Challenges in Strategic Human Resource

Management
Human Resource Management

Set of tools to
(1) Recruit employees, form and organise their professional
careers, and
(2) Ensure that employees are assigned to do the adequate
tasks and that the overall performance of the administration is
aligned well with the general and particular objectives that it
seeks to accomplish.

Major Factors Affecting HRM

(i) Demographics and Diversity

(ii) Technological Advancement

(iii) Globalization

Issues for Integrating New Technologies

Consideration of Adopting a new

technology

Strategic issues

Impact on productivity

Impact on quality of output Strategic HR issues

Impact on timing/delivery of Necessary expansion/contraction

output of work force

Cost of equipment/technology Training need to utilize new

technology
Adequacy of current facilities
Cost of hiring, severance and
New market oppurtunities training
offered
Effective management of change

Impact on workgroup dynamics

• New market oppurtunities

offered
 Impact of Technology on Organizations

• Requires changes in skills and work habit of employees

• Elimination of some lower-level position and layers of

management

• Less hierarchy, more collaboration

Technology Challenges for HR

• Telecommuting
• Employee surveillance & monitoring
• e-HR
• Ethical behaviour

Telecommuting
 Dramatic growth in number of Americans working from
home
• 3.4 million in 1990
• 19.6 million by beginning of 2000
 Issues affecting success of telecommuting programs
• Clear performance measurement system is key
• Deciding which employees will be offered participation
• Equipment expense
• Some managers uncomfortable having direct reports away
from office

Employee Surveillance and Monitoring

 More than 80% of large employers utilize monitoring

technology, e.g.,
  Internet usage

 E-mails

 Computer files

 Voice-mail

 Telephone usage

 Under Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA),

employees have only limited privacy rights

E-HR

 Opportunity to deliver transactional types of services

online:

• Payroll

• Employee benefits

• Scheduling

• Recruiting

• Training

• Career development

Ethical Behavior

• Majority of jobs are considered to be “at-will”

• Movement toward greater protection for employees in

regard to off-duty behavior

• Ownership of work
 • Fairness of noncompete clauses

 Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002:

• Seeks to eliminate deception in accounting &

management practices by increasing government
oversight

• Holds senior executives more directly responsible for

violations

• Protects “whistle-blowers”

Workforce Demographic Changes: “Graying” of

Workforce

 Positive aspects of older workers

• As productive or more productive than younger workers

• Have more organizational loyalty than younger workers

• Possess broader industry knowledge and professional

networks

 Negative aspects of older workers

• Perceived resistance to change by older workers

• Increased health-care costs for senior workers

• Blocking advancement opportunities for younger workers

• Higher wage and salary costs for senior workers

Workforce Demographic Changes

 Baby Boomers (1945–1962)

• Currently in excess supply in middle management ranks

• HR challenge is to manage “plateaued” workers

  Baby Busters (1963–mid-1970s)

• Are often career bottlenecked by Boomers

• Many have skills in high demand; are doing and will do

well

 Generation “X”ers (late 1970s–early 1980s)

• Have life-long exposure to technology and constant

change

• Seek self-control, independence, personal growth,

creativity

• Not focused on job security or long-term employment

 Generation “Y”: “Baby Boom Echo” (after 1979)

• High comfort level with technology

• Global and tolerant outlook on life

• Highly entrepreneurial

• Shorter attention span

• Opting for more transient and variable project work

Workforce Demographic Changes

 Disabilities

• 54 million Americans with disabilities

• Often not included in diversity initiatives

• Many supervisors do not understand needs of employees

with disabilities
 • Stereotypes

New Employee/Workplace Dynamics

 Emphasis on management of professionals

• Establishment of separate career tracks

 Technical/Professional, Managerial /Administrative

• Use of project teams

 Less employee loyalty, more loyal to self

• Staying with employers for shorter periods; demanding

more meaningful work and involvement in organizational
decisions

 Increased personal and family dynamic effects

• More single-parent families, dual-career couples, &

domestic partners

 Increased non-traditional work relationships

• Part-time, consulting, and temporary employment

flexibility

• Outsourcing and entrepreneurial opportunities

Managing Workplace Diversity

 Understanding and appreciating diversity

• Critical to effectively marketing to ethnic and

minority groups
 • Promoted by having diverse workforce at all levels

• Helps ensure hiring and promotion decisions are

unbiased by personal differences

 Diversity management programs or initiatives

• Must be integrated with organization’s mission and

objectives

• Help key decision makers identify diversity’s benefits

to organization

• Make critical decisions about implementing optimal

program/initiative contingent on organization and its
people, mission and culture.

Individual Dimensions of Diversity

Strategic Management of Diversity

 Determine why diversity is important

 Articulate how diversity relates to mission and strategic

objectives

 Define diversity and determine how inclusive its efforts

will be

 Make a decision as to whether special efforts should be

extended to attract diverse workforce

 Assess how existing employees, customers, and other

constituencies feel about diversity

 Determine specific types of diversity initiatives that will be

undertaken
Five Challenges to Virtual Team Success

 Virtual teams:

• Groups of people who work interdependently with

shared purpose across space, time, and organization
boundaries, using technology to communicate and
collaborate

 Types of virtual teams

• Global virtual teams

• Teams assigned to accomplish specific projects

• Cross-functional teams

 Challenge: Recognize obstacles confronting teams that

are both cross-functional and virtual

• Building trust within virtual teams

• Maximizing process gains and minimizing process

losses on virtual teams

• Overcoming feelings of isolation and detachment

associated with virtual teamwork

• Balancing technical and interpersonal skills among

virtual team members

• Assessment and recognition of virtual team

performance

Employee Satisfaction

 Potential impact of demographic changes

• Aging population increases emphasis on health care

benefits, retirement planning, and job security
 • Women are attaining higher proportion of professional
qualifications

• Future skills shortages may cause industrialized

countries to compete for skilled immigrant labor

 Industrial base shifting to service and health care sectors

• Wider political and economic trends affecting job

satisfaction

• Health care cost

• Job security

• Pensions

 Two groups of issues:

• Those depending on financial position of company

 Benefits

 Wages

 Job security

• Those less costly to implement through changing

practices, processes, and culture

 Communication with management

 Work/life balance

 Employee’s relationship with immediate supervisor

 Career development