We all have "something to do" with human resources. Although the topics will be addressed from the company or institution and not from the individual, this knowledge will be useful to everyone beyond the specialty or profession they have and will help them face various situations related to personnel management.
administration-of-human-resourcesPeople who integrate a Human Resources area, or any other within an organization, as subordinates will have bosses, and as bosses they will have to select subordinates, direct them and understand all the aspects that will make a fruitful institutional relationship.
To locate the role of Personnel Administration it is necessary to begin to remember the concept of General Administration.
ADMINISTRATION
THE ADMINISTRATION OF RESOURCES
The administration's task is to: Integrate and coordinate organizational resources, such as; people, materials, money, time, space, etc. to achieve the defined objectives in the most effective and efficient way possible.
RESOURCES IN THE COMPANY
To achieve the objectives of any organization, a series of resources is required.
Means
They are elements that, properly managed, will allow or facilitate you to achieve your objectives.
TYPES OF RESOURCES
| Ø Physical or material resources
This includes money, physical facilities, machinery, furniture, raw materials, etc. |
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Ø Financial Resources
Refers to money in the form of capital, cash flow, (inflows and outflows), credits, financing, investments, etc.
Ø Marketing resources (commercial or marketing)
They constitute the means by which organizations, locate, contact and influence customers or users. Promotion, advertising, new product development, pricing, market research, etc.
Ø Technical resources
Under this heading the systems, procedures, organizational charts, instructions, sofwares, etc. are listed.
| Ø Human resources
Not only effort or human activity is included in this group, but also other factors that give different modalities to that activity: Knowledge, experiences, motivation, vocational interests, aptitudes, attitudes, abilities, potentialities, health, etc. |
To remember
Human resources are more important than the other two, they can improve and improve the use and design of material and technical resources, which is not the opposite.
As can easily be seen, human effort is vital for the operation of any organization; if the human element is willing to provide its effort, the organization will march; otherwise it will stop.
Hence, every organization must pay primary attention to its personnel, human resources.
STAFF = HUMAN RESOURCES
- HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
“The ARH consists of the planning, organization, development, coordination, and control of techniques capable of promoting the efficient performance of personnel to the extent that the organization represents the means that allows the people who collaborate in it to achieve the objectives individuals directly or indirectly related to work ”(I. Chiavenato).
1.- ORIGINS
One cannot speak separately of the origin of the Human Resources Administration, as it is currently known, without mentioning Labor Law and Scientific Administration, as well as other disciplines.
Labor Law is referred to because it appears as a consequence of the demands of the working class, in order to regulate work, thinking that it would be enough to apply the legal precepts in a cold way to obtain good results, but it was found that the Relationships that were required needed study, understanding and the elaboration of a good series of principles for the good practice of the same, since they talked about concepts related to salaries, benefits, hiring, etc., that needed more than a mere improvisation.
Likewise, the principles of Taylor and Fayol laid the foundations of the administration, through the coordination, direction and, therefore, the best use of the human resources that intervene in the work. Taylor himself, seeing the importance of the area, created the selection offices.
The functional organization brought the appearance of specialists in the areas of markets, finance, production and in the same way the industrial relations departments began to appear in the United States, as a result of the need to put such an important function in the hands of experts and to leave to improvise in such an area.
In our country, the arrival of foreign books, in which this new concept was discussed, raised concern about it. It was perceived, as in other parts, that this function did not consist only in the preparation of payroll and social security payments, but that they became more complicated day by day and that the chief of staff who claimed to be a friend of all was not enough.
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT STYLES (Douglas McGregor)
THEORY X
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THEORY AND
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A great deal of knowledge is required to perform this function correctly, and it can be said that human resource management is multidisciplinary, as it requires the collaboration of multiple sources of knowledge.
Among the main sciences that contribute to Personnel Administration is Psychology. She is useful as she uses scientific methods to better understand the causes of human behavior to measure abilities and aptitudes, find the causes of motivation, conflict and frustration, etc…
Currently the contribution of psychology in the area of human resource management is extremely valuable in fields such as:
- Selection of personnel Training and qualification Implementation of Performance Evaluation systems Professional orientation Concepts and models of attitudes and motivation Reduction of conflicts Studies of work environment, among others.
ACTIVITIES OF THE HR MANAGEMENT
It means conquering and maintaining people in the organization, who work and give their best with a positive and favorable attitude.
It represents not only the great things that spark euphoria and enthusiasm, but also the little things that frustrate and impatience, or that make people happy and fulfilling, yet lead people to want to stay in the organization.
