Human Resource Management Assignment 2

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Human Resources Management Issues, Challenges and Trends: “Now and Around the Corner”, pages 1–29. Copyright © 2019 by Information Age Publishing All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. 1

CHAPTER 1

AN INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RESOURCES

Management Issues, Challenges and Trends “Now and Around the Corner”

Ronald R. Sims and Sheri K. Bias

INTRODUCTION

These continue to be uncertain times which are dominated by a rapidly transform- ing business landscape. The uncertain times and rapidly transforming business landscape mean that all organizations must deal with issues like tighter labor mar- kets, economic uncertainty and globalization. These and other issues will con- tinue to shape the workplace, the human resource management (HRM) challenges and the HRM profession now and around the corner.

It is absolutely clear that HRM plays a key role in determining the survival and effectiveness of contemporary organizations. Thus, the effective management of an organization’s human resources is a major source of competitive advantage and may even be the single most important determinant of an organization’s per-

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2 • RONALD R. SIMS & SHERI K. BIAS

formance and success long-term. An organization’s HRM practices help support a company’s business strategy and provide services the customer values.

Anyone who is familiar with the major organizations in their area has prob- ably observed first-hand how dramatically the environment for contemporary or- ganizations has continued to change in recent years. These changes have had a significant impact on organizational efforts to be successful. In practically every instance organizations have tried to more clearly identify and then focus on fac- tors that impact their success and create a sustainable competitive advantage. One factor that continues to receive more attention than any other is the people who work for organizations. What organizations are realizing is that their likelihood of sustained success is most dependent on learning to get the maximum out of their employees. Such a realization has had a significant impact on the practice of HRM. What’s more, forecasters predict that the role of employees, managers, and HRM personnel regardless of the sector (i.e., private, public, or not-for-profit) are likely to see more changes in the decades ahead (see Gibson, Ziskin, & Boudreau, 2014; May, n.d.; Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2019, p. 2017). Thus, indi- viduals entering the world of work today (and tomorrow) require an understand- ing of the issues, challenges and opportunities that will continue to impact an organization’s ability get the most out of their human resources as they strive for both a competitive advantage and success.

Organizations are increasingly realizing that their success is dependent on their ability to attract, develop, and retain talented employees. More than two decades ago, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich emphasized this point when he sug- gested that in the future, the organization’s ability to attract, develop, and retain a talented workforce will be a critical factor in developing a high-performance organization. Long-term, sustained organization success in today’s changing and challenging world of work involves senior leadership’s commitment to design- ing and implementing HRM programs and policies geared to developing both high-performing employees and organizations. This means that senior leadership anticipates the future need for employees and develops specific plans to obtain, develop, and retain the type of employees who meet the needs of a high-perform- ing organization. Only by anticipating and working towards the development and retention of the “right type” of employees, can any organization expect to be suc- cessful in the global, dynamic and competitive environment.

An important element of any organization’s success in the days, weeks, months, and years to come is a strategy where every employee is treated as a valuable re- source. To do this means that organizations and its HRM professionals must be sensitive and responsive to the relevant issues, challenges and opportunities.

The objective of this book is to explore and provide an updated look at some of the challenges, trends and issues HRM professionals will need to focus on now and around the corner. Like other departments in the broader organization HRM professionals will need to increasingly demonstrate how they add value and contribute to the organization’s success. While the trends, challenges and issues

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An Introduction to Human Resources • 3

impacting organizations and HRM professionals will continue to change over the years the bottom-line of organization success is the clear reality that employees are their best assets and the need for effective HRM.

It is our hope that you the readers of this book will better understand the ongo- ing transformation of HRM given the issues, challenges and opportunities offered by the contributors. This means the book will discuss the ever-evolving role of HRM professionals to include discussion of how the profession must continue to become more adaptive, resilient, quick to change direction and customer-centered in its efforts to help meet the human resource needs of contemporary organiza- tions and their employees. It is also our hope that the book will contribute to the ongoing dialogue and insights offered by HRM experts on what HRM profession- als and their organizations can do in the face of such challenges, trends and issues in their efforts to win the talent wars.

This opening chapter first defines HRM and its role in helping organizations succeed. Next, the chapter takes a brief look at the interlinked activities typically taking place within organizations. Then, the chapter describes the history and con- temporary growth of HRM. We conclude the chapter with a discussion of the con- temporary challenges confronting organizations and HRM in the years to come.

Before taking a closer look at several of the challenges, trends and issues that will impact HRM professionals in the near and far term it’s important to take a brief look at what we mean by HRM and the responsibilities of HRM.

WHAT IS HRM?

What makes one organization successful whereas another fails to make use of the same opportunities? For our purposes, the key to continued survival and organiza- tional success lies not in the rational, quantitative approaches, but increasingly to a focus on things like people, employee involvement and commitment. Organiza- tion success for organizations of today and tomorrow is being increasingly seen as dependent on effective HRM. Effective HRM positively affects performance in organizations, both large and small.

HRM is the term increasingly used to refer to the philosophy, policies, proce- dures, and practices related to the management of an organization’s employees (Quttainah, 2005; Sims, 2002) or that influences employees’ behavior, attitudes, and performance (Noe, et al., 2019). Many organizations refer to HRM as involv- ing “people practices.” HRM is particularly concerned with all the activities that contribute to successfully attracting, developing, motivating, and maintaining a high-performing workforce that results in organizational success.

In the process of HRM, there is an increasing emphasis on the personal needs of the organization and its members. How effectively employees contribute to organization goals depend to a larger extent upon the ability of its HRM profes- sionals. The challenge is to create an organizational environment in which each employee can grow and develop to their fullest extent. Such an environment in-

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creases the likelihood of a successful organization, and this is what HRM is all about, helping make organizations successful.

HRM efforts are planned, systematic approaches to increasing organizational success. They involve HRM programs aimed at developing HRM strategies for the total organization with an eye towards clarifying an organization’s current and potential problems and develop solutions to them. It is oriented toward action, the individual, the global marketplace, and the future. Today it would be difficult to envision any organization achieving success without efficient HRM programs and activities.

The purpose of HRM programs is to increase organizational success and also to develop the potential of all members. HRM also emphasizes that HRM plan- ning needs to be closely related to the organization’s strategic goals and plans. Finally, there are a series of planned HRM practices that will ultimately influence the success of an organization. The strategy underlying these practices needs to be considered to maximize their influence on organization performance. These HRM practices are briefly discussed in the next section.

The importance of recruiting, selection, training and developing, rewarding, and compensating employees is recognized by employees at all levels or parts of today’s organizations. Clearly, HRM and other functions must work together to achieve organizational success and compete locally and internationally. In order for an organization to be successful (i.e., prosper, earn a profit or meet society’s or customer’s needs), reasonable goals in each of these components much be achieved.

