Challenges Faced by Human Resource Management in the Manufacturing Sector

This essay discusses the challenges faced by the human resource department of the manufacturing sector. It covers issues related to recruitment, employee relations, training and development, diversity and work-life balance.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Human Resource Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
Human resource management is one of the most important and crucial pillars of any
corporate organisation and involves the strategic use and implantation of techniques to manage
and handle the workforce and employees of any organisation (Collings, Wood & Szamosi,
2018). It is the practice of using practices, policies and frameworks that affect and employees
attitudes and behaviours of firms. It also essentially involves monitoring of the productivities of
the employees so that there is increased retaining of employees in the organisation and their
productivities are increased. It is essentially used as a part of the decision making, planning and
management processes so that the level if transparency is maintained across all levels of
hierarchies in different firms. This department of any firm helps in collaborating the interests of
the individual employees with the collective needs of the employees so that the interests and
objectives of the firm are maintained in the long run. It includes a lot of steps including training,
development, employing and compensating them at the market levels of compensations so that
there is efficient running and functioning of the firm. It also ensures the capacity utilisation of
the employees through the implementation of retaining strategies at large. It is the act of the firm
in which the employees are not merely considered to be resources but stakeholders of every
project that the firm is undertaking (Bratton & Gold, 2017). The skills of the employees and
interests play a vital role in this department of any organisation. This essay focuses on the
problems and challenges faced by the human resource department of the manufacturing sector.

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The Manufacturing Sector and problems in Human Resources Management
The manufacturing sector is one of the most widespread sectors in the world and has
always been a sector that attracts the maximum number of workers. It is considered to be one of
the most important sectors as there are many other industrial sectors that directly or indirectly
depend on this sector. However, the manufacturing sector in Australia is faced with some
challenges in the context of productivity of workforce in this sector (Jabbour & de Sousa
Jabbour, 2016). This problem if traced back and scrutinised leads to the generation of facts that
assert human resource challenges facing this workforce. Around 8.1 % of the total work force is
in the manufacturing sector in Australia. Large problems are faced in employing the employees
that high levels of productivity and in turn it becomes difficult for the human resource
departments of the firms in this sector to align this with the training provided. The basis of the
problem faced rises from the fact that the general trend of the graduates is such that a very small
proportion of these individuals have their majors in STEM subjects and hence recruiting the
correct fit in the first place becomes a problem. This has resulted in significant loss of employees
and work force at large in the manufacturing sector even though the financial returns to the
sector has been large (Marchington et al., 2016). In fact, the payment of enough and substantial
wages are not reason enough to hold back the workforce in this sector. The sector also faces
issues related to contexts of safety and security of the employees including ethical problems and
even adherence to legal and safety ensuring policies and rules. Another very important source of
challenge for the manufacturing sector human resources management is the existence of friction
in the context of employee relations and attrition arising from the same. The Fair Work Act of
2009 introduced in Australia helps in taking care of the employee relations and thus should be
taken care of by the human resources management department of firms. The other most

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important type of problem faced by the human resources management of the manufacturing
industry is the monitoring and implementation of potential management through proper training
and development processes.
Legal, ethical and safety contexts of HRM
The welfare and security of employees in the firms and organisations is a very important
aspect of the strategic human resource management process. This is especially important in the
manufacturing industry as there a lot of issues that need to be taken care of in this industry as
such. The legal and ethical contexts require the firms to adhere to the policies and compliance
rules in place by the government which are usually not followed and exploited in the course of
the manufacturing processes in this industry. This a context of corporate social responsibility and
should essentially be addressed by all firms. Further, the production processes in the
manufacturing sector are filled with dangers and life threatening elements which should be
monitored and reduced by the firms. The firm should also have policies in place to mitigate the
problems and issues faced by the employees and look after their complaints. In terms of ethics,
the firms should provide equal opportunities and diversity throughout the sector so that there is
increased satisfaction and motivation among the employees. Implementation of the codes of
conduct and policies by the Australian Legal Framework will ensure retaining if employees by
elimination of differences in this respect. In this context, special attention should also be given to
the contracts filed and made for the employees and terms and conditions governing the
termination of those contracts. This will again help in the building of strong and constructive
relations in between employees and employers as well as amongst the employees at different
hierarchical levels in the different firms across the country.

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Recruitment and Selection
The greatest challenge for the manufacturing industry in Australia as well as the other
parts of the world has been the effective recruitment of employees and especially the right fit for
the industry as mentioned above. This is majorly because of the strenuous and complicated
processes in this industry that require specialised training and expertise that is needed to remain
and work productively in this industry (Collings, Wood & Szamosi, 2018). As a matter of fact,
reports assert that around 80% of the manufacturers are aware and are faced with the problem of
meeting workforce demands in the upcoming years (in the next five years). The problem is also
perceived to be partially societal in nature and is extremely deep rooted and will require quite a
substantial amount of time to be dealt with. The specific criteria and skill sets required to reach
the job positions of some of the manufacturing engineers inevitably causes a reduction in the
potential number of people who can apply and ultimately be recruited for these jobs. Further, the
lack of enough budgeting and finances to afford an extremely educated and well specialised
workforce is also lacking in this respect (Bal & De Lange, 2015).. Reports assert that a total of
around, 55% manufacturers are acknowledging that there is immense shortage of workforce in
the manufacturing sector due to the lack of skilled labor with highly specific skill sets.
This issue can be resolved in a highly strategic and competent manner wherein the
manufacturing firms will have to partner and align with other start-ups and firms specialising in
other sectors of the corporate sector. By doing this the manufacturing sector will be able to fill
gaps in the work force using crossover of talents and collaborating in certain cases. Hence,
essentially what is required of the manufacturing industry firms is to adopt the techniques and

