assigned functional areas including conducting research and statistical analyses, and makes recommendations for improvement.

6 Develops, implements, and administers, large and/or complex research studies or projects that may include the development and validation of selection instrumentation for a variety of classifications.

7 Establishes collaborative relationships with various functional and departmental areas of the District.

8 Trains and evaluates subordinates and prepares preliminary budget reports in assigned functional areas.

9 Represents Human Resources Department at a variety of meetings and advises the Human Resources Director in alternative courses of action in Human Resources issues.

10 Presents written and oral reports on a wide variety of human resources related issues.

11 May participate in labor negotiations and/or recommend preliminary proposals including cost implementation projections.

12 May be required to temporarily replace or act in the position of the senior District staff member to whom this position normally reports, and may be required to perform some or all of the senior staff member's essential functions in such situations.

Strategic Partner In todays organizations, to guarantee their viability and ability to contribute, HR managers need to think of themselves as strategic partners. In this role, the HR person contributes to the development of and the accomplishment of the organization-wide business plan and objectives. The HR business objectives are established to support the attainment of the overall strategic business plan and objectives. The tactical HR representative is deeply knowledgeable about the design of work systems in which people succeed and contribute. This strategic partnership impacts HR services such as the design of work positions; hiring; reward, recognition and strategic pay; performance development and appraisal systems; career and succession planning; and employee development.

Employee Advocate As an employee sponsor or advocate, the HR manager plays an integral role in organizational success via his knowledge about and advocacy of people. This advocacy includes expertise in how to create a work environment in which people will choose to be motivated, contributing, and happy. Fostering effective methods of goal setting, communication and empowerment through responsibility, builds employee ownership of the organization. The HR professional helps establish the organizational culture and climate in which people have the competency, concern and commitment to serve customers well. In this role, the HR manager provides employee development opportunities, employee assistance programs, gain sharing and profit-sharing strategies, organization development interventions, due process approaches to problem solving and regularly scheduled communication opportunities. Change Champion The constant evaluation of the effectiveness of the organization results in the need for the HR professional to frequently champion change. Both knowledge about and the ability to execute successful change strategies make the HR professional exceptionally valued. Knowing how to link change to the strategic needs of the organization will minimize employee dissatisfaction and resistance to change. The HR professional contributes to the organization by constantly assessing the effectiveness of the HR function. He also sponsors change in other departments and in work practices. To promote the overall success of his organization, he champions the identification of the organizational mission, vision, values, goals and action plans. Finally, he helps determine the measures that will tell his organization how well it is succeeding in all of this.

1.2 HR AS A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE:

If managed effectively,the workforce,provides a very definite competitive advantage to those firms that are confidence and progressive enough leverage the HR department appropriately. Human Resources Should be at the Core of Workforce Management Human Resources (HR) should be at the core of workforce management.HR is the channel for acquiring and retaining the necessary workforce through job satisfaction, security, compensation, training programs, appropriate and frequent measurement of the workforce, and finally providing flexibility with respect to the values of different generations of workers. HR should also take a leadership role in employee management communications. Too often, HR is seen as a cost center that ensures that payroll is on time and vacation tracking is accomplished. EXAMPLE HRs Role- An Experience By far, the best example of a factor contributing to employee personal growth and satisfaction that I have witnessed has been a culture that promotes a collaborative work environment. The downside to this is that it takes a lot of time, resources and discipline to convert a typical structured hierarchical organization to one that emphasizes collaboration. Unfortunately, in this example, HR was seen as a roadblock to the corporation. Because they (HR) were not provided with the necessary tools to operate collaboratively in this organization and be allowed to change policies, the corporation was not competitive in the workforce arena. Although the culture was very enjoyable to work in, there was personal growth happening with many employees ,and the amount and quality of work were beyond compare, the compensation options available were less than admirable. The Solution This particular corporation continues to operate under the assumption that they are keeping costs down by paying the minimum compensation necessary to acquire an employee. They think that people should be happy to have the job in the first place. They believe that people arent worth their pay. On an individual basis this can be true, but they can exist at any level within an

