Human Resources Managment Review

HR has become one of the most widely studied facet of operating a business. I found this class very important and eye-opening. As a small business owner, this class has helped me to shape my own strategies and has given weight to specific topics. Online courses are somewhat challenging for myself. I find it hard to devote time spread out over several days to a course. I have always been a "sit down and finish it" kind of guy. Because of this, the discussions section of this course was particularly hard for me to accommodate. I do feel that the information shared among students was very interesting aspect of the course. To be able to speak with my classmates about their own personal experiences with this institutional topics helped to bring a realistic aspect to how they affect the work place.

I would say my biggest take away from this course was the final exam. This final helped me search for a full understanding of how to put the pieces together and create a holistic HR plan for a company. This is a procedure I will most certainly have to do again, in the field, and appreciated that I was able to get the practice. I also enjoyed the action research projects. I learned a vast amount of information about my specific project as well as those of others. I was nice to read some different perspectives on HR and what other students found important.

The Labor-Management Relationship

The age old topic of management and labor has been one of great debate. Unions which once dominated the manufacturing industry are now banded together or non-existent. The industrial revolution birthed the need for organized representation of labor and showed management why and how they should treat employees well. This topic has always been of personal interest for me since companies can only succeed if they have competitive and productive businesses. As for the topic of labor, this is imperative. Treating your employees well always seems to benefit the employer with better efficiency, a friendly work environment, or a collective goal. This topic is very emotional for many out of work factory men and women who have been laid-off for one reason or another.

The future of this relationship is one still very unclear. modern trends show that labor unions are not as popular as they once were. Employers are becoming more realistic is providing benefits and regulations to employees which is very beneficial to the working environment. However, there is typically a standoff-ish rivalry that tends to happen between management and labor. The most important thing for companies to encourage is collaboration between labor and management. When everyone can get on the same page, tensions drop and everyone can get down to business, literally. In an article I read HERE there is a great example of this idea in the last paragraph. Check it out.

Designing a Benefits Package

Benefit packages are a very important aspect of employee compensation these days. Benefits can account for almost one-third of employee compensation and is becoming more and more prevalent. How can companies come to terms with the appropriate benefits they offer that also works with the needs of employees? This package must be designed to fit the company not only in cost but in quality. Since a benefits package is one-third of compensation, it needs to be on the up-and-up to retain employees and attract new talent. I read a piece of literature that discusses what goes into a package that encompasses both of these things. It provided three main questions to ask when designing a plan that works. (1) What benefits can the employer afford? (2) What benefits will best attract and retain your workforce? And (3) What benefit vendors provide a quality and consistent product today? By balancing these needs and answering these questions you should be able to find a plan that works for your company. It is also important to listen to your people and find out what they really want and to choose a plan that is in harmony with your company culture and bottom-line.

The full text can be found HERE if anyone is interested in reading further.

CEO Compensation

So we are all well aware that most CEO's yearly compensation is far more than necessary for a human to comfortably live. I recently read this Forbes article that breaks down compensation for CEO's at the top 500 American companies. This article was interesting because it showed the different systems each CEO was compensated with. Many CEO's make somewhat modest salaries with the large portion of their income coming from stock options. It was interesting to see the comparison between the best and worst CEO's for the cost. This was rated on a series of factors: Stock performance, performance compared to the S&P 500, the CEO's compensation, and the annualized stock performance over the persons tenure. It was interesting to see that Marc Benioff from salesforce.com was the number one, delivering a 41% annual return for shareholders! I recommend reading this article. It has some very interesting conclusions.