When it comes to human resource management, there are many things at stake: the class and quality of life that the organization and its members will lead and the class of members that the organization aims to model.
THE CONTINGENT CHARACTER OF ARH:
- The ARH is contingent, it depends on the organizational situation, the environment, technology, policies, guidelines, administrative philosophy and above all on the quantity and quality of human resources. An ARH application model that is successful at a certain time may not have it in another organization or in another time. The ARH must take into account the changes that occur in organizations and their environments on a constant basis.
The objectives of human resource management derive from the objectives of the organization.
One of the objectives of any company is the preparation and distribution of a product (either production or consumption) or the provision of some service (such as a specialized activity). Parallel to the objectives of the organization, Human Resources Management must consider the individual objectives of its members.
The main objectives of human resource management are:
- Create, maintain and develop a group of people with sufficient skills, motivation and satisfaction to achieve the objectives of the organization. Create, maintain and develop organizational conditions that allow the application, development and full satisfaction of people and the achievement of individual objectives. Achieve efficiency and effectiveness with available human resources.
We use the word administration here also in the broad sense of the term. We are not referring to the administrative aspects of the area but to "the action of administering", and administering in its first meaning: "to govern, rule, apply".
Human resources administration makes its comprehensive management, "your government." It involves different functions from the beginning to the end of an employment relationship:
- Recruit and select employees; Maintain the legal / contractual relationship: carry their files, pay them salaries, etc.; Train and train; Develop their careers / evaluate their performance; Monitor that the compensation (payments) are correct; Control hygiene and safety Employee; Firing Employees
WHY IS HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IMPORTANT?
It is for all managers, for all areas. It is important to know the human resources tools because it is NOT GOOD:
- Taking the wrong person; Having high staff turnover or dissatisfied staff; That people are not engaged; That employees think that their salary is unfair; That the staff is not trained, or that it is at the time of incorporation, lose then your level.
To avoid these inconveniences, managers in all areas must have good tools and care about the quality of life of workers.
New trends affect staff
While there are no entirely new trends, the world is heading in a direction of quality of life that affects human resource policies. As a counterpart, the world is at the start of the new millennium with high unemployment in many western countries, homeless and below survival level. It seems a paradox that, on the one hand, human work requires a better work environment and on the other, many thousands of human beings do not have work or livelihood.
Some factors to consider for a good quality of life at work
- Decent work Safe and hygienic working conditions Adequate pay and benefits Job security Competent supervision Opportunities to learn and grow on the job Positive work environment
Additional factors to consider
- The workforce is made up of new providers: women and young people. The shift in demand to services changes the profiles required. Technology has a significant influence, from allowing remote work to changing staff requirements. It also changes the focus of the work. Factories can be run by an engineer and a computer. Competition shifts to labor.
STAFF LINE CONCEPT IN HUMAN RESOURCES ADMINISTRATION
In a simple way, it can be defined as a line that area or sector that is in charge of the fundamental tasks for the fulfillment of the organization's objectives, such as the production or sales areas.
Instead they are considered staff
Those others that perform tasks that, although necessary for the good achievement of the central objectives, are not essential or may be outsourced, for example, the processing of information.
In relation to our topic
Is the Human Resources Management staff or line?
A correct answer is that Human Resources is a line within its area - regarding the team itself - and it is staff compared to the other managers of the company.
In turn, all line managers are Human Resources managers, because they also select, train, evaluate and develop their personnel.
LOCATION OF THE HUMAN RESOURCES AREA WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION
The first element that will tell us how an organization thinks about its own human resources is the location that this area has in its structure. If you have a "chief of staff" who reports to the administrative manager, this means that the company only deals with settling the salaries of its employees and other administrative matters.
If, on the other hand, you have an area with a manager on the same level as the commercial, industrial or operations manager, who reports to the general manager, we find an organization that values and cares for its human resources.
LINE AND STAFF ASPECTS IN HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
From this point of view, the Human Resources area is in one sense online and in the other staff. In turn, all the other managers of a company belong in some way to Human Resources, because they must select their people, train them, train them and evaluate them.
In summary: Human Resources is a line within its area –in relation to its own team of people– and it is staff with respect to the other managements of the company.