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS

Fortunately, contemporary leaders and their organizations are increasingly look- ing at HRM practices as a means to contribute to profitability, quality, and other organizational goals through enhancing and supporting organizational operations. This means HRM professionals and their department or function be integrated with the organization, and able to help leaders throughout the organization in at- tracting, building, engaging and retaining talented employees. In addition, HRM professionals must also build their own talent and skills so they can help the orga- nization meet current and future competitive challenges.

HRM professionals can perform many different roles and responsibilities de- pending on the size of the organization, the characteristics of the workforce, the industry and the value system of organization leadership. HRM professionals may take full responsibility for human resource activities in some organizations, whereas in others it may share the roles and responsibilities with managers of other functions in the organization such as operations information technology, or finance. In some organizations HRM professionals advise top-level leadership; in others the HRM department may make decisions regarding staffing, training, and compensation after senior leadership has decided relevant organization issues.

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An Introduction to Human Resources • 5

Within each functional area of HRM, many activities must be accomplished so that the organization’s human resources can make an optimal contribution to the organization’s success. These activities are briefly discussed in this section.

Strategic Management of Human Resources

The amount of time that the HRM function devotes to being a strategic busi- ness partner, change agent, and employee advocate has increased substantially in organizations over the past decade and a half (see Bersin, 2015; Ruona & Gibson, 2004). Astute senior leaders know that HRM professionals can help them im- prove, to comply with the law and help the bottom line by streamlining employ- ment costs, for example, by redesigning work to foster innovation, by forecasting labor trends, by recruiting and motivating employees, and by measuring their ef- fectiveness. HRM professionals also help their organizations with business strate- gies, as well as mergers, acquisitions, and ways to enter new and global markets. According to Art Mazor “If you look at the evolution going back to when we called HR ‘personnel,’ it’s come a long way as a function” (p. 6) (Snell & Morris, 2019). New HRM tools and technologies are allowing the HRM function to look outside the tactical, administrative reporting and data gathering to bring insights to drive business strategy and results (Lindzon, 2015).

HRM needs to be closely integrated with managerial planning and decision making (i.e., international human resources, forecasting, planning, mergers and acquisitions). As noted earlier, increasingly senior leaders in organizations rec- ognize that the time to consider the organization’s HRM strengths or limitations is when strategic organizational decisions are being formulated, not after critical policies have been decided. A closer integration between top management’s goals and HRM practices helps to elicit and reward the types of behavior necessary for achieving an organization’s strategy. For example, if an organization is planning to become known for its high-quality products HRM staff should design appraisal and reward systems that emphasize quality in order to support this competitive strategy.

Strategic management of human resources includes HRM planning. The HRM planning process involves forecasting HRM needs and developing programs to ensure that the right numbers and types of individuals are available at the right time and place. Such information enables an organization to plan its recruitment, selection, and training strategies. For example, let’s say an organization’s HRM plan estimates that 12 data analysts will be needed during the next year. The organization typically hires recent data analyst graduates to fill such positions. Because these majors are in high demand, the organization decides to begin its recruiting early in the school year, before other organizations can “snatch away” the best candidates.

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Recruiting and Selecting (Staffing) Talent

Once HRM needs are determined, the next step is recruiting talent (i.e., inter- viewing, recruiting, screening and selecting the most qualified candidates, filling some positions through transfer or promotion, and temporary employment coor- dination). Recruitment is a form of business contest and it is fiercely competi- tive. Just as organizations strategize to develop, manufacture, and market the best product or service, so they must also vie to identify, attract, and hire the most qualified people. Recruitment is a business, and it is big business (Cahuc, Car- cillo, & Zilberberg, 2014; Ehrenberg & Smith, 2016).

Regardless of the size of an organization, or what sector or industry it is in, recruitment and selection of people with strategically relevant abilities is more important than ever. And, recruiting and staffing is a far more complex activity than in previous times when HRM professionals could rely on recommendations from current employees or a “help wanted” sign in front of the business. The increased complexity of positions to be filled and equal employment opportunity (EEO), require more sophisticated procedures to identify and select prospective employees. Consider, for instance, the impact antidiscrimination laws have had over the years on organizations hiring practices. Prior to the passage of these laws, many organizations hired people in somewhat arbitrary ways. Applicants were of- ten hired because they had an organization handshake or because they graduated from the employer’s alma mater. Today, such practices could result in charges of discrimination. For instance, a woman denied a job because she is pregnant may end up suing the organization for sex discrimination.

To protect themselves from such charges, employers must conduct their selec- tion practices “by the book.” This means they should carefully determine needed job qualifications and choose selection methods that accurately measure those qualifications.

In order to plan for future selection efforts and training programs and to en- sure that performance appraisal and compensation systems are rationally based on job demands HRM professionals must complete careful descriptions and analysis and design of current and future work and jobs. The development and use of job analysis information continues to be a critical part of strategic HRM planning and as the foundation for all other HRM functions.

Organizations may recruit candidates internally (i.e., recruit current employees seeking to advance or change jobs) or externally. While the aim of recruitment is to identify a suitable pool of applicants quickly, cost efficiently, and legally, selec- tion or staffing involves assessing and choosing job candidates. Internal recruit- ment often relies on succession plans, job posting, employee referrals, or tempo- rary worker pools (Polyhart & Kim, 2014). Many external recruitment sources are also available (Cascio, 2019).

To be effective, selection processes must be technically sound (i.e., accurate) and legal. But more importantly, in staffing an organization or department it is

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An Introduction to Human Resources • 7

important for HRM professionals and other decision makers to consider its devel- opmental stage-start-up, high growth, mature, or aging-in order to align staffing decisions with organizational strategy. It is also important to communicate an organization’s culture, because research shows that applicants will consider this information to choose among jobs if it is available to them (see Kristol-Brown & Guay, 2011; Polyhart, Schmitt & Tippins, 2017).

Training and Development (Human Resource Development)

Like years gone by today’s employees look at the chance to develop and move up as important in where they will seek employment. In order to facilitate employ- ee progression and performance best practice or benchmark training and develop- ment organizations choose to spend substantial sums to train and develop their employees on operational knowhow but also superior job expertise; knowledge about competitive, industry, and technological trends; and the ability to continu- ally learn and utilize new information. By focusing on these characteristics HRM professionals and their organizations are in a better position to adapt and innovate to compete far more effectively in today’s fast-paced global business world. The reality is, that because training and talent development plays a critical role in nurturing, strengthening, and expanding the capabilities of an organization in this way, it is critical to achieving strategic objectives.

Training and development or what is often referred to as human resource de- velopment (HRD) (i.e., orientation / onboarding, performance management skills training, and productivity enhancement) are planned learning experiences that teach employees how to perform their current and future jobs. Training tends to be more narrowly focused and oriented to short-term performance concerns or present jobs, whereas development tends to be oriented more toward broadening an individual’s skills for future responsibilities or jobs.

