Nature and strategic views of Personnel Administration: What does the statement that "the work of the personnel administrator does not take place in a vacuum" mean?
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 and the development of basic functions that include preparation and selection, development and evaluation, compensation and protection, and relationship with staff 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, strives to achieve the improvement of the organizations making them more efficient and effective,interacting with internal and external factors that make its 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.
What are the factors that make up the external environment in human resource management? Describe each of these factors.
Human resources management must face external challenges that affect its activity and the entire organization. These factors are variable and there is little influence on them, but they represent the fundamental aspects on which the personnel manager must base her strategy. These factors are:
Diversity of the workforce
Before, the labor market was made up mostly of men. Currently, women have gained great participation in this market, which has generated fundamental changes in personnel policies and in the analysis and design of positions. Similarly, other retail groups have changed their schemes, due to government policies that have opened spaces for what in other times constituted barriers to entry into the labor market: the handicapped or disabled, ethnic multiplicity, immigrants, etc. All this linked to levels of education as a decisive factor.
Demographic trends
Progressive reduction of the birth rate.
Improvement of preventive medicine and medical care.
Lifestyles. Progress in life expectancy.
Increase in academic level.
Migration movements.
Economic trends
The changes generated in the countries before the globalization of the economy, have generated economic difficulties that have provided a change of course in the economic systems of nations, and therefore of companies. In general terms, the economic trends that affect human resource management are:
National wealth.
Inflation.
I enter the world economic panorama of new nations
The globalization of the economy.
Unemployment levels (demand deficiency, structural unemployment, government programs to reduce unemployment, etc.)
Company development and generation programs.
Trade cooperation agreements between nations.
Competitiveness, productivity and quality as strategic economic factors in winning clients.
Cultural aspects
Lifestyles of the new generations.
The evolution and change of cultural patterns in nations in the face of the globalization of the economy and the influence of the Internet.
Patterns in family and work life.
Changes in cities and providences
Typical urban difficulties (fiscal deficit, unemployment, deterioration related to housing, subnormal living conditions for the poor, violence and crime).
Fast-forward technology
Updating of industrial plants.
The spread of computers.
The development of ratification intelligences.
Updated systems have greatly increased productivity and decreased costs in factories, banks, airline operations, macro markets, investment companies, etc. However, the benefit of computers in an organization can only be realized when there is an affective partnership between machines and people.
Trends in the official sector
The evolution in labor legislation worldwide has brought about changes in the laws of social security, industrial security, civil rights; all this incorporated in the constitutional charter, in such a way that the decisions of the official sector are increasingly important for the relations that must exist between employers and workers.
How do you operate to change the composition of the workforce in the country over the next decade?
During the next decade, important changes are glimpsed in the composition of the labor force in the country due to the competitive entry of women into the markets, as they have been gaining significant space in companies. Over the past 25 years, women's participation in the workforce has reached the point that 50% of them are linked to a company or at least actively participate in the market. Opportunities have improved especially for younger and more educated women. Labor participation and wages no longer differ significantly from those of men. Furthermore, the participation of Colombian women in executive and managerial positions is twice as important as in the rest of the world. From elsewhere,Given the changes in our educational systems, changes are expected in the ages of people entering the labor market, since they do so from a very young age, which has been influential in an early generational shift in line with conceptual changes in innovation and creativity. that is required to address the challenges of new societies.
It is important to take into account the current state campaigns that seek to open work spaces to the disabled who previously found great barriers to participating in job competition. Likewise, our high unemployment rate and the country's short-term problems will generate changes regarding the massification of the storm market and outsourcing systems that are alternatives to improve the strategic schemes of companies.
What are the external environment considerations that put pressure on the personnel manager?
Personnel managers should continuously investigate the environment in which they work, and in turn evaluate how it affects the organization. In the environment there are forces that exert pressure on the activity of managing personnel: the workforce, technology, legal considerations, the political and social environment, unions, shareholders, competition, customers and the economy of the country and the world in general. These considerations are framed within the factors that describe point No. 2 of the questionnaire.
How can changes in organizational policy affect the work of the personnel manager?
