Unit –IV Contemporary Issues In HR

Topics

 Globalization trends,  Outsourcing: Importance of Gig

 technology trends, Economy
 Demographic trends  HR in Mergers and Acquisitions
 The changing perspective of HRM  Learning Organizations and Hybrid
Work Culture
 Quality of Work Life and Productivity :
Meaning and scope, Importance ,ways to  Analytics-(Its not Domain Specific)-
increase QWL, Human Resource Information System
 objectives of QWL,
determinants/categories of QWL
 Accelerated Disruption

 As businesses move forward in 2024 looking for newer growth avenues in a

sluggish economy,leaders are increasingly banking on talent to achieve the
growth.
 While business demands, margin pressures, declining budgets, HR technology,
social media, data and analytics are all reshaping the contours of HR, what
is noteworthy is an increase in HR’s focus on these aspects.
 Traditional ways of doing things are being re- examined as HR leaders look
at more effective ways of managing and aligning talent with the new
business objectives.
Topics for Videos(Bring out the HR perspectives in
the below mentioned topics)
 1.The best QWL practices from the globe
 2.Gig economy seen as an advantage to the workforce
 3.Challenges of a Hybrid World-(2)
 4.Challenges of a multigenerational workforce
 5.Importance of People Analytics
 6.Importance of HR Analytics
 7.Importance of Workforce Analytics
 8.The most sought after Skill Sets of a modern day knowledge worker (2)
 9.The important Q’s (IQ,EQ,SQ,AQ etc)
 10.Challenges of a Virtual Workforce
 11.Glass ceiling
 12.Gender choices and its acceptance in the working world
 13.HR perspective on M&A(Mergers & Aqusitions)-Why do they fail
 Continued...

 The role of HR is changing as fast as technology and the

global marketplace.
 The positive result of these changes is that HR
professionals have the opportunity to play a more
strategic role in the business.
 The challenge for HR managers is to
 a. keep with the latest HR innovations-technical and
legal.
 and b.how can they anticipate and address some of the
most challenging issues.
HRM shifts from operational to strategic

Traditional HR Function Emerging HR practice

 Reactive  Proactive
 Collecting HR data  Measuring HR with metrics
 Responding to goals and  Setting strategic HR goals and
objectives set by executives objectives
 Complying with laws, policies,  Developing and revising policies
and procedures and procedures
 Administering employees  Evaluating benefits strategically
benefits programs  Identifying training needs
 Designing training programs  HR planning and linking with
 Staffing external staffing needs
 Applying compensation plans  Developing compensation plans
 Three Important Skill Sets Industry seeks

 1.T to J-shaped skills refer to a special type of qualities that make

an employee valuable. A T-shaped individual possesses excellent
knowledge of and skills in specific areas and is good at working
with others in a collaborative way.It is a reference to applicants
possessing the most desirable skills.Now the added flexibility skills
sought after with J being in trend.
 2.Digital Skills-
 3.ESG Skills-Environmental and Social Sustanability skills
 Current Trends in HRM

1. Analytics
2. Changing nature of work
3. Changed perspective towards Humans-now Human
Capital
4. Knowledge management
5. Organizational learning
6. Managing knowledge workers
7. Globalization
8. Technology
9. Human capital
10. Manage the Changing Workforce
11. Cost containment
1.What is Analytics

Analytics is the process of discovering, interpreting, and

communicating significant patterns in data.

Modern analytics tend to fall in four distinct categories:

descriptive(What), diagnostic(Why), predictive(What is likely to
happen), and prescriptive.
Strong descriptive,diagnostic and predictive skills needed for
good prescriptive analysis.
Types of Analytics
 HR Analytics, People Analytics & Workforce
Analytics.
HR analytics captures and measures the functioning of the HR team itself – for
example, analyzing KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) such as employee turnover,
time to hire, etc. Such analytics are only relevant to the HR team and they can be
held accountable for.
People analytics aims to encompass HR, the entire workforce data and customer
insights. people analytics inculcates the approach of measuring and analyzing all this
information and knitting it together to improve decision making and business
performance.
Workforce analytics encompasses the entire group of workers (not just full-time
employees) and allows for the future inclusion of AI and robots that will potentially
replace current jobs within an organization.Workforce analytics is more descriptive
when it comes to making a holistic workforce strategy.
Importance of Analytics
 2.Changing nature of work:

 Managing Knowledge and Learning

 Continued trend for reduction in lower-skilled manual roles and

increase in higher-skill white-collar roles – referred to as
‘knowledge work’.48% of UK workforce now employed in
knowledge-based industries.Renewed focus by government on
up-skilling agenda.Knowledge now seen as a major determinant
of an organisation’s success.
 3.Human Capital

Capital’ refers to any asset that can be used to produce goods and
services that have economic value.(money)
Tangible capital includes land, buildings, machinery, raw materials
and money.
Capital requires investment (for purchase and
enhancement).Increasing focus on intangible assets, including brand,
patents and people.
Human capital refers not to people, but their collective knowledge,
skills and experience.
Utilising human capital

Employing ‘human capital’ requires a different mindset to hiring

staff.
People are seen as an asset rather than a cost.
Need care over selection, investment in development, and efforts
to retain the capital for as long as it is value-adding.
Human capital cannot be controlled in the same way as other
assets – needs a more subtle, collaborative(win-win) and
emotionally intelligent approach.(profit -sharing)
4.Organisational learning(permanent
change):
‘Learning’ implies understanding and interpreting as well as just
knowing.It is about making better decisions and avoiding the
repetition of past mistakes.
Idea that organisations can learn – collective level.

