Human Resource Department Final Project - HR

The essay is based on human resources department how significant it can be to any organization. To understand the topic well the essay intends to give a quick overview of the global business environment and then the strategic role played by human resource, here the essay will introduce the topic by first offering a short history of human resource and some of the key function of the department. To explain the strategic role of the HR department a case of crisis management comes very much in handy to explain this.

The third section of this essay spells out other functions of the department after which it introduces the concept of human resource development that encompasses the ideology learning organization as toll through which an organization can use to gain competitive advantage over its' rival.

Introduction

After a thorough study of human resource, this paper will relate to what was taught in class and experience and explore through research how to create a new HR department that's capable of carrying out business successfully to the very competitive 21st century. Through the function of human resource development bestowed on the department the essay will elaborate on how this can be exploited by the department to give a business competitive advantage over others.

The global business environment

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), global business environment exits when the business environment, which includes the economic, technological, social, cultural, political, tax, regulatory and legal environment of a particular country has their organizational decision making process being influenced by factors that are external to their own environment or country, these factors influence decision making on particular subjects like resource capabilities and use.

Thus any successful business organization operating in the global business environment can only record success in their business activity if they easily adapt to these external factors that influence the way they do business. And a firm that can adjust and design its' internal organizational structure in order to tap at the potential business opportunities being offered by the external environment, and while doing so it is also able to mitigate threats coming from the same environment, such a firm will ultimately record success in their venture.

The most notable determinants of global business environment include the political and economical environment. The political environment plays a very pivot role in determining how organizations in the business environment are going to operate this is through the various laws, policies and regulation that they implement to govern the way businesses are to be conducted. The economic environment on the other hand will determine how conducive the business climate is and if favorable it will be able to attract a lot of other investment into the country.

The technological environment is also another important determinant to the business environment as it will consists of factors that are relating to machines and materials that are used in production of goods and services. This would influence the decision making process in terms of how consumer and the business organization adopt to these new technological advancement.

Referring to a recent survey conducted by synovate international on top business executives whom they were asked to name the trends that they largely consider will affect the global business environment in the years ahead they cited top three as the increasing number of global consumers in developing countries, the ease of developing knowledge and the easy accessibility of information and change in business activities within and between different counties. Other trends that will affect the global business environment include; change in structure or adaptation of new corporate organization models, advanced technological innovations that has changed the way business interact and communicate with surrounding society as a whole. On the question of what factors largely propel the changes being witnessed in the global business environment they pointed out that innovation and creativity in consumer service, product and business models as the main driving force followed by developing knowledge, easy accessibility of getting information and the increase in activism and awareness by the consumers themselves. The other important factor to note about this research carried out is that all the business executives were in agreement that global business environment has become very competitive more than it was five years ago.

The global business environment according to Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright (2009, 235-289), in their book is largely dependent upon the human resources, which are the driving force in charge of global business environment. The research conducted in this essay...

However the origin of the function of human resource can be traced back to the first organizations that had integrated the concept of 'welfare management' into their own structure. These organizations acknowledged the importance of considering and laying more emphasis on the welfare of the individuals who work for them and their respective families, while those organizations that used the concept of 'scientific management' focused the need for more efficient working practices within highly mechanized factories such as a mining company, industries and manufacturing plants.
Research and relevant studies have shown that the human resource department main aim within an organization is to meeting the supply and demand of skilled and qualified individuals as well as asses the capabilities of the current human resource or workforce, within the organization and compare it with present and future, goals plus objectives of the organization, The other aim of the human resource department is to ensure through its mandate, the organization fully maximize its' return on investments, which is the human capital and also secure the future survival and success of the business, in doing so it should also keep in mind that dignity and respect of the workforce is maintained at the same time ensure that no ethical or legal right of an employee has being infringed.

Human resource management consultants consider the human resource department is a very vital and important department that plays a strategic role on the overall performance of an organization; an effective and efficient human resource department will be the pillar for a business organization's success, because of the input from the human capital that is effectively and efficiently managed.

Another important issue that can well explain the strategic role played by the human resource is crisis management. The current global business environment is very fragile to minor disruptions that have very huge impact on the business organizations, the disruptions mostly are uncontrollable or unforeseen circumstances in the form of natural disaster such as tsunamis and hurricane, terrorist attacks also disrupts the global business environment like the recent London bombings or even financial crisis. In such circumstances the HR plays a strategic role in trying to reduce the impact incase of a crisis happens by making advance preparation in the form security measures, safety of every employee, well established crisis communication, career management and leadership development.

Key roles and functions of the human resource department

The most notable function and key role about human resource is the selection and recruitment of employees to work within an organization. The hiring process is meant to give a company qualified individuals who can help it attain success both in its' short-term and medium-term goals, it is also meant to provide a company with the best and most qualified personnel from the competitive labor market and by doing so the company seeks to gain competitive advantage over others. The recruitment process can either be internal or external process depending on the organization requirement in terms of education and experience qualifications (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2009, 235-289),.

The department has also the mandate of workforce retention; many newspapers or jobs blog sites have always indicated that a company that has a high turnover of employees is either not financially sound or the management in particular the HR department is poor managed. Therefore viable HR department will take every step necessary to ensure that employees are comfortable in the work place and they are favored by every aspect of the organization, hence they will feel encouraged to continue working for the company.

The department is also charged with responsibility of observing labor laws that have been set by the government to protect the employees against exploitation. It also designs the benefit and compensation scheme for workers with regards to various aspects like education qualification, experience and even the labor laws that state what the minimum salaries for workers to be paid are. Business organizations that…