Chapter 2

TRENDS IN HRM

Contents

Describe trends in the labour force composition

and how they affect HRM. 1.

2.

3.

Discuss how strategic issues are affecting HRM.

Discuss how technological development

affected HRM

4.

Changes in the Labor

Force Composition

Labor market vs labor force vs workforce

Labor Market (External) Individuals who are actively seeking employment.

People available for work.

Labourforce/Workforce (Internal)

Employees of a specific company or industry.

• The internal labor force are drawn from the external labor market.

• The number and skills of individuals in the external labor market will

determine/ influence the qualities of HRs available to an organization.

Changes in the Labor Force

Diverse Workforce

• Ageing Workforce

• Generation differences

• Dual Career Families

• Women in labor force

Age Distribution of U.S Labor Force,

2008 and 2018

AGING (ageing) WORKFORCE

Aging Workforce: Implications on HRM

HR professionals will spend much of their time on concerns related

to retirement planning, retraining older workers, and

motivating workers whose careers have reached a plateau.

Organizations will struggle with ways to control the rising costs of

health care and other benefits.

As more of the workforce reaches retirement age, some

companies have set up mentoring programs between older and

younger workers so that knowledge is not lost but passed on.

Many of managers will supervise employees much older than

themselves.

“HR managers need to be concerned

about changes in the makeup and

expectations of their employees.”

What Does the Workforce Look Like Today?

Veteran: Those born before 1946

Above 68 yrs

Baby boomers: between 1946 and 1964

50 – 68 yrs

Generation X: born 1965 to 1977

37 – 49 yrs

Gen Y: born 1978 to 1994

20 – 36 yrs

IMPLICATIONS ON HRM?

WHAT NEED TO BE DONE?

Dual Career Couple/Family

Both husband and wife have jobs and family responsibilities.

Created a unique set of challenges:

Socialization

Role expectations

Work-family conflicts

Implications to individuals:

Work-life balance issue

Career development/advancement

Need Creative Employee Benefits

Want more workplace flexibility

Implications for HRM/Organisations

Offer creative employee benefits

Offer flexible work schedules

Offer assistance

Women in Labour Force

% of women in labor force is growing

Hold management, technical, professional, and related occupations

IMPLICATIONS TO HRM/ORGANISATION:

Organizations must assist to address work/family issues

Need child-care arrangements

Flexible working hours

Strategic Business Issues Affecting HRM

Mergers and Acquisitions

HRM should have a significant role in carrying out a merger* or

acquisition**.

Differences between the businesses involved in the deal make

conflict inevitable.

Need to sort out differences in the two companies’ practices

with regard to compensation, performance appraisal, and other

HR systems.

* Merger: Two companies become one.

** Acquisitions: One company buying another.

Downsizing

Downsizing:

Reducing number of employees.

Present a number of challenges to HR.

Outsourcing

Outsourcing

The practice of having another company (a vendor,

third-party provider, or consultant) provide services.

Outsourcing gives the company access to in-depth

expertise and is often more economical as well.

Many HR functions are being outsourced

Expanding into Global Markets

Offshoring

Moving operations from the country where a

company is headquartered to a country where pay

rates are lower but the necessary skills are available.

Technological change

in HRM

The introduction of advanced technology has changed the

way in which workers are managed.

Technology has altered the methods of collecting employment

information, speeding up the processing of data, and

improving the process of internal and

external communication.

• Created new roles for HR professionals

• Pressures to keep abreast of technology

Influence of Technology in HRM

Human Resource Information System

(HRIS)

A computer system used to acquire, store, manipulate, analyze,

retrieve, and distribute information related to an organization’s

human resources.

An HRIS can:

support strategic decision making

provide data for evaluating programs or policies

support day-to-day HR decisions

Store and retrieve of large quantities of data.

Combine and reconfigure data to create new information.

Lower administrative costs, increased productivity and response

times.

Electronic HRM (e-HRM)

e-HRM: the processing and transmission of digitized HR information especially using computer networking and the Internet.

e-HRM has the potential to change all traditional HRM functions.

That’s all