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Human Resources have never been more indispensable than today. The competitive forces that we face today will continue to face in the future demanding organizational excellence. The todays business faces lot of issues pertaining to strategic human resources management. Those are described in bellow, 1. Tight labour markets
The first eight years of the new century saw labour markets tighten very considerably. While the supply of would-be employees remained larger than the demand for them in one or two areas of work and in some areas of the country, skills shortages emerged in most industries and began to dominate the HR agenda before recessionary conditions arrived in 2008 and the economy began to contract. Recruitment and retention thus moved to the top of the agenda in most HR departments as organisations struggled to source the people they needed. Importantly, the evolution of tight labour markets meant that skilled employees who were dissatisfied with their work, their organisations or, most commonly, their managers, could find alternative work with some ease. In a tight labour market this reality gives employees a degree of power and hence influence over the nature of managerial decisions which affect them (Price and Walker, 1999). Unilever Company also facing this problem they have to choose one employee from large number of applications.so the recruitment and selection function is playing vital role in the company with this issue.
2.
Regulation
Since the 1990s the amount of regulation governing the employment relationship in the UK, as well as in other EU countries, has increased very markedly. Areas of employment which were completely free of regulation prior to this period, such as age discrimination, have been regulated for the first time, while others, where light-touch approaches were the norm previously, are now far more closely regulated. Disability discrimination and maternity rights are two prominent examples. As a result the number of employment tribunal claims lodged each year has increased very significantly indeed, reflecting an increased propensity on the part of aggrieved employees to seek redress in the courts (Price and Walker, 1999). So the Unilever Company has to update every day with the regulations and comply with those regulations. If they are not complying with those regulations it will be bad for the organization image. 3. The nature of the jobs we do
Increasingly in recent years demand for labour has been focused on higher-paid, higherskilled jobs of a professional, managerial or technically sophisticated kind. Job-holders in these roles are well educated and typically have greater knowledge about their work than the people who manage the organisation. As a result, if they are wise, managers are required to take account of their employees views and have increasingly found it necessary to involve them in decision-making (Sisson and Storey, 2000). 4. Ethical awareness
Consumers, investors and job-seekers, particularly those who are from the younger generations, have started demonstrating both increasing awareness of ethical matters and also a willingness to take ethical considerations into account when making decisions about what goods and services to buy, where to put their savings and which organisations they seek to work for. As a result, organisations have begun to embrace corporate social responsibility, have actively sought to develop a reputation for ethical conduct and have tried to associate leading brands with ethical values. In the main the nature of ethical awareness has focused on green matters and on fair trade, but there are significant examples of concern spreading into
the HR field, notably in respect of the working conditions established by multinational corporations operating in developing countries (Price and Walker, 1999). Unilever Company has to initiates some CSR activities and need to reduce foot print in the earth. 5. The Changing and Diverse Workforce
Human resources should be aware that the workforce is constantly changing. For example elder population is growing. The Unilever Company has to consider diversity of the workforce. 6. The Economy
Tough economic times in a country usually results in tough times for business, too. High unemployment and layoffs are clearly HRM and managerial issues. If a human resource manager works for a unionized company, union contracts are the guiding source when having to downsize owing to a tough economy (Price and Walker, 1999). 7. Technology
Technology has greatly impacted human resources and will continue to do so as new technology is developed. Through use of technology, many companies have virtual workforces that perform tasks from nearly all corners of the world. When employees are not located just down the hall, management of these human resources creates some unique challenges. For example, technology creates an even greater need to have multicultural or diversity understanding (Chang et al, 2012). 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. 8. Containing Costs
If you were to ask most business owners what their biggest challenges are, they will likely tell you that cost management is a major factor to the success or failure of their business. In most businesses today, the people part of the business is the most likely place for cuts when the economy isnt doing well. 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 (Aswathappa, 2008). 9. Employee retention
Even with the difficult economic circumstances discussed here some 69% of employers were still experiencing problems with the retention of their employees, with managers and professionals being the most difficult to retain Organisations keen to keep their staff so that they could benefit from their skills and expertise as the economy improved frequently took action to boost retention of staff (Aswathappa, 2008). 10. Knowledge workers
In the UK there has been a decline in traditional manufacturing industry and a growth in areas of work such as the service sector or knowledge economy, where the workers are sometimes referred to as knowledge workers. The management guru Peter Drucker (2010) identified the growth and management of knowledge workers as being one of the key issues for the twenty-first century (Lloyed et al, 1997). 11. Cross-cultural issues in HRM
Some organisations are multinational and produce and sell their goods or services in other countries. Others may use overseas workers in call centres to deal with queries in the UK or in other parts of the world. Even when there is unemployment there are still many jobs which prove unattractive to local workers and consequently are difficult to fill. There are also many jobs where there are skills shortages and just insufficient people with the right skills (Armstrong, 1999).
References
Armstrong, M. (1999). A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice (7th edition ed.). 120 Pentonvelle Road, London: Kogan Page Limited.
Aswathappa, K. (2008). Human Resource and Personnel Management (5th edition ed.). New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Ltd.
Chang, S., Gong, Y., Way, S. A., & Jia, L. (2012). Flexibility-Oriented HRM Systems, Absorptive Capacity, and Market Responsiveness and Firm Innovativeness. Journal of Management, 39(7), 1924-1951. doi: 10.1177/0149206312466145
Ducker, P. F. (2010). The drucker lectures United States of America The Drucker Institiute
Lloyed, L., Byers, & Rue, L. W. (1997). Human Resource Management (5th edition ed.). USA: The McGraw-Hill Companies.
Price, K., & Walker, J. (1999). The new HR: strategic positioning of the human resource function. Chicago: Human Resource Planning Society.
Sisson, K., & Storey, J. (2000). The realities of human resource management:managing the employment relationship. Buckingham: Open University Press.