Career Exploration Alternative Senior Project: Human Resource Management

Description of the career

Not a single organization could exist without people, they form actually the biggest assert for any company and thus no wonder that an important task for all organizations and their managers is to preserve and motivate their skilled and experienced employees via engaging responsible and well suited human resource managers. Human resource management is correspondingly done in all kinds of organizations. Profound and accurate human resource management is the key towards overall success of any organization. The human resource management field postulates the infinite diversity of people and their dynamics (McKenzie, Traynor 2002). Most of the modern organizations are to face the challenges, related to rapidly changing environment with high degree of competition. It is influenced by globalization, deregulation, introduction of the innovative information technologies, uninterrupted labor markets, etc. In order to perform successfully any company should focus upon reduction of the costs, creation of new products, increase of quality and productivity. Reaching all these aims is not possible without rational and adequate utilization of the workforce’s capabilities. Only under the condition that a company is able to manage its human resources with maximum effectiveness, it would reach the set goals and sustain its competitive advantage. Human resource management is also a way to reshape and coordinate attitude and behavior of the employees. “The manner in which an organization manages her human resource institutes the conditions and tone that will govern the relationship between employers and employees. There are many ways of defining human resource management (HRM) practices.” (McKenzie, Traynor 2002). According to Bowman & Swart (2007) human resource management is actually the management of organizational activities, manipulating of the human resources and ensuring that they are all directed exactly towards fulfillment of the major organizational goals and strategies. Other researchers assume that human resource management is a combination of policies and practices, which were developed with the aim to manage the human capital of an organization and secure fulfillment of business objectives.

“The connections between a firm’s performance and its human resource management practices are based on two approaches namely best fit (contingency) and best practice (universal) approaches. In best practice, a set of HRM practices are argued to be associated with improved firm performance in all types of organization and by allusion for al types of employees.” (Nahapiet, Ghoshal 1998). Although the competitive pay level plays an important role for motivating of an employee, it is not correct to limit all the approaches only to the financial sphere. Instead, only a combination of policies, which are interrelated with each other, could lead to motivation of individuals within their organization. The recruiting procedures are also of great importance, as they allow involving of qualified applicants, having the needed skills and experiences. In order to better understand the functions of human resource management, it is advisable to make a detailed study of human resource management.

Human resources is usually the term, which is utilized at most organizations in order to describe the combination of the administrative personnel functions, related to performance management, resource planning and employee and employer relations. Human resources is the field, which is rapidly gaining its prominence and reveals its meaning for shaping of the various industries and workplaces in the whole world. The fact is that most of business leaders in different spheres have come to the conclusion that people are the greatest asset of any company and in order to rely upon them, business leaders are to work out effective management policies, which should be applied in the area of human resources.

“The Human Resources Management is the strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organization’s most valued assets – the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the business.” (McKenzie, Traynor 2002). The term “personnel management” is nowadays substituted with the terms “human resources” and “human resources management” and they are used to describe the processes, related to managing employees in organizations. Human resource management is in the process of active evolution and it is a combination of an academic theory and business practice, focused upon practical and theoretical approaches towards workforce management. The functions of human resource management are versatile and include a lot of activities. “The goal of human resource management is to help an organization to meet strategic goals by attracting, and maintaining employees and also to manage them effectively. The key word here perhaps is “fit”, i.e. a HRM approach seeks to ensure a fit between the management of an organization’s employees, and the overall strategic direction of the company.” (Miller 1989).

The importance o human resource management is related to its function of significant support and advice for attraction, preservation and motivation of individuals, as the basic resource for sustaining of competitive advantage in business. In case HRM system is build effectively, it could allow organizations manage their human resource issues strategically, provide high quality health services, copying with internal and external challenges of the organization. With the help of human resource management system, business leaders and top managers have the chance to set priorities within their business and organizational strategies. Competent employees are attracted and retained with the help of HRM, they are assisted in their adaptation process towards organizational change, facilitated with the use of technology for determining where and how the work should be done. Based on all these facts it is possible to state that HRM is one of the most important management systems both for employees and organizations. The major signs of the equitable and strong HRM system are the following:

  • employees are secured with appropriate compensation
  • employees are more motivated and have clear understanding of their work goals and organizational values and mission
  • employees are satisfied with their job positions
  • the level of employee performance is increased
  • there are opportunities to save costs via increase of the company’s efficiency and employees’ productivity.