The following diagram shows the main functions of each of the areas:
| MAIN FUNCTIONS BY AREA OF HUMAN RESOURCES | ||||
| INDUSTRIAL RELATIONSHIPS | TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT | JOBS | COMPENSATIONS | ADMINISTRATION |
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Care of the relationship with the guilds. |
Training; Training; Career plans; Succession plans, Studies |
Attraction; Selection; Incorporation and induction of people. |
Salary reviews; benefits policies; Salary surveys to compare with the market. |
Administrative aspects in general; Payment of assets; absenteeism control, etc. |
This organization chart does not represent a novelty for the young generations that today work in large companies or multinationals, but for the older people who lived through another work reality or work in smaller companies if it is new. There are still companies with personnel offices where only salaries are settled and, at best, the personnel files are kept more or less up-to-date.
In a small company, an organization in the area such as the one in the table may not be justified, but it is very important that there be at least one person trained in modern concepts of human resource management and whose level of reporting is maximum leadership. of the organization.
Jean Fombonne, a French author, places some important milestones in the late 1970s: After the French May of 1968, when new practices of labor struggle were proposed, advertisements began to be asked for those responsible for the personnel function, placing this task in a higher level than it had until then.
Their functions and level were not, however, very clear; It was only after the 1980s that we began to talk about strategic human resources.
New concepts occupy the managers of the companies; the turbulence of international markets and other variables lead to necessary changes in personnel policies, including the mobility of people.
In addition to the analysis of these authors, if we look at Argentina, for example, it was also in the sixties when the change began. In the Faculty of Economic Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires, the degree, Bachelor of Administration, was created, which included the subject Personnel Administration.
At that time few companies had a Personal management; the expression human resources was not yet usual; Typically, there was a personnel department run by a highly experienced employee with knowledge of labor law and no university studies.
That was the most common profile of the people who managed the area back then. When the union conflicts of the 1970s began, this figure changed to that of men who had a fluid relationship with the unions. The preferred profile of the personnel manager then changed to a man, generally a lawyer and a very good negotiator.
Beginning in the eighties, the need for other management of the area began to be realized and the development of human resources took precedence. Argentina's history is related to the history of other Latin American countries with similar political problems, and to that of other countries in the world after the globalization of the economy.
In summary, the evolution of the Human Resources area ranges from the personnel office that settles salaries and controls licenses to the Strategic Directorate of Human Resources as we currently conceive it.
HUMAN RESOURCES POLICIES
Policies are a consequence of rationality, philosophy and organizational culture. Policies are rules that are established to direct functions and ensure that they perform according to the desired objectives. They provide administrative guidance to prevent employees from performing functions that they do not want or jeopardize the success of specific functions.
Policies are guides to action and serve to provide answers to frequently asked questions or problems that force subordinates to go to supervisors unnecessarily for them to solve each case.
HUMAN RESOURCE POLICIES
They refer to the way organizations aspire to work with their members to achieve organizational objectives through them, while each achieves their individual objectives.
MAIN HUMAN RESOURCE POLICIES
These vary greatly by organization.
Each organization implements the human resources policy that best suits its philosophy and needs. Strictly speaking, a human resources policy must cover what the organization intends in the following aspects:
Human resource provision policies
- Where to recruit (external or internal sources), how and under what conditions to recruit (recruitment techniques preferred by the organization) the human resources that the organization requires. Human resources selection criteria and quality standards for admission as regards physical and intellectual abilities, experience and development potential, taking into account the universe of positions in the organization, how to quickly and effectively integrate new members into the internal environment of the organization.
Human resource application policies
- How to determine the basic requirements of the workforce (intellectual, physical requirements, etc.) for the performance of the tasks and functions of the organization's set of positions. Criteria for planning, distribution and internal transfer of human resources, that consider the position initial and career plan, and define alternatives for possible future opportunities within the organization. Criteria for evaluating the quality and adequacy of human resources through performance evaluation.
Human resources maintenance policies
- Direct remuneration criteria for employees, which take into account the evaluation of the position and wages in the labor market, and the position of the organization against these two variables. Indirect remuneration criteria for employees, which take into account the social benefits programs more appropriate to the existing needs in the positions of the organization and that consider the position of the organization in front of the practices of the labor market. How to maintain motivated the labor force, with high morale, participative and productive within the Adequate organizational climate. Hygiene and security criteria related to the physical and environmental conditions in which the tasks and functions of the organization's group of functions are carried out. Good relations with unions and staff representatives.
Human resource development policies
- Diagnostic and scheduling criteria for preparation and constant rotation of the workforce for the performance of tasks and functions within the organization. Medium and long-term human resource development criteria, reviewing the continuous development of human potential in gradually elevated positions in the organization. Creation and development of conditions capable of guaranteeing the good progress and organizational excellence, by changing the behavior of the members.
