Advantages and Disadvantages of Human Resources

¶ … changing and competitive workplace and environment, it has become vital for the organizations to come up with effective strategies for maximum and efficient use of resources (Reich, 1991). The most important and critical resource for any organization is the human resource or man power. It has become difficult to find and retain skilled and trained human resource. Organizations are facing increasing challenges in this regard and are striving to formulate effective and efficient human resource policy and practices. The role and importance of human resources and man power is being understood by the organizations in response to the altering and uncertain business landscape and environment.

It is necessary to have proper and well stated policies and standards for hiring, training, appraising, compensating, and utilizing human resources. Efficient human resources and employees facilitate the organization in achieving its strategic goals and objectives. For this reason it is necessary to have strong and well established human resource policies and human resource department. The overall performance of the whole organization is directly dependent on the performance and productivity of the employees which depends on the satisfaction and motivation level of the employees. It is the duty and responsibility of the human resource department to motivate employees and increase their satisfaction level.

During the old days, human resource management was more renowned as personnel management. During the early periods, management never used to consider humans as one of the important strategic asset for the organization however, this scenario has changed as today organizations regardless of whatever they do; humans have become the most important resource for any company in gaining competitive advantage.

Today the whole scenario has changed from what it was few years back. Management used to punish humans or labors for not performing up to the desired level whereas today management has realized how important human resource is for an organization and therefore they value their employees so much than what they used to do in past. Today, the concept of punishing employees has faded and instead of punishing employees the concept of negative reward has emerged. Negative reward is basically not rewarding the employees because of poor or substandard performance.

It is essential for the organization to devise and develop effective human resource policies. If the human resource strategies are not devised and implemented well it can have serious negative impacts on the organization and can cost heavily.

HUMAN RESOURCES AND HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT:

Owing to the high importance of the human asset the concept of personnel management and human resources have emerged. The main idea behind the human resources is to provide resources in form of humans or employees to the company so that they are motivated and satisfied and give high performance. The role or duty of the human resource department in any organization is to meet the needs of the organization and also needs of the employees working in there. The human resource department is the center or focal point of the organization which work as a link or connection between all associated people.

The size of the human resource department is dependent on the size and scope of the organization itself. In small organizations where there is less workforce the human resource department consist of a personnel manager and limited staff for managing the employees and is normally known as Personnel. On the other hand, in larger organizations where there are different number of departments and have complex structure the human resource department has more responsibility and more demanding tasks and activities (Miner, & Crane, 1995).

Functionality of human resource department has changed drastically. With the passage of time, the role of humans or employees has changed so much; similarly the importance of human resource has increased. Human resource department is responsible to find the most talented people and recruit them for the organization according to the type and nature of job (MacDuffie, 1995). Once the employee is recruited the next step is to help him or her in understanding the organizational culture and working environment so that the employee is adjusted into the organization and performs well.

To improve the performance and productivity of employees, human resource department has to train employees. Not only this, human resource department is also responsible for understanding the issues and problems of the employees and provide them with a working environment in which they can nourish their skills and knowledge and can contribute for the development and growth of the organization.

It is also the function of human resource department to measure the performance of each and every individual in the organization and reward him according to what he has achieved. If someone is not able to perform up to what is expected of him, then it is the responsibility of human resource department to motivate him and identify the reasons behind his lack of performance. Rewarding employees on his performance is also an important function of human resource department. Unbiased and unfair rewards reduce the motivation level of the employees which in turn decrease the productivity level of the employees.

The human resource department is responsible for the management of the most valuable asset of the organization i.e. human capital. Managing diverse workforce from different backgrounds, different culture, different geographic locations, different values and different skills and abilities is not an easy task. The human resource department is required to come up with effective and workable strategies which could be used for motivating employees to work harder and give their 100%.

Human resource management is an important and integral part contributing towards the success and development of the organization and helps and facilities the organization in creating a competitive advantage over others (Ulrich, & Lake, 1991). It is hence required that the human resource department is able to attract and acquire those people who will support the vision and strategies of the organization.

RELATION BETWEEN HUMAN RESOURCE PRACTICES AND EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION:

In any organization the human resource practices are considered to be important and vital for the process of development and growth of the employees. The human resource practices like training and development, promotions and increments, financial and non-financial benefits, performance appraisal and compensation etc. motivate and encourage employees.

Many studies and researches have shown that the success and growth of any organization is directly dependent on highly motivated and satisfied employees and workforce. Employees will perform well only if they are satisfied with their job and are motivated enough. Job satisfaction is the essential element for increasing the productivity of the workforce. Therefore human resource department should ensure that employees are satisfied with their jobs.

It is the job of the human resource department to access and analyze the performance and productivity of the workforce and to strive for increasing and improving performance of employees. For this reason most of the human resource policies and practices are directed towards enhancing and improving the level of motivation and satisfaction of the workforce. The human resource practices and policies of any organization strive to generate positive attitude about the job among the employees which in turn results in high job satisfaction and motivation. All these factors increase the productivity of employees and thus, the productivity of overall organization would increase (Newman & Hodgetts, 1998).