The work of human resource managers is related to a great number of challenges. One of the most serious challenges is workforce diversity. Most organizations in the modern business environment become more diverse and employers are forced to adapt their human resource management strategies to correspond to these changes. “Many organizations today, such as bank of America, have workforce diversity programs. They tend to hire, promote, and retain minorities, encourage vendor diversity; and provide diversity training for employees. Workforce diversity requires employers to be more sensitive to the differences that each group brings to the work setting.” (Werther, Davis 1996). In some cases employers are to shift from treating all employees alike, instead they are to consider individual differences and reacting to these differences in corresponding ways. Their policies should be built with recognition of various values and interests and needs of the employees along with avoiding of any kind of sexist, racist or other offensive practices. Sometimes employees need help even in managing their life issues.

Human resource management includes a number of important functions. The function of staffing is usually considered to be the most important for all human resource managers. “Staffing is the function by which managers build an organization through the recruitment, selection and development of individuals as capable employees.” (Farland 1979). The process of staffing includes employing, appraising, remunerating and retaining of individuals, securing that the right people occupy their right positions at the right time at the organization.  Staffing is related to recruiting of personnel of all kinds, including operational and managerial. The process of staffing is rather complex and it involves a lot of activities, which are all aimed at recruiting of the best suitable individuals for all positions at an organization.

There are a lot of definitions of the term “recruitment”. “Recruitment is the process of finding and attracting capable applicants for employment. The process begins when new recruits are sought and ends when their applications are submitted. The result is a pool of applicants from which new employees are selected.” (Werther, Davis 1996). Some researchers consider recruitment to be a form of competition. In the same way like companies and corporations compete for their customers and development of their products, professionals are to compete for the better job positions in these companies and corporations. Thus recruitment is practically transformed into one of the business forms. Ideally recruitment is the process of creating the common space for employers and employees in such a way that both sides are able to reach their aims and enjoy the benefits of this cooperation. Recruitment is not the final stage in the list of human resource manager duties. Attracting a new skilled professional is important, but maintenance is not less important. Maintenance is the last phase, which unites all the activities, contributing to retaining of efficient and potentially perspective employees.  The direct task of human resource management is to ensure healthy working conditions and safety at the work place for all employees, taking care of them and thus motivating them to be devoted to their company and its goals. Sometimes personal lives are also involved into the professional problems, as all individuals exist in two worlds at a time, and they are actually not able to separate their personal and professional lives absolutely. This is the reason, why human resource managers should consider and implement employee assistance programs in order to help them cope with their stressful life situations. Usually these programs include securing of healthy work environment, variety of services and benefits for the employees for supporting higher level of their welfare, properly organized communication, appraisals.

Education

If an individual has the desire to occupy the position of HR manager, his path usually starts from getting at least bachelor’s degree. Many employers pay special attention to those candidates, who reveal profound business knowledge along with experience in the sphere of HR. “A Bachelor’s degree or above, will give aspirant better job opportunities and qualify them for more broad ranges of positions, from hospital human resource management to training managers. For advanced positions in a large corporation’s HR department, or for the position that involved in developing human resources policy, aspirant would best acquire a Master’s degree or PhD.” (McKenzie, Traynor 2002).  These positions should be then supported with industry certification or a Master’s in human resource degree. “An advanced degree or specialized HR education is becoming crucially important for some jobs, especially upper-level management positions. HR professionals may obtain the knowledge needed to compete for these jobs through a Master of Science in Human Resource Development degree program. Coursework typically includes organizational change management, benefits, compensation, employment law and human resource technology solutions.” (McKenzie, Traynor 2002). Those individuals, who have obtained Master’s Degree in HR, are expected to be able to:

  • have positive impact upon increase of productivity and employee satisfaction along with introduction of organizational change
  • conduct profound analysis on the basis of real-world data in order to find the best solutions to the current problems.
  • have the corresponding financial management education base and budgeting skills
  • have and continue to obtain knowledge and experience in order to succeed in HR management.