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strategies of market research and analysis. For this, the firm can use a tool set and analytical
softwares that are comparing and competing in nature and also implement the usage of smart
devices. This will effectively help in increasing the reach of the firms in terms of finding large of
talent that are complementary to the nature of the job roles that the firm is looking for. It will
also help the recruiters to internationally expand their recruiting horizons and effectively increase
the amount of communication in between the employers and the graduates. This will help in
generating a cycle of innovation and work stimulation. Further, the process of providing on the
job training to improve the already existing skill sets of the manufacturing engineers can also be
used as another process of recruitment and selection in the manufacturing sector.
Employee Relation Challenges
As mentioned before the prevalence of the friction and corrosion in the workforce relations
forms a very big challenge in the retaining of employees in the manufacturing industry. The Fair
Work Act of 2009 introduced by the Australian industrial relations system has helped in dealing
with these problems and majorly deals with the following requirements:
 The terms and conditions of the firms should have a minimum safety net
 Rules and obligations pertaining to bargaining should be underpinned using a system of
enterprise-level collective bargaining
 Maintaining systems of allowing flexible work arrangements as well as provisions for
individual flexibility arrangements so that every employee can individually be able to
meet their personal needs such that this leaves the employer with increased individual
welfare levels
 Policies and practices against unlawful cases of termination of employees

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 Protecting and ensuring the freedom of both the employees as well as the employers as to
whether or not there is a need for a third party in the workplace to take care of the rights
and regulations of the employees and employers such that this third party can be used for
representation by either the employees or the employers.
In this context, these regulations should be mandatorily followed by the manufacturing firms
so that the employee relations are bettered. The problems in this aspect lie in the fact that the
current employment engagement is only estimated to be at a level of 25% which is low and
warning (Guest, 2017). This problem has been seen to increase with the expansion of the
workforce gradually leading to a decrease in the total workforce by increased friction. This
problem is increasing at an alarming level because of the lack of proper communication and
employee feedback through increased interaction of employees. In the manufacturing sector as
the employee base is well spread, it becomes an even bigger problem in the human resources
sector (Nkomo & Hoobler, 2014). The larger the geographical spread of the firm and the larger
the number of operating units, the more difficult is this problem. In certain cases the presence of
managers and the organisational heads as well as other leadership employees in different
locations causes heightening of this problem.
To curb this problem, the management and the organisational leaderships of the manufacturing
firms should be in constant contact with the trade unions so that there is a proper channel of
communication and the interests of all workers are maintained.
Training and Development
The factors of training and development form a crucial aspect of the problems and
challenges faced by the manufacturing industry as mentioned before in the essay. The

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administration and monitoring of the employees using efficient training and development
processes will not only help the employers in keeping the employees in being updated with the
current market situations and standards but also increase the level of employee engagement
thereby reducing the level of friction amongst them. By keeping them updated about the industry
developments, the human resources management will also be able to prepare them for the
upcoming challenges (Langford et al., 2014). It has been claimed in many reports that the lack of
the provisions of proper training and development processes (implementation of obsolete
techniques) is causing the lack of both productivity and employee engagement. The firms should
increasingly employ the method of regular and vehement employee feedbacks so that the
employees are able to identify their areas of strengths and weaknesses and work on the same. It
has been found that in this context powerful insights and strategies can be formulated with
collective brainstorming of the different employees so that there is a pushing of the boundaries of
the target market as well as knowledge sharing (Shields et al., 2015). Further, the firms should
employ the latest forms of technology and smart devices to impart the training. This will help in
ensuring the employees are easily able to learn and adapt as per the need of the situation. This
process is thus going to reduce the challenges faced in a multi-faceted manner.
Diversity and Work Life Balance
Like all other industries there has been a problem of absence of work life balance and
equal employment opportunities in the manufacturing sector just like the other sectors. However,
this problem is more vehement in this sector as compared to other sectors. This is so because the
subjects that are required to be studied to land a position in the manufacturing sector are often
studied by the male proportion in larger amounts as compared to women. However, this scenario
has changed in the recent years and women are now increasingly participating in the work force.

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Hence, enough opportunities should be provided to this workforce and the diversity of this work
force should be preserved. This should be set as a new approach to recruiting in the
manufacturing industry and the gender gap still existing in this industry should be reduced to the
largest possible extent. Moreover, the diversity in the workforce should also be maintained in
terms of employing the under privileged population and providing them with opportunities to
study as well as participate confidently in the labour force (Albrecht et al., 2015). The lack of
enough sponsorships, training and vocational programs for these students is also one of the
reasons why the global reach of the human resources management in the manufacturing has been
decreasing. The firms and the Australian Government should increase the scope and number of
such programs and workshops. The firms also should incorporate policies that look after the
work life balance of the employees and comply to the same ardently. There should be separate
teams for regulation and monitoring of both employee engagement and diversity together. Both
the use of time based and money based strategies is important in this context.
Conclusion
In order to conclude it can be asserted that the manufacturing industry of Australia is
indeed faced with a lot of challenges and these are only increasing. Human resource management
is one of the most important and crucial pillars of any corporate organisation and involves the
strategic use and implantation of techniques to manage and handle the workforce and employees
of any organisation. The greatest challenge for the manufacturing industry in Australia as well as
the other parts of the world has been the effective recruitment of employees. There are a lot of
factors that affect the workforce of the manufacturing industry. The firms and the Australian
Government should increase the scope and number of such programs and workshops which will

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increase the equality of employment opportunities in the industry. Further, the firms should
employ the latest forms of technology and smart devices to impart the training.
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