MBA 505 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Dr. Mary Jeane S. Lubos

FUTURE CHALLENGES BEFORE THE MANAGERS

Because of continuous changing socio-economic, technological and political
conditions, the human resource managers of the future shall have to face more
problems in the management of labour. The human resource managers of today
may find themselves obsolete in the future due to changes in environment if
they do not update themselves some of the important challenges which might
be faced by the managers in the management of people in business and
industry are discussed below:

1. Increasing Size of Workforce: The size of organizations is increasing. A

large number of multinational organizations have grown over the years.
The number of people working in the organization has also increased. The
management of increased workforce might create new problems and
challenges as the workers are becoming more conscious of their rights.
2. Increase in Education Level: The governments of various countries are
taking steps to eradicate illiteracy and increase the education level of
their citizens. Educated consumers and workers will create very tough
task for the future managers.
3. Technological Advances: With the changes coming in the wake of
advanced technology, new jobs are created and many old jobs become
redundant. There is a general apprehension of immediate unemployment.
In the competitive world of today, industry cannot hope to survive for long
with old technology. The problem, of unemployment resulting from
modernization will be solved by properly assessing manpower needs and
training of redundant employees in alternate skills.
4. Changes in Political Environment: There may be greater Government
‘s interference in business to safeguard the interests of workers,
consumers and the public at large. Government ‘s participation in trade,
commerce and industry will also pose many challenges before
management. The Government may restrict the scope of private sector in
certain areas in public interest. It does not mean chances of co-operation
between the Government and private sector are ruled out. In fact, there
will be more and more joint sector enterprises.
5. Increasing Aspirations of Employees: Considerable changes have
been noted in the worker of today in comparison to his counterpart of
1950s. The workers are becoming more aware of their higher-level needs
and this awareness would intensify further in the future workers.

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 6. Changing Psychosocial System: In future, organizations will be
required to make use of advanced technology in accomplishing their goals
while satisfying human needs. In the traditional bureaucratic model, the
organizations were designed to achieve technical functions with a little
consideration given to the psychosocial system. But future management
would be required to ensure effective participation of lower levels in the
management of the organization system.
7. Computerised Information System: In the past, the automation of
manufacturing processes had a major effect upon the systems of
production, storage, handling and packaging, etc. More recently, there
has been and, in the future, there will be the impact of revolutionary
computerized information system on management. This revolutionary
development would cover two primary areas of personnel management
which are as follows: (a) The use of electronic computers for the collection
and processing of data, and (b) The direct application of computers in the
managerial decision-making process.
8. Mobility of Professional Personnel: Organizations will expand the use
of ―boundary agents‖ whose primary function will be achieving
coordination with the environment. One interesting fact will be an
increase in the mobility of various managerial and professional personnel
between organizations. As individuals develop greater technical and
professional expertise, their services will be in greater demand by other
organizations in the environment.
9. Changes in Legal Environment: Many changes are taking place in the
legal framework within which the industrial relations systems in the
country are now functioning. It is the duty of the human resource or
personnel executive to be aware of these changes and to bring about
necessary adjustments within the organizations so that greater utilization
of human resources can be achieved. This, indeed, is and would remain a
major challenge for the personnel executive.
10. Management of Human Relations: On the ‗industrial relations
‘front, things are not showing much improvement even after so many
efforts by the government in this direction. Though a large number of
factors are responsible for industrial unrest but a very significant cause is
the growth of multi unions in industrial complexes having different
political affiliations. Under the present conditions, it appears that inter-
union rivalries would grow more in the coming years and might create
more problems in the industry.

Management of human relations in the future will be more complicated

than it is today. Many of the new generation of employees will be more difficult
to motivate than their predecessors. This will be in part the result of a change in
value systems coupled with rising educational levels. Greater skepticism
concerning large organisations and less reverence for authority figures will be

Campuses: Hilltop | MH del Pilar | Pallocan East | Pallocan West | Lipa

Telephone Numbers: +63 43 723 1446 | 980 0041
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more common. Unquestioning acceptance of rules and regulations will be less
likely.

NEW ROLE OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Human Resource Management in the “New Millennium’ has undergone a great

revolution by questioning the accepted practices and re-inventing the
organizations as well as structures. Many traditional practices have been thrown
out. As an example, it can be seen that hierarchies are vanishing and there is
greater emphasis on flat organizations. It means a great deal of specialization
and skills. It also means upgrading the norms and standards of work as well as
performance. The new role of human resource management is much more
strategic than before. Some of the new directions of the role of HRM can be
summed up as follows:

1. A Facilitator of Change: To carry people through upheaval requires

the true management of human resources.

2. An Integrated Approach to Management: Rather than being an

isolated function, human resource is regarded as a core activity, one which
shapes a company’s values. In particular, this can have an impact on customer
service.

3. A Mediator: Establishing and balancing the new and emerging

aspirations and requirements of the company and the individual. These
changes, which are taking place, involve more commitment of the organization
to the development of people by improving performance and cutting costs. As a
result of this, the duration of tenure, which was traditionally long standing, is
now limited, future is becoming less certain, management opportunities are self-
determined and motivational factors are more concerned with enhancing future
employability rather than loyalty to the company and, at the same time, the
rewards are going up in terms of higher salaries. The future creative careers, will
require more involved approach to career development, which will include:

(i) Share employees with strategic partner organisations (customers of

suppliers) in lieu of internal moves.

(ii) Encourage independence : Employees may go elsewhere for career

development, possibly to return in a few years.

(iii) Fund-groups of employees to set-up as suppliers outside the

organization.

(iv) Encourage employees to think of themselves as a business and of the

organization’s various departments as customers.

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 (v) Encourage employees to develop customers outside the organization.

(vi) Help employees develop self-marketing, networking and consultancy

skills to enable them to search out, recognize or create new opportunities for
both themselves and the organization.

(vii) Identify skilled individuals in other organizations who can contribute

on a temporary project basis or part-time.

(viii) Regularly expose employees to new people and ideas to stimulate

innovation.

(ix) Balance external recruitment at all levels against internal promotion

to encourage open competition, ―competitive tendering‖ for jobs to discourage
seeing positions as someone ‘s territory which causes self-protective conformity.

(x) Forster more cross-functional teamwork for self-development.

(xi) Eliminate the culture of valuing positions as career goals in favour of

portraying a career as a succession of bigger projects, achievements and new
skills learned. The concept of ―position‖ is part of the outside static concept of
the organization. Positions are out. Processes and projects are in.

(xii) Abandon top-down performance appraisal in favour of self-appraisal

based on internal customer satisfaction surveys and assessing people as you
would suppliers.

(xiii) Replace top-down assessment processes with self-assessment

techniques and measure performance in term of results.

Functions of a Human Resource Manager.

A human resource manager, charged with fulfilling the objectives of an

organisation, should be a leader with high intellectual powers, a visionary and a
philosopher who provides the initiative to shape the future in terms of leading
the human beings in an organisation towards more prosperous and progressive
policies.

1. Human Resource Man as an Intellectual: The basic skill in the human

resource field as compared to technologists or financial experts is the skill
to communicate, articulate, understand and above all, to be an expert
when it comes to putting policies and agreements in black and white. The
personnel man‘s skill lies in his command over the language. A personnel
man has to deal with employees and he must possess the skills of
conducting fruitful and systematic discussions and of communicating

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Telephone Numbers: +63 43 723 1446 | 980 0041
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 effectively. He should also be in a position to formulate principles and
foresee the problems of the organization. This means that he would
require the mental ability to deal with his people in an intelligent manner
as well as to understand what they are trying to say.
2. Human Resource Man as an Educator: It is not enough that a human
resource man has command-over the language, which, however, remains
his primary tool. He should be deeply interested in learning and also in
achieving growth. Basically, human beings like to grow and realize their
full potential. In order to harmonize the growth of individuals with that of
the organization, a personnel administrator must not only provide
opportunities for his employees to learn, get the required training and
assimilate new ideas but also he himself should be a teacher. A personnel
man who simply pushes files and attends labour courts for conciliation
purposes and other rituals of legal procedure for the settlement of
industrial disputes is not a personnel administrator of the future.
3. Human Resource Man as a Discriminator: A human resource
administrator must have the capacity to discriminate between right and
wrong, between that which is just and unjust and merit and non-merit. In
other words, he should be a good judge when he sits on a selection board,
a fair person when he advises on disciplinary matters and a good observer
of right conduct in an organization.
4. Human Resource Man as an Executive: The human resource man
must execute the decisions of the management and its policies with
speed, accuracy and objectivity. He has to streamline the office, tone up
the administration and set standards of performance. He has to
coordinate the control functions in relation to the various other divisions
and, in doing so he should be in a position to bring unity of purpose and
direction in the activities of the personnel department. He must ask
relevant questions and not be merely involved in the office routine
whereby the status quo is maintained. He should have the inquisitiveness
to find out causes of delay, tardy work and wasteful practices, and should
be keen to eliminate those activities from the personnel functions which
have either outlived their utility or are not consistent with the objectives
and purposes of the organization.
5. Human Resource Man as a Leader: Being basically concerned with
people or groups of people, and being placed in the group dynamics of
various political and social functions of an organization, a Human resource
man must not shirk the role of leadership in an organization. He, by
setting his own example and by working towards the objectives of sound
personnel management practices, must inspire his people and motivate
them towards better performance. He should resolve the conflicts of
different groups and build up teamwork in the organisation.