In addition to the mentioned degrees and skills, HR managers should have certain qualities, in order to work well in this challenging and rewarding field. The way, how HR managers are able to speak and writing could be decisive for comprehension of employees and top managers and would certainly have impact upon their ability to perform their work functions. Often HR specialists are to reveal their ability to work under pressure and adhere to strong ethic principles, they should take responsibility and at the same time be able to delegate responsibility in case it is needed. In addition they should demonstrate their creativity and positive attitude, otherwise it would be too difficult to build friendly and good relations with all workers of the company.

Advances in the career

Initially the sphere of human resource management was seen as restricted to managing the employee benefits, the processes of recruiting, interviewing and finally hiring new employees to a company. Nowadays the human resources field has definitely advanced beyond those limitations. Nowadays successful human resources professionals cooperate with top managers of the company in order to conduct strategic planning, consider, suggest and change the policies, which would change the situation for the workforce. Most of the modern companies do not provide direct connection between top management and employees and they do it for different reasons. At any rate human resource managers are to perform their roles of mediators between them perfectly well, as these relations are meaningful for the overall success of the organization. HR managers are to match the qualified employees and the best suited job positions for the sake of their individual development along with development of the company. Duties and levels of responsibility of human resource professionals do differ and correspondingly their educational requirements might vary. HR specialists are able to work in any kind of industry and thus they have a huge choice of options, when they receive their business degree in human resources.

Taking into consideration modern tendency towards globalization in all spheres and its great impact upon business relations and economies of the countries of the world, it is evident that there are new trends towards international HRM. International HRM demands a number of additional responsibilities and functions, including for example orientation, relocation and even translation services, needed for employees to adapt to the new work environments outside their country. Initial evaluation of potential employees and their families in case of international cooperation becomes even more challenging for HR managers. “Training and development extends beyond information and orientation training to include sensitivity training and field experiences that will enable the manager to understand cultural differences better. Managers need to be protected from career development risks, re-entry problems and culture shock.” (McKenzie, Traynor 2002).

Taking into consideration these new trends in human resource management, HR specialists are to treat personnel as important resource for the company, build the system of equal rewards and secure integration of the corporate goals with aspirations of the employees, introducing corresponding policies.

The employment outlook

Analyzing job outlook, it is necessary to mention that “The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicted a 9% job growth rate for HR management positions through 2024. The projected growth is as fast as the national average for all other occupations, due to overall business growth, an increasingly complex labor law environment and the desire to attract and retain a talented workforce. Individuals who have earned advanced degrees and industry certifications are typically in a better position to obtain the jobs in highest demand.” ().  Usually the pay for Human Resources jobs range between $ 30.000, when an entry-level job is meant and to millions of dollars in case this is a corporate executive with leadership responsibility, which he bears for thousands or hundreds of thousands of employees and multiple departments. “The projected percent change in employment from 2016 to 2026: 9% (As fast as average)” (McKenzie, Traynor 2002). On the basis of the Occupational Outlook Handbook, it is possible to point out three key points for individuals, who plan to work in Human Resource:

  • there are differences in educational backgrounds of the HR managers due to the diversity of their duties and responsibility levels.
  • College graduate with certification have good job opportunities
  • For more advanced positions certification and previous experience are of great importance.

Why career is right for you

Workforce in the modern world is rather dynamic and does not remain static. Most of the business leaders are aware of the meaning of skilled and experienced HR managers for sustainability and success of their companies both locally and internationally. Having considered the basic aspects of this career, I could comment upon the main reasons, why I would consider HR management the best career option for me personally. HR specialists have their unique opportunity to become parts of the business, due to the nature of their position. They are to understand the priorities of the organization and its major challenges. Thus they are able to adjust their employment decisions and impact the future of the company correspondingly. According to a well-known HR expert Sharon Armstrong: “Good HR professionals have their finger on the pulse of what is going on in their companies, and they continue to try to do what they can to make or keep it an employer of choice.” (McKenzie, Traynor 2002). Irrespective of the career choice, all individuals would like to earn good money and have good job outlook for the future. This is the second reason, why I am convinced that HR management is my desired career. HR specialists are not limited in their career growth and definitely have the chance to reveal their complete potential and never stop self-development. Communicating and cooperating with other people is a great challenge, at the same time this is a good feeling, when you realize that you have the power to impact positively people around you, and this is exactly what HR professional should be able to do. There are so many examples from real life, when HR specialists managed to help people in need and hired individuals, who were at a risk of loosing their homes or lacked health insurance or provided additional job training for the individuals, lacking education or experience for a certain job position. This is not simply about having impact upon individuals and their lives, this is rather a way to put your effort and skills into helping other people become at least a little bit more successful, than they were before.