Procedures for determining training and development needs then constructing, delivering, and evaluating HRM development programs to meet these needs are the cornerstones of HRD and most often the responsibility of HRM profession- als. However, in order to ensure that their organizations get the most out of their training investments, today HRM professionals must pay attention to training and development trends like the following (Cascio, 2014, 2017; Noe, 2017):

• A growing demand for personal and professional development. Among young adults the most important feature they look for in a new job is op- portunity for continuous learning (Hirsch, 2016).

• The effects of digital technology on work. Technology, especially informa- tion and communication technology, continues to change the manner in which organizations create and capture value, how and where we work, and how we interact and communicate. Technologies such as cloud and mobile computing, big data and machine learning, sensors and intelligent manufacturing, for example, continue to transform the very foundations of

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global business and organizations that derive it while enabling employees to decide where they work, when they work, and in some cases even how they accomplish work (see Cascio & Montealegre, 2016; Friedman, 2016).

• Structural changes in labor markets. Today’s organizations increasingly employ workers from a variety of labor markers which include, for ex- ample, temporary-help services, online job boards, and social media sites which means that 1) HRM professionals and their organizations can no longer assume that everyone who works at a given organization is an employee of that organization and 2) and these employees who work for themselves may on any given day make up as much as 24 percent of the American workforce as nonstandard workers (Pofeldt, 2015).

• Training as an important part of an organization’s brand. In general, the public and especially potential talent are attracted to good-name brands and repelled by bad-name brands. Organizations that provide superior op- portunities for learning and growth have a distinct advantage when com- peting for talented employees (Kane & Sherr, 2011).

HRM professionals must ensure that their organization’s HRD efforts provide an atmosphere that will support the investment in talent while being cognizant of the ever-evolving trends in training and development.

Performance Management

Through the performance management process, HRM professionals must see that their organizations measure the adequacy of their employees’ job performance and communicate these evaluations to them. An effective performance manage- ment process provides an organization to 1) ensure that employee’s activities and outputs are congruent with the organization’s goals and 2) with the opportunity to achieve a competitive advantage through their employees by managing the be- havior and results of all its employees. Performance management is a critical link in the HRM process as it assesses how well employees are performing and deter- mine appropriate rewards or remedial actions to motivate employees to continue appropriate behaviors and correct inappropriate ones.

The HRM professional’s role in performance management is one of working with other managers and employees at all levels in the organization to establish the appraisal process, the performance dimensions to be measured, the proce- dures to ensure accuracy, and requirements for discussion of appraisal results with employees. This also means that HRM professionals help instill a culture of un- derstanding in the organization that sees effective performance management as a process and not an event. The emphasis on performance management as a pro- cess highlights the importance of providing feedback and the formal performance evaluation but notes that they are not the only important parts of an effective performance management process that contributes to the organization’s competi-

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An Introduction to Human Resources • 9

tive advantage (Dahling & O’Malley, 2011; Goler, Gale & Grant, 2016; Mone, Eisinger, Guggenheim, Prie, & Stine, 2011).

Today’s HRM professionals and other organizational managers and leaders must effectively use performance management and specifically performance ap- praisals as a tool for making HRM-related decisions, such as promotions, demo- tions, discharges, and pay raises. Performance appraisal continues to not be one of the pleasant activities for managers, yet it is important that it be undertaken in a timely manner and be done as accurately as possible.

There is every indication that measuring and managing performance will con- tinue to be a challenging endeavor and one of the keys to organizational success and gaining and maintaining competitive advantage. HRM professionals must never let the organization lose sight of the importance of a performance manage- ment system in serving strategic, administrative, and development purposes for the organization. That is, for example, performance is critical for today’s organi- zations to execute their talent management strategy, that is, to identify employees’ strengths and weaknesses, drive employee engagement, link employees to ap- propriate training and development activity, and reward good performance with pay and other incentives (Noe & Links, 2014). In the end, acquiring, training & developing and retaining top-notch employees is more likely to occur when HRM professionals and their organizations look at the performance management system as a tool for motivating and fostering the growth of employees so they can con- tribute the maximum value to the organization.

Career Development

Organizations are becoming more active in developing career development programs as part of their HRD efforts. Many organizations are designing career programs in an attempt to increase overall organizational performance, employee productivity, and attract, develop, and retain the most qualified employees in this increasingly competitive and global environment.

HRM professionals and proactive organizations see career development as a strategic imperative, and therefore, as an ongoing process designed to maximize the talents of their employees and retain them. In the years to come, HRM profes- sionals and other organizational members must regularly work to understand their organizations’ strategies in conjunction with their organizational charts, job anal- ysis and work design information, and external factors such as the labor market and the competition, and their efforts to recruit and train and develop proactively and continually.

In addition to being concerned about their own interests, organizations are in- creasingly concerned about the long-term interests of their employees. However, with pressures to improve efficiency and overall effectiveness organizations have also expected individuals to accept more responsibility for managing their own careers. This means that individuals must do everything they can to grow and realize their full potential in order to improve their value either to their current

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10 • RONALD R. SIMS & SHERI K. BIAS

or future employers. Individuals have begun to view careers as “boundaryless” and protean (see Briscoe, Hall, & De Muth, 2005; Gerli, Bonesso, & Pizzi, 2015; Gubler, Arnold & Coombs, 2014) including several employers and possibly dif- ferent occupations.

A common factor in the occurrence of various definitions of a boundaryless career is “one of independence from, rather than dependence on, traditional or- ganizational career arrangements” (p. 6) (Arthur & Rousseau, 1996). A protean career is based on self-direction with the goal of psychological success in one’s work. Employees take major responsibility for managing their careers and their careers change frequently due to both changes in the person’s interests, abilities, and values and changes in the work (Noe et al., 2019).

The important takeaway from the boundaryless or protean career for HRM professionals is that they and their organizations must understand is that today’s careers will often change. A career may include movement across several employ- ers (job hopping) or even different occupations. The reality is that employees will be unlikely to stay at one organization for their entire or even a significant part of their career. This means that organizations and employees should add value to each other (Hoffman, Casnocha, & Yeh, 2016; Lublin, 2016). In the end, HRM professionals and their organizations will need to focus their energies on creat- ing an employee development planning or career management system that views career management as a partnership between employees and their organization and is based on a positive relationship through which employees are committed to the organization but can take personal control for managing their own careers to benefit themselves and the organization.

Compensation

Compensation is a key strategic area for any organization as it impacts the or- ganization’s ability to attract and retain talent and ensure optimal levels of perfor- mance from employees in meeting the organization’s strategic objectives. HRM professionals must also understand that compensation is a key economic issue as compensation programs continue to assume an increasingly large share of an organization’s operating expenses. A critical balancing act must occur to ensure that compensation attracts, motivates, and retains talent; at the same time, com- pensation should allow the organization to maintain a cost structure that enables it to compete effectively and efficiently (Mello, 2019).

