Items Description of Module

Subject Name Management

Paper Name Human Resource Management
Module Title ROLE OF HR EECUTIVE
Module ID Module 9
Pre-Requisites Understanding the Human Resource Management
Objectives To study the role of HR Executive
Keywords Nature of work, Technological changes, Globalization, HR
executive
 QUADRANT –I

1. Module : Role of HR Executive

2. Learning Outcome
3. Changing scope of HRM
4. Trends in the Nature of Work
5. Emerging role of HR manager
6. Role of HR manager of tomorrow
Summary

1. Module 9: Role of HR Executive

2. Learning Outcome
After studying this module, you shall be able to
 Know the changing scope of HRM
 Understand the trends in the nature of work
 Comprehend emerging role of HR manager
 Understand the phenomenon of expanding markets globally.
 Become aware of the role of HR manager of tomorrow

3. Introduction

Traditionally, the role of the Human Resource managers in several organizations has
been to serve as the systematizing, policing arm of executive management. Their role
was more closely aligned with personnel and administration functions seen by the
organization as paperwork. In this role, the HR professional served executive agendas
well but was often viewed as a hurdle creator by large part of the organization.
Employees believed that the HR function was in place solely to serve management. HR
professionals are criticized for everything from education to professionalism and to
support for employees. HR professionals are accused of misleading employees, failing
to keep employee information confidential, and showing poor practices in fields such as
investigations, benefits options, and recruiting employees. Today’s organizations cannot
have means to have an HR department that is unable to contribute to lead modern
thinking and contribute to increase company profitability. In this environment, much of
the HR role is transforming. The role of the HR manager must fulfill needs of changing
organization. Successful organizations are becoming more adaptive, resilient, quick to
change direction and customer-focused. Within this scenario, the HR professional,
considered necessary by managers and executives, is a strategic partner, an employee
sponsor or advocate and a change mentor. Dr. Dave Ulrich recommended these roles
and discussed in Human Resource Champions. The HR professionals who understand
these roles are leading their organizations in organization development, strategic
utilization of employees to serve business goals, and talent management and
development.

4. Changing Scope of Human Resource Management

The ambit of Human Resource Management has undergone changes drastically during
the last few decades. However, the change has been proportionally tardy as compared
to the changes taking place in other areas of business, management and administration.
Changes definitely are taking place in human resource management. Some HR sub-
functions seem to be separating from HR function, other seem to be emerging sub-areas
while still others appear to be changing merely in terms of their greater emphasis and
extent of significance. Several of these changes rely on the size of an organization in
 which the HR function happens. These changes broadly include the managerial
philosophies, the rising importance of HR functions, the changing organizational
requirements, employee needs and social worries. Managerial and organizational
development, HR planning, organizational planning, human resource development are
promising areas that are attracting substantially more attention; they did in the past.
Training and executive development and HR research have become more important
today; while the place of performance appraisal, wage and salary administration, have to
some extent declined in terms of comparative emphasis. The issues that have ever been
the important HR concerns include the employee benefit and services and workers’
health and safety. Labor relations, public relations and security of the plant are
personnel sub-areas taken away from the HR department because of their increased
organizational importance.

5. Trends in the Nature of Work

In his address at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Annual
Conference, “The Changing Nature of Work: Five Global Trends’. Kushner stressed five
global trends influencing the changing nature of work. Kushner also address the way to
deal with those trends within the next 10 years. Kushner is president and CEO of
Kushner & Co., which is a global HR strategy consulting firm. The trends include
technological advancement, outsourcing, transforming worker attitudes and values,
demographical characteristics and diversity, and globalization. The organizations quick
and light in movement going are likely to be more successful. Kushner felt that
embracing change isn’t just a necessity, it is a requirement. Fig 1 shows the trends in the
nature of work.