Most of jobs nowadays are reconsidered or fully substituted with the help of technological advances. This is not the case with HR specialists, as they continue to withstand any technological displacement. Certainly there are new human resources information systems, which could make some portion of work of HR professionals automated, but the greatest element of HR careers could not be automated. “Software takes the ‘human’ out of human resources,” says Lynda Spiegel, a 15-year HR veteran and career coach. Spiegel says the profession requires intuition and common sense, something technology just doesn’t have the capability of effectively emulating.” (McKenzie, Traynor 2002). HR specialists are to constantly develop their versatile skills and keep themselves updated in accordance to the demands of the modern business environment. At the same time HR managers participate actively in professional and even personal development of the employees of the company.

One more reason to choose this career is the wish to become a part of a growing industry, which is nowadays human resource. According to current expectations the jobs increase in this sphere is going to reach the rate of five percent by 2022. This means that such career will be on a steady ground during the next decade. Companies will recruit employees, they will need them for successful operating and thus the demand for HR specialists will grow. Solving problems, taking decisions and responsibility, enjoying the positive results and managing challenges – all these are the every day activities of HR managers and they seem to be attractive to me, because they would provide opportunity for personal and professional growth.

There are such professions, where people are to perform the same duties and operations every day. Such monotonous work could be suitable for certain types of human characters, but not for me, as I would really prefer each working day to be different. One day a HR manager might be engaged into helping an employee to cope with his health insurance, the next day HR specialist is to manage the issues, related to new legal regulations, etc. I heard many of HR manager comments that they like challenge and variety about the work of human resource specialists, and I am convinced that this is exactly what I need for my future job position. Most new employees do not have their clear plan for further direction in their careers. HR professionals have often more knowledge about how to find the correct career path and thus they are able to guide the employees towards new opportunities and achievements. It is not taking decisions for other people, but rather helping them find exactly what they need. The term “human resources” already means that a specialist is going to work with humans all the time. There is no need to mention that any person, who decides to take this career, should be passionate about working with people. I do appreciate communication and I am interested in knowing other people and communicating with them, this is another reason, why I think that the position of HR manager could be my perfect choice. Generally HR profession offers a lot of excellent opportunities and participation in a great variety of activities, including for example interviewing of potential employees, drafting job descriptions, doing all the paper work for promotions and compensations, working out basic strategies for human resource management by the company, keeping updated about the current situation in the job market and state of economy in general and so on.

A plan how to work toward career

Before starting any path, it is advisable to have a clear and detailed plan as for the future actions and strategies. Thus before starting my path of a human resource manager, I preferred to conduct learning of my future career choice. I have studied the basic responsibilities and duties of HR managers, such as planning, directing, coordinating of the administrative functions. This job is always in demand as most of the organizations in all business spheres need HR managers. Moreover this demand is expected to increase in the next decade. 

Any profession needs preliminary education, for HR management at least bachelor’s degree should be earned. Thus the second point in my plan would be working towards at least bachelor’s degree in a relevant subject. Relevant fields include human resource management, finance and business. I think that taking an additional course in psychology could be really helpful, as it was already mentioned that HR management is the profession, based upon communication with other people and knowing psychology could make this communication much smoother and easier. Later it is also possible to take up management or advanced business courses in order to continue education. All individuals, looking for a job, are aware of the importance of a resume as a marketing tool. Considering the role of resume in marketing myself, I plan to devote a lot of attention and effort to creating it. I even assume that I might need advice of a career adviser or any other individual, who has experience in the sphere. Sometimes there are resume workshops offered, which could also be useful.

