Challenges Facing 21st Century Human Resource Managers
One of the most essential activities of an organization today is the management of its human resources. As organizations become more global and as changes occur at an increasingly rapid rate, human resource development managers are faced with many challenges. These challenges involve both compensation and non-compensation related issues. Some challenges include globalization, cultural diversity, legislation, the emerging roles of women and minorities in the workplace and values in age differences.
Globalization has and will continue to have a large impact on human resource management. More employees are engaged in a global life style due to technology, trade and travel. Corporations are looking at the world as a single market and they will structure their employees and their services accordingly to meet the needs of a global market. To survive in a global economy, organizations must be able to resolve labor cost issues and be able to provide a compensation program that is equitable to all of it’s employees. Global competition has forced executives to recognize that they must think differently about management. The only way to be successful as a global company is to develop an effective human resource management system with employees who can implement international business strategies (Adler, 1990). Managing globally, requires a great understanding of cultural differences in interaction patterns and in attitudes towards time, influence, and problems solving styles. An example is that the North American approach of arranging very closely managed schedules for meetings with time allotted for each topic according to it’s financial impact is incompatible with some non-North American cultures. In Europe or Asia, executives allow more time in the beginning for associates to get to know each other (Chase, 1998). Socio-cultural acceptance, religious beliefs, customs and trends are all challenging issues that human resource managers must face when dealing with globalization. Human resource development is the primary tool for leveraging a single global vision as well as integrating local cultural differences (Marquardt & Engel, 1993).
As employees from different cultures enter the United States workforce and as companies continue to transfer into the global market, human resources mangers need to very conscientious of cultural diversity. Many organizations are providing formal training on cultural diversity for their employees. Training on ethics and how different cultures have different ethical values is also an important topic for organizations. The Center for Business Ethics at Bentley College in Massachusetts has found forty-five percent of the largest U.S. companies now have ethics programs or workshops (Marquardt & Engel, 1993). In regard to compensation, human resource managers have a lot to consider when dealing with cultural differences. For example, one benefit for most employees is that they are compensated and not expected to come to work on certain major holidays. For most people in the United States, this would include, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, etc. Do organizations give Muslim employees [next page]