Tech. changes

Demographics Globalization

Attitudes &
Outsourcing
Values

Trends in Nature of Work

5.1 Technological Changes

 Technological changes have already taken over the management in manufacturing,
communications, raw material designing, supply chain, logistics. These have helped
in increasing productivity and reduction in number of employees. Labor intensive
blue collar and clericals jobs have begun declining with advent of the new
techniques. Technology will also compel companies to be competitive, job
redesigning, change in organization structures are being accepted. Information
technology has also speeded up the call of hierarchy. Now managers rely less on
yesterday’s chain of command approach to organizing.
Smart devices that allow uninterrupted connectivity continue to obscure the
difference between work and personal life. One of the challenges in HR is attempting
to figure out how to acquire engaged employees. For the most part, most
organizations haven’t considered through how to differentiate. Telecommuting and
flexible hours are just the initial steps down to navigating the issues about constant
connectivity and work/life balance.

5.2 Globalization
Globalization refers to the predispositions of companies to enlarge their sales or
manufacturing to the new markets abroad for business, internationally, production is
becoming global too, as manufacturing operations are established around the world
by manufacturers, at places providing competitive advantages.
This globalization of markets and manufacturing has greatly increased international
competition. The trends in technological change and globalization are changing the
nature of work. Information technology has allowed companies to relocate operations
to places where labor is available at low wages..
There is also a trend to hire ad-hoc workers, contractual employees and as
consultants. Service industry is resorted to get work accomplished, and to get
knowledge through Information Technology. An enormous shift from manufacturing
jobs to service jobs is taking place in many part of the world.
Other trends affecting Human Resource Management relate to legal protection to
employees in the matter of employment, health of employees, safety provisions,
workers management relations. These changes need a fresh approach to
management of human resources.

5.3 Outsourcing.
Companies have come to define core and non-core work. Kushner stressed that
organizations in future will resort to outsource the noncore competencies of the
workplace. Outsourcing is an allocation of specific business processes to a specialist
external service provider. Organizations now use more free agents who come in for
projects and provide a particular expertise while enhancing their skills and then move
on to other organizations. The challenge for HR if this trend remains is to look at
organizational strategy and develop HR strategies about how work to get done in the
organization and who will do it.

5.4 Changing worker attitudes and values.

There was a time when people remained in one job their entire lives. But today an
organizational life expectancy is of just 3.5 years. That is going to be a challenge for
HR as it struggles to reconcile how we engage our workers in such a way that they
desire to stay, but recognize they have interests outside the workplace.

5.5 Demographics and diversity. People are living longer. In the next 10 years,
organizations will have five generations in the workplace. Kushner pointed out that
there would be traditionalists, Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y, and Gen wireless. These are
 people who grew up with technology in their hands—they understand it and know
how to leverage those tools.

6. Emerging Role of Human Resource Manager

It is apprehended that there are dangers of the personnel manager giving way to the
new specialists who are coming up. These are the experts in information technology,
management of research and development, manpower planning. Unless the HR
manager makes an effort to acquire advance knowledge and prepares for the change.
He should, therefore, relate himself with key areas of emerging change:
 Changing composition of work force
 Growing unionization among the work force
 Increasing role of government in enhancing protective legislation to equalise the
interests and rights of the employees in the organization
 Revolution in information technology and other technological innovations
adversely affect the interests of the work force.
 Rapidly changing job and skills requiring long-range manpower planning,

The emerging role of HR manager is depicted in Fig.2

Transition in
people at work

Tech. and Individual as

Innovation unit of activity

Social Organizational
applications structure

Emerging role of HR manager

In all these areas of change, HR people would be requiring more of training, re-training
and mid-career re-training. Furthermore, they must also well understand the intricacies
of human behavior so that they could depend on integration of professional goals with
the goal of the organization and by self-control rather than on management by
centralized direction and control. They also should not neglect the problems of day-to-
day personnel administration. More prominently, the changes and transitions are taking
place in the following HR areas.