A logical result of the performance management process is determining which employees most deserve rewards. Compensation entails pay and benefits (i.e., wage and salary administration, job descriptions, executive compensation, in- centive pay, insurance, vacation-leave administration, retirement plans, profit sharing, stock plans). Allocating rewards is a complex and specialized activity. Rewards include both direct compensation and (salary and hourly wages) and indirect compensation (benefits) that organizations offer to employees. The aim

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An Introduction to Human Resources • 11

of compensation practices is to help organizations establish and maintain a com- petent and loyal workforce at an affordable cost.

Compensation is affected by forces as diverse as labor market factors, collec- tive bargaining, and senior leadership’s philosophy regarding pay and benefits (Newman, Gerhart, & Milkovich, 2017). Like other HRM activities, compensa- tion practices are also affected by government legislation, for example, like legal requirements of equal pay for equal work, minimum wage and overtime provi- sions, and required benefits such as Social Security. In addition to the level of pay, a successful compensation system is based on fairness. Employees bring a variety of perspectives to bear in deciding whether they are satisfied with the compensa- tion they receive, thus making management of compensation a particularly chal- lenging HRM activity.

In working with organizational leaders HRM professionals should ensure that compensation systems are designed to mesh with the strategic objectives of the organization. They also need to integrate the realities of prevailing pay levels in the labor market with an organization’s profitability and ability to pay. Further, in fulfilling their role in organizations, HRM professionals will need to remember that compensation, as part of an organization’s total reward system, will continue to evolve strategically relative to the changing needs of organizations and em- ployees in a number of ways (see Mathis, Jackson, Valentine, & Meglich, 2017; Mello, 2019). First, greater emphasis is being placed on employee performance and contribution, rather than seniority, in compensation decisions. Second, em- ployers are taking a more holistic approach to compensation in offering enhanced and flexible benefits to meet individual employee needs and preferences. Third, greater emphasis is being placed on more immediate and intermittent rewards, rather than waiting for the annual performance review to announce compensation decisions. Fourth, organizational rewards are becoming more directly linked to the organization’s mission, strategy, and goals. Fifth, compensation decisions and rewards are becoming more individualized, rather than applied equally, “across the board,” to all employees.

Strategic compensation as suggested in the five ways listed above will help organizations to better compensate employees in ways that enhance motivation and growth, while at the same time aligning their efforts with the objectives of today’s organization. Strategic compensation will also continue to help redefine the role and perceived contribution of compensation. No longer a “cost of doing business,” when used strategically, compensation can help serve as a tool to se- cure organization success and competitive advantage.

In the end, like other HRM practices the effectiveness of a compensation sys- tem can be assessed by using a compensation scorecard. The scorecard collects and displays where all departments and functions sit in terms of their relative compensation. It increases transparency of compensation systems, the account- ability of managers and leaders, and helps organizations align their compensation decisions with organizational objectives (see Snapka & Copikova, 2011).

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Employee Safety, Health and Security

An important source of workplace change has been the desire to promote a safer and more healthful work environment. Legal, social, and political pressures on organizations ensure the health and safety of their employees continue to have a great impact on HRM practices. Part of the impact and concern is a result of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. A second source of change is soci- etal concern about exposure to hazardous substances or stress in the workplace. Organizations try to respond to pressures and concerns by instituting accident prevention programs and programs designed to ensure the health and mental well- being of their employees. Organizations continue to take responsibility for help- ing employees deal with problems caused by stress or substance abuse through wellness and employee assistance programs as part of safety, health and security program or risk management efforts (see Pate-Cornell & Cox, 2014).

HRM professionals play an important role in ensuring employee health and safety, as they know the workplace, the employees and their job demands. While HRM professionals are not expected to know the technical aspects of workplace health and safety, today they must know when and how to use existing resources to respond to employee concerns. In many organizations, health and safety (and sometimes security) responsibilities are within HRM function or department. In order to meet these responsibilities, HRM professionals must:

• Understand the health and safety responsibilities of employers, managers, supervisors and employees within the organization;

• Implement HRM policies to ensure that everyone in the workplace is aware of his/her responsibilities;

• Establish effective ways of meeting health and safety responsibilities; and • Ensure that employees fulfill their health and safety responsibilities as out-

lined in the organizational policies and programs.

Health, safety and security are closely related terms because they affect each other in practice and are often taken into consideration together by HRM pro- fessionals and other organizational members when creating policies in an or- ganization. Health refers to a general state of physical, mental, and emotional well-being. A healthy person is free from illness, injury, or mental and emotional problems that impair normal human activity. In most organizations, heath man- agement efforts strive to maintain that overall well-being. Safety refers to a con- dition in which people’s physical well-being is protected. The main purpose of effective safety programs in organizations is to prevent work-related injuries and accidents by identifying and communicating hazards, reinforcing safe practices, and promoting safety internationally (see Bryan, 1990; Maurer, 2014). Thus, safe- ty awareness programs attempt to instill symbolic and substantive changes in the organization’s emphasis on safety.

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An Introduction to Human Resources • 13

Today and in the years to come, HRM professionals need to integrate work- place health, safety and security in HRM practices throughout the organization which include:

• Preventing work related injuries and illnesses; • Fostering a workplace safety culture in which employees and their supervi-

sors work together to ensure workplace safety; • Establishing administrative procedures that encourage employees to report

unsafe conditions and unsafe practices to their supervisors without fear of being disciplined;

• Developing appropriate hiring, training and performance appraisal prac- tices;

• Recruiting and retaining the best employees who care about their own well-being and the well-being of co-workers.

• Ensuring that the health and safety policies and procedures conform with the applicable occupational health and safety legislation and accepted best practices in similar organizations;

• Establishing procedures for enforcing company safety rules; • Helping reduce costs associated with losses due to absenteeism injuries,

workers’ compensation, disability, and health care; • Maintaining records of injuries, illnesses and workers’ compensation; • Coordinating first aid training and the provision of first aid to employees; • Providing advice to employees and the employer in matters of occupa-

tional health and safety.

Table 1.1 provides an overview of some health, safety and security responsibili- ties related to HRM.

Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining

More than ever before, the relationship between managers and their employees must be handled effectively if both the employees and the organizations are to prosper together. And, the relationship is even more important when one consid- ers the increasing number of organizations that are drawing on and contributing to a global economy (Budd, 2018; Lansbury & Wailes, 2016). As these organiza- tions have gone global, the number of employees abroad has increased. With more employees abroad, HRM professionals and departments have had to tackle new global challenges. Additionally, as the ebb and flow of pressures to downsize and outsource and calls for more efficiency and effectiveness continue in public, pri- vate and not-for-profit organizations, there is the possibility of increased tension between organizations and their employees. HRM professionals are increasingly called on to help their organizations tackle these and other challenges by pro- actively identifying and implementing HRM policies and practices which effec-

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14 • RONALD R. SIMS & SHERI K. BIAS

tively address the new global challenges and opportunities along with improving (or protecting) wages and benefits and working conditions.