‘An organisation that facilitates the learning of all it’s members

and continuously transforms itself’(Pedlar, et al., 1991).
 5.Globalization

 Globalization-INtegrating domestic economy with the rest of

the world.
 Sourcing capital from where it is cheapest/selling goods
where markets are/producing goods where labor and raw
material is cheaper.(Mr.Narayan Murthy)
 Impact on HRM
Different geographies, cultures, laws & business practices
Issues:
Identifying capable expatriate managers.
Developing foreign culture and work practice training
programs.
Adjusting compensation plans for overseas work.
6.Embracing New Technology-ICT

1.Use of technology to communicate with employees

 Company intranets/E-Newsletters/Company emails

2.A move toward single software platforms

 Integrated Human Resource Information System (HRIS)

PeopleSoft/SAP/Oracle

3.Employee Self-Service(AI) and Data Exchange

Internet-based tools are quickly becoming the preferred method

for employees to execute benefits transactions
 7.Manage the Changing Workforce

1. Increased diversity in the workforce

 Creating workplace that respects and includes differences
 Recognizing unique contributions individuals with differences
can make
 Creating work environment that maximizes potential of all
employees

2.Work-life balance(Finetech-Benguluru bases firm)

Employees experiencing burnout due to overwork and increased
stress – in nearly all occupations.
Rise in workplace violence, increase in levels of absenteeism as well
as rising workers’ compensation claims
Causes range from personal ambition and the pressure of family
obligations to the accelerating pace of technology
Continued...

According to study by Center for Work-Life Policy,1.7 million people

consider their jobs and work hours excessive
50% of top corporate executives leaving current positions
64% of workers feel work pressures are “self- inflicted”, and taking a
toll
In the US, 70%, and globally, 81%, say jobs are affecting their health.
Between 46% and 59% of workers feel stress is affecting their
interpersonal and sexual relationships.
Males feel there is stigma associated with saying “I can’t do this”
 Continued...

3. Structural shift from the manufacturing to the

service sector
Growth in part-time employment
Rising prominence of women in the workforce
Gradual aging of labor force with fewer young people
entering workforce and participation rates among older
workers increasing(Japan)
Growing importance of temporary employment and self
employment
Adoption of flexible working practices, such as job
sharing and the increasing opportunity to work from
home.
8.Cultural Changes (OCTAPACE)

 Concern for Privacy

 Changing Attitudes Towards Work
 Balancing Work and Family
Developing Human Capital(Instead of Buy)

 Human Capital
The knowledge, skills, and capabilities of individuals
that have economic value to an organization.
Valuable because capital:
 Is based on company-specific skills.
 Is gained through long-term experience.
 Can be expanded through development.
9.Cost Containment

Downsizing:The planned elimination of jobs (“head count”).

Outsourcing:Contracting outside the organization to have

work done that formerly was done by internal employees.

Employee Leasing:The process of dismissing employees

who are then hired by a leasing company (which handles
all HR- related activities) and contracting with that
company to lease back the employees.
Cost Containment-Layoffs

 Hidden Costs of Layoff

Severance and rehiring costs
Accrued vacation and sick day payouts
Pension and benefit payoffs
Potential lawsuits from aggrieved workers
Loss of institutional memory and trust in
management
Lack of staffers when the economy rebounds
Survivors who are risk-averse, paranoid prevails .
Cost Containment

 Benefits of a No-Layoff Policy

A fiercely loyal,more productive workforce
Higher customer satisfaction
Readiness to snap back with the economy
A recruiting edge
Workers who aren’t afraid to innovate, knowing
their jobs are safe.
 10.Downsizing

 Downsizing is reducing the number of employees on the

operating payroll.
 Some users distinguish downsizing from a layoff , with
downsizing intended to be a permanent downscaling and
a layoff intended to be a temporary downscaling in which
employees may later be rehired.
 Businesses use several techniques in downsizing,
including providing incentives to take early retirement and
transfer to subsidiary companies, but the most common
technique is to simply terminate the employment of a
certain number of people.
 11.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.
 Outsourcing includes both foreign and domestic
contracting, and sometimes includes offshoring or
relocating a business function to another country.
Financial savings
A Diverse Workforce-
Multigenerational workforce
 Workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences
between people in an organization. That sounds simple,
but diversity encompasses race, gender, ethnic group,
age, personality, cognitive style, tenure, organizational
function, education, background and more. Diversity not
only involves how people perceive themselves, but how
they perceive others. Those perceptions affect their
interactions.
A Diverse Workforce