It can be said that the human resource management practices are a crucial tool for increasing the motivation of the employees and for encouraging them to work towards the achievement and accomplishment of goals and objectives of the organization (Huselid, 1995).

ADVANTAGES AND BENEFITS OF HUMAN RESOURCE PRACTICES:

It is important for organizations and companies to carefully select and make decisions about the human resource management practices. The decision about the human resource management practices is crucial and vital, because these practices are used to make most out of the human capital which is the most valuable resource of any organization. Effective and efficient human resource practices enable the organization to increase the productivity of the employees and the overall performance of the organization. The collective effort of highly motivated and satisfied employees results in providing organization with important and valuable point of differentiation and competitive advantage in the today's highly competitive landscape.

The main advantages of the effective human resource practices are attracting more qualified and competent people, retaining employees who are performing well, and motivating employees. Apart from this satisfaction and productivity of the employees by improving the quality of the work place and also ensuring the compliance of legal principles and rules. Human resources act as a strategic business partner of the organization.

Human resource practices not only improve the productivity of the employees but also contribute in increasing and improving the satisfaction level of the customers (Rogg, Schmidt, Shull, & Schmitt, 2001). If employees are working efficiently and are performing their duties and responsibilities well, then it results in creating and delivering high values to the customer which in turn get satisfied. Strong human resource practices increase the flexibility of the employees. The employees are encouraged and motivated to work in different kind of challenging situations and they should be flexible enough to face any changing and demanding condition.

In order to respond to different situations and conditions organizations have to change and modify themselves. The biggest challenge for the organizations in the process of change is the resistance on the part of employees. Strong and effective human resource practices results in creating better adaptability among the employees for the organization change. If the organization is able to communicate the change and its advantages to the employees properly and answer all their considerations then the employees are ready to adapt to the new situation and this is only possible with the help of well planned and controlled human resource practices. These practices encourage the employees to adopt and acquire new practices and methods designed to reduce the wastages and contribute towards improving the image of the organization.

Organizations are composed of different and diverse workforce and it is a challenging task to manage this workforce. Human resource department is able to understand and manage the diversity and composition of the workforce and is able to allocate tasks and works according to the skills of the employees. Apart from this the human resource department effectively works and coordinates with the employees in order to fulfill the goals and objectives of the organization. It is the duty and responsibility of the human resource department to communicate and inform employees about the tasks which have to be performed by them and the objectives which they have to achieve. Human resource practices facilitate in setting clear paths and directions for the employees which help them in better understanding their role and its importance in the process of achieving organizational targets and goals. With the help of these practices and policies the staff and employees are provided with the required skills and confidence for being innovative and are guided and motivated to come up with new and different ideas and deliver better service.

The influence or effect of human resource on different aspects of organization can be categorized as:

Influence of Human Resource Policies on Organizational Strategies:

Human resource policies have strong influence on the different strategies adopted by the organization, for example:

Human resource planning and analysis of the job: The human resource department devotes a special team for planning of different needs and requirements of the human resource and what is required to fulfill these needs and requirements. This in turn helps the organization in the process of planning future strategies for growth and development (Kramar, Mcgrew, & Schuler, 1997).

Recruitment and selection: Human resource department uses all possible media and sources to find and hire the qualified and competent employees according to the requirements of the organization. The selection strategy mostly consists of test and interviews in order to ensure that selected candidates will support the strategies and help in achieving the goals of the organization (Compton, & Nankervis, 1998).

Training and Development: Human resource practices ensure productive training and development sessions of employees. These sessions train employees according to the changing needs of the organization. The strategy for training and development of the employees is aligned with the strategies for growth and development of the organization.

Performance Management: The evaluation of the employees' performance facilitates the organization in mproving the performance of the overall organization and achieving the targets and goals.

Influence of Human Resource Policies on the People of Organization:

The basic aim or goal of the human resources is to develop strategic capability or competency with the help of providing organization with the highly skilled and professional employees who are devoted, dedicated, and motivated. This enables the organization in achieving persistent competitive edge (Kramar, Mcgrew, & Schuler, 1997).

The human resource policies and practices are directed towards the development and achievement of the long-term vision of the organization along with the corporate targets and objectives. For this reason the human resources invest and focus on the development of employees and leaders who will work for the long-term success of the organization. The human resource department ensures that the leaders have the required skills and knowledge to fulfill the duties and responsibilities assigned to them and are able to motivate and encourage other employees to work collectively for the success and growth of the organization.

As human resource is the strategic business partner of the whole organization it does not only influence the leaders but all employees and whole staff of the organization. The human resource policies practices and policies ensure that each and every employee has equal chance and opportunity for the training and development. This not only provides the necessary and required skills and knowledge to the workforce but also encourages and motivates them to work effectively and efficiently (Kleiner, Block, Roomkin, & Salzburg, 1987).

DISADVANTAGES AND DRAWBACKS OF HUMAN RESOURCE PRACTICES: