Introduction
According to United States department of interior there are some challenges faced in the process of managing human capital and most of the challenges result from both internal and external forces that still continue to shape the workforce. It has been established that the factors fall can be grouped into increased urbanization, aging infrastructure, developments in information technology and programmatic changes.
Challenges and solutions
Increased urbanization and people in areas managed by the department has impacted on areas such as national parks and wildlife refuges, with increase in numbers of people most lands have been fragmented, increased recreation in federal lands, increased resource demands and continued interaction. The above issues have acted as challenges to the workforce in the department since the department must strive to offer new services putting more pressure on skills and knowledge that employees should have. It is opined that workforce is faced with new challenges on how to improve their negotiation skills and the ability to develop partnership due to increased demands at workplaces (US Department of the Interior, 2016). The solutions to increased urbanization and demand for more services from employees include consultation between workers and clients, improved communication with all the stakeholders, cooperation and service conservation. It is believed that such measures can greatly transform relationships between the organizational workers and the clients that they serve (US Department of the Interior, 2016).
Aging infrastructure is another challenge that is faced by workforce of the department, it has been established that maintenance of facilities that is used by the employees has not kept pace with the ever-growing customer needs (US Department of the Interior, 2016). It has been pointed out that complication associated with repair and maintenance of infrastructure has also aided in creation of challenges faced by employees. Contrary to this, there is need to meet current and future needs of clients and so management must concentrate on developing new facilities that can improve management skills and competencies of workers so as to perform efficiently and effectively. The responses to this challenge include developing skills and capacities of employees to use existing facilities and improvement of the tools coupled with extensive training for the employees.
Third, development in business information technology has posed challenges to employees of the department since it is affirmed that current tasks require great knowledge of information systems to effectively manage financial systems, develop analytical skills and strategic business knowhow (US Department of the Interior, 2016). Clients, on the other hand also expect service providers to effectively manage financial resources and thus greater knowledge and creativity is required from the workforce as proof of effective utilization of available financial resources. It has been discovered that despite the department having information technology facilities there is still inconsistency in the use that has resulted in lack of data, including cost information, upon which to make informed management decisions (US Department of the Interior, 2016). Responses to business information technology challenges can entail improving financial performance through training employees to meet their knowledge needs and retaining employees in common positions. Human resource managers should also ensure that employees are provided with the information needed to allocate resources and to monitor and evaluate performance effectively (SHRM, 2006). Lastly, it is opined that managers can also simplify and unify business processes to maximize the benefit of technology that will ensure efficiency in processes that will be faster and cheaper (SHRM, 2006).
There are also unique programmatic challenges especially with human capital implications such as security fund management, fire management and law enforcement and each requires its own response. It is affirmed that there is need to examine and reorganize structures and practices that build a workforce that possesses the skills needed to meet emerging demands in the workplace (SHRM, 2006). For instance, it has been established that human resource managers in the department will work hand in hand with other stakeholders to provide their staff with appropriate training and skill levels needed to meet our business practice standards. In addition, the department should also be actively involved in discovering flexible employees, attract and retain them with the requisite skill mix to improve service delivery (SHRM, 2006). Important response measures will also revolve around good recruitment practices to meet the ever persistent shortages, developing appropriate staffing models, using qualified personnel for sensitive work divisions, constant partnership with other organizations and accountability and performance. To respond to law enforcement and security, human resource managers are encouraged to develop and maintain its law enforcement capability in the most professional, modern, and effective manner possible that would motivate employees for increased productivity and service delivery (SHRM, 2006).
Conclusion
It has been established that human resource managers have an uphill task of recruiting, training and retaining employees for continued service delivery (Martin, 2009). This therefore creates challenges that need to be addressed through a myriad of measures through providing leadership, clearly defining roles and responsibilities, clearly defining skills requirement, adequate training and initiating developmental assignments.
References
Martin, J. (2009). Human resource management. Los Angeles: SAGE.
SHRM. (2006). Three Key Trends for The Future of HR
Management. Web.
US Department of the Interior. (2016) Web.