In these recent challenging economic times, organizations

are no longer able to support people who are not clearly

contributing to the strategic goals of the company. Thus,

Human Resource Management must play an even more strategic role

in the success of an organization as it maintains viability.

Managing the workforce to optimally utilize employees is the

basis for which HR can determine success in achieving

organizational goals. Top management has had to either turn HR

into a value-added function, or outsource some functions and pay

for specific services, thereby reducing HR staff.

Regardless if human resources departments are outsourced or

down-sized, a key concern is productivity, as employers want to

make sure that employees are getting enough of the needed kinds

of work completed so that the business is run efficiently and

profitably. In my human resources department, like others, we

are charged with the responsibility of designing workplace

structures and introducing programs that help increase

motivation and productivity. To meet this objective, HR

Managers must conduct regular organizational assessments on

issues like pay, benefits, work environment, management and

promotional opportunities to assess the progress over the long

term. However, one of the main issues is how to evaluate these

structures and programs to determine success and to continuously

enhance programs. For example, HR management needs to lead the

organization in ensuring that emphasis is placed on attracting

and retaining talents, which I’ll discuss later in this paper.

Consequently, how to make an impact that will impress top

management, who are mainly concern with the return on investment

(ROI), can be a challenge, which leads to the next issue.

In human resources circles, there is the much talked-about

HR metrics. Many people I have spoken to, are not sure what

metrics should be presented and what “story” should be told.

Being a strategic partner, HR management has to communicate in a

way that top executives will understand. Therefore, the story

should be told showing “hard facts” or numbers; this will go a

long way in demonstrating to executives that we can and should

evaluate our work in both qualitative and quantitative terms.

For example, show a measure of how well a new hire meets the

performance needs of the job, i.e. the volume or quantity of

work completed with that additional level of resource.

Let us now assume that HR has put the structures and

programs in place and are evaluating and making appropriate

changes as needed. Let us also assume that HR is producing a

great dashboard with relevant metrics. I believe the other key

component which oftentimes, may be lacking is communication.

“It is nice to do great work but if no one knows it, you will be

devalued within the organization…No one really cares how hard

you work, but when you present them with results and the value

added by those results, you would be more successful at

communicating the work of an HR team.” ( F i t z - e n z , a n d

Davison p.33). While we did not specifically address

communication in our class discussions, I think it was inferred

when we discussed various topics. From my experience, I think

there is insufficient communication coming out of my HR

department. When the rest of the organization gets insufficient

information or lack of such, they may be led to believe that we

are either being reactive and not proactive, or that our results

are not substantial enough for communication to the general

staff. Nevertheless, in class, we covered the importance of

having HR senior management as strategic partners, i.e. having a

seat at the table where major business decisions are made.

Currently, most of the HR staff is finding that their work

is changing. Some aspects are being outsourced or, at CU,

offering more self-services capabilities for employees.

Interestingly, in the last five years or so, the HR staff

members have changed more rapidly than any other time in the

last twenty years. I believe the reason was the need for
changing organization direction and the need to change

management to lead and support such change. New management

introduces new structures and changing focus. Additionally, the

old “personnel” type management has been replaced by more

strategic thinkers, and over time they too, have hired HR staff

with fresh perspectives and experience that add value toward

achieving organizational goals.

My goal is to take the HRCI certification for SPHR. I

think this credential will be an asset as I seek greater

responsibilities during this period where we are currently

adding new staff and reorganizing some HR functions.

The next topic area Human resources planning, as defined in

Mondy, “is the systematic process of matching the internal and

external supply of people with job openings anticipated in the

organization over a specific period of time.” It requires an

assessment of the availability of the qualified resources that

will be needed. Human resources planning should be a key

component of nearly every organization’s strategic plans to

ensure their competitive advantage. Organizations must

implement strategies that are designed to enhance their employee

retention rate and recruit fresh talent into their companies at

a level that makes sense to the business.

 One of main issues human resources planning is how to

effectively manage workplace diversity. The shift that HR

Managers need to change from an ethnocentric view ("our way is

the best way") to a culturally relative perspective ("let's take

the best of a variety of ways"). This shift is not easy as we

all have our biases. However, it has to be at the fore of the

HR Manager’s thinking when planning, organizing, leading and

controlling organizational resources. Additionally, there is

also a need to develop appropriate measuring tools to measure

the impact of diversity initiatives from the process of hiring,

promoting, training and all other facets of employee

opportunities with the company.

One tool can be had through organization-wide feedback

surveys. However, as we discussed in class, when you survey

employees be sure to provide feedback and further, make a strong

effort to effect appropriate changes to correct areas of

weakness. Without proper control and evaluation, some of these

diversity initiatives may just die, without resolving any real

problems that may surface due to workplace diversity.