When business policy points towards the improvement of organizations with the aim of making them more efficient, we have that the personnel manager constitutes the main actor, however in his management is to contribute so that the company improves through the use more efficient of human resources. That is, that the personnel manager should contribute to organizational changes with the identification of better and more effective procedures to achieve the objectives, and in turn contribute so that with the least amount of resources the same or better can be obtained. results. Organizational policy acts on challenges such as: technological changes, unemployment, global competitiveness, levels of industrialization, social responsibility, environmental pollution, levels of inflation,agricultural production, the labor force, levels of education and training, demographic changes, labor, commercial and economic legislation, etc. Any change that is generated in the organization in policies inherent to the aforementioned affects the personnel administrator as it has to respond in a timely manner to the challenges with the improvement of the performance and contributions of the personnel, within the framework of an ethical and social activity. responsable. Example:Any change that is generated in the organization in policies inherent to the aforementioned affects the personnel administrator as it has to respond in a timely manner to the challenges with the improvement of the performance and contributions of the personnel, within the framework of an ethical and social activity. responsable. Example:Any change that is generated in the organization in policies inherent to the aforementioned affects the personnel administrator as it has to respond in a timely manner to the challenges with the improvement of the performance and contributions of the personnel, within the framework of an ethical and social activity. responsable. Example:
In our company that aims to make decisions about acquisitions, business closings and discontinuation of product lines, the personnel manager contributes by making contributions on the company's ability to carry out strategic plans, whether it is an acquisition or a new one company that is being driven internally, the kind of personnel that will be needed; different policies will be required from those established, and where the human resources needed will be obtained, etc.
Define corporate culture. What effect can it have on personnel management?
Corporate culture consists of the beliefs and philosophy of the organization about how its affairs should be carried out; that is, it is about the reasons why you do things the way you do. It is manifested in the values and principles that senior managers embrace, in the ethical principles that they demand, in the policies that they establish, in the style of doing things, in the traditions that the organization preserves, in the attitudes and feelings of people and the stories they tell, in the pressures exerted by colleagues, in the organization's politics and in the “chemistry” that surrounds the work environment. All of the above necessarily have a primary effect on personnel administration, since it involves human resources, however a cultureit considers and must inject energy into all the people of the company, so that they do their work in a way that supports the organization's strategy.
A corporate culture that is truly results-oriented should not just aim for employees to be "happy" or "satisfied" or "get along." An organization with a spirit of results must have a personnel administration that emphasizes achievement and excellence, and that pursues policies and practices that inspire people to do their best. This is how the personnel administration must focus this spirit of results on any conceivable occasion and in any imaginable way, trying to ensure that the company treats its employees with dignity and respect, that it empowers them, that it encourages them to use their initiative and own creativity when doing their work; using the full range of rewards and punishments to reinforce high performance standards,giving managers at all levels responsibility to develop the people who depend on them and giving employees enough autonomy to excel, improve and contribute.
Justify the statement: "All managers are involved in personnel administration."
General managers and line managers are staffed by them. They, as the main head of the company or its departments, make decisions regarding production and performance, decide the assignments of the positions, the promotions to be granted or define when it is necessary to separate a person from the organization. This means, that all managers are involved in personnel administration. In their management, managers have as one of their central tasks the effective coordination and development of human and non-human resources available to achieve the objectives of the organization. The human resources available to managers in an organization are only part of the resources that must be coordinated. But it is through the combined efforts of peoplemonetary and material resources are used for the objectives of the organization. Without human efforts, organizations could not achieve their goals. In other words, managers have personnel administration as a basic responsibility for their actions. Therefore, personnel management penetrates all administrative levels, starting with the chief executive. Executives can be effective only to the extent that they achieve results with the help of vice presidents, general managers, directors, division heads, supervisors, etc.
In conclusion, personnel administration provides managers with an advisory function with three basic aspects: advisory or council, service and control.
What are the personnel administration functions that must be developed, regardless of the size of the company?
Personnel management is eminently a service activity, aimed at helping employees, managers and the organization achieve their goals. This means that the personnel management functions that must be developed, regardless of the size of the company, have to do with improving the organization by making it more efficient and effective, which translates into compliance with planning activities., development, evaluation, compensation and control. What happens is that as the size of the company increases, these activities tend to specialize and be assigned to various officials, so that they can cover all areas of the company.
Executives, Generalists and Personnel Specialists.
Executives are senior managers who report directly to the chief executive of the company or the director of a major division. The person who holds the position of "Personnel Manager", "Personnel Director", "Vice President of Personnel" is considered as a personnel executive. In these cases, as a personnel manager or personnel director, you will report directly to the "General Manager", president, or to an administrative or human resources vice-presidency. If it is at the vice-presidency level, it depends directly on the president. But it can also be the case that the personnel executive is the one who occupies a mid-level position depending directly on a manager or administrative director, who in turn is the one who answers to the manager or general director of the company.