Labor relations are considered the study of the relationships existing in the workplace between employers and workers or between workers, the organiza- tions that represent employers, and workers, the government, and other types of institutions in society as a whole (Dunlop, 1958). In addition, the field of labor relations includes the study of HRM, collective bargaining, labor laws, and social insurance systems (Napathorn & Chanprateep, 2011). It is important for HRM professionals to understand all of the subfields of labor relations as it provides them with insights into the real world of work and how to solve the problems existing within such a world such as workplace disputes between employers and labor unions, strikes, and lockouts, to promote fairness, efficiency, and a satisfy- ing relationship between the two parties as well as to foster win-win solutions for the labor-management problems in the workplace (see Kaufman, 2006).

It is also important for HRM professionals to continue to recognize that labor relations are often country specific (Caulfield, 2004). That is to say, labor relations

TABLE 1.1. Health, Safety and Security Responsibilities Related to HRM

Examples of HRM Activities Relevance to Workplace Health,

Safety and Security

Compliance with various regulations regarding HRM practices

Health, safety and security of employees with special needs

Coordinating, safety and security activities

Supervision of health and safety personnel, coordination of health, safety and security committee activities

Managing employee benefits and compensation

Modified work assignment

Maintaining employee records Special needs of: • Pregnant and nursing employees • Employees with illness or injury • Employees with disabilities (i.e., physical or mental issues)

Ensuring that employees are aware of new and existing HRM policies

Orientation / onboarding, training and ongoing communication with: • New employees • Transferred employees • Promoted employees • Entire workforce • Volunteers and students/interns

Career development, training, and organizational development

Training needs arising out of changing work practices, equipment and relocation

Promoting leadership in management and supervision

Health, safety and security environmental responsibility of employees at all levels

Promoting safety culture Recognizing safe behavior

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An Introduction to Human Resources • 15

are considered a system and tend to be different between countries. Thus, under- standing the labor relations system as well as the collective bargaining situation in each country helps HRM professionals understand the nature of the economy, industry, production methods, technological and socio-cultural dimension, as well as the background and development of such a country (Kuruvilla, 1994). On the other hand, understanding the external developments, economic expansion, and other stimuli and changes affecting each country also helps HRM professionals understand the labor relations system in a specific country as well. Therefore, la- bor relations and collective bargaining must continue to be of paramount interest to HRM professionals.

As evident in the paragraph above, labor relations continue to be a key strate- gic for HRM professionals and their organization because the nature of the rela- tionship between the employer and employees can have a significant impact on morale, motivation, and productivity. Employees who feel that the terms and con- ditions of their employment are less than advantageous will not be as committed to perform and to remain with an organization. Consequently, how organizations manage the day-to-day aspects of the employment relationship can be a key vari- able affecting their ability to achieve strategic objectives locally and globally (see Katz, Kochan, & Colvin, 2015; O’Brien & Kessler, 2014).

Today’s and tomorrow’s HRM professionals and other organizational mem- bers will need to continue to pay attention to labor-management relations and collective barging issues and help to implement organization, national and inter- national polices, and workplace policies to solve problems and foster a positive relationship between employees and organizations, especially because employees are one of the most important mechanisms that will drive organization success. Additionally, HRM professionals will need to regularly conduct such things as labor audits in every country where they operate as conducting such assessments will help identify any risks, issues, challenges, and opportunities they and their organizations will need to address in developing labor relations procedures, poli- cies and programs.

Global Human Resources Management

Simply put, global HRM is HRM that cuts across national boundaries. But as many organizations and their HRM professionals have found out from first-hand experience, it is not simple. Global HRM can be very complex. Globalization has created an array of employment scenarios based on such variables as citizenship, location, to whom the person reports, and the term of the assignment. Global, multinational or transnational corporations are growing in numbers and complex- ity. An example of this complexity is an organization building a manufacturing plant in Spain to produce engine parts designed by another organization in Japan for motorcycles to be sold in Europe and the United States (Sims, 2007).

The international aspects of HRM in the international arena require a global perspective. A perspective that recognizes the difference between domestic HRM

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16 • RONALD R. SIMS & SHERI K. BIAS

and global HRM is one of complexity. This complexity affects all the major HRM processes as suggested in our discussion of management and employee relation- ships and recognizes the importance of organizations ceasing to only be local but to also be global. Today, even those organizations who consider themselves im- mune to transactions across geographical boundaries are connected to the wider network globally. They are in one way or the other dependent upon organizations that may even not have heard about. Thus, HRM professionals must recognize that there is an interdependence between organizations in various areas and func- tions.

In looking to the future, HRM professionals and the function of global HRM is that the organization carries a local appeal in the host country despite maintain- ing an international feel. To exemplify, any global / multinational / international company would not like to be called as local, however the same wants a domestic touch in the host country and there lies the challenge.

HRM professionals may therefore, enumerate the objectives of global HRM as follows:

1. Create a local appeal without compromising upon the global identity. 2. Generating awareness of cross-cultural sensitivities among managers

globally and hiring of staff across geographic boundaries. 3. Training upon cultures and sensitivities of the host country.

In the end, all of the HRM activities briefly reviewed in this section are interlinked activities taking place within organizations. Additionally, external forces—legal, economic, technological, global, environmental, cultural/geographic, political, and social—have and will continue to significantly affect HRM activities and how they are designed, managed, and changed in the coming years. The next section of this introductory chapter takes a contemporary look at HRM issues, challenges, and opportunities.

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES, CHALLENGES AND TRENDS IMPACTING HRM

HRM is the term most often used to describe formal systems devised for the management of people within an organization. And, as our discussion to this point highlight, HRM is concerned with the development of both individuals and the or- ganization in which they operate. HRM, then, is engaged not only in securing and developing the talents of individual workers, but also in implementing programs that enhance communication and cooperation between those individual workers in order to nurture organizational development. Essentially, the purpose of HRM is to maximize the productivity of an organization by optimizing the effectiveness of its employees. This mandate is unlikely to change in any fundamental way, de- spite the ever-increasing pace of change in the business world or any future laws or regulations. As Edward L. Gubman (1996) observed more than two decades

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An Introduction to Human Resources • 17

ago in the Journal of Business Strategy, “the basic mission of human resources will always be to acquire, develop, and retain talent; align the workforce with the business; and be an excellent contributor to the business. Those three challenges will never change.”

Until fairly recently, an organization’s HRM professionals and department was often consigned to lower rungs of the corporate hierarchy, despite the fact that its mandate is to replenish and nourish what is often cited—legitimately—as an orga- nization’s greatest resource, its work force. But in recent years recognition of the importance of HRM to an organization’s overall health has grown dramatically. And, perhaps one of the main reasons for this increased recognition is HRM’s role in helping the organization achieve its goals of obtaining and maintaining while also navigating the never-ending changes of the world of work.

