Human Resource Department in an Organization
Human resource is one of the departments found in an organization. It has several functions which are done in coordination with other divisions. The primary role of this department is to ensure that an organization has all the human resource requirements to perform various functions. In its mandate, the HRM department is also tasked with the responsibility of employing and training workers. The process of employment is always defined in the workers manual. Job analysis, in any company, should be done by the professionals who manage the human resource department. In its work, the human resource department will always face several challenges in its work. These challenges are either from within the organization or from the outside.
Recruiting and Selection
One of the significant activities that the human resource managers deal with is the selection and hiring of employees. Recruitment is an activity that links job seekers with the right jobs. Some opportunities require specific skills in an organization. Also, these jobs match with some job seekers in the labor market. Employers and job seekers need to have a common forum where they exchange their expectations. Workers are always encouraged to apply for jobs. Recruitment has the primary objective of developing people who are qualified to do specific tasks. Thus, any organization needs to project in a way that all the employees who are recruited will handle the available functions. Also, those people looking for jobs should respond to the recruitment by making applications. Also, it is worth noting that the entire process should be useful in a way that those who are qualified get the jobs (Stone & Deadrick, 2015). The exercise should ensure all the relevant information required for the best decision.
On the other hand, selection involves the process of choosing the employee who fits the right job. It is one of the screening activities that eliminate those who are unqualified and incompetent. Through this process, a pool of qualified employees is retained. Applicants will always have different qualifications. However, some of these qualifications may not be relevant to specific job requirements. Thus, the process of screening chooses the best through elimination. This activity has the main aim of picking the most qualified from a pool of applicants. After the recruitment activity, the selection process follows with the aim of choosing the qualified workers. Several other activities are within the mandate of this department. However, this paper analyzes challenges facing the selection and recruitment processes.
Challenges in Recruiting and Selection
High costs in attracting top talent
Any organization will always want to have the best team of employees. However, this is an activity that is likely to cost a firm regarding time and financial resources. In the process of attracting the right employees, the human resource department should understand the specific requirements and job specifications. In the labor market, there is always a shift in the employee expectations as well as the organizational culture (Reilly & Williams, 2016). This condition makes the recruitment and selection activity more tedious. HR managers will always try to develop new tools that can enhance the recruitment process. Some of the inefficiencies in this process may deter successful activity. Some methods are said to be too complicated and time-consuming. Despite the complexities, these recruitment and selection criteria may not guarantee the best candidates.
Diversity
Employees have varied skills and experiences. Also, they have access to different informational levels. This condition, in the process, has the risk of affecting their decision-making quality. If the HR managers may apply standardization, the exercise will limit the diversity among the candidates. In avoiding this issue and related ones, companies have come up with policies that access the tailored talents. This is the best practice that fosters workplace diversity. People will always come from various backgrounds, have access to different information, and also vary in their skills. Therefore, it is not easy for the HR to provide standard measures. Consequently, the best candidate may not be hired due to the limitation in various aspects.
Advancements in Recruiting and Hiring
There have been significant advances to help boost the recruitment and hiring activities. The HR managers have access to several tools that are useful in the entire process. For instance, there are methods like simulations, critical thinking, as well as personality assessments. These tools subject all the candidates to uniform employment criteria. Managers will always look for the employers who will help the business achieve its objectives. The talent assessment has been one of the useful tools that have contributed to easing tension in the recruitment and selection process.
Compliance with Legal Obligations
There are regulatory stipulations set by the authorities that all businesses must follow a standard procedure in the recruitment process. For instance, there are Lawson gender parity, timing, as well as the publicity of the said job opportunities. The government will always require that companies be transparent and ensure there is equal representation. These circumstances, many times, have made other organizations hire people who are not competent in the name of compliance. Some best candidates are left out because they are over-represented regarding either gender or origin. Similarly, other regulations define that particular skills should receive a given amount of compensation (Bratton & Gold, 2017). As a result, some firms are struggling with their budgets to ensure all employees are paid based on market standards. Besides wages, there are other costs such as taxes, training, and other relevant expenses. To solve these challenges and the related ones, a reward system should be created so that employees are aware of the expected earnings in case they secure the jobs.
Recommendations
The human resource department should always ensure that it embraces change. Patterns and other relevant trends in the labor market are essential in decision making. Employees should be given information on all the job requirements, skills, as well as the compensation for the different tasks. Also, there is a need for market research to come up with permanent solutions. Reward systems, budgeting, and information symmetry are some of the proposed solutions that can help boost the effectiveness of the recruitment activity. Upskilling employees reduces the burden of training and other related challenges. Also, the human resource managers should comply with the legal standards to ensure the process is always fair. Investing in training provides that diversity in skills is eliminated. Some services should be outsourced while other activities can be done internally to reduce the financial budgets that affect the success of the exercise. All employees, irrespective of gender, race, or age, should be encouraged to apply for jobs. However, the skill and expertise requirement should be stated.
References
Bratton, J., & Gold, J. (2017). Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.
Reilly, P., & Williams, T. (2016). Global HR: Challenges facing the function. Routledge.
Stone, D. L., & Deadrick, D. L. (2015). Challenges and opportunities affecting the future of human resource management. Human Resource Management Review, 25(2), 139-145.