A generalist is an executive who performs tasks in many areas related to human resources. Such is the case of Administrative Managers.
A specialist may be a manager or director of one of the eight functional areas of human resources administration (hiring manager, compensation manager, training manager, industrial safety manager, industrial relations manager, etc.). Such is the In the case of large corporations, where personal activity is headed by a personnel or human resources manager (or vice president) who is in charge of various specialists who contribute to the development of all the functions in their area.
How does the implementation of personnel functions change as a company grows?
Initially a personnel department may be small and is run by a "generalist" or a mid-level executive. In this instance, its functions are more aimed at maintaining in an organized way the registry and control of the company's personnel, verifying that all the requirements of the law are complied with and that they carry out in a clear and timely manner all the activities of an accounting nature inherent in payroll and contribution and settlement procedures. As the company grows, the personnel department becomes more complex and becomes more prominent and important. Now has a high-level executivethat maintains close communication with the chief executive, and that carries out its activity through some specialized functions that can be carried out by specific divisions of the personnel area (selection, compensation, training and development, industrial security). If necessary, given the growth of organizations, divisions at the specialized management level can be subdivided into level III (administrative) areas, which in turn may have level IV assistants (unskilled employees) to cover complexity of the organization. It is understood, then, that this division of labor leads the members of the large personnel department to become experts in their respective functions.
What is a profession?
A profession is the trade or role played by an individual possessing a compendium of knowledge and skills, framed in a common body that allows to distinguish their performance from other individuals. Those who are trained in this common body of knowledge and skills are professionals in their specific field, and are recognized as such by those who certify their ability to develop it.
This being so, personnel administration should be considered as a profession, since from a basic knowledge a person can direct his actions towards a special line of the administrative field that has generated his own philosophy and essential procedures that distinguish him as a specialty, with own knowledge and skills requirements. The personnel specialist has generated its own territory where it exercises its capacity for direct decision-making, determining the key areas of each managerial level to work with each of them within a framework of clearly defined responsibilities.
Define what is ethical. Importance of ethics in personnel administration.
From a purely philosophical point of view, ethics is the science that studies human actions insofar as they are related to the ends that determine their righteousness. In general, all ethics tries to determine an ideal conduct of man. From the perspective of special ethics or ontology that deals with the duties that are imposed on man according to the different aspects or fields in which his life is developed, it is where we can locate its importance in the development of the professional practice of personnel administration..
Thus, the ethical and moral norms go beyond the prohibitions of the law and the language of "must not", and include the questions of duty and the language of "should and should not be done". Ethics refers to human duty and the principles on which these obligations are based.
All companies have an ethical obligation, and in fact personnel management, towards each of the five groups that constitute them: owners, shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers and the community in general. But, not only in terms of norms and duties as rules, but in terms of values: freedom, equality, solidarity, active respect and dialogue. The administration of personnel, in accordance with the directives of the chief executive and of the owners, must strive for the generation of three fundamental ethical elements that allow the development of values: the ethics of responsibility, the ethics towards the interest of all, and the ethics of the organization. In other words, personnel administration should aim towards the consolidation of an ethical company based on these elements:a solid corporate culture (collectively constructed values), human talent as the main capital of the company, quality as a fundamental aspiration, the combination of the search for tangible (material) and intangible assets (harmony, cooperation, absence of conflicts, cordiality) concern for customers, workers, suppliers and competitors, within the framework of their actions, and not only for their shareholders, assume social responsibility for the actions of the company, exercise a management based on values, and predominance of a contract Morality of the company with its members, beyond the legal contract.the combination of the search for tangible (material) and intangible assets (harmony, cooperation, absence of conflicts, cordiality) concern for customers, workers, suppliers and competitors, within the framework of their actions, and not only for their shareholders, assume social responsibility for the actions of the company, exercise a management based on values, and predominance of a moral contract of the company with its members, beyond the legal contract.the combination of the search for tangible (material) and intangible assets (harmony, cooperation, absence of conflicts, cordiality) concern for customers, workers, suppliers and competitors, within the framework of their actions, and not only for their shareholders, assume social responsibility for the actions of the company, exercise a management based on values, and predominance of a moral contract of the company with its members, beyond the legal contract.and predominance of a moral contract of the company with its members, beyond the legal contract.and predominance of a moral contract of the company with its members, beyond the legal contract.
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