So, what are some of the main issues, challenges and trends facing HRM pro- fessionals now and around the corner? The issues, challenges and trends con- fronting HRM professionals and their organizations center around the continuing need to build an HRM mindset more ingrained in the fabric of the organization and creating much better integration of their operations and, for example, talent management functions. Emerging trends and challenges in areas like new devel- opments in technology, increased competition for talent, demographic changes and demands for data-driven HRM practices (for example, cybersecurity threats or responses to data breaches) will need to be successfully addressed by HRM professionals and their organizations. There will be much more pressure on HRM professionals to show that their organization do indeed put employees first and have a strong employer brand.

Attracting the top talent while not new remains a continual issue, challenge and trend for HRM professionals. But what is new are the ways organizations will have to address attracting talent to include, for example, the increasing need to fo- cus on millennials and how they go about making decisions on joining organiza- tions. Must HRM professionals spend more time on ensuring their organizations create cultures or work environments that spend less time on how much millen- nials are paid or incentivized to work but base them on enhanced quality of work life, service opportunities and attractiveness on issues like the reputation of the organization in terms of their role in society and what they are doing to support their employees both in and outside the organization? Consider, for example, that a recent Korn Ferry study (2017) found that 73 percent of respondents said their No. 1 driver at work was doing a job that had meaning and purpose, while only 3 percent said pay was the top driver. For millennials and the next generation of em- ployees the pay check is no longer king when it comes to sourcing, retaining and motivating talent. Today’s employees—irrespective of their generation—want to work for organizations they believe in, from both a vision and development per- spective. HRM professionals must continue to recognize and that organization culture, ability to grow and upskill and location of work will be key motivators above salary for candidates choosing their next employer.

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18 • RONALD R. SIMS & SHERI K. BIAS

HRM professionals must make sure their organizations focus on and invest in their employer brand to help prospective (and current) employees understand the organization culture and motivations within the workplace. Through this invest- ment, HRM professionals and others in the organizations can enhance their em- ployer reputation or brand in a customized, dynamic way that moves the needle to attract, engage and retain employees as an employer of choice.

An increased emphasis on the benefits of and investment in technology or automation by many organizations creates opportunities to decrease cost and improve the customer experience, and by doing this they are able to reduce the number of employees they need. And this in turn forces HRM professionals and other organizational leaders to have to make decisions on how best to continue to achieve cost savings to be more competitive. For example, reducing the number of employees presents the challenges or issues of needing to determine whether or not to hire new people (just-in-time hiring) as the need arises, invest in up- skilling their employees whose jobs will be eliminated with new technology or automation and commit to preparing them for a new and different, but needed job in the organization. In short, HRM professionals must work with others in the or- ganization to increase organizational efficiency and productivity while also being excessively sensitive to the way they treat their employees and the reputation and scrutiny they will face from current and potential employees. Meister (2016) has referred to the need for the “Consumerization of HR,” referring to how companies create a social, mobile, and consumer-style experience for employees which also requires HRM professionals and their departments to transform themselves and have a new mindset, plus a set of consumer-focused and technological skills to creating new HR solutions (Meister, 2017).

Related to the technology or automation issue for HRM professionals and their organization is the trend of the increasing emergence of the Freelancer or Gig economy or “Me Inc.” as some reports estimate, for example, that by 2020 as much as 40% of the American workforce will be contingent workers or inde- pendent contractors (Korn Ferry, 2016; Meister, 2017; Phillips, 2017; Schrader, 2015). The reality is that employees can no longer be easily parsed into full-time and part-time, exempt and non-exempt. As a result, HRM professionals will need to grapple with how to recruit, orient and socialize gig and other workers, while staying in compliance with evolving laws and regulations (Waters & Alonso, 2017). HRM professionals will need to continue to develop and use tools like talent networks, crowdsourcing and internal social networks to support a virtual workforce.

When considering today and what is around the competitive landscape corner, HRM professionals must be able to tie their talent investments to the organization objectives. And this means HRM professionals must be proficient in understand- ing the impact and importance of the big data and analytics trend on their efforts to recruit, develop, and retain talent for the organization. New trends in workforce analytics call for metrics that go beyond, for example, cost-per-hire and time-to-

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An Introduction to Human Resources • 19

fill metrics. But instead focus on meta-metrics like return on workforce invest- ment and assessing opportunity costs associated with workforce processes. Such sophistication of people analytics provides the organization with a holistic view of people productivity using a combination of operational and talent data (Vorhaus- er-Smith, 2017). Several writers (see Waters & Alonso, 2017; Meister, 2017) also suggest the importance of HRM professionals blending in marketing tools like net promoter scores to enhance the information gathered about an organization’s effectiveness when promulgating brand and consumer value propositions.

The rise of and need to be attentive to millennials in the workforce creates the opportunity and challenge of HRM professionals needing to help their organiza- tions create a culture of continuous, regular or ongoing feedback. HRM profes- sionals and organizations that are committed to developing a stronger workforce which positively impacts their overall organization goals must develop and adopt tools that enable employees to receive regular feedback from multiple sources, such as peers, customers or multiple managers or leaders. The growing millennial workforce expect more engagement and feedback and HRM professionals and or- ganizations that fail to recognize such expectations and trend will clearly lose out in the talent war and not be able to build a strong employer brand as mentioned earlier.

Numerous HRM professionals and organizations have already focused their at- tention on reinventing traditional performance management practices and clearly made it easier for those in management or leadership positions to capture and provide ongoing feedback to their individual and team direct reports. Tools con- tinue to become smarter and, for example, embed activity streams, pulse surveys and other techniques for feedback. As with other HRM technological innovations, tools like performance management apps are helping to make regular feedback a formalized process that can be provided and captured from any mobile device (see Vorhauser-Smith, 2017). This and similar technology trends will continue to create issues, challenges and opportunities for HRM professionals and their or- ganizations as the look to transform or complement their traditional performance review efforts with ongoing, just-in-time or everyday feedback.

Along the same vein as alluded to earlier is the rise of digital HRM. A plethora of new HRM technology continues to transform the profession as we know it today and forcing HRM professionals, their department and organizations to un- dergo a degree of digital transformation. The emergence of machine learning and artificial intelligence which mimics human decision-making processes whereby algorithms can learn from and make predictions based on patterns of behav- ior, will relentlessly foster smarter recruiting and talent management practices. Whether helping HRM professionals to tailor the employee experience or analyz- ing the traits of star performers in order to guide future recruiting decisions, the rise of digital HRM practices will continue to change the profession as we know it today and increasingly make the profession data-driven.

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20 • RONALD R. SIMS & SHERI K. BIAS

It should be clear by now that technology will continue to drive HRM innova- tions and a further focus on data-driven decision-making with the ability to corre- late people data to business performance, and in some cases predict business per- formance, as well as plan future workforce needs. Today and tomorrow, what will matter most is how quickly and easily HRM can access a multitude of people data and explore it alongside other types of data to improve organization outcomes.

