Question

Prepare a minimum of eight pages, MS Word document using APA 6th Edition guidelines. Again, the paper must include a title page, an introduction, the body, summary and conclusion paragraph(s), and a reference page that provides an overview of HR management. In addition, you will provide in APA headings the following resources below, no exceptions. The template provided for the Mid-Term will assist you in ensuring that you are meeting APA paper guidelines. Your goal in this project is to synthesize all your resources learned and demonstrate your knowledge by addressing, discussing, comparing, contrasting, interpreting, and distinguishing the following on your paper:

1.    Managing Employees For Competitive Advantage

2.    HR Challenges

a.    Manage Organizational Demands and Environmental Influences
b.    Manage Regulatory Issues

3.    Work Design and Workforce Planning

a.    Manage Job Design and Job Analysis
b.    Workforce Planning

4.    Managing Employee Competencies

a.    Recruitment
b.    Selection

Answer 1

1. Managing Employees For Competitive Advantage

Competitive advantage for any organization is a state or situtation or circumstance in which it is placed ahead of others in the same business in business terms . Customers rates it ahead of others . They are always eager to procure that organization's product or services ahead of others in the business of simillar product or service . Competitive advantage is always measured in price of product or service , delivery of product or service and quality of product or service . An organization which is able to deliver on time or before time a better quality product or service at the lowest price will enjoy a competitive advantage over others in the same business . This competive advantage is brought about the software of the organization . This software is the employees of the organization . So it is very important that an organization employs or recruit right employees whom they can train and develop so that they can help organization in attaining competive advantage over others in the business . One more aspect which is most important is that competitive adavantage should be sustainable . For this to happen the organization has to make sure that it is able to motivate people to always perform and be at their efficient best . It should be able to retain these employees for longer terms by taking care of their needs all along the need hiearchy . Businees environment or situations will never be constant so accordingly the organizations also have to make changes in time so that they are able to respond to those changes in the most efficient and effective manner . They have to constantly to see if their is a gap in the skills required by the employees and skills available with them which is not allowing them to be at their best . If there are gaps these have to be filled with requisite trainings and workshops . They also have to see if some behavioral or attitudinal or leadership trainings required by employees which are also very important from organization's prospective . All in all the organizations have to manage employees in such a manner that they can get best out of them to have a competive advantage and are able to retain them over longer periods to sustain the attained competive adavantage .

2.    HR Challenges

The key challenges for human resource department for any organization is to make sure it is able to :

a. Manage Organizational Demands and respond to Environmental influences which try to destabilize organizations . Here HR (Human Resource Department ) has to make sure it has to make sure that right employees with right skill sets are available in the organization at right places at right times so that all organizational demands are met and in case there are environmental influences then either the current employees are able to tackle them and if the current employees are not able to tackle those then the HR has resources which allows them at very short notice to hire , employ and put in place right employees with right skills sets at right places and at right times to confront and manage such environmental influences .

b. Manage Regulatory Issues : First and foremost here is that HR has to make sure there is no unfair discrimination of employees at work places within the organization . The work week in terms of number of hours in a week has to be defined and put in place . The pay rate for the same has to be defined . They have to define the overtime an employee can do over a period of time and pay rate for the same . If they want they can also prescribe the procedure and process for forming employee unions so that emplyee concerns and issues are responded to collectively .They have to ensure safety to each employee at work places . They have to provide a clean and hygienic work environment to employees . There should not be any kind of sexual harrasement at work places . They have to provide privacy to each employee on their personal matters. All employees should be made aware of legal restrictions in the organization and they should have a process and procedure in place to deal with any kind of violations against the same.

3. Work Design and Workforce Planning

a. Manage Job Design and Job analysis : The job of HR is to make sure that it is able to achieve all organizational goals and objectives by designing work in such a manner that it leads to the functional fulfillment of all the micro and objectives and goals of the organization . For this to happen each and every element in the structure of the organization has to work effectively and efficiently . For this it is important that work is designed effectively for each of the element . It has to be designed in such a manner that it is able to improve upon and enhance the overall productivity of the organization and improve upon and enhance the overall efficiency of the organization . A well designed job has to improve upon and enhance the job satisfaction level of employees . It has to ensure employee safety and health. Here job analysis is equally important as it takes care of the overall and in detail what work needs to be done and what are the specific responsisbilities of the employees and how the working relationships in the organization are inter linked . The HR has to make sure that the purpose of the organization is met through well analyzed and designed jobs .

4. Managing Employee Competencies

Here the basic job of the HR is that it is able to recruit and select employees in a manner that all the competencies required by the organization to attain and sustain the competitive advantages in the business environment are met . This is basically competency based recruitment and selection where employees are spotted for recruitment based upon professional knowledge , skills and competencies they have to perform the job in the most efficient and effective manner .

a. Recruitment : Here the HR has to constantly have an eye on what is available in the environment in terms of man power with requisite knowledge , skills and competencies which can complement the organizational manpower requirement to help it to attain the competitive adavantage in the most efficient and effective manner . If the recruitment is based upon competencies the employee turnover rate is minimum and it helps organizations to sustain the competitive advantage over longer periods . More over the probability of quality hire is very high in compency based hiring systems .

b. Selection : Once the employees with requisite competencies , skills and knowledge are spotted they have to be selected so that right employees are hired who can fit into the cuture of the organization . A right employee has to be a culture fit as well because working well in the work environment of the organization is very important . Work environment for every organization is created by the working citlure of the organization . So HR has to make sure that there is no culture gap and if there is one HR should analyse if the employee can adopt the culture of the organization . They also have to check thoroughly the personal and professional back ground checks of the employee in the most professional manner .