Introduction
Human resources (HR) entail more than an employment-recruiting unit within a company. Human resources professionals have important functions in enhancing the achievement of all employees, promoting an industrious and optimistic work environment, and supporting an organization’s values and culture. Because HR is an important part of an organization, it is significant to comprehend the challenges faced by the HR departments in order to effectively address them and enhance productivity (Simons, 2011).
Challenges in Meeting Organizational Goals
HR professionals face the challenge of generating procedures that not only meet immediate wants but also support an organization’s strategic goals. For example, a popular organizational goal is long-term workforce engagement. One of the best opportunities for creating long-term engagement is through effective organizational socialization. Therefore, the human resources department has the responsibility of developing an onboarding framework with procedures that not only mark the immediate tasks but also set the stage for long-term engagement. Making sure that HR outcomes contribute toward strategic goals assists HR specialistsin improving their present professional responsibilities and aligning them with the needs of the organization(Simons, 2011).
The Challenge of Becoming a Strategic Partner
HR professionals face the challenge of becoming meaningful strategic business partners, especially in the sector of training and developing talents and aligning them in a manner that results in expected organizational outcomes. Many HR professionals do not have adequate knowledge in comprehending the way behaviors impact an organization’s outcome, both with the main leadership and their HR partners. HR departments in most organizations are expected to assist the leadership to utilize their ‘human resource’efficiently, which is not the case in many organizations. The function and input of HR professionals has not advanced beyond being administrators and policy regulators. Organizations experience this challenge in terms of developing the leadership skills of senior managers. This process is critical in attaining an organization’s strategic goals of promoting personnel communication and successful culture.Organizations depend on front-line managers to enhance and develop this culture. It is important for organizations to establish a strategic plan to assist them attain their immediate training needs (Simons, 2011).
Although the majority of HR professionals claim that their responsibility is to be strategic partners with senior managers, their opinion is criticizedsince HR individuals usually lack business skills to comprehend a strategy or their duty in effecting it. In addition, some senior managers do not have the interest of having HR as a strategic partner; they are only concerned with the department hiring the individual they want(Simons, 2011).
Challenges in Advocating for Employee Benefits
HR professionals are in charge of advocating for and protecting employees; however, the threat of unionization is prevalent and developments in technology have made workers more dispensable. The social contract between employees and employers whereby organizations offered permanent employment to its workforce as a compensation for their loyalty and dedication to company objectives no longer exists. Workers fear quitting because of tight labor market and unwillingness to complain about increasedworkloadsfor fear of being sacked(Miller, & Gordon, 2014). Companies use HR departments to allocate employees too much work hence they are not able to represent the interest of employees. Many organizations have reduced employees’ benefits, such as healthcare and pensions and HR professions face the challenge of giving such bad news to workers. HRprofessionalsalso face the challenge of forming people structures, programs, communications, policies, and procedures that permit the workforce to feel valued and cared for(Miller & Gordon, 2014).
Being a competitive employer currently entails perfect alignment between employees’ capabilities and the ability to provide attractive bonuses, compensation, culture, growth opportunities, and flexibility. Many organizations have become creative in providing such benefits, making the HR function very competitive (Miller& Gordon, 2014). Low staffing in most organizations leads to increased workloads, which makes the HR professionals overwhelmed and decreases productivity. This also works against the ethical requirements concerning the rights of employees.
The Challenge of Becoming a Moral Compass to Instill Corporate Integrity in its Leaders
There have been increased cases of disconnect between corporate behavior and ethical conduct, which poses a challenge to HR professionals who play a significant role in promoting and developing ethics within organizations. Many HR professionals are not sure of their responsibilities and the manner in which they can make a difference. Some are also not comfortable with the roles they play in organizations, such as being ethical guardians or moral stewards. This is a significant way of helping the HR professionals to develop an organization’s moral compass. The challenge is becoming clear about what initiates the desire of trying to exercise influence. Without clarification, other members view the HR professionals as trying to be ‘holier’ by creating perfect standards of expected ethical performance for others. Becoming a moral steward needs HR professionals to be advocates of ethical business behavior to enhanceethics as significant focus for an organization. This process does not moralize but adds definite value (Miller, & Gordon, 2014). HR professionals play an important role in an organization and therefore they should work closely with other departments to enable them address organizational challenge to enhance productivity.
References
Miller, V. D., & Gordon, M. E. (2014). Meeting the challenge of Human Resource Management: A communication perspective. Routledge.
Simons, R. (Ed.). (2011). Human Resource Management: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities. CRC Press.