Human resource control policies
- How to maintain a database capable of supplying the necessary information to carry out the quantitative and qualitative analyzes of the workforce available in the organization. Criteria to maintain permanent audits of the application and adequacy of policies and procedures related to human resources of the organization.
The policies establish the code of ethical values of the organization, which govern relations with employees, shareholders, customers, suppliers, etc. Based on the policies, the procedures to be implemented can be defined, which are predetermined courses of action to guide the performance of operations and activities, taking into account the objectives of the organization.
Basically, they guide people towards the achievement of objectives, seek to give coherence to the performance of activities and guarantee equal treatment for all members and uniform treatment of all situations.
If a company has a Human Resources area, the policies will be established and the function of the area will be to review it, presenting its proposals for changes to the general management of the company when necessary.
But many other companies - those that, as we mentioned, only have a Personnel area - will not have policies or procedures; In addition, many company owners consider that policies within a company are a sign of limits and bureaucracy, and tend to treat or observe them as if they were a problem.
According to studies in this area, some examples of the main policies to be defined in the context of global globalization are:
- Employee manual (Internal regulation): This manual mentions in a simple and concise language the behavior that is accepted or not in the company. Equal opportunities. When you hire and promote staff, you need to make sure that you are an employer that provides equal opportunities for women, people of all ages and all religions, etc. Clothing is becoming more informal; however each organization sets the rules. Some companies are allowing casual dress on Fridays is used, whenever that day is not an important event or meeting outside the company Calls. Avoid setting policies regarding personal phone use. If you had an unfair employee among your ranks, you should look at him from all angles and not just regarding the use of the Romances phone. It is impossible to prevent people working together from dating. It is more efficient to set policies regarding family ties. Establish a clear policy on whether or not to smoke. You must inform new employees of your decision. Employee loans. Set a limit on the amount you are willing to lend to any employee, for salary advances or other longer term loans.
PROFILE AND FUNCTIONS OF THE PERSONNEL MANAGER
The personnel manager carries out a task that involves multiple interdependent activities. That is, it works around an integrating system that seeks to achieve social, corporate, functional and personal objectives, through interaction with a changing environment.
It develops basic functions in relation to personnel, which include:
- Preparation and selection Development and evaluation Compensation and protection Staff relations and evaluation.
All this, linked to factors that form the basis of the design of the Company's strategies towards an increasingly competitive market (historical, external, organizational, professional, international factors).
The personnel manager tends to achieve the improvement of the organizations making them more efficient and effective, interacting with internal and external factors that make their activity a complete task that involves all areas of the Company. For this, the personnel administrator must determine the key areas at each managerial level and work with each of them within a clearly defined framework of responsibility.
FUNCTIONS OF THE PERSONNEL MANAGER
JOB FUNCTION
Its main objective is to ensure that all positions are filled by qualified personnel, according to human resources planning.
SUBFUNCTIONS:
| 1) Recruitment
Find and attract capable applicants to fill openings. |
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| 2) Selection
Analyze the skills and capacities of applicants in order to decide which ones have the greatest potential for the performance of a position. |
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| 3) Induction
Give all the necessary information to the new worker and carry out all the pertinent activities to achieve their rapid incorporation to the social groups that exist in their work environment, in order to achieve an identification between the new member and the organization and vice versa. |
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| 4) Integration
Assign workers to positions that best utilize their characteristics. Seek its integral development and be aware of those movements that allow it a better position for its development, that of the organization and that of the community. |
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| 5) Expiration of employment contracts
In the case of employment contracts, this must be done in the most convenient way for both the organization and the worker, according to the law. |
WAGE ADMINISTRATION FUNCTION
Ensure that all workers are fairly and equitably compensated through rational work remuneration systems and according to the effort, efficiency, responsibility and working conditions of each job.
SUBFUNCTIONS:
| 1.- Assignment of functions
Officially assign each worker a clearly and precisely defined position regarding their responsibilities, obligations, operations and working conditions. |
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| 2.- Determination of wages
Assign monetary values to the positions, in such a way that they are fair and equitable in relation to other positions in the organization and to similar positions in the labor market. |
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| 3.- Qualification of merits
Evaluate, through the most objective means, the performance of each worker in the face of the duties and responsibilities of their position. |
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| 4.- Incentives and prizes
Provide monetary incentives to basic salaries to motivate initiative and better achievement of objectives. |
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| 5.- Attendance control
Establish work schedules and periods of absence with and without payment of salary, which are fair for both employees and organization, as well as efficient systems that allow their control. |
Þ INTERNAL RELATIONS
Ensure that both the relationships established between management and staff, as well as job satisfaction and opportunities for worker progress, are developed and maintained, reconciling the interests of both parties.