organization. They need to be removed from the workforce, because they are taking money from the real workers. Corporations are better off with fewer exceptional people all making more money than they should, than to have the same or lower payroll costs with more people. To emphasize, it is better to hire one exceptional person at $60,000 than two average people at $25,000 each. The result of this shortsightedness was that they could not acquire the folks with the necessary levels of experience, education and skill levels they required for corporate expansion. They subsequently opted to hire many consultants (and contractors) to accomplish their goals and objectives. HR was left completely out of this decision. As if this were not enough, the company was still reticent to assist employees with career planning and the necessary follow on, quality training and additional responsibilities. 1.3 HR CHALLENGES OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS: Global organizations are focused on human capital issues. There seems to be an almost global consensus that people issues are vital to company success. As the "war for talent" intensifies, the acceptance of the importance of human capital will continue to grow. Among the people challenges, there is a broad consensus, across international regions, on what the important challenges are. They include:
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The development of "global" leaders The creation of a high-performance global corporate culture & high-performing teams Managing talent (recruitment, retention, training, compensation & incentives)

If HR professionals are to be seen to play a crucial role in strategy and operational results they need to pick up the gauntlet on these people issues and act as "functional leaders". This means more time spent focusing on the business drivers and less on HR "programs and services". Adopting the role of global, functional leadership is the great opportunity for HR professionals. They need to be perceived as being totally committed to improving the business - which they must understand as well as any other leader - by their expertise in "people issues".

As the area of human resource management becomes more strategic and more global it is becoming more important and critical to the organization. While not all companies are recognizing this yet, those that are most effective and most admired, seem to be the ones that are. As a consequence they are doing many things that make their management of human resources as effective as possible. In doing so doing, several things are being observed: 1) the roles that the HR department and its HR professionals have traditionally played are changing substantially; 2) the competencies required of the HR professionals to play these new roles are also changing rapidly with dramatic implications for the current HR staff and leaders; 3) the HR professionals are working more closely, in partnership, with line managers, employees, suppliers and representatives of labour unions, strategic partners and members of community organizations in order to be more effective in managing the firms human resources; and finally, 4) the structure of the HR department and the HR function are being reshaped in order to better serve the various stakeholders of HR in order to make the management of people and the organization more effective.

Today's Top 10 Human Resource Management Challenges

Due to the fluctuating economy as well as local and global advancements, there are many changes occurring rapidly that affect HR in a wide range of issues. In the Survey of Global HR Challenges: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers on behalf of the World Federation of Personnel Management Associations (WFPMA), several challenges for human resource management were revealed. This survey, which concluded that "despite national and regional differences, there was remarkable unanimity," disclosed the following top 10 human resource management challenges: Challenges 1. Change management 2. Leadership development 3. HR effectiveness measurement 4. Organizational effectiveness 5. Compensation % of Companies 48% 35% 27% 25% 24%

Challenges

% of Companies

6. Staffing: Recruitment and availability of skilled local labor24% 7. Succession planning 8. Learning and development 9. Staffing: Retention 10. Benefits costs: Health & welfare 20% 19% 16% 13%

1.4

1.5 GLOBAL HR SYSTEM: Cross-cultural differences like these in HR practices around the world, one could reasonably ask, Is it realistic for a company to try to institute a standardised HR system in all or most of its facilities around the world? A recent study suggests that the answer is Yes. It shows that the employer may have to defer to local managers on some specific issues. However, in general, the fact that there are currently global differences in HR practices doesnt mean that these differences are necessary or even advisable. The important thing is knowing how to create and implement the global HR system. In this study, the researchers interviewed HR personnel from six global companiesAgilent, Dow, IBM, Motorola, Procter and Gamble, and Shell Oil Coas well as international HR consultants. Their overall conclusion was that employers who successfully implement global HR systems apply various international HR best practices in doing so. This enables them to create global HR systems that are globally acceptable, that they can develop more effectively, and that their HR staffs can then implement more effectively. Lets look at each. Making the system more acceptable First, employers engage in three best practices so that the global HR systems they eventually develop will be acceptable to their local managers around the world. Remember that global systems are more accepted in truly global organisations. These companies and all their managers think of themselves as global in scope and perspective, and all or most

