1.

Identify and briefly describe the major external challenges facing Human Resource Managers:

CHANGE is an unstoppable process that affects everything, irrespective of any difference. Thus inevitably Human
Resources being a part of a fast-moving, constantly changing business era, undergo change – in several aspects.
Likewise the role of the Human Resource Manager is evolving with the change in competitive market
environment and the realization that Human Resource Management must play a more strategic role in the
success of an organization. Unless the human resources in an organization are strategically aligned with these
changes and are updated and adapted to them, the organization will not succeed in achieving its objectives.

Factors that lead to the changes in the environment of an organization thus pose a challenge to the HR
managers. External factors such as
 Globalization,
 Technological advancements,
 Unions and
 Legal Acts and Ordinances require an HR manager to develop specific competencies to adapt to and
utilize these changes strategically.

Businesses which initially started out as small or medium size organizations are now expanding to embrace the
global market with ease of access through the internet and the opening up of economies. Thus at present HR
managers need to pay more attention in recruiting persons with multi-linguistic and diplomatic skills instead of
simply hiring persons with “experience”. As the experience these persons refer to may often be out-dated in
comparison to modern day global markets. Consequently, Globalization will impact HR managers by requiring
them to attain new skills such as language capabilities, a local business person who is now HR Manager of a
company expanding their services or products to the global market will have to preferably learn English in order
to facilitate smooth communication. The recruitment process will need to be tailored in a manner befitting the
organizations requirement and will thus need to be attended to with more concern towards designing job
specifications that call for persons with more modern skills and on the other hand employees within the
organization will need to be trained to deal with the global market. Resourcing, Recruiting the right talent,
Retaining the talent, Retraining and Restructuring, the 5 R’s these are required to align the HR to business.
Likewise the ability and the willingness to modify job structure, job classification and the organizational
structure as often and as quickly as necessary are important elements in a successful recruitment and retention
strategy.

Meanwhile technology is the fastest moving aspect of the modern world with new advancements over-taking
the older ones every other moment, this inevitably reflects upon businesses in regard of efficiency, cost-
reduction, superior quality and suitability of goods and services in gaining customer approval. This technology
should be made accessible and usable to the employees in order to promote the business ahead of and in par
with its competitors. The Human Resource Manager is responsible in ensuring this happens; this is a solid basis
to prove the strategic importance of human resource management to a business and its success.

Unions - the need for unions arose due to an inherent exclusivity of interest which existed between the workers
and management where workers were not involved in management decision making and collective bargaining in
the past. Over time the importance of the Human Resources within an organization was realized and thus a
culture promoting involvement, “replacing rigidities in contractual relations between unions and management
with more flexible and cooperative arrangements entailing greater commitment by employees to management
goals” (Wells, 1993: 56) Thus although unions do still pose a challenge to HR managers, the strength imposed by
them has reduced over time due to more innovative practices of HRM.

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Whereas programs drawn under the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 (Public Law 92-261) impact
HRM in that it disallows discrimination of employees or job-seekers based upon age, race, color, ethnicity and
gender ensuing fair treatment to all segments of society. These acts need to be observed in decision making by
HR Managers during recruitment and job-designing processes as well as in functioning with current employees.

2. “ABC Company has a problem of motivation among their factory floor workers. The management decided
to increase the amount of tasks to be performed by some employees, while providing more authority to some
of the employees to perform duties. Along with these changes another set of employees were given an
opportunity to perform duties on different jobs at the same level”.

Based on the above description, describe the different job design methods used by ABC Company.

The main purpose of job design (or re-design) is to increase both employee motivation and productivity (Rush,
1971) while satisfying the needs of the individual for interest, challenge and accomplishment. There are several
types of job design methods, namely
 Job enlargement
 Job enrichment
 Job rotation
 Self-management teams
 High-performance work design

ABC too has incorporated certain of these methods in the above instances. In the first case where the amount of
tasks to be performed by several employees is increased, the method utilized is job enlargement. Through job
enlargement the complexity of a task is reduced as is the amount of specialization required by the employee. It
also, extends the length of time he or she has to complete them, biding them more time, thus relieving them of
stress and strain while preventing monotony to an extent. While the second instance where more authority is
being provided to the employee, allowing him/her to take on some responsibilities normally delegated to
management. This newfound control is expected to invigorate the employee to work more effectively, due to
boost of self-esteem. This method is known as Job enrichment.

