Chapter 1 Strategic Implications of a Dynamic HRM Environment

1. Fundamentals of Human Resource Management Eighth Edition DeCenzo and Robbins Chapter 1 Strategic Implications of a Dynamic HRM Environment

2. Introduction • The World of Work - continues to change, but at an even more rapid pace(speed). • HR must understand the implications of: • globalization • technology changes • workforce diversity • changing skill requirements • continuous improvement initiatives • the contingent work force • decentralized work sites • and employee involvement

3. Understanding Cultural Environments • Today’s business world is truly a global village. This term refers to the fact that businesses currently operate around the world.

4. Understanding Cultural Environments • HRM must ensure that • employees can operate in the appropriate language • communications are understood by a multilingual work force • Ensure that workers can operate in cultures that differ on variables such as • status differentiation • societal uncertainty • assertiveness • individualism • HRM also must help multicultural groups work together.

5. Understanding Cultural Environments • GLOBE Dimensions: • Assertiveness • Future Orientation • Gender Differentiation • Uncertainty Avoidance • Power Distance • Individualism/collectivism • In-group collectivism • Performance orientation • Humane orientation

6. Understanding Cultural Environments • Cultural Implications for HRM • Not all HRM theories and practices are universally applicable. • HRM must understand varying cultural values.

7. The Changing World of Technology • Has altered the way people work. • Has changed the way information is created, stored, used, and shared. • The move from agriculture to industrialization created a new group of workers – the blue-collar industrial worker. • Since WWII, the trend has been a reduction in manufacturing work and an increase in service jobs.

8. The Changing World of Technology • Knowledge Worker - individuals whose jobs are designed around the acquisition and application of information. • Why the emphasis on technology: • makes organizations more productive • helps them create and maintain a competitive advantage • provides better, more useful information

9. The Changing World of Technology • How Technology Affects HRM Practices • Recruiting • Employee Selection • Training and Development • Ethics and Employee Rights • Motivating Knowledge Workers • Paying Employees Market Value • Communication • Decentralized Work Sites • Skill Levels • Legal Concerns

10. Workforce Diversity • The challenge is to make organizations more accommodating to diverse groups of people.

11. Workforce Diversity • Diversity is the existence of many unique individuals in the workplace, marketplace and community. This includes men and women from different nations, cultures, ethnic groups, generations, backgrounds, skills, abilities and all the other unique differences that make each of us who we are.

12. Workforce Diversity • The Workforce Today • minorities and women have become the fastest growing segments • the numbers of immigrant(migrators) workers and older workers are increasing

13. Workforce Diversity • How Diversity Affects HRM • Need to attract and maintain a diversified work force that is reflective of the diversity in the general population. • Need to foster(further) increased sensitivity to group differences. • Must deal with the different • Values • Needs • Interests • Expectations of employees

14. Workforce Diversity • What Is a Work/Life Balance? • A balance between personal life and work • Causes of the blur between work and life • The creation of global organizations means the world never sleeps. • Communication technologies allow employees to work at home. • Organizations are asking employees to put in longer hours. • Fewer families have a single breadwinner.

15. Labor Supply • Do We Have a Shortage of Skilled Labor? • The combination of the small Gen-X population, the already high participation rate of women in the workforce, and early retirements will lead to a significantly smaller future labor pool from which employers can hire.

16. Labor Supply • Why Do Organizations Lay Off During Shortages? • Downsizing is part of a larger goal of balancing staff to meet changing needs. • Organizations want more flexibility to better respond to change. • This is often referred to as rightsizing, linking employee needs to organizational strategy.

17. Labor Supply • How Do Organizations Balance Labor Supply? • Organizations are increasingly using contingent workers to respond to fluctuating needs for employees. • Contingent workers include • Part-time workers • Temporary workers • Contract workers

18. Labor Supply

19. Labor Supply • Issues Contingent Workers Create for HRM • How to attract quality temporaries • How to motivate employees who are receiving less pay and benefits • How to have them available when needed • How to quickly adapt them to the organization • How to deal with potential conflicts between core and contingent workers

20. Continuous Improvement Programs • Continuous improvement - making constant efforts to provide better products and service to customers • External • Internal • Quality management concepts have existed for over 50 years and include the pioneering work of W. Edwards Deming.

21. Continuous Improvement Programs • Key components of continuous improvement are: • Focus on the customer • Concern for continuous improvement • Improvement in the quality of everything • Accurate measurement • Empowerment of employees

22. Continuous Improvement Programs • Work Process Engineering involves radical, quantum changes to entire work processes. • How HRM Assists in Work Process Engineering • Helps employees deal with the emotional aspects of conflict and change • Provides skills training • Adapts HR systems, such as compensation, benefits, and performance standards.

23. Employee Involvement • Delegation – having the authority to make decisions in one’s job • Work teams – workers of various specializations who work together in an organization • HRM must provide training to help empower employees in their new roles. • Involvement programs can achieve: • greater productivity • increased employee loyalty and commitment

24. A Look at Ethics • Three views of ethics: • Utilitarian View – decisions are made on the basis of their outcomes or consequences • Rights View – decisions are made with concern for respecting and protecting individual liberties and privileges • Theory of Justice View – decisions are make by enforcing rules fairly and impartially • Code of ethics - a formal document that states an organization’s primary values and the ethical rules it expects organizational members to follow.