Trends in Human Resource Management

Trends in Human Resource Management

Teaming across organizational boundaries appears to be a hallmark of companies in transformation. In fact, a number of companies these days have eliminated many of the traditional organizational boundaries entirely. Project teams instead of traditional managers organize work, and workers are even able to join teams based on their competencies and interest. These are just some of the changes being made as the United States quickly transforms from an industrial society to a service society. Instead of the boss being the CEO the boss is now becoming the customer. As our company structures change thus does the roles of our Humane Resource departments. In the following paragraphs we will discuss some of these changes as they pertain to globalization, technology, diversity, e-business and ethics.

Globalization

In today’s highly aggressive global market companies are finding it necessary to expand internationally to gain competitive advantage. To meet these challenges, U.S. businesses must develop global markets, keep up with competition from overseas, hire from an international labor pool, and prepare employees for global assignments (Trends page 46). Many of the United States most successful global competitors do this by operating on the belief that people are the company’s most important asset. Placing this value on employees requires the companies to emphasize human resource practices, including reward for superior performance, measures of employee satisfaction, careful selection of employees, promotion from within, and investment in employee development (Trends 46). Technology is another important factor in globalization. The Internet and improved, more reliable telephone service is making it possible for companies to hire cheaper labor for things like telemarketing, computer help desk and even sales. For example, Dell computer hires contractors from India to take purchase calls for their phone and Internet computer sales. One very important thing for companies thinking of breaching the global barrier is that to operate in other countries, its HR practices must take into consideration differences in culture and business practices in other countries.

Technology

Advances in computer-related technology have had a major impact on the use of information for managing human resources (Trends 49). The Internet has made it possible for HR personal to place job postings, review resumes, and provide training online. Monster and Careerbuilder.com to name just a couple of the Internet based recruiters have made it possible for people from all over the world to apply for jobs at an infinite number of companies. This gives companies a broader choice of applicants making it easier to pick the right candidate for the job. These online sites give smaller companies the chance to recruit like a larger organization and larger companies to spend less on recruitment efforts. Medium to large companies are providing training through the Internet or through their in house Intranet services. For example St. Francis Hospital in Greenville S.C. has their safety, HIPPA, and even specialized nursing training on their Intranet, making it convenient for all employees to keep up with mandatory training. Progress in computer-related technology has also had a major impact on the use of information for managing human resources. Large quantities of employee data such as training record, skill, compensation rates, and benefits usage, can easily be stored on personal computers and manipulated with user-friendly spreadsheets or statistical software.

Diversity

The U.S. labor force is growing more diverse in racial and ethnic terms. “Diversity includes everyone; it is not something that is defined by race or gender. It extends to age, personal and corporate background, education, function and personality. It includes lifestyle, sexual preference, geographic origin, tenure with organization, exempt or non-exempt status and management or non-management.” (Teicher, Holland & Gough 2002 p324). It can therefore be said that every workplace is diverse. According to chapter 2 of the Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, the 2006 workforce will be 72 percent white (and non-Hispanic), 11 percent black, 12 percent Hispanic, and 5 percent Asian and other minorities. This diversity in the