functions and business units operate on a truly global basis. They are not simply aggregates of numerous more or less independent local entities. For example, truly global organisations require their managers to work on global teams, and identify and recruit and place the employees they hire globally. As one Shell manager put it, If you are truly global, then you are hiring here (the United States) people who are going to immediately go and work in the Hague, and vice versa. This makes it easier for managers everywhere to accept the global imperative for having a more standardised HR system. Investigate pressures to differentiate and determine their legitimacy. HR managers seeking to standardise selection, training, appraisal, compensation, or other HR practices worldwide will always meet resistance from local managers who insist, you cant do that here, because we are different culturally and in other ways. Based on their research, these investigators found that these differences are usually not persuasive. For example, when Dow wanted to implement an online employee recruitment and selection tool in a particular region abroad, the hiring managers there told Dow that there was no way their managers would use it. After investigating the supposed cultural roadblocks and then implementing the new system, what we found is that the number of applicants went through the roof when we went online, and the quality of the applicants also increased. However, the operative word here is investigateit does not mean racing through a change without ascertaining whether there may in fact be some reason for using a more locally appropriate system. Carefully assess whether the local cultural or other differences might in fact undermine the new system. Be knowledgeable about local legal issues, and be willing to differentiate where necessary. Then, market-test the new HR tool. Try to work within the context of a strong corporate culture. A strong corporate culture helps override geographical differences. Companies that create a strong corporate culture find it easier to obtain agreement among far-flung employees when it comes time to implement standardised practices worldwide. For example, Procter and Gamble has a strong corporate culture. Because of how P&G recruits, selects, trains, and rewards them, its managers have a strong sense of shared values. For instance, Procter & Gamble emphasises orderly growth, and its culture therefore encourages a relatively high degree of conformity among managers. New recruits

quickly learn to think in terms of we instead of I. They learn to value thoroughness, consistency, self-discipline and a methodical approach. Because all P&G managers worldwide tend to share these values, they are in a sense more similar to each other than they are geographically different. Having such global unanimity makes it easier to develop and implement standardised HR practices worldwide. Developing a more effective system Similarly, researchers found that these companies engaged in several best practices in developing effective worldwide HR systems. Form global HR networks. The firms HR managers around the world should feel that they are not merely local HR managers, but are part of a greater whole, namely, the firms global HR network. These six firms did this in various ways. For instance, they formed global HR development teams, and involved them in developing the new HR systems. In fact, these researchers found that in developing global HR systems, the most critical factor for success is creating an infrastructure of partners around the world that you use for support, for buy-in, for organisation of local activities, and to help you better understand their own systems and their own challenges. Treat the local HR managers as equal partners, not just implementers. Remember that its more important to standardise ends and competencies than specific methods. For example, (with regard to screening applicants) the researchers conclude that while companies may strive to standardise tools globally, the critical point is (actually) to standardise what is assessed but to be flexible in how it is assessed. Thus, IBM uses a more a less standardised recruitment and selection process worldwide, but details such as who conducts the interview (hiring manager vs. recruiter) or whether the prescreen is by phone or in person, differ by country. Implementing the global HR system Finally, in actually implementing the global HR systems, several best practices can help ensure a more effective implementation.

Remember, You cant communicate enough. For example, theres a need for constant contact with the decision-makers in each country, as well as the people who will be implementing and using the system. Dedicate adequate resources for the global HR effort. For example, do not expect local HR offices to suddenly start implementing the new job analysis procedures unless the head office provides adequate resources for these additional activities. International staffing: Home or local? Multinational companies (MNCs) employ several types of international managers. Locals are citizens of the countries where they are working. Expatriates (expats) are non-citizens of the countries in which they are working. Home-country nationals are citizens of the country in which the multinational company has its headquarters. Third-country nationals are citizens of a country other than the parent or the host countryfor example, a British executive working in the Tokyo branch of a US multinational bank. Expatriates still represent a minority of multinationals managers. Thus, most managerial positions are filled by locals rather than expatriates in both headquarters or foreign subsidiary operations. There are several reasons to rely on local managers to fill your foreign subsidiarys management ranks. ************

1. Define Human Resource Management. 2. Mention any two roles of HR? 3. List the top 10 Human Resource Management Challenges? 4. What do you meant by strategic partner?

5. Is International staffing: Home or local?

Elucidate HR as a competitive advantage and explain with an example. Briefly explain about the global HR system? Elucidate the HR challenges of international business. How intercountry affects HRM? Explain in detail. Explain the best practices to implement the global HR system? How the cultural factors affects HRM? Write short notes on: a. Strategic Partner
b. Employee Advocate c. change champion.