HR management

• HR managers should focus improving employee morale and welfare.
• Businesses that invest in strategies to improve employee morale and welfare see higher productivity and work satisfaction.
• HR departments offer support services, like advice and counseling, to assist employees with family or financial issues.
• Provision of excellent hygiene facilities and safety equipment improving working conditions
• When employees feel cared for, morale increases, strengthening loyalty to the company and increasing productivity while lowering labor turnover.

Work-Life Balance

• Factors contributing to a rapid pace of change in work hours and schedules are:
• Customer expectations for service availability beyond traditional hours.
• Organizational desire to align business needs with employee preferences.
• Intensified global competition necessitating greater efficiency and flexibility.
• Demanding work hours impacting workers can cause stress and health issues.
• HR can assist employees in achieving work-life balance, reducing stress and increasing efficiency.
• Businesses allow employees to control their lives by using:
• Flexible working arrangements.
• Teleworking i.e. working from home.
• Job sharing to allow two people to occupy one full-time position by splitting working hours.
• Sabbatical periods of leave from work of up to 12 months where job security is guaranteed.

Diversity and Equality in the Workplace

• Most organizations ensure equality and diversity with policies.
• Strict laws in many countries govern equality issues in the workplace.
• Equality in the workplace prohibits discrimination in recruitment, dismissal, pay, and benefits based on race, sexuality, gender, age, religion, or national origin.
• Equality in the workplace promotes high morale, motivation and a good and fair reputation.
• Measuring employee performance by achievements rather than discriminatory factors.
• Discouragement and demotivation can occur id discriminatory practices for promotions are used.
• Workplace diversity acknowledges differences between employees.
• Workplace diversity creates an inclusive environment.
• Businesses implement programs to educate employees on diversity and its benefits.
• Promoting workplace diversity lead to:
• Capturing a bigger market share.
• Employing a better qualified workforce.
• Increased creativity.
• Cultural awareness and better knowledge of foreign markets
• Promoting diverse language skills.

Training and Developing Employees

• HR departments should ensure that employees receive training to perform duties and responsibilities.

Types of Training

• New recruits should receive induction training.
• Induction training should: introduce new recruits to their colleagues
• explain the organizational structure.
• outline the layout of the premises.
• clarify health and safety issues.
• On-the-job training involves instruction at the place of work and is often managed by HR or departmental training officers.
• Using experienced staff members this training is cheaper than external courses, its content is controlled by the business.
• Off-the-job training involves courses away from the workplace, potentially in specialist centers or through outside organizations like colleges.
• Outside training has the potential to expose the business to new ideas.

Impact of Training on a Business and its Employees

• Training can prove expensive.
• Well-trained employees leaving for better pay can occur after they gain new skills.
• 'Poaching' occurs when businesses seek trained workers from other companies.
• Factors such as expensive training programs or reduced productivity during training can discourage businesses.
• Untrained employees are less productive, flexible and adaptable.
• Untrained employees' performance also leads to customer service and accidents.
• Employee satisfaction and motivation closely relates to the importance given to employee training and development.
• Workers become bored and demotivated if standards are not pushed or increased.
• Multi-skilling workers benefits a business, especially during economic and technological changes.

Development and Appraisal of Employees

• Employee development should be a continuous process.
• Development can involve new challenges, additional training, promotions etc.
• Continuous self-fulfillment can occur as a result of The HR department establishes a relevant and realistic career plan
• The HR department should analyze business needs when making the development plan.
• Employee appraisal is done annually and involves analyzing performance against preset targets and goals.
• Employee development programmes encourage employees to become successful intrapreneurs if they are:
• encouraged to be independent thinkers and creative.
• given opportunities to mix and work with other skilled employees from different departments.
• empowered with the authority and resources they need for innovation.
• assured that acceptable failure is an important component to take risks.
• encouraged to start with small ideas and innovations.

Management and Workforce Relations

• If relations are good between the management and the workforce the business is much more likely to succeed.
• Employees in most countries are able to join trade unions.
• Negotiations can occur through trade union officials.

Benefits of Cooperation between Management and the Workforce

• Some countries have a tradition of disagreement between management and workforce.
• Other countries have more cooperation.
• Cooperation has can result in real benefits like:
• Fewer working days lost through strikes and industrial action.
• Easier to introduce change in the workplace.
• Workforce contribution is recognised by management.
• Agreements increase the business' competiveness.
• Workers' insight can contribute to successful decisions.

Impact of Trade Union Involvement in the Workplace

• Workers join trade unions for various reasons but:
• Solidarity enables collective bargaining.
• Individual action is less effective.
• Unions provide legal support to employees.
• Unions ensure health and safety.
• Trade union recognition is a policy allowing for collective bargaining.
• Some employers negotiate individually to avoid pressure from collective bargaining for higher pay or improved conditions.

Benefits of Collective Bargaining

• Collective bargaining saves time as it can:
• Negotiate with one trade union officer instead of individual workers.
• Prevent individual workers feeling like one has a better deal than others.
• Encourage workers to voice their concerns.
• Allow for better planning from discussion of matters.
• Impose discipline on members to prevent hasty industrial action being taken.
• Partnership unionism gives employers a valuable space for discussing issues.
• Discussions between workers and management lead to increased productivity and profits.

Disputes Between Trade Union and Management

• Industrial action is more likely when cooperation between workers and management does not exist.
• Actions by the trade union can include:
• Continuing with collective bargaining.
• Go slow i.e. works work at the minimum pace.
• Work-to-rule i.e. workers do work stated within the employment contract.
• Overtime bans i.e. workers refuse to work overtime.
• Strike action i.e. workers withdraw work.
• Methods to resolve industrial disputes include:
• Negotiations.
• Public relations.
• Threats of redundancies.
• Changes of contract.
• Lock-outs.
• Business closure.
• Cooperation between management and the workforce is more effective than discord.