Human Resource Management encompasses ways to manage the human skills and talent and ensure that they work to achieve the organizational goals. Human resources are factors that any organization value the most and without them it would be difficult for an organization to operate (Snell, & Bohlander, 2013). Over my previous classes, I have learned a lot about the various aspect that institute the Human Resource Management that include employee and labor relation, compensation and benefit, safety and health, and human resource development. Similarly, I was able to learn how human resource management employs EEO and affirmative action, and the planning, recruitment and selection process. In this paper, I will provide a reflection on a brief description of how the various aspects of Human Resource Management can be applied together to perform the primary function of human resource management.

I had previously worked with the human resource department in a food retailing company, and they kept on bringing capable human assets to perform duties and responsibilities that will make the company competitive in the market. Other than our various jobs, the company ensured we employ ethical culture within the company and relate well to the executives, managers, and other employees.

The human resource planning is the most important role in the department and can be explained as ways an organization can assess and plan for its future. Precisely, it involves what the company needs to survive and how it should be applied. Therefore, a strategic planning in human resource entails estimating and meeting human resource demand, and this will help the HR to facilitate the achievement of the company’s objectives (Snell, & Bohlander, 2013). On a further note, the HR planning process involves estimating capacity, researching and evaluating deployment of resources and identifying and handling human talent. Planning is an ongoing process since the organizations are always affected by the internal and external business environment. Before an organization can start working on their strategic plan, they are required to use the following four steps. First, the company should determine its mission, assess the environment, set the objectives and lastly set the strategic plan. The organization’s objectives should be recorded and ensures that it is measurable so that the company can track its success over a period.

The human resource department should also present themselves with a challenge, but it should be easy for the workforce to attain at the start. Job analysis and design in human resource involve specifying responsibilities in certain jobs. It helps the managers understand and comprehend what the jobs entail and how they should be performed to maximize the productivity within the company. Some of the detailed critical information collected for job analysis include human behavior, job context, work activities, equipment and performance records.

Also, the human resource managers have the role to plan, direct and coordinate their functions in the company. They mainly involve in recruiting, interviewing and hiring new workers. Similarly, they area also engaged in consultative matters such as strategic planning with top executives (Snell, & Bohlander, 2013). Precisely, the measures human resource managers use in the recruitment process include advertising for jobs, screening, interviewing, and testing the potential employees. The human resource managers consider selection and job fit to determine whether the potential employees meet the requirements of the job, and they will choose the best person from the group.

Employee selection is one of the critical processes the human resource managers go through since they require to get qualified employees who will meet and fulfill the company’s goals. Besides, the qualified employees will make the organization successful and ensure it withstands the competitive nature of the market. According to (Snell, & Bohlander, 2013), without a human resource manager in an organization, the operations within the organization will not run smoothly. Their responsibilities cover every area of Human Resource Management in an organization. Also, they bridge the gap between the management and the employees.

I am currently working with Wal-Mart, a leading food retailing company. My first application for an intern position in the Human Resource Department was through online means. The company has experienced the frequent changes in technology and employed the same in its recruitment processes. Therefore, every person willing to apply for jobs in Wal-Mart should use the online platform. The positive thing is that the application process has been simplified and made easy. A person just needs to log into the company’s official website, click the career button and choose the type of jobs that meets his/her requirements.

Moreover, because of the current and future trend in internet use, companies have taken a new twist regarding their recruitment process. They have discarded the old jobs boards and newspaper posts and switched to recruiting employees through the internet. According to the research carried out, approximately more than 50% of new employees used the online application platform (Lussier, 2015). Employers have benefited a lot from the online recruiting process, and they include the following. First, the means of recruiting employees is cost effective since the company will cut on advertising costs. Second, the method could be accessed by everyone hence the company could get a good number of potential candidates. Third, the company has a high chance of getting technologically skilled candidates.

During my time as an intern in Wal-Mart, I learned that the company advocated the use of personal referrals for hiring. It entails networking whereby individuals inform people they know to click on certain links and sign up. I also felt that the company should take advantage of the social media platform to spread the news about their organization and attract potential candidates. The use of social media will help the company grow and compete with other organization in the same industry. The organization can create a discussion forum and use it to reach the candidates. Similarly, the company can use their social media profile to get feedbacks from potential employees. On a further note, employers can are fit for the job and will maintain the organizational culture from their hobbies, motivations and interest. Therefore, social media will allow both the employer and employee to understand one another.

However, I realized that the selection process at the company I am currently working with a bit different since it can take more than a month for the applicants to get feedback hence this might frustrate them. The selection process for a particular individual will only be successful if his/her knowledge and skills meet the requirements for that particular job. Therefore, companies choose the highly qualified people for fill the positions advertised. Also, companies should use the current successful employees to help them identify the best candidates for their jobs.

After selecting employees, the company always engage them in various forms of orientation to equip them with the knowledge to understand the culture of the organization and how to perform their various duties.  Precisely, orientation is the commonly used form of development and training that companies use for their newly selected employees to improve their job performance by reaching full potential, and foster their growth. Other forms include mentoring and coaching, career development and technical and non-technical training.

The society experiences changes every time; therefore, the organizations need to invest their resources in employees training and development for them to maintain a competitive and knowledgeable workforce. The company that I work for utilizes mentoring and coaching, professional career development, online training, and onboarding. During my training in the company, the measures employed were effective, and I developed to be an amazing employee.

Providing compensation, rewards or benefits are ways organizations use to attract and retain talented employees. Laws and regulations control the benefits administration. The laws employed should ensure that the program runs smoothly by controlling the new development that may alter the benefits program. Nowadays, it is like a culture that most organizations offer benefits to their employees. Contrary, there are individuals who love their profession and they would not be affected if they are not rewarded for the good work they do.

