Lesson 1
HR Functions, Changes and Challenges
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Human resource (HR) responsibilities have broadened in the contemporary world. They have shifted from the primary roles of firing, hiring, and payroll issues to conducting more employee selection, legal compliance, and staff training. This is due to several trends that have resulted in significant changes in the workplace. These trends range from technological, globalization and competition trends, workforce and demographic trends, and trends in work nature. Therefore, human resource management has significantly improved due to the presence of trends in the workplace.
First, technology has become a turning point for many businesses across the globe. It has given access to communication amongst individuals in different regions of the world. For instance, individuals in the US can conduct business with others in the United Arab Emirates without traveling (Nwabueze et al.,2013). They can use applications like Zoom and Google Duo to perform their operations. The presence of technology has introduced changes in workplaces since employees use PDAs to communicate with the office and enable people to work from home. Many companies have shifted to use virtual online communities to enhance their efficiency. Therefore, technological trends have enabled organizations to plan their businesses, inventories, and trips, thus reducing the workload.
Globalization is one of the trends that are shaping the HR. Many businesses are beginning to expand their operations to other regions abroad. Since globalization means that business firms increase their sales and manufacturing to newer markets in different areas, competition tends to arise (Kofler et al.,2020). The reason is that many manufacturers look to cut labor costs and improve employee productivity to become a world-class operation. Globalization thus means that consumers get low market prices for all products and the availability of all goods. However, many employees may begin experiencing less job security since manufacturers require them to work smarter and harder than before. Businesses, on the other hand, benefit from globalization by acquiring more customers. This may also mean that such firms are at risk of facing more robust competition in the market due to globalization.
Moreover, the nature of work is changing due to the increased technological demands in the world. Manufacturers can improve their employee productivity with fewer laborers since they have incorporated technology into the business (Cooke, 2013). Although technology has enhanced many operations, it has dramatically impacted how people work and the skills required for contemporary jobs. For instance, high-tech jobs require technical expertise and training for individuals to perform. Therefore, many traditional jobs have gone high-tech such as aerospace, telecommunications, and pharmaceuticals. These have replaced many manual tasks in the textile factories and steel industries. Besides, in the contemporary world, employees work to deliver services rather than goods, as before. Due to this, manufacturing jobs have reduced since service jobs have gained a dramatic increase.
Furthermore, the demographics are changing in the workplace since the labor force is diversified and getting old in the US. These demographics create challenges for HR managers to deal with the dynamic increase in jobs (Kofler et al.,2020). This way, the managers may potentially face shortages in labor due to the aging population. Due to the demographic trends, worker retention, and sourcing for quality, employees have become unmanageable. Besides, many organizations have changed their policies and enabled the retired employees to be re-employed and persuading the aging ones to stay. This means that such individuals may have to perform several responsibilities due to the shortage.
In conclusion, jobs have faced an enormous impact due to the trends in human resource management. Although some trends are beneficial to the firms, some may have potential adversities on the businesses. Technology has made it easier for companies to operate by increasing their efficiencies. Here, enterprises experience increased productivity in manufacturing industries and sales of products. However, it may result in job loss among employees, especially since the nature of work has evolved.
References
Cooke, F. L. (2013). Human resource management in China: New trends and practices. Routledge.
Kofler, I., Innerhofer, E., Marcher, A., Gruber, M., & Pechlaner, H. (2020). Global Trends Shaping the World of Work. In The Future of High-Skilled Workers (pp. 13-28). Palgrave Pivot, Cham.
Nwabueze, C. C., Okere, L., & Ikechi, P. O. (2013). Overview of Trends Shaping Human Resource Management for Improved Organizational Effectiveness in Nigeria. AFRREV IJAH: An International Journal of Arts and Humanities, 2(1), 257-272.