Workforce Motivation Through HRM
Sunday, March 28th, 2010 | Always Online
Introduction
Human Resource Management, or HRM for short, is one of the most critical elements in running a successful business, although it is not always handled with the time and focus that it deserves. To completely understand what HRM is and its influence on the success or failing of a company, we first need to know what it means.
The function of Human Resource Management is to recruit, develop and utilise the staff within an organisation in the manner in which is most suitable to accomplishing the aims and objectives of the enterprise.
This essentially translates to “using people in the business in the best way possible” although that would be an over-simplified assertion that does not echo the real nature and range of HRM. HRM describes all of the techniques and processes that are involved in ensuring that all members of staff in a business are pulling in the same direction, and more importantly, in the right direction.
At its core, HRM combines three primary elements that are fundamental to the productive output of the staff. These factors include motivation, management and leadership, and organisational structures. As a result, HRM can be applied to all levels of management within your company, not just the shop floor personnel, and it may even be used to modify the framework of those levels of management at the same time.
Why is it Necessary?
Quite simply, companies don’t operate without employees. As such, some level of human resource management is necessary for any organisation to operate at all, let alone in an efficient and profitable manner. Even if you don’t appreciate exactly how HRM affects the everyday working of your business you will certainly be using some form of HRM in order to keep trading.
Human Resource Management has an effect on every level of your business activities with various degrees of visibility. The most obvious HRM tasks include the hiring and firing of staff as well as financial systems such as payroll. It can also impact on motivation and communication inside your business, which are much more intangible aspects but are critical nonetheless.
It also goes without saying that every company is different and will have a specific set of challenges to face and opportunities to take advantage of. HRM can work as a versatile tool that translates workforce power into financial profits and can adjust to fully utilise the strengths of your company.
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Impact on Business
While this all sounds very interesting and significant, how does it actually impact on the daily operations of your company, and more importantly, how will it help to improve the performance and success of your firm? The impact of HRM can be broken down into the following areas.
Recruitment & Training
This is most likely the part of a company that is most affiliated with human resources – recruitment. Almost every company in the world, and especially companies that are expanding, need to recruit people to work for them. Either existing employees have left, or new opportunities have arisen which mean there are jobs that must be filled. HRM can ensure your recruitment system gets the appropriate people into the right jobs at an affordable price.
It’s also important to keep your staff training procedures up to date to make certain that your staff is fully capable of doing the job they are there to do. Whether it is a new piece of legislation or a new piece of technology that changes the marketplace, there is an on-going requirement to keep your business up-to-date and ready to take advantage of any opportunity.
You may also find that the costly practice of external recruitment can be avoided if your company has sufficient training facilities in place. It is much easier to train an existing worker to a higher level and then use outside recruitment to fill the gap left at the lower level than it is to recruit straight to a higher level.
Employee Relations
Once you have the right men and women working for you it is necessary to keep them doing work for you, and to ensure they are doing a good job. This can be achieved by means of good employee relations. The most obvious employee relations practice is the art of motivation – a wide topic itself – but other worker relations issues may include disciplinary and grievance management. All of these factors are an essential part of the overall HRM picture.
Finances
You cannot keep employees at your organisation by good motivational methods only. They’ll want to be paid a fair amount and on time. Payroll must be one of the very first systems that is developed when you launch a company, but they still need to be maintained and updated when staff join, leave or switch pay grade.
Industrial Relations
Numerous companies will have to deal with trade union or other workers rights organisations which can be very forceful when protecting the interests of their members. When dealing with such bodies it is advantageous to have people within your company who can communicate effectively with them whilst keeping the interests of your own company in mind at the same time. The demand for good industrial relations is far more prevalent in public sector companies.
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Workforce Planning
We have seen the impact that human resource management may have on a business and on the whole it looks like good HRM will have a positive effect on any organisation. As a rule, this is the case, but effective HRM doesn’t just occur overnight. It should be planned according to the goals of the organisation and then performed thoroughly.
One way to implement HRM concepts to your company is through workforce planning – a system that has the aim of making sure your staff can finish the upcoming tasks required for your business to be successful.
Definition
Workforce planning is the process of anticipating ahead of time the human resource requirements of any organisation, both in terms of the quantity of employees required and the appropriate skill mix. Recruitment and training procedures are designed with a long term focus in order to ensure that the company is able to operate without being limited by a shortage of appropriate labour. It is a bit of a balancing act, but when done properly can produce many benefits.
Requirements
Analysing your workforce requirements is essential to the proper planning of your workforce in the short-term and long-term future. If your company is subject to seasonal shifts in demand, for example in the tourism industry, or is prone to seasonal fluctuations in staff levels then your workforce planning must take these factors into consideration.
Recruitment
Whether you are recruiting externally or from within your existing workforce you still need to find the right person to fill the position. As part of your workforce planning you ought to draw up a job description that describes the role that will be undertaken as well as a person specification which will give an indication of the kind of individual that would be a perfect fit for the job and your company.
Selection
The selection procedure can be as involved or as easy as you deem necessary. Beyond standard job selection interviews there are numerous ways you can learn about applicants for your jobs, including aptitude tests, group interviews and even psychometric testing.
Training & Development
The primary goal of staff training and development is to develop a better standard of worker in your organisation. Workforce planning can use training to fill upcoming gaps in the skill set of your workforce and is commonly quicker and more cost effective than external recruitment.
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Workforce Motivation
It almost goes without saying that well motivated employees are going to deliver a better standard of output and have a greater quantity of output than unhappy workers. This improved work rate will inevitably lead to a rise in the profitability of a company. Yet motivation remains a bit of taboo subject amongst some managers.
Essentially, all motivational tactics can be separated into two sets that are often referred to as the “carrot and stick” approach to motivation. The analogy refers to the two ways to make a donkey carry your belongings, either by tempting it with a carrot, or threatening it with a strike from a stick! It is a relatively old idea but the basic principle is still relevant to companies today.
Whether you use the carrot approach or the stick strategy will largely depend on your own management style, as well as the industry you work in and the type of people that you hire. Regardless of your method, motivational factors can be broken down into a further two groups; financial and non-financial motivators.
Financial
The most common financial motivators are payment plans. You can pay staff in a number of different ways, either a fixed amount for a set service, by an hourly or daily rate, or a rate linked to production, such as a commission structure.
Another financial motivation technique involves what are known as incentive schemes, where additional financial rewards are handed out for good overall performance. This may include commission above a fixed salary, performance-related pay levels or even providing a share of company profits.
Non-financial
Several human resource theorists have their own thoughts about the other elements that motivate people to do the job, although these are often seen as an added bonus to a worker. It is widely acknowledged that money is the critical motivational factor for the vast majority of people.
The Changing Face of HRM
As previously stated, HRM is a versatile application that is there to match up the features of your workforce to the goals of your business. As such, it has had to keep changing to a business climate that is continuously changing for one reason or another. Moreover, it is a good idea to constantly review your own HRM procedures and not to rest on your laurels.
Perhaps there is a new piece of government legislation that may have an effect of how your company can carry out its operations, or maybe a fresh manufacturing technology will come along that will revolutionise your sector. Either way, if you want to ensure that your staff is performing to its maximum level then your HRM system should be flexible enough to cope with an ever-changing world. After all, what might seem like a risk to many will often appear as an opportunity to a good entrepreneur.