At CU, there are too few women in our Technical division

and they have reasoned that there are insufficient opportunities

for advancement. The other is the ethnic composition of our

senior leadership team, which comprises of 93% white and 72%

male. It is felt that the lack of diversity at the senior level

could cause some missed opportunities in our business. One of

the solutions was the introduction of two rotating team members,

representative of other ethnicity/background and/or female.

They would serve for one year to contribute and add value to the

team. The rotation lasted for four years and was suspended last

year. Hence, another initiative that simply fizzled out.

Needless to say, this is only two dimensions of diversity

(ethnicity and gender) and many workplaces tend to think that

differences in race and gender as diversity. Likewise, it can

refer to age, culture, background, language, sexual orientation,

education, social class and others.

The Washington Post illustrates this well, “"You can have a

group of white guys in a room [and] there will be different

religions, economic backgrounds, experiences and family

structures… "In that one room you can have a single dad, a gay

guy, a grandfather of a bi-racial child, a man suffering from

diabetes, a veteran and a three-time divorcee. Their

perspectives, ideas and beliefs are different - how do you as a

manager and leader utilize the diversity perspective in your

group to be innovative, prosperous and productive?" Linking

this with the human resources, how would you even begin to

recruit from such diverse backgrounds when many questions to

elicit such information are outside the realm of interview

questions, since they are not in compliance with Equal

Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws.

Another major concern is hiring people who are not the best

choices for the positions. The result of a poor hiring and

selection process can cause the wrong person to be hired in a

key position that can be detrimental to the business. EEO laws

make it mandatory that hiring decisions be made according to

clear cut criteria. So, if the qualifications are vague, those

who were not selected may have a case for litigation on grounds

that they were not evaluated fairly. Therefore, doing it right

means you should start by conducting a job analysis, developing

a job description and determining the knowledge, skills and

abilities (KSAs). If it is an existing job, you will want to

look at the top performers and identify the specific skill-set

that makes them effective. Nevertheless, companies are looking

for the best recruits from their competitors. Evidence of this

came to bear very recently, when according to USA Newsweek, “the

Justice Department reached an agreement with six major Silicon

Valley companies to settle allegations that they colluded to

hold down payroll expenses by agreeing not to poach employees

from each other.” The agreement will prohibit these technology

companies, for example, Google Inc., Apple Inc., Intel Corp.,

from placing “cold calls” to lure workers from their

competitors.

The new learning, or rather refresher, on the topic of

human resource planning, recruitment and selection was the job

description writing and interviewing activities. I do not

engage in interviewing in my daily work. However, I have a

reasonably good foundation, so I was comfortable with

interviewing and eliciting relevant job-related information from

my partners when we role-played this assignment. At CU, we

utilize most of the sources that were mentioned in class. One

source that is really good for specific talent is trade magazine

advertising and membership. The success is when you find the

right hire for the right job.

The last topic being discussed is an important function of

HR. Compensation and benefits is usually under the leadership

of a total rewards function. Attracting and retaining talent

that makes good sense to organizations, and compensating workers

so that the competitors may not outplay them in the strategic

employment of their human resources, also makes good sense.

However, the issues around compensation and benefits are vast,

as they have a direct link to the viability of the organization,

the available resources, geography and other influences.

Keeping in mind, companies have to sustain a healthy level to

meet commitments regarding payroll and other legal obligations

of running a business, HR are constantly reviewing direct and

indirect compensation to determine the ability to stay

competitive while keeping total rewards cost down.

In recent years wage and hour investigations and

litigation have taken off, with challenges occurring at the

federal, state, and local levels. No matter how a wage and hour

lawsuit or investigation is triggered, the reality is that these

cases are costly, time consuming, and can have a significant

impact on the financial health of the companies involved.

Overall, I really appreciated going through the topics

covered in this class. There was value in going over such

topics as EEO and the laws and orders to protect against

discrimination. I think this was the best learner’s guide in our

ADCP program and it will find a place in my office, to be used

as a quick reference guide. And, as a final point, though this

is to be expected, I would like to be the HR professional that

through further training can perform even more effectively by

keeping abreast of emerging trends and networking. I am a

member of SHRM and some other online resources, and they too,

are great HR resources.

 Work Cited

Mondy, W. R. (2008). Human resource management. NJ:

Prentice Hall.

"Tech Companies Settle Hiring Probe with Justice

Department" USA Newsweek. N.p., 25 Sep 2010.
http://www.usanewsweek.com/news/Tech-Companies-Settle-Hiring-
Probe-With-Justice-Department-1285414623/.

Fitz-enz, Jac, and Barbara Davison. How to Measure

Human Resources Management. 3rd Ed. New York
City, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2002. p. 33.

Beyond race and gender; bringing workplace diversity

to a higher level. (2010, September 22). Washington
Post, Retrieved from
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2010/09/22/AR2010092202670.html