For a wide assortment of employees to function effectively

as an organization, human resource professionals need to
deal effectively with issues such as communication,
adaptability and change. Diversity will increase
significantly in the coming years. Successful organizations
recognize the need for immediate action and are ready
and willing to spend resources on managing diversity in
the workplace now.
 Challenges of Diversity in the Workplace

 Communication
 Perceptual, cultural and language barriers need to be
overcome for diversity programs to succeed. Ineffective
communication of key objectives results in confusion, lack
of teamwork, and low morale.
 Resistance to change
 There are always employees who will refuse to accept the
fact that the social and cultural makeup of their workplace
is changing. The "we've always done it this way" mentality
silences new ideas and inhibits progress.

2-
 QWL

 The concept of QWL view work as a process of interaction and

joint problem solving by working people-managers, supervisors,
workers.
 This process is:
 i. Co-operative rather than authoritative,
 ii. Evolutionary and changing rather than static
 iii. Open rather than rigid,
 iv. Informal rather than rule-based
 v. Interpersonal rather than mechanistic,
 vi. Problem solving
 vii. Win-win rather than win-lose and (Collaboration)
 viii.Based on mutual respect.
Ideas to improving QWL-personal life

1. Nap time (Relaxation Room)

2. Councellors(Tie up)
3. Sports and entertainment(TT room/badminton
court/Chess/Carom/pool) Club house in office
4. Travelling fun(paid vacation for family)
5. Free workshops like cooking
,gardening,certifications,dancing,zumba ,yoga,
meditation
6. Day care centres
 Note
Inclusivity(managers need to follow this and allow people to enter
the in group),dignity and self esteem(exit)
Trickle down effect(top down approach)-Mahatma Gandhi
Practiced Inclusivity. Embracing employees as human beings
Dada Pendse the chief economist of Tata Sons-JRD said he was the
only economist who was readabale.
JRD gave his tape recorder to him so that he could prepare his
speech on a personal capacity(Everything is not about work)
Lets invest in developing others skills.Take interest in the personal
growth of people.
Ratan Tata took interest in the life of the entire city of Mumbai post
the terrorist attack.
 Innovative Ways to achieve QWL

 • Flextime and flexplace

 Vocational guidance and counseling(CAS-Career advancement Scheme)
 Compressed workweek (6 days a week,cut short to 5 days a week)
– From 5/40 to 4/40 workweek
 Contingent employment(visisting faculty)

– Flexecutives - interim assignments for professional soundness

 Job sharing
•
– It is a synergic partnership of two or more employees for performing a job.
– It is a type of part-time work that allows two or more employees to split a
traditional 40-hour-a-week job.
•
 Right-side-up organizations(Charges higher to the customer-e.g Chefs in good

restautrants )
– Putting client or customer at the top of the organization that enhances job
satisfaction and thereby reinforcing the quality of work life.
Influence of Technology in HRM

 Human Resources Information System (HRIS)

Computerized system that provides current and accurate data
for purposes of control and decision making.
Benefits:
Store and retrieve of large quantities of data.
Combine and reconfigure data to create new information.
Institutionalization of organizational knowledge.
Easier communications.
Lower administrative costs, increase productivity, and response
times.
HRIS CONTAINS INFORMATION AbOUT:

• Jobs
• Positions
• People
HRIS Supports In:

• The strategic, tactical & operational use of the human resource

of an organization
• Collect, store and process employee information
• Provide reliable information for decision- making
• Allow organisation to assess effectiveness of HR policies,
programmes and decisions.
Outsourcing

Services
COMPANY OUTSOURCER

Organization Service
Level Level
Agreement Agreement

Outsourcing denotes the continuous procurement of

services from a third party, making use of highly integrated
processes, organization models and information systems.
Why do companies outsource
Advantages of Outsourcing

Cost Skilled Time zone

Effective Expertise difference

Increased
Focus on core productivity
Distribution of
competencies and Efficiency risk

Improving Better
Access to
customer people
world-class
service management solutions
L.O and Hybrid Work Environment

 Learning Organizations Virtual Organizations and emerging

HR issues: Meaning, characteristics of learning,
Tools ,techniques &process of LO, Creating of LO&I its working,
 Meaning, process &need of VO, Driving Trends in Virtual &
Virtual Work Patterns, Virtual Organization Perspectives.
THE LEARNING ORGANISATION
“ WHEN THE RATE OF CHANGE OUTSIDE
EXCEEDS THE RATE OF CHANGE INSIDE,
THE END IS IN SIGHT.”

-JACK WELCH