Challenges in Human Resource Management

1.) Describe the criteria necessary for firms to achieve sustained competitive advantage through people.
To achieve sustained competitive advantage through people, organizations have to invest in human resources (Mahmood, 2015). HR will be responsible for hiring the right people for the right job, creating an exceptional workplace culture that talent wants to be part of, developing an environment in which workers have cognitive incentives to further develop their skills and thus enable the organization to differentiate itself from what competitors are doing and so on. Effective and efficient use of human capital is at the heart of every organization’s success.
2.) Discuss the different forms of employee teams.
There are a variety of different teams in the workplace: department teams, problem-solving teams, virtual teams, cross-functional teams, and self-managed teams. Department teams typically contain individuals who specialize in a certain function—for example, back-end web development in IT. A team will consist of several persons from the same department all equipped with the same skills working on a project for the department. A problem-solving team could be made of people from various organizations tasked with addressing a specific issue—like what to do when the global economy crashes as happened in 2007. A virtual team consists of workers who are not physically located at a job site but instead are all over the world and perform their jobs independently while communicating digitally. Cross-functional teams are inter-departmental teams that come together to assist in a goal that comprises the work of several departments—such as a new product launch. Self-managed teams are empowered to make decisions on their own so that they can take ownership of a project (Capsim, 2015).
3.) Identify and discuss some of the desirable traits of a trainer.
In order to be a quality trainer, one must have a good understanding of the organization, its business and its aims. The trainer has to be able to identify the training needs of the organization’s staff and find ways to fulfill those needs. The trainer essentially has to know everything about the organization and how the organization’s vision and core values can best be ingrained into employees through training. For that reason, a trainer should be devoted to continuous learning, embrace innovation leadership, and be efficient in terms of using capital and time wisely.
4.) Discuss the advantages of incentive pay programs.
Every organization has to find ways to motivate its workers. Sometimes those ways can include the use of intrinsic motivation; but often extrinsic motivation is required (Gerhart & Fang, 2015). The advantages of incentive pay programs are numerous for that reason. Incentive pay programs can help organizations drive sales by tying compensation to sales performance. Employees can earn more the more they sell for the company. This motivates workers to push the extra mile and can be a big factor in driving sales for the company. Incentive pay programs can also inspire greater teamwork, increased engagement among stakeholders, reductions in turnover and improvements in employee morale. Nothing motivates workers like the possibility of increased pay, and nothing is more empowering than the idea that the individual employee is master of his own fate and can determine how much or how little he will take home at the end of the year.
5.) Briefly discuss the concept of wrongful discharge, including the three exceptions to employment-at-will that can create an action.
With an at-will employment situation, the worker can be fired for no cause at all. The worker is not bound by any contract with the employer and may quit whenever he likes—but the employer may also fire the worker whenever he likes. However, there are three judicial exceptions to a discharge that can qualify as a wrongful discharge—i.e., a situation in which the employer terminates the worker in a way that actually violates the law. The exceptions are public policy, implied contract, or implied covenant of good faith. Public policy would be if a worker is terminated for refusing to do something illegal or in revenge for a worker reporting the company doing something illegal. Implied contract refers to when an employer makes it clear he wants the worker for life. Or there is the implied covenant, when the employer terminates an older worker just to avoid paying benefits. All of these would result in wrongful discharge (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2018).
6.) Describe helpful guidelines in repatriating employees from an overseas assignment.
Successful repatriation plans should begin prior to the employee even leaving for his overseas assignment. The assignment should be one that is validly needed by the organization: this will give the worker an authentic sense of mission and purpose and make the transition more meaningful both ways—going, because there is a job to do; and returning, because of the satisfaction and sense of worth in accomplishing the mission. Upon return, the employee should be placed on a career tracking system to reward for time abroad; encouraging taking time to return home while abroad will also make the final return easier; and offering counseling for the final repatriation upon return will also ease the transition.
7.) What are the different types of appraisal interviews?
The different types of appraisal interviews are the tell-and-sell, the tell-and-listen, the problem-solving, and the mixed interviews. The tell-and-sell interview gives feedback to workers and provides them with a plan that workers can follow to improve their performance. It is not the best approach for building rapport however in most cases. The tell-and-listen interview provides the worker with the evaluation and then allows the worker to respond. It allows for an exchange of feedback and lets the worker feel a bit more appreciated and less defensive since he has an opportunity to give his take on things without being refuted. The problem-solving interview puts the manager in the position of a coach helping the worker to identify problem areas and encouraging the worker to agree to a plan to boost performance. The mixed interview applies the tell-and-sell approach for the evaluation aspect and the problem-solving approach for the development aspect, with the goal being to bring the worker into the decision-making process and help him to take ownership of his performance.
8.) What are the critical issues involved in implementing a high-performance work system?
A high-performance work system consists of management practices that focus on involving the employee in terms of knowledge, skills, commitment and flexibility so as to give the worker more responsibility and ownership in the organization’s goals. It allows the employee to be more involved in making decisions, gives the worker the opportunity to undergo training and develop new skills that can be useful for his career, and provides the worker with increased incentives to succeed.

References
Capsim. (2015). What different types of teams are in the workplace? Retrieved from
https://www.capsim.com/blog/what-different-types-of-teams-are-in-the-workplace/
Gerhart, B., & Fang, M. (2015). Pay, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation,
performance, and creativity in the workplace: Revisiting long-held beliefs. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 2, 489-521
Mahmood, M. (2015). Strategy, structure, and HRM policy orientation: Employee
recruitment and selection practices in multinational subsidiaries. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 53(3), 331-350.
National Conference of State Legislatures. (2018). The At-Will Presumption And
Exceptions To The Rule. Retrieved from http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/at-will-employment-overview.aspx