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Telephone Numbers: +63 43 723 1446 | 980 0041
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 6. Human Resource Man as a Humanist: Deep faith in human values and
empathy with human problems, especially in less developed countries,
are the sine qua non for a Human resource man. He has to deal with
people who toil at various levels and partake of their joys and sorrows. He
must perform his functions with sensitivity and feeling.
7. Human Resource Man as a Visionary: While every leading function of
an organization must evolve its vision of the future, the primary
responsibility for developing the social organization towards purposive
and progressive action fall on the personnel man. He should be a thinker
who sets the pace for policy-making in an organization in the area of
human relations and should gradually work out new patterns of human
relations management consistent with the needs of the organization and
the society. He must ponder on the social obligations of the enterprise,
especially if it is in the public sector, where one has to work within the
framework of social accountability. He should be in close touch with socio-
economic changes in the country. He should be able to reasonably
forecast future events and should constantly strive to meet the coming
challenges.

Role and Challenges of Human Resource Manager

Human Resource (HR) Department is established in every organization

under the charge of an executive known as Human Resource Manager. This
department plays an important role in the efficient management of human
resources. The human resource department gives assistance and provides
service to all other departments on personnel matters. Though personnel or
human resource manager is a staff officer in relation to other departments of
the enterprise, he has a line authority to get orders executed within his
department. The human resource manager performs managerial functions like
planning, organizing, directing and controlling to manage his department. He
has also to perform certain operative functions like recruitment, selection,
training, placement, etc., which the other line managers may entrust to him. He
is basically a manager whatever may be the nature of his operative functions.
The status of Human Resource Manager in an organization depends upon the
type of organization structure.

Role of Human Resource Manager in an Organization

In most of the big enterprises, human resource department is set up

under the leadership of personnel manager who has specialized knowledge and
skills. The human resource manager performs managerial as well as operative
functions. Since he is a manager, he performs the basic functions of
management like planning, organizing, directing and controlling to manage his

Campuses: Hilltop | MH del Pilar | Pallocan East | Pallocan West | Lipa

Telephone Numbers: +63 43 723 1446 | 980 0041
Website: www.ub.edu.ph
department. He has also to perform certain operative functions of recruitment,
selection, training, placement, etc., which the problems to management, the
human resource managers attach highest priority to the settlement of industrial
disputes than anything else.
The role of human resource management in industry is underlined by the
complex and dynamic nature of environment under which the modern large-
scale industries function. The impact of technology on organization structure,
politicization of workers ‘unions, and the growing consciousness of industrial
employees about their rights and privileges, have made the role of personnel
management increasingly more important in industrial undertakings. The task
has also been facilitated by the greater recognition of the value of human
resources in industry and application of human resource development (HRD)
techniques by the enlightened managers in modern organizations.

References:

Corpuz C., Human Resource Management. RexPublishing, Inc., 2013

Torrington D, Hall L. and Taylor S., Human Resource Management, Seventh Edition.,
Pearson Education Limited. 2008
Osibanjo A. and Adeniji A., Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice,
Pumark Nigeria Limited. 2012

Campuses: Hilltop | MH del Pilar | Pallocan East | Pallocan West | Lipa

Telephone Numbers: +63 43 723 1446 | 980 0041
Website: www.ub.edu.ph