Forces Affecting Human Resource Development

HRD is a tough gamble. There are just about as many ways to handle HRD as there are people in New York City. An article by Udaya Mohan Devadas titled Human Resource Development and the Contemporary Challenges of the World talks about many of these forces and challenges affect HRD today. Devadas poses four main forces that affect human resource development. Those forces are (1) flexibility of the program, (2) the globalization need for HRD, (3) the modern changing workforce, and (4) the use and implementation of technology. These forces are very important to creating and implementing a functional HRD program and demand focus.
The author also poses a few challenges that are presented in today's workplace. Creating social justice, paying attention to women's workplace experiences, advocating change and addressing undiscussables are very important fields that need improvement. Undiscussables include sexism, racism, patriarchy, and violence. So there are a few ways to help these programs within a company and here they are. Conducting more research in proper HRD techniques can never hurt. Many programs are just poorly established. New approaches to discussing the undiscussables is a must. It is time to break the taboo. Focusing on problems that hinder development is crucial as well as developing innovative theoretical processes to change the field completely. The main point of this article seems to be that there needs to be emerging research in the field to help the new needs of human resource development. Research with modern outlooks and traditional based knowledge blended together. The article can be found at this LINK.

Motivating Your Sales Team Isn't Just $$$

Not all salespeople are driven by cash incentives. It is important to have a reward or incentive program for your salespeople, but just flashing a dollar bill in someones face doesn't always work. In many situations, it can even be harmful. When the only reward in monetary, your sales team may only look for the easy way to reach the goal, which may not be synonymous with your brand or goals as a company. An article I read discusses a few different ways to motivate your sales team and do it in a way that benefits your brand, goals, and pockets. This article discusses the main types of motivation that the individuals on your team may hold most important. The first is money. Some times good old fashion cash works, but make sure it isn't the only incentive. The mission and brand identification are also important. You need your team to be on board with what they are selling to generate appropriate results. You want your team to be self-motivated by providing reasonable targets. Some times a challenge is what salespeople seek, especially if there is a reward at the end of the tunnel.

All in all the idea is to better understand what drives your personnel in order to put the right incentive in place for them to not only reach their personal goals, but that of the company as well. The article I read has much more great information in it. If you want to check it out, go HERE

Modern Problems within HR Recruitment

A common problem for Human Resource Managment has always been recruitment. It is very challanging to define exactly what you are looking for in a candidate and choose the one right for the job. Often you need a position filled and are in a bind to fill it on short notice. This tends to cause unsatisfactory employees holding positions they are unqualitied for. This is an age old story, but what about more recent problems for HR. One recent problem is globalization. Due to the ever changing global world it is very hard for HR departments to keep up with the changing policies and motions of the HR world.

Another problem is many HR members have a lack of motivation. Recruiting is usually a thankless job. HR managers are working very hard to fill priority jobs quickly with the opproriate personnel, and once they succeed, no one shows gratitude. This practice is very detrimental to the productivitiy of future operations for the HR department. Another problem I would like to bring up is poaching. The modern business world has become a cut-throat place to operate. Often great talent is stolen away by competitors. It is becoming increasingly more challenging to hold on to shining stars when the competition is neck and neck. The best way to hold on to great personnel is to treat them right. Show them a great sense of loyalty and reward them so when the competition comes knocking on the door, there is no question who will maintain their employees. Some more in depth descriptions of these problems and other like them can be found HERE.

How Technology Affects HRM

As an external factor for human resource management, technology plays a massive role in how we manage people. I read an article written by Michelle V. Rafter for Workforce about SAP, one of the biggest suppliers of HR software, and its buyout of competitor SuccessFactors. Both of these companies create software to help manage your workforce in an ever changing and global business model. What makes this factor so important for human resource management is SAP is now able to combine its edge with that of SuccessFactors using the idea of "the cloud".

The cloud is the idea that instead of having hard wired storage and paperwork for all tangible information, it can be shared organization-wide of a web-based server much like a wiki, or more like a wiki on steroids. This advancement adds in not only the idea of new software but the further advances in other technology like handheld devices, i.e. the iPad. With more and more companies becoming linked into the cloud and more employees carrying advances devices like iPad, human resource management is much easier to facilitate due to the growing number of active participants on a much more frequent basis. Employees are more capable of taking the job home and checking in with the ipad to stay on top of assignments, or me able to be reached at critical moments within the life cycle of a project.

I foresee technology becoming even more important to human resource management in the future due to the ongoing reliance modern companies have on web-based systems and devices. It can be a good thing, but too much dependency on one things can always be dangerous.

 If you are interested in a more in depth look at the article you can find the link HERE