| 1- Communication
Provide the appropriate systems, media and climate to develop ideas and exchange information throughout the organization. |
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| 2.- Collective hiring
Reach agreements with officially recognized and legally established organizations that best satisfy the interests of the workers and the organization. |
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| 3.- Discipline
Develop and maintain effective work regulations and create and promote harmonious working relationships with staff. |
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| 4.- Motivation of the staff
Develop ways to improve staff activities, working conditions, worker-employer relations and the quality of staff. |
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| 5.- Staff development
Provide opportunities for the integral development of workers, so that they can satisfy types of needs, and so that in terms of work they can occupy higher positions. |
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| 6.- Training
Give the worker the opportunities to develop their capacity, so that they reach the performance standards that are established, as well as to achieve that they develop all their potential, for the good of themselves and the organization. |
STAFF SERVICES
Meet the needs of workers who work in the organization and try to help them with problems related to their safety and professional well-being.
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1.- Leisure activities Study and resolve the requests that workers make about programs or facilities for their recreation. |
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2.- Security Develop and maintain facilities and procedures to prevent workplace accidents and occupational diseases. |
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3.- Protection and surveillance Have adequate precautionary methods to safeguard the organization, its personnel and their belongings from theft, fire and similar risks. |
PLANNING OF HUMAN RESOURCES
Technology is already a commodity. Machines "A" are as good as machines "B". If this is the case, what is the difference between the company that sells machines A and the one that sells machines B? The people who work in the respective companies. In this way, human resources make the difference.
Companies must face numerous challenges in a highly competitive context, the only differentiating "tool" they have is human resources.
This vision of the problems of the 21st century is shared with the company's management, so it will be possible for the operational managers, together with the human resources area, to create this climate. Together they must dedicate time and effort to the organization's education and training to achieve strategic human resources that create the difference between companies that sell similar products.
Thus, it is essential to link human resource practices with business strategy creating value for the company.
- The HR strategy tries to add value to the company and defines the vision, mission and priorities of the human resources function. The human resources organization diagnoses and improves the function of its area to provide services to the company. Create a process that ensures human resource strategies are realized.
THE HUMAN RESOURCES STRATEGY
This requires a strong commitment of human resources to the organization. The Human Resources Manager must abandon the former role of Chief of Staff whose task ended in the correct compliance with the laws.
You must succeed in turning business strategies into human resource priorities. The task will begin with the vision and mission of the company -which must be set by the highest management- from them and the attention centers or main objectives, which are the most important values and points where to focus its actions, for example the quality of the product or service. Since the fundamental objectives are set, Human Resources must accompany the general strategy through the implementation of relevant processes.
Examples of fundamental objectives: product or service quality, competitiveness, continuous training, good working environment (the examples are not exclusive, they must work "all at once").
THE HUMAN RESOURCES FUNCTION CHANGED ITS PRIORITIES
Until a few years ago, the main concern of a Human Resources Manager was focused on solving union problems, almost exclusively. Today, in addition to having those fronts well covered, many other priorities are demanded of him.
- Employees must be competitive The Human Resources area must be absolutely professional; It cannot be improvised. Human resources are measured in financial results. Human Resources must create value, not only reduce costs. Human Resources must create commitment, not fulfill a function of monitoring personnel.
The market handles business relationships in almost all fields. Companies that don't see it that way will have no chance of survival. Under the scheme of business units, cellular structures or any other variant - always within the philosophy of making our activity revolve around what the market tells us to do - that will be the way.
PLANNING OF STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCES
One of the functions of the Human Resources area is to participate in the general planning of the company. On the one hand, you must plan the costs of your area, but you can also contribute, participate and collaborate in the general planning.
An example: if the company decides to increase its sales for the next year, this may mean the need for a more aggressive sales force; This will require training or studying an improvement in your incentive plan, or hiring more vendors or improving your advertising strategy. In other words, if the company wants to increase its market share, it could only do so with its human team.
Consequently, in order to plan human resources, it is necessary to link the practices of the area with the business strategy.
The strategy derives in the planning of human resources
Human resources will be the key to differentiating business from here to the future. That is why proper internal management is essential.
Dave Ulrich emphasizes this concept and goes further:
Maintains the need to incorporate a Human Resources representative within the business unit as a member of the company's management. For this you must be trained in business matters as well as in the most modern practices in the area. Thus, a new profile of the head of Human Resources emerges.