6.1 Transition in people at work and interpersonal relations

People at work and their interpersonal relations are also undergoing change.
Although HR people and HR departments are widely recognized and accepted by
top executives of the important role play in planning and administration systems of
human resources, the future is going to present major new challenges in different
fields.

6.2 Individual as the unit of activity

The individual is and will be the fundamental unit of activity. Individuals provide the
knowledge, skills, and energy utilized in organizations. It would be correct to
presume that each person will continue to have needs, drives, and expectations; but
no two persons would be same in their goals and objectives, ambitions, strengths
and weaknesses. Such people may expect even more from their employment
relationship. For example, the increased level of education and mobility will change
the values people have towards work. They will be more intellectually committed to
their jobs and will perhaps require more involvement, participation and autonomy in
the workplace.

6.3 Education of Workforce

The educational level of the work force is expected to continue to rise. The work
force will be more diverse gender, age, ethnic affiliation, backgrounds,
concentrations, and ideological philosophies. Groups earlier considered minorities of
the work force (such as the women, the handicapped persons, the members
belonging to scheduled castes, etc.) will increase in number and proportions and
their demands will become more vocal. Several workers might be enjoying more
leisure time due to change in patterns of work. Managers will be required to meet a
different variety of demand from employees.

6.4 Organizational Structure

Future organizations would be larger, complex with inter-related structuring of the
people. Accordingly, such organizations will come more impersonal and more
dehumanizing. Such organizations might be required to decentralize decision-making
and other functions. They might also hope that the people should recognize common
objectives, plans, and goals so that they can make collective contribute toward
mutually beneficial goals. Managers at upper levels will have to spend their time for
the integration of decision-making to unite the efforts of the entire organizational
members.
6.5 Social applications
Social applications will have a large impact on the attitudes and behavior of people in
organization. Since individuals have normally social orientation, the attitudes and
values of organizational peers, colleagues, family members, friends, and others to
 whom they socially relate are likely to influence their perceptions and actions. The
task of managing may therefore turn more challenging and more varied than it has
been in the past.
6.6 Technology and innovations
Technology, discoveries and innovations are likely to create new pressures on
organizations and people and require for changes in objectives of organizations and
methods and procedures to accomplish these objectives. The requirements of skills
will change as a result of advancements in technology. In some cases, technology
might make workers and their tasks more interrelated, while in others there might be
predispositions toward separation. Computer technology is likely to reshape a
number of organizational roles and goals and will have a significant impact on
decisions. These and other changes pinpoint the challenges lying ahead for future
managers.
6.7 Mental and physical limitations
Since managers are human being also, they will be limited by their mental and
physical constraints, will be subject to their own philosophical commitments, their
own biases and prejudices, and to outside pressures from different directions.
However, future managers should be able to profit from the increasing body of
knowledge and experiences of the current and past managers.

7. Role of HR Manager of Tomorrow

The role of manager of tomorrow is not likely to be an easy one. It will be more complex
and intricate. HR manager will play more diverse role and prominently these:

7.1 Knowledgeable about people and environment

The future manager will be more knowledgeable about people, organizations and the
total environment. He will be well conversant with social sciences, world affairs, and
the humanities in general and will effectively integrate the techniques of information
technology with the available human resources. To meet future challenges,
professionalism among the managers will be on the rise. They will be getting more
formalized educational training in managerial techniques and responsibilities. These
manager will also need different types of skills, e.g. top managers will need more
conceptual, analytical and decision-making abilities, first line supervision may require
more of technical skills and interpersonal leadership abilities, and middle-level
managers may need a mix of the above skills in addition to coordinative abilities. The
development and utilization of skills and abilities in interpersonal relationships will
benefit all the managers. .

7.2 Ability to be Perceptive

The managers of tomorrow have to develop the ability to be perceptive towards
themselves, their superiors, colleagues and subordinates; their organization, its
goals, resources etc. and many additional issues. They should be sensitive and
emphatic to the people, events occurring around them. They must perceive to
discern changes in knowledge, attitudes, behavior, values and needs. They must
have the ability to get to the real core of the individuals, bear their views, and find out
suitable solutions.