While technology has made today’s employees’ lives exponentially easier, it has also opened the door to a number of threats of hacking and data theft. Cyber- security breaches are costly and destructive for organizations. Today, news of data breaches seemed to make headlines almost daily. It is clear that no type of orga- nization is exempt, including HRM. For example, in 2016, more than 700,000 candidates on the books of one international recruitment organization had their details hacked in one of the biggest security breaches in the recruiting industry (see English, 2016). While information security is not a new challenge for HRM professionals, as the use of technology continues to gather and store an exponen- tial amount of data on both candidates and companies alike, HRM professionals must continue to realize that data security is not simply a ‘nice to have’ - it’s a necessity. Now and around the corner, holistic security and data privacy will be a business priority within the HRM profession and industry. Why?

Given the reality that many cybersecurity problems emerge due to the actions of an organization’s own employees, HRM professionals, alongside others like information technology professionals, will need to play a crucial role in the fight against cyber-crime at the office (Global HR Research, 2016). This is especially true because the data that HRM professionals work with is often the most vul- nerable to attack. The Society for Human Resource Management noted that HR records contain highly sensitive and private information like: social security num- bers, dates of birth, bank detail and home addresses, to name just a few. As a re- sult, HRM professionals now and tomorrow must not only have a comprehensive understanding of how to protect data within their own department, but also the organization as a whole.

Finally, there is every indication that federal and state laws and regulations will continue to change and have an increasing impact on HRM professionals and their organizations. Stephen Miller, Lisa Nagele-Piazza and Allen Smith (2017) in a recent article titled “Top 7 Workplace Legal Trends for 2017” noted that employ- ment attorneys predict uncertainty at the federal level and an uptick in state laws. As one should surmise the HRM legal and regulatory environment will continue to change and is quite likely the area that changes more than any other in HRM. HRM professionals will need to continue to examine, analyze and discuss the challenges, issues and opportunities related to HRM legal and regulatory issues and the implications for employees and their organizations.

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An Introduction to Human Resources • 21

Contemporary Expectations of HRM

It should be evident in our discussion that gone are the days when HRM pro- fessionals received direction from the senior leadership team as to their priorities and needs. HRM is now expected to sit at the senior leadership table and recom- mend processes, approaches, and organization or business solutions that improve the ability of the organization’s people to effectively contribute.

The new role of HRM involves strategic direction and HRM metrics and measurements to demonstrate how they add value throughout the organization (Heathfield, 2017). HRM professionals must continue to find ways to demonstrate and communicate their value by keeping those at all levels of the organization aware of how people contribute to the organization’s success and by keeping it safe from lawsuits and the resulting workplace chaos one finds in an increas- ingly global work environment. HRM professionals must perform a balancing act to serve all of an organization’s stakeholders: customers, senior leaders, owners, government’ officials, other members of the community, managers, employees, and stockholders.

It is difficult to underestimate the importance of an effective, modern and pro- active HRM function and its professionals within today’s organization. An em- ployee who retired from HRM ten or twenty years ago would not recognize the competence and capability of the best HRM organizations today. It is our belief that HRM professionals will continue to move their HRM function further and further into the role of a valued strategic partner. HRM professionals and func- tions that do will best serve their organizations today and tomorrow.

SUMMARY

Effective HRM is clearly an important component to todays and tomorrows or- ganizational success. And the HRM function and professionals is an organiza- tion’s most critical source of information about employment practices, employee behavior, labor relations, and the effective management of all aspects of human resources. HRM is made up of an identifiable set of activities that affect and influ- ence the people who work in an organization. These activities include strategic HRM planning, work design and job analysis, recruitment, selection or staffing, career management, training and development, designing performance safety, health and security, management and compensation systems, and labor relations.

The ongoing challenge and opportunity for HRM professionals is to integrate programs involving human resources with strategic organizational objectives. To- day’s organizations continue to be under tremendous competitive pressure in their host countries and worldwide. As a result, HRM professionals must find ways to develop effective local and global programs that meet this challenge.

Issues, challenges, problems and opportunities for HRM today and tomorrow center on changing workforce demographics and diversity, competing in a global environment, technological changes, eliminating the employee skills gap, devel-

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22 • RONALD R. SIMS & SHERI K. BIAS

oping human capital-lifelong learning and organizational learning, and achiev- ing societal goals through organizations. HRM must work as a strategic partner with others in the organization to make their organizations better, faster, and more competitive.

In conclusion, in an environment where competitive pressures will continue to grow, and new techniques and concepts will constantly be developed, no function can stand apart from change. The world of management and human performance will also continue to evolve and as it does the expectations of HRM professionals and their function will constantly grow. The requirement for HRM to be a stra- tegic partner and results focused carries a significant message for HRM profes- sionals of today and tomorrow—learn how to respond or be left behind. The trend will continue to expect a more results oriented HRM function and professional presence that satisfies the following needs:

1. The need to understand and contribute to business strategy 2. The need to produce business results 3. The need to add value and demonstrate HRM Professionalism 4. The need to be able to turn strategy into reality

We believe HRM will continue to meet these and other expectations as it has for the past 100 some years.

THIS BOOK AND THE CHAPTERS THAT FOLLOW

The objective of this book is to explore and provide an updated look at some of the various challenges, problems, trends and issues HRM professionals will need to focus on now and around the corner. Like other departments in the broader organization HRM professionals will need to increasingly demonstrate how they add value and contribute to the organization’s success. While the trends, chal- lenges and issues impacting organizations and HRM professionals will continue to change over the years the bottom-line of organization success is the clear real- ity that employees are their best assets and the need for effective HRM.

It is our belief that this book will provide an updated, current and future look at the transformation of HRM. This means the contributors to this book will dis- cuss some of the ever-evolving roles of HRM professionals to include discus- sion of how the profession continues to become more adaptive, resilient, quick to change direction and customer-centered in its efforts to meet the needs of contem- porary organizations and their employees.

The Chapters that Follow

Here is the information you will encounter as you read the chapters that follow this introductory piece.

In Chapter 2, “Globalization and Human Resource Management,” Ronald R. Sims notes that the environment in which today’s organizations find themselves

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An Introduction to Human Resources • 23

continues to be more globalized as the world is becoming a “global village.” Overall, this chapter discusses a number of the HRM challenges, issues and op- portunities HRM professionals and their organizations will need to address in today’s and tomorrow’s global world of work. The chapter first takes a look at today’s global organization and some HRM issues. Next, the discussion turns to the globalization of business and factors affecting HRM in global markets before focusing on an analysis of levels of global or international and HRM operations. Finally, the chapter discusses globalization and implications and impacts on HRM in the future.

In Chapter 3, “Organizational Drift: Why Organizations Drift off Keel and What Human Resource Professionals can do about it,” Jim Eicher and William J. Mea identify the symptoms of what they call Organizational Drift and provides human resource professionals with a guide for recognizing and correcting the issue. The chapter first provides assessment questions and a framework for orga- nizational drift. The second section describes the signs of organizational drift. It describes “the tells” for each component of the organizational drift framework and how the tell is a symptom of organization dysfunction that may adversely affect organization performance. The third section explains why well-intended organizational changes fail to yield good results. Finally, the last section of the chapter provides guidelines to avoid organizational drift and offers guidance on how to create organizational alignment in a way that can mitigate the underlying causes of organizational drift.

