Trident MGT407 Module 1 CASE Latest 2019 November

Module 1 – Background

HRM’S ROLE IN MANAGING HUMAN CAPITAL

Note: In your upcoming Case Assignment, you
will be asked to journal about what you learned in this Background section. It
is recommended that you review the Case 1 Assignment requirements before you
begin this section.

Also, the Session Long Project (SLP) is a
quiz where you have the opportunity to demonstrate what you have learned in
this module. Be sure to read/view all the background materials before taking
the quiz.

Remember to participate in the Module 1
Discussion early in the module and to engage with your peers throughout the
module.

HRM’s Role in Managing Human Capital

Employees are Human Capital

A firm’s human resources (human talent) are
the people in an organization that are crucial to its performance and the
quality of work life within it. Unlike computers, human beings are assets that
have the potential to grow and develop, and to increase in depth, complexity,
and capacity over time.

Human resource management can be defined as
the company’s actions to design management systems to ensure that human talent
is used effectively and efficiently to accomplish organizational objectives.
Managers and leaders should focus on investing and developing their human
resources, who can make significant contributions to the organization’s overall
mission.

Many organizations have noticed the
importance of continuously training their employees (human talent) and offering
educational incentive programs to help keep employees up to date in their
fields, because people actually can get worse at their jobs over time.
Performance can be enhanced if an employee learns new ways of conceptualizing
complex situations and deciphering abstract information. An employee should
have knowledge of new research and advancements in his or her respective field
to adapt to and overcome any obstacles to organizational change.

Through HR planning, managers anticipate
the future supply of and demand for employees and the nature of workforce
issues, including the retention of employees. These factors are used when
recruiting applicants for job openings. Recruiting and retaining the “best”
employees has been a difficult task for most HR managers. The “best” employees
are not necessarily the most qualified individuals (e.g., those with the most
education or work experience); they are the individuals who provide value to an
organization, who complement the organization, who understand and embrace the
organization’s mission, and who fit the culture of the organization. This
quandary is a result of a number of different variables such as job satisfaction,
organizational commitment, job performance, and motivation.

By performing at higher levels and being
productive, an employee starts creating value for an organization. Most
employees are evaluated by the value they create. When employees feel appreciated,
they tend to perform at higher levels, producing more value.

Unfortunately, most organizations are
unable to “indulge” their employees and as a result, there are employees all
over the world who feel neglected and inundated with work. Interestingly
enough, Schwartz, Jones, and McCarthy (2010) explain that:

Only 38 percent of employees worldwide
believe their senior managers are genuinely interested in their well-being.
More than 50 percent feel they’re treated as if they don’t matter at all or that
they’re just another part of the organization to be managed. Only one out of
ten employees feel they’re treated as vital corporate assets (p. 162).

With employees all over the world feeling
like they “don’t matter” to their organizations, it is important for
upper-level administrators to continuously develop their leadership strategies.
Furthermore, with organizations constantly evolving, strategic human resource
management is the optimum way to enhance performance levels. At IBM, for
example, a thousand software developers working in different time zones have
been given the flexibility to decide when they work. Different strategies
should be implemented in organizations all over the world to help “humanize”
the workplace.

Reference: Schwartz, T., Jones, J., &
McCarty, C. (2010). The way we’re working isn’t working. New York, NY: Free
Press.

In this course we will focus on human
resources with steps into the future. We will experience the transition from
workplaces where employees feel neglected and overwhelmed, to workplaces where
employees are valued and given the opportunity to grow, develop, and become
human capital. And as human capital, they are assets that contribute to their
organizations’ success.

To begin your study of HRM, view the video
below, which gives an overview of the challenging Human Capital Management/HR
Management field.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ipxtwod-W9o

Next, read the article 4 HR Social Media
Myths.

Today’s HR professionals have the
opportunity to contribute to the bottom line of an organization. In
high-performing companies, each element of the HR system is designed to reflect
best practice and to maximize employee performance. The different parts of the
HR system are strongly aligned with company goals.

Workplace Diversity

Read the article Workforce Diversity

The concept of diversity is framed in a
number of ways: as economic payback (people who have previously been excluded
from the workplace are typically more reliant on social service programs) and
as social responsibility (improving the quality of life for disenfranchised
groups of people). You should identify and process each of the diversity
frameworks and the potential impact they can have on human capital management
and, therefore, business success.

Employment Law

There’s been an explosion in the number of
employee lawsuits in the United States during the past few years, and manager
mistakes are at the center of many of them. That’s why it’s important to know
at least the basics of employment law. In the following video, Business
Management Daily’s editorial director, Pat DiDomenico, describes the top five
manager mistakes that cause lawsuits:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHHNk-VtwfA

Also, as optional readings, see the U.S.
EEOC webpage for Information for Employers, and then view the EEOC webpage for
Information for Employees.

Module 1 Summary

In Module 1 you have the opportunity to
learn about Human Capital Management (HCM), and the role of Human Resource
Management (HRM) professionals in the HCM process. The HCM approach perceives
employees as assets (human capital) whose current value can be measured and
whose future value can be enhanced through investment. Also included were
strategies for HRM planning, diversity, and the legal framework for equal
employment.

Once you finish the Background materials of
Module 1, be sure that you also finish the graded assignments in Module 1;
don’t miss completing and submitting your Case 1, preparing for and
successfully passing the SLP 1 Quiz, and contributing to the Module 1
Discussion with the rest of your peers.

We hope that you recognize the importance
of HRM in organizations. The field has changed over the years, and today more
than ever there is a key role HR professionals play in an organization’s
success.

Source: Human Resource Management. (n.d.).
Provided by Saylor Academy. Located at https://learn.saylor.org/course/bus301.
License: CC BY 3.0.