In addition to providing resumes employers usually like their candidates to pass an interview. I can imagine that if a person has no idea about interview, then it would be much more difficult for him to reveal his best sides during it. Thus one of the points of my plan is to prepare for an interview. I am aware of the fact that interview is not limited only to speaking, the way a person is dressed for it and his non-verbal reactions also play meaningful role for the overall impression he makes. In addition to general interview rules, it is also advisable to prepare for the interview by a concrete company. In other words, I plan to gather some information about my potential job, such as the company’s history, its mission and ethics. This part of my plan is related first of all to my actions before obtaining the position of HR manager. However, this is not the end of the general plan. As soon as several years pass and I manage to gain some experience in HR, I think I would pursue certification. There are a lot of certification programs and I would choose the most suitable for taking the exam. The fact is that most of certification programs demand Master’s Degree and at least one year of practical experience. Thus one more point in my plan would be striving to get Master’s Degree. Probably the final point of my plan would be to continue looking for a higher paying work. When I get the needed education, have the certification and experience, I hope I would have even better chances for obtaining more interesting and better rewarded position in HR.

An interview

Getting theoretical information about the concrete career is rather useful, however, is it always better to communicate additionally with an individual, who is actually working in this sphere for at least several years and is more or less successful. I had an interview with Mr. John Edwards, Human resource manager of Reliance Communication Ltd. I wanted to know more about his ideas regarding the complexities and responsibilities of the position of HR manager. This interview allowed me to conduct analysis of the role of Mr. Edwards within his company, his priorities as a successful HR manager and make notes about the things, which could make my future job more effective.

 Mr. Edwards, could you please say a couple of words about the company, you are currently working for?

Mr. Edwards: Of course. Reliance Communications Company belongs to Reliance Communication Ventures and managed to become a leader in telecommunications products. This is a privately owned company and exists for more than 20 years already. This is a company with strong position in the business world and perfect reputation.

Mr. Edwards, what are the key roles of a highly professionally HR manager?

Mr. Edwards: The key role of HR manager is to meet all the staffing needs of the company. There is a variety of ways, how it could be done. This process usually includes three basic steps. The first step is to point out the concrete demands of the company and its requirements. The second step is related to determining of the number of individuals and skills, which they are to possess. The last step is to find the best suiting individuals and finish the selection process. Not less important is the role of retention of employees. Motivation is the key strategy for retention.

What is the major challenge in this relation for HR manager?

Mr. Edwards: I consider management of change as the most challenging function of any HR specialist. Here it is not enough to have only theoretical knowledge; instead it is necessary to come out with practical strategies for becoming a productive catalyst of change within your organization. In addition any HR manager is an advocate in dual sense.

What does it mean “dual sense”?

Mr. Edwards: It means that HR professionals are to be advocates for both the employers and their organizations, finding the balance between the two. 

What are the most important skills of a good HR specialist?

Mr. Edwards: I am convinced that these are communication skills. Human resource managers are to communicate with people from outside of his organization and within his organization, and without being able to find common language with them, he would definitely fail to achieve his goals.

Conclusion

Overall, career choice of HR professional is rather difficult and challenging, at the same time it provides a lot of perspectives and contributes to revealing of the whole potential of an individual. HR managers are to perform multiple functions and roles by their organizations in order to correspond to modern rapidly changing environment and this fact makes this position so attractive.

Works cited:

Bowman, Cliff, Swart, Juani. Whose Human Capital? The Challenge of Value Capture When Capital is Embedded. Journal of Management Studies, 2006

Mc Farland, Management Principles and Practices, New York : Macmillan, 1979

McKenzie, J. Steven. Opportunities in Human Resource Management Careers, McGraw Hill Professional, 2002

Nahapiet, Janine and Ghoshal, Sumantra. Social Capital, Intellectual Capital, and the Organizational Advantage. Academy of Management Review, Vol. 23, 1998

Werther and Davis, in Human Resources and Personnel Management, New York, McGraw Hill, 1996

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016.

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

freeessays.club (2016) The terms offer and acceptance [Online].
Available at:

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]
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