In Chapter 4, “Watering the Organizational Landscape: Meeting Employee Needs through HRM Flexibility,” Alexandra E. MacDougall, Zhanna Bagdasa- rov, and M. Ronald Buckley discuss the changing organizational landscape and the corresponding implications for contemporary human resource management. Specifically, the chapter begins with a brief description of how socio-demographic and technological changes are influencing employee expectations. In light of this discussion, and in line with the new career model, the chapter makes the case for flexible work arrangements that grant employees agency in deciding how, when, and where their work tasks are completed. Finally, the chapter provides a detailed review of four key types of flexible work arrangements that may be capitalized on by human resource professionals.

In Chapter 5, “Equal Rights for Women—Not Yet,” William Woska takes a look at the history and failure of the proposed 28th Amendment to the Constitu- tion. The chapter addresses equal rights issues impacting women with examples of what Woska sees as glaring examples which led to the proposed amendment. Next, the chapter discusses the continuing interest and approach that may be used by Congress to again activate the proposed amendment. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the implications of the proposed amendment for organiza- tions and their HRM efforts.

In Chapter 6, “Wearables in the Workplace: An Analysis of Ethical Issues,” James S. Bowman and Jonathan West argue that Smartwear may impact daily life

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24 • RONALD R. SIMS & SHERI K. BIAS

like personal computers did near the end of the last century. Their analysis weighs the ethical prospects and problems confronted by human resources managers in the utilization of wearables. To investigate this topic, classical philosophical and modern behavioral approaches to ethics are used. West and Bowman’s inquiry begins with the importance of the issue, followed by its evolution and current status. After describing the method of analysis, the chapter examines arguments for and against the efficacy of body-worn computer devices. The conclusion of the chapter discusses accountability standards, model legislation provisions, and regulatory criteria for wearables in the workplace.

In Chapter 7, “A Consideration of Social Media Movements on Gender-Related HR Policy,” Angela N. Spranger and Brenna Gonsalves offer an analysis of how current gender-related social media phenomena such as the #MeToo, #TimesUp, and other movements are encouraging changes in business through Human Re- source (HR) policy. The chapter analyzes current literature addressing the impact of social media on policies regarding harassment, bullying, and discrimination in the workplace. Further, the authors address the implicit leadership theories (ILTs) in the workplace that influence perceptions of women and women’s leadership ability leading in some cases to stereotypes and even discrimination. The chapter also discusses how current trends in the literature help create an understanding of how these movements are encouraging changes in business through policy and training.

In Chapter 8, “Attracting and Retaining Millennials: Is Servant Leadership the Answer?,” Shannon O. Jackson, Pamela Chandler Lee, and Jonathan Shoemaker first discuss the millennial generation and their presence in the workplace. Next, the chapter provides a review of leadership research and discusses the relevance of leadership for creating an organizational culture which respects, attracts, and engages millennial workers. The authors’ analysis emphasizes the principles of servant leadership and its relevance for the millennial generation. The chapter concludes with recommendations on specific strategies for attracting and retain- ing this expanding sector of the employee population.

In Chapter 9, “Millennial Workers and the Employee Engagement Phenom- enon: Has the Wave Crested?,” Angela N. Spranger and Sierra Chen discuss em- ployee engagement and note that in the early years of employee engagement re- search, practitioner-driven definitions and studies established the framework for the scholarly dialogue to follow. However, in later years, multiple worthy scholar- ly definitions and analyses of the employee engagement construct have emerged. Spranger and Chen note that since 1990 several instruments and varied studies have dissected the concept, and in both scholarly and practitioner circles some have asked if the employee engagement wave has crested. The chapter asks the question as to whether or not the concept of employee engagement has been ex- hausted or not? The authors situate their consideration of employee engagement in the framework of individual psychological motivation, review the literature on employee engagement, and connect Kahn’s definition of engagement with spe-

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An Introduction to Human Resources • 25

cific relevance to millennial employees. The chapter concludes by asserting that no, the employee engagement wave has not crested, and proposes new research on the millennial worker’s desire to feel seen, safe, and valued.

In Chapter 10, “The Unconscious Bias; Managing Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace,” Ronda Mariani highlights the importance of diversity and inclu- sion in today’s workforce. Mariani notes that globalization and the reduction of borders has forced business to not only understand these concepts; diversity and inclusion but to also embrace the true meaning of what it entails to have a work- place that truly has an understanding of its multicultural foundation. Additionally, she asks and offers responses to the questions of whether or not organizations are really addressing the idea of what it means to have a diverse work environment that promotes inclusion? In offering a response to this question the chapter first discusses the role of bias, the many forms of bias, and how bias effects building diversity and inhibits the proper management of inclusion within the workplace. Mariani suggests that bias is something that all individuals have. And given this reality, questions whether if the end result is to create organizational diversity, what roles and responsibilities then does human resources play in achieving orga- nizations that are well equipped to engage in building human capital that promotes this organizational diversity? An important takeaway from this chapter is that hir- ing diverse individuals is only the first step, but achieving inclusion without bias is a matter of tactics, training, and a fundamental change in organizational culture.

In Chapter 11, “Solving the “Quarterback Problem”: Using Psychological Assessment to Improve Selection Decisions in Professional Sports,” Kenneth Yusko, Juliet Aiken, Harold Goldstein, Charles Scherbaum, and Elliott Larson first describe key current challenges in psychological assessment in sports. Next, the chapter reviews the psychological attributes and characteristics that can and should be measured in a professional sports context. Then, the chapter discusses how these attributes and characteristics can be measured (e.g., standardized test- ing, interviews, player observations and scouting “intel,” etc.). The authors then review how these results may be leveraged for different purposes (e.g., selection, training). Finally, the chapter discusses how some of the lessons learned in sports analytics can be generalized to better understand strategic human resources deci- sion making more broadly.

In Chapter 12, “Human Resources Certification: Trends and Acceptance in In- dustry,” J. Adam Shoemaker, Sheri Bias, Sean Gibbons, Henry Adu, and Nicole Hawkins note the importance of certification as a component of demonstrating professionalism in many industries. The chapter focuses on the authors’ research on the various human resources certifications offered by credentialing bodies in the human resources industry, namely HRCI and SHRM. The chapter describes in detail the researcher approach (i.e., using Linked-In to analyze hundreds of human resources-related job postings in 6 large metropolitan areas of the U.S. to determine what certifications employers requested as either minimum or preferred requirements). The results of the research are discussed and based upon the results

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26 • RONALD R. SIMS & SHERI K. BIAS

the authors suggest that the human resource management industry has work to do to help employers to see why professional certification is an important indication of professional ability.

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