The link with the client requires credibility, as a partner that motivates the human group. Strategic management of human resources implies adding value to the company. If this is the central objective of the area's management, it will be included in the company's vision and mission.
Based on the general business strategy, the Human Resources area diagnoses the needs and from there improves its function to provide services to the company.
The processes that it applies tend to ensure that the human resources strategies are complied with and that they are, in turn, within the general strategies of the company. In this way business strategies become human resource strategies. It is an imaginary circle that closes.
How do you combine human resources strategies with the general ones of the company? Defining aspects on which to work. The authors call these aspects "centers of attention".
If a company, for example, decides to focus its attention on the quality, either of a product or a service, or on competitiveness, on the continuous training of its personnel, on the good working environment, etc., all or some One of these aspects can be considered a company's attention centers in a certain period. If you define them as such, then you must comply with them.
Companies must face numerous challenges in a highly competitive context. The only solution is the consistent participation of your people. The managers of the different operational areas in conjunction with the Human Resources area must create the climate.
EXERCISE
Minimum steps to follow for planning human resources:
Answer the following questions:
- What is the focus of my business? What skills do I need from the organization to meet the business objectives? How do I apply the different human resources practices to take advantage, reinforce or eventually acquire the necessary skills?
Before answering them, keep in mind:
- That it can have different answers if the company owns different businesses, operates in different markets, etc. That it can find differences, not from the market but from people, if it has locations in different geographical areas (different labor market).
Human resources planning is a matter for the Company's Management. It cannot be solely the responsibility of Human Resources. The other areas must support and participate. Together they should dedicate time and effort to training the organization.
No project of this nature can be carried out by human resources alone.
IN SUMMARY
- The Human Resources function changed its priorities: it must participate in the business, the employees must be competitive and adapt to the current context. The Human Resources area must be absolutely professional, it cannot improvise. In this new context, the results of the area are measured as financial results. It must create value, not reduce costs, and finally Human Resources must create commitment and not fulfill a function of monitoring personnel.
MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT
To refer to this topic, we will first take a real example:
Different integrated softwares were evaluated in a company - a Mexican subsidiary of a multinational of North American origin - and after an exhaustive analysis, the decision fell to a Mexican software company, which from the work done for the company had extended its services to United States and some Latin American countries. The aforementioned software provides different management indicators for human resources, and the company that incorporates it then decides which of them to use and defines the measurement parameters.
- MANAGEMENT INDICATOR SYSTEMS
A Human Resources Management indicator is a measurement parameter aimed at the managerial level, which helps to visualize or express the current and past situation, derived from the global management of the business, considering the external factors that affect its scope of action.
Objective of the management indicators
The objective of an indicator verification system is to enable the development of business intelligence, promoting better decision-making every day
Characteristics of good indicators
For management indicators to be useful and justifiable, they must be few and very well chosen, as they represent important aspects for that particular company.
Current Human Resources operation
Basic indicators
- Head-count (number of people in a dependency relationship) Staff turnover and retention Absenteeism Accident rate Risk degrees
New functional image of human resources
Original text
| Organizational indicators
· Effectiveness · Compensation · Benefits · Recruitment and selection · Training · Succession plan · High potentials |
Business planning indicators
· Management effectiveness · Career plan · High potentials |
| Business analysis indicators
· Compensation · Benefits · Recruitment and selection · Training The consultants in process are there to "give the client a perception of what is happening in their environment, within themselves and between themselves and other people." They do not solve the organization's problems, rather, the consultant is a guide or coach who advises on the process that will help the client solve their own problems. Equipment Construction It has already been proven in practice that companies increasingly rely on teams to perform certain tasks. Team building uses highly interactive group activities to increase trust and openness among team members. Activities considered in team building typically include setting goals, developing interpersonal relationships among members, analyzing roles to define each member's role and responsibilities, and analyzing the team process. The latter is key to the evaluation in post performance. Development between Groups Intergroup development tries to change the attitudes, stereotypes and perceptions that groups have of each other. For example, in a company engineers thought that the human resources department was a bunch of ultraliberals who are more concerned that the feelings of some protected group of employees could be hurt than that the company had to have profits. Such stereotypes can have an obvious negative impact on coordination efforts between departments. Although there are several proposals to improve relationships between groups, one popular method insists on problem solving. In this method, each group meets independently to develop lists of their perceptions of themselves, the other group, and how they think the other group perceives them. The groups then exchange their lists, then the similarities and differences are analyzed. Differences are clearly specified, and groups look for the causes of these. Once the causes of the difficulty have been identified, groups can move on to the integration phase, working to develop solutions that improve relationships between groups. Subgroups can now be created, with members of each of the groups in conflict, to obtain additional diagnosis and to begin formulating possible alternative actions that improve relationships. ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE First of all we must distinguish two different senses of climate. On the one hand, the climate in a meteorological sense that would understand the climate as: the set of characteristics that are stable over time within a defined geographical region and that includes a range of different elements. It is not about the "weather that makes", but the peculiarities of the "prevailing time" in an area or place. The second meaning of the concept of climate refers to its psychosocial dimension or meaning. Within this sense we find different definitions of climate: “Set of objective characteristics of the organization, lasting and easily measurable, that distinguish one labor entity from another. They are styles of management, rules and physiological environment, purposes and processes of consideration. Although individual perception is intervened to a certain extent, the fundamentals are indices of these characteristics ”. (Forehand and Gilmer, 1965) "Set of global perceptions (personal and psychological construct) that the individual has of the organization, reflecting the interaction between the two, the important thing is how a subject perceives his environment, without taking into account how others perceive it; therefore, it is more a dimension of the individual than of the organization ”. (Nicolás Seisdedos) Since the Labor Climate aroused interest in scholars, it has been called in different ways, among which we can mention: Environment, Atmosphere, Organizational Climate, However, only in recent decades have efforts been made to explain the concept. Various definitions, not mutually exclusive, of working environment have been given. These definitions are as follows:
From these definitions we can infer that the concept of perception acquires a relevant importance, since the work environment is determined by the perceptions that the worker has about the attributes of the organization, that is, what is the “opinion” that the workers and managers are formed from the organization to which they belong ”. According to Robbins, perception can be defined as a “process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment. In other words, the way we select, organize and interpret sensory input to achieve understanding of our environment. ” Perception is determined by the subject's history, his desires, his personal projects and a series of preconceived ideas about himself. These preconceptions react to various factors related to daily work: the boss's leadership style, the relationship with other staff, rigidity / flexibility, the opinions of others, his work group. The subjectivity of the worker's perceptions and the sum of objective variables existing in the organization, will determine their responses when asked about aspects of their work. Thus, what one perceives may be substantially different from objective reality, although not necessarily. This is also influenced by our attitudes, since these shape a mental disposition that affects our way of seeing things, our perceptions. ” Attitudes are: The feelings and assumptions that largely determine employees' perception of their environment, their commitment to planned actions and, ultimately, their behavior. ” It is a concept that describes the different ways in which people respond to their environment. The perception is subjective and the attitudes condition the way of perceiving, so the idea would be to attack the root of the problem by first detecting the attitudes of the employees towards the company, and then on this basis, revealing the degree of job satisfaction of the individual and his impact on the work environment. Employee attitudes are very important to organizations. When attitudes are negative, it constitutes both a symptom of underlying problems and a contributing cause of new difficulties in an organization. Attitudes of rejection can result in employee strikes, slowness, absenteeism, and turnover. They can also lead to labor conflicts, poor performance, poor quality of products and services, disciplinary problems, among others. Organizational costs associated with negative employee attitudes can reduce an organization's competitiveness. Conversely, favorable attitudes are desirable for management They increase productivity and employee satisfaction. But it may happen that, although an employee's attitude towards the company is positive, the policies that it imparts are not fair or adequate for the personnel, which would lead to the appearance of possible conflicts in the long term. "Effective behavioral management continually aimed at creating a favorable work environment and a humane environment of support and trust in an organization can contribute to the generation of favorable attitudes." The organizational climate can be a link or obstacle to the good performance of the company, it can be a factor of distinction and influence on the behavior of those who make it up. Organizational culture influences and is in turn influenced by the quality of the work environment. Frequently the concept of climate is confused with that of organizational culture, but it differs in being less permanent in time, that is to say, it is quite a lot and arises naturally and inevitably within the organization although it shares a connotation of continuity and evolution in the weather. It would be necessary to speak, therefore, of a climate that is not uniform within the organization. On the contrary, the culture is stable and has been promulgated by the members of it. The connection between culture and climate is specifically based on the fact that the policies, mission, values that are managed within the company, that is, culture, will directly influence the behavior and perception that people will have of their work environment. It is important to note that one cannot speak of a single climate, but of the existence of subclimates that coexist simultaneously. Thus, a business unit within one organization may have an excellent climate, while in another unit the work environment may be very poor. The work environment could differentiate successful companies from mediocre companies. While a good