Today's HRM Challenges

Key Takeaways

  • One of the most important aspects to productive HRM is to ensure the department adds value to the rest of the organization, based on the organization's strategic plan.
  • One of the major challenges of HRM is containment of costs. This can be done in several ways, for example, in the way health care and benefits are offered. Many companies are developing cafeteria plans that satisfy the employee and help contain costs.
  • HRM can also contain costs by developing and managing training programs and ensuring employees are well trained to be productive in the job.
  • Hiring is a very expensive part of human resources, and therefore HRM should take steps to ensure they are hiring the right people for the job the first time. Turnover is a term used to describe the departure of an employee.
  • Poor communication results in wasting time and resources. We can communicate better by understanding communication channels, personalities, and styles.
  • Technology is also a challenge to be met by human resources. For example, employees may request alternative work schedules because they can use technology at home to get their work done.
  • Because technology is part of our work life, cyberloafing, or employees spending too much time on the Internet, creates new challenges for managers. Technology can also create challenges such as workplace stress and lack of work-life balance.
  • The economy is a major factor in human resource management. HR managers, no matter what the state of the economy, must plan effectively to make sure they have the right number of workers at the right time. When we deal with a down economy, the legal and union implications of layoffs must be considered, and in an up economy, hiring of workers to meet the internal demand is necessary.
  • The retirement of baby boomers is creating a gap in the workplace, related to not only the number of people available but also the skills people have. Multigenerational companies, or companies with workers of a variety of ages, must find ways to motivate employees, even though those employees may have different needs. HR must be aware of this and continually plan for the challenge of a changing workforce. Diversity in the workplace is an important challenge in human resource management.
  • Ethics and monitoring of ethical behavior are also challenges in HRM. Setting ethical standards and monitoring ethical behavior, including developing a code of conduct, is a must for any successful business.

Back to '1.1: The Changing Nature of Human Resource Management'