According to research most people consider the benefits offered before signing the employment contract. Therefore, the benefits offered by the company is what will seal their deal. It has always been a tradition that salaries and benefits make up the critical factors that will attract, motivate and retain employees. These factors not only draws employees into working with the company but also boost their loyalty to the organization. In a situation when an employee realizes that the company has identified and would love to continue with his/her services, he/she will develop loyalty and tend to increase the pride and interest in the company. In my opinion, I believe that pay is not the main motivating factor for most jobs seeking individuals and employees. I think that most of the employees and job seekers will consider the pay, benefits and the cost incurred to get the benefits as their main motivating factor. However, it might also be true that job seekers will, first of all, consider the pay before applying for a job. I will recommend employees to get the best job that will satisfy his/her needs.

Human resource development entails managing the human skills through training, career, and organizational development to improve their effectiveness. It is the role of the Human Resource to ensure all employees are aware of the career development initiatives that he company offers. They should also provide the various assistance to both leaders and junior employees on how to develop a correct career plan. This will improve their performances and hence they will achieve the company’s goals. The company, in turn, will attain a competitive advantage over others in the market.

Also, the HR should accurately and strategically assess the role of training. This will ensure that the employees trained end up being competent and efficient. Moreover, before the organization takes a step to evaluate the effectiveness of the training program, they should, first of all, measure its impact on the employees. Some of the aspects that will be considered include the increased productivity, the cost efficiency of the training method and employees’ complaints. The top management has the responsibility to ensure that the staff including the managers and employees use the human resource development policies on everyday tasks and should be equally applied to the employees. It does not matter the kind of profession you are, the most important thing as a human resource manager is to obey your responsibilities and perform the relevant functions.

The human resource management handles the safety and health issues of the employees. All jobs involve the use of machines; therefore, employers should consider the health and safety of their employees. In recent years accidents, occupational illnesses and injuries to employees have impacted companies and the U.S economy. It will be to the interest of the company if they have strategies or plans to avoid health and safety issues. For example, if a company offers health insurance benefits that are good, individual will be attracted to such an organization (Briscoe, & Schuler, 2004). Similarly, according to the law, companies should provide the employee with an insurance coverage for injuries incurred in the course of employment. Moreover, I will be ideal if companies conduct campaigns on safety awareness. They should also employ health and safety programs, distribute handouts or pamphlets with details on safety and regulatory policies and reward employees who preach about safety.

Both Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and Affirmative Action are principles set by the federal and state government. Precisely, EEO ensures that job applicants and employees regardless of their race, color, age, status, gender, and nationality are granted equal opportunity in the hiring process, promotion, professional development programs and termination of the contract. Therefore, it forbids discrimination against anyone (Society for Human Resource Management, 2012).

Affirmative Actions are a tool used to address the historical and present practices of discrimination. Similarly, they are the social and moral obligation to eliminate any current impact of past discrimination practices. Affirmative Action was specifically designed to protect and allow minorities, people with disabilities and females to be on the same level with other people (Society for Human Resource Management, 2012). However, it does not mean that human resource managers should now start hiring an incompetent and unqualified individual. They should hire people who have met the requirements for the jobs applied but without discriminating anyone.

Some of the human resource management areas that will be impacted most by the current and future trends include recruitment process, human resource legislation, and benefits compensation. Companies will have to invest heavily in human capital management practices to attract employees, retain talents and motivate the future generations of potential employees. Moreover, companies must try and employ the following into their system. They must incorporate online recruiting including through social media and adapt to technological changes.

The human resource department must also keep up to date with the changes in the legal environment. They are required to protect the rights of their employees. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the HR to consider the cultural aspect and well-being of the workforce. Such a move will promote diversity and put a sense of community among the staff and; hence promoting growth within the company.

In this course, I have learned and gained knowledge about the processes human resource managers use to ensure that the company maximizes its most valuable assets to attain effectively the company’s objectives. I also learned that discrimination in the workplace is an offense, and the HR should provide every applicant an equal opportunity. The continuous emergence of outsourcing and growth of the economy will influence human resource managers to handle and manage diversity in a different way. Besides, the human resource managers may be required to make use of technological advancement and manage the global workforce from far. In addition, they must also have the ability to understand and integrate their various cultural aspect. They need to protect the safety and health of the workforce. Currently, I work as an intern with diverse groups of individuals, and my company has employed adequate strategies to cater for a global workforce.

In conclusion, the various critical aspect I learned in my human resource management course could have a great impact on my future profession as a human resource officer. Precisely, I am pursuing a degree in Human Resource Management, and there is a high possibility that I may be among the leaders called upon to oversee and manage the ever-changing global workforce. I will use the information and knowledge learned in this course to exercise my responsibilities as a human resource officer in any company that will employ me. On a further note, I will recommend my colleagues to make use of technological change and employ it in the human resource management. It is important for them to use technology such as social media during the hiring process. Lastly, discrimination in the workplace is something that the current and the future generation should try and avoid since it damages the image of the company and enhances conflicts within an organization.

Marketing Strategy for Social enterprises 

References

Briscoe, D. R., & Schuler, R. S. (2004). International human resource management: policy and practice for the global enterprise (Vol. 5). Psychology Press.

Lussier, P. R. N. (2015). Human Resource Management: Functions, Applications, and Skill Development. New York: Sage Publications, Inc.

Snell, S., & Bohlander, G. W. (2013). Managing human resources. Mason, Ohio: South-Western.

Society for Human Resource Management (2012). EEO: General: What is the difference between EEO, Affirmative Action and diversity? Retrieved from http://www.shrm.org/templatestools/hrqa/pages/cms_013810.aspx

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