Challenges Faced by Human Resource Professionals and Strategies to Address Them

This report discusses the challenges faced by human resource professionals, including attracting top talent, embracing change, developing leaders, fostering a culture of continuous learning, and globalisation. It also provides strategies to address these challenges. The report is relevant to students studying human resource management and professionals in the field.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCES
Human Resources:
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author’s Note:

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Executive Summary:
Human resource professionals are seen to juggle a wide range of responsibilities from
recruitment to retention and everything which is covered in between. The rapidly transforming
business and the overall landscape leads to the implication that there are many human resource
challenges at present which can continue to evolve for several years to come. The aim of this
report is to provide an insight into the challenges faced by the human resource professionals at
present and also to give solutions to the stated problems.

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Table of Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................3
Major Challenges faced by Human resource managers:.................................................................3
Attracting the top and best talent:................................................................................................3
Embracing change with grace and with ease:..............................................................................4
Developing leaders for the future:...............................................................................................4
Fostering a culture of continuous learning:.................................................................................4
Globalisation:...............................................................................................................................5
Strategies to address the challenges faced:......................................................................................6
Conclusion:......................................................................................................................................7
References:......................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction:
The rapidly transforming business and the overall landscape leads to the implication that
there are many human resource challenges at present which can continue to evolve for several
years to come. This might have been by an increased emphasis on the training and engagement
programs or by proper investment in the areas which help in the optimization of the expenditure
such as the systems of integrated technology or improved schemes of candidate attraction. Due
to the fluctuating economy and also the advancements globally, there are many changes which
occur rapidly and this affects the HR in a huge range of issues (Nankervis et al. 2013).
Major Challenges faced by Human resource managers:
Human resource professionals are seen to juggle a wide range of responsibilities from
recruitment to retention and everything which is covered in between. The most crucial and
important challenges which are faced by the human resource managers are stated as follows:
Attracting the top and best talent:
Attracting and retaining the best talent, takes discernment, time and a whole lot of work.
In order to attract the right individuals the requirements of the job need to be known and also the
needs of the organisation. Therefore in order to attract the best employees the right requirements
of the job and the organisation need to be understood. Based on the job roles and expectations
and with the change in them, the organisational culture keeps changing and adapting to the
changing times thus making the task of choosing the correct applicants as employees extremely
difficult (Berman et al. 2012).

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Embracing change with grace and with ease:
Change is considered to be a shifter of shape. It is responsible for influencing the
environment, competitors, customers and also the place of work. In case the managerial,
structural, technological or procedural work is to be done, it is known from before that the
human beings are afraid of change. The fear of unknown is seen to bring about the feelings of
uncertainty and anxiety. This is responsible for creating a challenge for the HR professionals.
The responsibility of adapting the employees for change is huge which is a challenge faced by
them managers. There is also the responsibility for management of the morale of the employees,
happiness and cooperation by means and also by constantly up-skilling employees in order to
meet the changing requirements of the business (Bolman and Deal 2017).
Developing leaders for the future:
It is seen that not all sorts of teams perform at a similar level and this is because of the
leader of the teams. There are many employees who consider leading their jobs due to the poor
relationship with the managers who are directly in charge of them. This is serious because the
behaviour of the managers has an impact on the people who are under them. Therefore it is
necessary for the HR professionals to source proper managers and great leaders. This is difficult
to do because grooming employees for leadership positions in future do not work properly as the
leaders who are in the making keep leaving their organisation. Hence this human resource
challenge is very severe.
Fostering a culture of continuous learning:
At present immense number of people leave their jobs the main reason being the lack of
opportunities for development. The idea of training is the best way in which the employees can
remain stimulated, engaged as well as loyal. It needs to be ensured however that the idea of