Job rotation, allows an employee to work in different departments or jobs in an organization to gain better
insight into operations. This is used by ABC in the last case; where employees were given the opportunity to
perform duties on different jobs at the same level. Although in itself, this does not modify or redesign the
employee's job, but it allows the opportunity to increase his/her skills and knowledge about other jobs. And
additionally increases variety and reduces monotony.

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3. Design a job description and job specification for a hypothetical job.

Partner Business Development Manager – Enterprise Business Unit

Job Description:
While our organization does not directly deal with sales, we function as the local presence of a global company
dealing through specially appointed partners. Our Partners therefore are the distinctive link between us and the
customer.
The Partner Business Development Manager’s main responsibility will be to maintain a constant rapport with
the partners of the organization ensuring customer satisfaction and attainment of sales targets for the region,
requiring strong diplomatic and inter-personal skills.
Will need to be updated on Product information, prices, etc. in order to promote company products.
Conduct weekly business reviews with partners following up on prospective opportunities, monthly sales targets
for Sri Lanka and Maldives, which subsequently will lead to attainment of Regional Sales Targets.
Will report directly to Country Manager of Enterprise Business. Involves traveling.

Person Specification:
Degree in Management/IT/Business Administration
Specific qualifications in Servers, Storage Systems and Networking
3 - 5 years expertise in Sales Management in an IT oriented background
Strong communication skills, product knowledge, ability to negotiate with partners – team work are essential
attributes of the optimum candidate.
Unconditional dedication towards achieving the organization’s goals is expected, on and off the clock in this
highly performance based position.

4. Why human resource planning (HRP) is more common among larger organizations than small ones? What
are the advantages of HR planning for larger organizations?

The number of employees in a smaller organization may very often be less than one hundredth of the number in
a large organization. Yet in terms of importance Human Resources remain the most important resource; thus
human resource planning is practiced to avoid any future short-comings that may be due to lack of HRP. Many
people associate human resource planning with what very large companies do -- IBM, or Ford. That's because,
almost by necessity, large companies need to have a much more formal and comprehensive approach to HR
planning because of their size and the complexity of their businesses. That said, even a business owner with a
very few employees need to think (that is, plan) about various personnel and human resources issues. Although
they may not formally be aware of it most small business owners do ‘plan’ their HR activities as well. For
example, a small business owner needs to think and plan about what benefits to offer, how to manage growth of
staff, how to plan how many staff are needed, how to evaluate employee performance, and so on this in itself is
HRP.

Whereas in a large organization it is essential to carry out HRP in order to ensure the organization’s success and
stability. HRP covers a wide scope including the below;
 Recruitment - in order to avoid unexpected employee shortages
 Training needs - avoids unexpected skill shortages
 Management development - avoids shortage of managers; helps career progression and career
orientation among managers
 Industrial relations - avoids industrial unrest in organization by enhancing the quality of
workforce and provides for more employees when required.

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Unlike in smaller organizations the impact of HR on organizational strategies and objectives is more substantial.
For instance, in the absence of training employees with older skills will not be able to meet expectations and will
thereby have a negative impact on company growth. They need to be constantly updated and trained on new
systems and methods, including usage of new machinery, language skills, IT skills, perceptive changes, etc. The
absence of attention to these areas will weaken the organization and pull it out of the market competition. Even
with regard to recruitment it is essential to assess the needs of the company and recruit accordingly, whereas
with changing times new recruits may not accept packages that were offered to employees recruited earlier for
the same position. Thus HR managers need to be aware of the necessities of the modern recruit and try to be
flexible enough to attract the best from the labor market.

HR managers should be able to forecast future requirements of the organization considering socio-economic
and demographic changes, competition, technology and expansion, innovation, etc. Where certain skills and
competencies may become redundant and new skills may be required. Also it may at certain times not be
necessary to “recruit” employees, as they may simply be sub-contracted instead. This may save additional cost
to the organization and hassle. Likewise HRP reflects upon the growth of an organization and its attainment of
objectives, which will not be possible in the absence of an efficient workforce; as oil is necessary for the smooth
functioning of a machine. New parts may have to be added, old ones replaced, rust removed and so on.

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