fundamentals of
Human Resource Management 4th
edition
by R.A. Noe, J.R. Hollenbeck, B. Gerhart, and P.M. Wright
CHAPTER 2
Trends in Human Resource
Management
McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2011 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 2-1
What Do I Need to Know?
1. Describe trends in the labor force composition
and how they affect human resource
management.
2. Define employee empowerment and explain
its role in the modern organization.
3. Identify ways HR professionals can support
organizational strategies for quality, growth,
and efficiency.
2-2
What Do I Need to Know? (continued)
4. Summarize ways in which HRM can support
organizations expanding internationally.
5. Discuss how technological developments are
affecting human resource management.
2-3
The Labor Force
Internal Labor Force External Labor Market
• An organization’s workers • Individuals who are
– Its employees actively seeking
– The people who have employment.
contracts to work at the • The number and kinds of
organization people in the external
• The internal labor force labor market determine
has been drawn from the the kinds of human
external labor market. resources available to an
organization.
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Change in the Labor Force
2-5
HRM Implications of the Aging Workforce
• HR professionals will spend much of their time on
concerns related to retirement planning, retraining
older workers, and motivating workers whose careers
have reached a plateau.
• Organizations will struggle with ways to control the
rising costs of health care and other benefits.
• Many of tomorrow’s managers will supervise
employees much older than themselves.
• Organizations will have to find ways to attract, retain,
and prepare the youth labor force.
2-6
Figure 2.3: HRM Practices That Support
Diversity Management
2-7
Skill Deficiencies of the Workforce
• Today, employers are • The gap between skills
looking for: needed and skills
– mathematical skills available has decreased
– verbal skills companies ability to
– interpersonal skills compete.
– computer skills • They sometimes lack
the capacity to upgrade
technology, reorganize
work, and empower
employees.
2-8
High-Performance Work Systems
• Organizations that have the best possible fit
between their:
– social system (people and how they interact); and
– technical system (equipment and processes).
• Key trends occurring in today’s high-
performance work systems:
– reliance on knowledge workers
– the empowerment of employees to make decisions
– the use of teamwork
2-9
Knowledge Workers
• Employees whose • They are especially
contribution to the needed for jobs in:
organization is – health services
specialized knowledge, – business services
such as: – social services
– knowledge of customers – engineering
– knowledge of a process – management
– knowledge of a
profession
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Employee Empowerment
Employee Empowerment Employee Engagement
• Giving employees • Full involvement in
responsibility and one’s work and
authority to make commitment to one’s
decisions regarding all job and company.
aspects of product • This is associated with:
development or – higher productivity
customer service. – better customer service
– lower employee
turnover
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Teamwork
• The assignment of work • Work teams often
to groups of employees assume many of the
with various skills who activities traditionally
interact to assemble a reserved for managers:
product or provide a – selecting new team
members
service.
– scheduling work
– coordinating work with
customers and other
units of the organization
2-12
Test Your Knowledge
• Sharon is a very smart and conscientious
worker. Lately, she has felt that her ideas were
disregarded and she was denied autonomy in
completing her work. This situation is
probably caused by a lack of
A. Employee Empowerment
B. Knowledge Management
C. Turnover
D. Teamwork
2-13
Figure 2-4: Strategic Business Issues
Affecting HRM
2-14
Total Quality Management (TQM)
2-15
TQM Core Values
• Methods and processes are designed to meet the
needs of internal and external customers.
• Every employee in the organization receives training in
quality.
• Quality is designed into a product or service so that
errors are prevented from occurring.
• The organization promotes cooperation with vendors,
suppliers, and customers to improve quality and hold
down costs.
• Managers measure progress with feedback based on
data.
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Mergers and Acquisitions
• HRM should have a significant role in carrying
out a merger or acquisition.
– Differences between the businesses involved in
the deal make conflict inevitable.
– Training should include developing conflict
resolution skills.
– There is a need to sort out differences in the two
companies’ practices with regard to
compensation, performance appraisal, and other
HR systems.
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Outsourcing
• Outsourcing – the practice of having another
company (a vendor, third-party provider, or
consultant) provide services.
• Outsourcing gives the company access to in-
depth expertise and is often more economical
as well.
• HR departments help with a transition to
outsourcing.
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Expanding into Global Markets
Offshoring The International Labor Pool
• Moving operations from • Hiring at home may involve
the country where a selection of employees
company is headquartered from other countries.
to a country where pay
rates are lower but the
necessary skills are
available.
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International Assignments
• Besides hiring an international workforce,
organizations must be prepared to send
employees to other countries.
• This requires HR expertise in selecting and
preparing employees for international
assignments.
• Employees who take assignments in other
countries are called expatriates.
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Human Resource Information System
(HRIS)
• A computer system used to acquire, store,
manipulate, analyze, retrieve, and distribute
information related to an organization’s human
resources. An HRIS can:
– support strategic decision making
– help the organization avoid lawsuits
– provide data for evaluating programs or policies
– support day-to-day HR decisions
2-21
Electronic Human Resource Management
(e-HRM)
2-22
Table 2.2: Implications of e-HRM for HRM
Practices
2-23