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training is relevant to the specific jobs. Training needs to take place continuously in order to
make the business remain competitive. Therefore the employees do not get bored or irritated
easily. They also do not get overloaded or burdened with more work than which they can
possibly handle (Helmreich and Merritt 2017).
Globalisation:
Globalisation is one of the most important factors which affect every aspect of the
business all over the world. There are bound to be employees in every organisation who come
from diverse backgrounds and this needs to be considered in the positive sense. The more diverse
the employee range, the more the diversity of their opinions, ideas and perspectives. Therefore
the concept of diversity needs to be encouraged. This however poses human resource challenges
which include the management of diverse cultures in a local team and also the need for creating a
workplace which is comfortable, nice, welcoming and also free of any sort of conflict.
There are also other problems which the HR professionals face which include the health
and safety standards, which are one of the obvious human resource challenges. These become
important for the purpose of well being of the employees. Health in the workplace is not just
about the concept of hygiene and safety. At present the psychological well-being of the
employees can deteriorate due to high level of demands, limited time frames, tremendous
pressure and therefore employees are not capable of producing their best nature of work. It id
also not possible to sustain high levels of stress at all times as there are several problems which
are to be dealt with simultaneously. Overall there is the need for the HR managers to create a
proper quality of employee experience as the amount of staff turnover in fast paced companies is
severely high (Briscoe, Tarique and Schuler 2012).

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Strategies to address the challenges faced:
For the first issue of the selection of the right candidates it is needed to first sort out the
nature and the types of the vacancies which are existent in a specific organisation. The platforms
which are most likely to be frequented by the target talent need to be utilized the most. This
helps in the attraction of the correct talent. Attracting the right sort of candidates ensures that the
screening phase is easier and less tedious. Also at the time of screening of the candidates there
needs to be a focus on their fit with the organisation more than with their specific jobs. There
needs to be a proper understanding regarding the evidence that the candidates are open to
challenges and also with change. The technological capabilities of the candidates also need to be
checked along with dealing with their respective feedback. All these criteria if kept in mind helps
in the creation of a team of employees who are likely to achieve the training and development of
the business and also the business objectives as these transform over a period of time (Brewster
2017).
The solution to the second problem cannot comprise of only one correct answer only.
However there needs to be an effort to communicate frequently and n a transparent manner
before, during and after specific times of change. There need to be fair warnings on the changes
which are to come in order to make the staff well-equipped with the competence they need to
show in order to deal with proper amount of change. There needs to be a proper training on the
hard and soft skills which they need to cope up with and the change they need to pen themselves
to. By means of this the employees are likely to feel much more secure and capable (Bratton and
Gold 2017).
The solution to the third issue is that the employees need to be made aware that the
management and higher authorities have trust in their abilities and they desire to put them in

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leadership positions in future. The employees need to be made aware also that they are valuable
to the organisation so that they realize their value on the job.
The fourth problem can be addressed by means of providing materials which help the
employees understand clearly what they actually need to do. Online training can take place at
home or even on weekends at times when the employees are free. This helps them in the
understanding of all the developments in their work scenario and they do not feel burdened even
if they are given a little bit more of work than they are usually comfortable with doing. The
employees in these cases can remain engaged in their training. It is also possible for them to
enjoy the flexibility of the consumption of segments of learning which they find to be convenient
(Stahl, Björkman and Morris 2012).
Cultural awareness programs help employees in the recognition of the benefits of
diversity like better ideas, thoughts and innovations and a wider reach of the customers. There
need to be activities of team building which have an effective approach of integration of the
employees of different culture and uniting them towards a perspective which is common and for
the best interest of all the people concerned.
Conclusion:
The ultimate challenge as a whole for the employees is to understand the corporate
landscape for the future. With the evolution of industries and technologies all over the world,
newer and better informed generations enter the workforce and the procedure of globalisation
causes an increase level of competition. The human resource issues of a company have the
potential to either make or break a particular organisation. By remaining relevant and by

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continuous identification and addressing of the human resource challenges, it is possible for the
companies to empower the greatest asset the people by means of sustainable success.

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References:
Berman, E.M., Bowman, J.S., West, J.P. and Van Wart, M.R., 2012. Human resource
management in public service: Paradoxes, processes, and problems. Sage.
Bolman, L.G. and Deal, T.E., 2017. Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership.
John Wiley & Sons.
Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2017. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.
Brewster, C., 2017. The integration of human resource management and corporate strategy.
In Policy and practice in European human resource management (pp. 22-35). Routledge.
Briscoe, D., Tarique, I. and Schuler, R., 2012. International human resource management:
Policies and practices for multinational enterprises. Routledge.
Helmreich, R.L. and Merritt, A.C., 2017. Culture at work in aviation and medicine: National,
organizational and professional influences. Routledge.
Nankervis, A.R., Baird, M., Coffey, J. and Shields, J., 2013. Human resource management:
strategy and practice.
Stahl, G.K., Björkman, I. and Morris, S. eds., 2012. Handbook of research in international
human resource management. Edward Elgar Publishing.