work climate is oriented towards general objectives, a bad climate destroys the work environment causing conflict and low performance situations. Thus, for example, a relatively stable and favorable organizational climate could reduce the costs that would come from rotation, absenteeism, job dissatisfaction, avoiding the reinvestment of money in the new hiring of personnel or expenses caused by the lack of employees at critical moments. Among the consequences that a hostile work environment would bring, apart from causing conflict situations and reducing the degree of satisfaction, we can find absenteeism - which is the fact of not attending work - and lateness - which is a type of absenteeism but for a short period, by means of which the employees physically withdraw from the active involvement in the organization ”-. Dissatisfied employees are more likely to miss work and be unpunctual than those who are comfortable with their workplace. The deterioration of the work environment leads staff to lose enthusiasm for their work, which is reflected not only in higher levels of absenteeism but also in slowness, reluctance, indifference and, consequently, decreases in productivity. Thus, the staff psychologically withdraws from their work; the attitude of complying with exactly the minimum required prevails. Productivity - an organization is productive if it reaches its goals and if it does so by transforming inputs into products at the lowest possible cost, that is, if it is effective and efficient - it leads to satisfaction, rather than vice versa, that is, to higher productivity there are greater chances of achieving greater job satisfaction. If you do a good job, you feel intrinsically good about it. In addition, assuming that the organization rewards productivity, its increased productivity should increase verbal recognition, the level of salary and the possibilities of promotion, thereby increasing the level of job satisfaction. Another consequence of working in an unfavorable climate is rotation, which is understood as the voluntary or involuntary removal of a person from the organization, not the periodic change of a worker from one task to another. A high degree of rotation means an increase in the costs of recruitment, selection and training. However, factors such as the current labor market conditions in the country, expectations about alternative job opportunities and permanence in the organization are important restrictions for the real decision to leave the current job. WORK STRESS Finally, we will mention work stress as one of the current and latent consequences of working in organizations that require employees to adjust to increasingly unusual conditions. These conditions create, as time goes by, greater tension in the employees, which gradually produces damages in the health. "Stress is the result of the relationship of the individual and the environment, evaluated by him as threatening, which overflows his resources and endangers his well-being". In other words, there is a discrepancy between the demands of the environment and the person's resources to face them. Knowledge of the organizational climate provides feedback about the processes that determine organizational behaviors, also allowing planned changes to be made, both in member behaviors and satisfaction and in the organizational structure. The factors of the organizational system (structure, leadership, decision making, etc.) define the characteristics of an organization and will influence, as we expressed previously, the individual perception of the climate. The interaction of these factors will result in the determination of two major types of organizational climates and their variants:
Authoritarian type climate:
It is characterized because the management does not have confidence in its employees, the perceived climate is fearful, the interaction between superiors and employees is almost nil and decisions are made only by the bosses, that is, they are the ones who exclusively, they determine what the organization's goals are and how to achieve them. Furthermore, the environment in which the work is carried out is repressive, closed and unfavorable, work well done is only occasionally recognized and there is often an informal organization contrary to the interests of the formal organization.
It is characterized in that there is trust between management and its employees, punishments and rewards are used as sources of motivation for employees, and supervisors operate many control mechanisms. In this type of climate, management plays with the social needs of employees, but it gives the impression that they are working in a stable and structured environment. Most of the decisions are made directly by managers, who have a relationship with their employees like the one between the father and the son, protecting them but not trusting their behavior completely. Only rarely does an informal organization develop that does not always oppose the organization's purposes. Here too, the weather tends to be closed and unfavorable. Participatory type climate.
It is characterized by the trust that superiors have in their employees. There is a fluid interaction between both parties, the functions are delegated and there is mainly a communication of the downward type. The strategy is determined by the management team, however, according to the level they occupy in the organization, workers make specific decisions within their scope of action.
There is full trust in employees by management, decision-making pursues interaction at all levels, communication within the organization is done in every way. The motivational point is participation, work is done based on performance objectives, the working relationships between supervisor and employee are based on friendship and responsibilities are shared. The operation of this system is teamwork as the best means to achieve the objectives, whose fulfillment is the basis for evaluating the work carried out by the employees. Formal and informal organization coincide. To continue strengthening your learning process on the administration of human resources, and as a complement to this text, we leave you with the following video-course, called Direction and Management of Human Resources, in which topics such as the functions of the Human Resources department, what the Human Resources department is in charge of in an organization and how the people who make it up can be motivated, among others. (20 videos, 2 hours 28 minutes) Download the original file
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