Introduction
Employees are as essential to any business as the capital and managers are towards the success of the business. The development of human resource management has been equally important as it deals with all the management activities involving employees.
It entails the recruitment and firing of employees by the law as well as the company’s rules. The features of the department include personnel administration, industrial management, manpower, and organizational responsibilities.
Unlike the normal views of people that employees are less important in any business, the human resource manager assumes that they are very important assets of the business only that they often lack adequate knowledge and training.
Other tasks under human resource management are inductions and orientations, training, dealing with employee benefits such as wages and time management for employees.
Human resource management is therefore very essential in a business because it holds the key to its success through the organization of the businesses’ workforce although some businesses may not find a specialist for the same position where the manager of the business takes responsibility of those roles.
Human resource career
In today’s business world, human resource management does not deal with recruitment and firing of employees but rather involves much more activities in the business as a whole.
Many human resource managers are now getting involves in important decision processes of the companies they work for such as the implementation of new policies and strategic planning of the business towards making it a great success.
Human resource management requires someone who has the ability to improve the morale and productivity of employees besides his duties as per the company’s expectations. This could be by improving the working conditions and even chatting with them once in a while.
This makes them more at ease and facilitates free communication which is similarly, important to the success of a business especially one which has many organizational departments.
Anyone interesting in pursuing a career in human resource should, therefore, be able to work along with other people regardless of their positions in the business. The job may require one to a generalist or a specialist depending on the size of the business.
Smaller companies may only require a human resource manager to handle all responsibilities regarding the job involving working with external links of the business as well as dealing with the employees internally and in person.
On the other hand, larger companies may require a human resource management department that contains specialists on the different roles required of them such as a director of the department, an employment manager, just to mention a few (Heathfield 1).
Requirements for human resource managers
The increasing competition in businesses has brought along with it, very high competition for the positions of human resource officers all over the business world.
This has resulted due to the increased quality of college education especially with many colleges and universities offering many courses on business than other fields. Many people are, therefore, experienced on the same.
Due to this competition, it is important for anyone willing to undertake a human resource career to take a bachelors degree since a college degree may not be absolute for this position.
Skills in personnel administration and labor relations could be an added advantage for applicants of the HR position. Other related courses for the same position are business administration, organizational development, and public administration.
Besides academic qualifications, just like many other professional positions, a human resource manager should have certain disciplinary traits.
Some colleges offer courses on behavioral sciences as well as business and social studies to help instill good personal qualities suitable for many professional jobs.
A human resource manager will often communicate with employees or other parties involved in the business, could be suppliers of certain production machines. The ability to effectively communicate in a professional manner as well as the personal level (verbally and written) is essential.
There is also the need for HR officers to be able to work equally with diverse groups of people whether they are from different social and cultural backgrounds or they differ in their education levels.
Also, the officer should be able to manage conflicts especially between employees, should deal with different views professionally as well as being able to work under pressure (Heathfield 1).
Challenges facing human resource managers
Despite the importance of human resource management, its development has been faced with some difficulties. One of the most important problems facing the HR department is resistance by employers and employees as well.
Many employers are against the planning of human resource arguing that it only raises the cost of manpower especially those in states that have not yet implemented the right to work laws. The absence of these laws drives trade unions to demand payment of fees on employee based programs.
Additionally, training and development fees to the unions will equally increase hence increasing the company’s expenditure.
Most employers are also resisting the development of HR with the thoughts that with the high quality of education and high levels of unemployment, qualified candidates will always be available whenever they are required.
Many trade unions are also rejecting the planning of human resources to prevent the employees from being overworked as the HR deals with maximization of production by employees.
This is because the unions are responsible for employee protection, and therefore they resist the idea of HR controlling the employees by maximizing their productivity.
Other challenges are encountered during the execution of duty where uncertainties are more likely to occur resulting from absenteeism of employees, advancements in technology and seasonal employment. These uncertain factors make the HRM unreliable because they cannot control (Chan 1).
Conclusion
Human resource management is a very crucial bridge in today’s competitive world of business. Though traditionally it entailed the recruitment and firing of employees, it now involves more than that as one has to get deep into the businesses strategic planning and implementation of policies with the major aim of making the business a success.
However, there is various challenges and criticism facing its development. For those who are interesting it taking human resource as their career path has to get ready for the big task ahead of them.
Besides academic qualifications, one has to be ready to work with diverse groups of people and be able to tackle conflicts between employees.
All in all, human resource management is a very interesting career, despite the challenges faced. It allows one to gain managerial skills and experience that could even enable one to qualify for any other managerial job or even start and manage its own business.
Works Cited
Chan, Alvin. “The challenges of human resource management”. Web.
Heathfield, Susan. “So, you think you want a career in human resources?”. Web.