7.3 Open-minded and receptive

 Since the managers will have to face changes, they must be open-minded and
receptive to new ideas, processes techniques and innovations and also possess
patience and tolerance so that they perceive the problems, as well as diagnose
cause and work with other individuals.

7.4 Help other make decisions

The strength of future manager would be in helping others make decisions for
themselves. Therefore, he should know how to lead group efforts, counsel with
individuals and be a good listener. The HR manager should put more emphasis on
helping people accomplish personal goals while striving for organizational objectives.
This type of environment induces employees to be more productive because they
are forced to perform. At the same time, the manager should not avoid the use of
‘negative motivational techniques’ when they may be useful.

7.5 Participative
Besides, future HR manager need to be deeply involved in the encouragement of
participative management or enrichment of job which may have an impact on job
design. The corporate staff should be more related with organizational planning,
designing of organization manuals and to advising the chief executive on over-all
organizational structure and implementing plans of reorganization.

7.6 Strategic thinking new core competence.

The future manager will have to develop core competence in strategic thinking in
order to reposition as a strategist in the enterprise. Really, the trend toward more
strategy-focused and smaller HR departments was predicted a decade ago.
Therefore, HR needs to create its strategic value to the organization. This comprises
the ability to make accurate projections on the basis of understanding the goals of
the business. This strategic role cannot be outsourced as strategic planning requires
expertise within the organization. The trend toward a more strategic HR function may
even lead to the creation of new job designations. HR Professionals will likely
change into HR Business Professionals who need to understand HR implications as
well as business operations and strategy.

7.7 Use of analytics and big data

In-house HR professionals will need to develop analytical skills and handle big
amount of data to become strategic leaders in their companies. It is predicted that in
the coming decade, the analysis of data and metrics will determine the career path of
HR professionals. New employees might be required in the HR department to adjust
the enhanced use of analytics. The present trends in big data will give new ways for
HR to show its value, so we can expect HR departments to desire to hire people who
have analytical abilities.

7.8 Managing a remote workforce will be the new norm.

There is no doubt that in future HR will have to tackle more the challenge of
managing workforce from a distance. Companies will need to take benefit of most
productive and influential employees. The trend toward remote workers is an
increasing challenge to managers ineffective in managing people from a distance.
Automation and diverse expectations will partially solve the issue. Managers will use
new technologies for the analysis of output rather than the working time. Results will
 get more importance than time spent for job. Business expectation from HR will be to
produce more results.

7.9 Back to the specialist.

Whenever we look back and forth from the paradigm of the specialist to the
generalist we were in favor of a generalist and now the shift may be toward the
specialist. HR generalists as they are today will extinct. Specialized roles are going
to be more dominant. This will happen as the employment scenario becomes more
complex with changing employment regulations, law and benefit compliance.

Thus, the future HR manager must look for opportunities to be heavily engaged in
human resource planning, selection, orientation, promotions and career planning. He
should also discharge several other functions, such as training employees for
change systems counseling, designing new incentives systems and building
collaborative problem-solving groups.

Summary
The future has many challenges for the managers of human resource management.
Bringing Improvements in organizational effectiveness is the most important challenge
for HR manager. To create and manage the various HR sub-systems in a way
compatible with thrust on more employees’ participation in decision making, result
orientation, adaptation to change and build a human organization is a great challenge.
Various HR systems like recruitment and selection, job enrichment, performance
appraisal, compensation and reward, collective bargaining, and training and
development systems must be investigated and improved. Continual advancements in
information technology have transformed methods of getting results and performance.
Today the organizations also have a tendency to reduce the number of employees and
depend more on outsourcing. These challenges become all the more concrete and
urgent when the imperative of a higher quality of life in organizations becomes an urgent
imperative.