Analyzing Challenges in Contemporary Human Resource Management

This essay examines the multifaceted challenges confronting human resource management (HRM) in the contemporary business landscape. It begins by highlighting the impact of globalization, technological advancements, and evolving employee expectations on HRM practices. The essay then delves into specific challenges, including change management, leadership development, and measuring HR effectiveness. It explores the impact of these issues on organizations, discussing topics such as training and development costs, leadership roles, and the shift from traditional HR functions to strategic partnerships. Furthermore, the essay analyzes the implications of employment laws, organizational structure, and employee compensation. It also addresses strategies for mitigating these challenges, such as providing comprehensive training for HR professionals, fostering leadership development, implementing effective measurement tools, and ensuring compliance with employment regulations. The essay concludes by emphasizing the crucial role of HRM in achieving organizational success and the importance of adapting to the changing business environment.

Running head: CHALLENGES OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
CHALLENGES OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The modern business environment has started with the era of the talents and has
become a main reason for the success in the market in which the organizations operate. The
new business environment is further driven by the factors like, liberalization, technological
development and globalization. The development related to the technologies in the business
environment has developed the world as a connected system. The new business era brings
challenges for the modern organizations with respect to the human resource management
related activities (Albrecht et al. 2015). The human resource management is thereby faced
with new challenges, creation of new models for achievement of the global mobility,
competitiveness and efficiency. Globalization has reduced the boundaries between the
countries and organizations to a large extent. The human resource management based
activities of the organizations have experienced huge amounts of changes in the modern
business environment. The global competition has placed immense pressure on the managers
and employees (Banfield, Kay and Royles 2018).
The essay is based on the analysis of the various aspects of the human resource
management challenges that are faced by the modern organizations. The ways by which these
challenges can be mitigated will also be analysed in the essay.
Analysis of the challenges faced
According to, Bratton and Gold (2017), the hugely transforming business
environment has caused many challenges in the human resource management activities of the
organizations. The challenges can be mainly due to the emphasis on the training and
development programs of the employees. The training and development based challenges can
cause huge costs to the operations of the company. The various factors that affect the changes
that have occurred in the HRM environment are mainly, the integration of the technologies

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and the improved schemes related to the attraction of the candidates which have helped in the
training based activities. The role that is played by the human resource management
professionals in the organizations have also changed in the modern era of business. The
human resources are considered to be business driven in nature and the effectiveness of the
functions thereby depends on the understanding of the corporate direction of the
organizations.
As argued by, Brewster, Chung and Sparrow (2016), the HR professionals of the
organizations now play the role of a counsellor, coach and employee advocate. The top three
challenges that are faced by the human resource managers are as discussed further.
1. The change management related activities of the organizations are not a focal
point of the professional training of the human resource managers which is a
reason behind the issues that are faced by the human resource managers regarding
the implementation of changes in the organizations.
2. The second biggest challenge is related to the human resource management of the
organizations are based on the development of leadership.
The HR professionals thereby expected to provide the essential processes, structures,
tools and the various points of view which are related to the selection and development of
future leaders. The development of leadership is identified as the strategic initiative which
ensures that the right employees are retained in the organization. The culture of the
organization thereby supports the performance within the processes to gain a position in the
market. The managers are also equipped to play the leadership roles in the various
organizations. The measurement of the HR effectiveness is another major challenge that is
faced by the managers. The profession also needs to measure the results that are related to the

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management of transactions and the positive influence that is has on the business (Brewster et
al. 2016).
The metrics of the changes that have taken place in the companies can be used for
measuring the effectiveness which is considered to be the beginning of the shift from the role
that is played by the human resource managers. The HR team now has to play the role of a
strategic partner in the modern business organizations. The main critical issue which is
related to the human resource management is the effectiveness of the organizations. The shift
that has taken place in the role played by the human resource management is significant as
the responsibilities of the department shift from counting the number of employees to
determining the return on the investment that is made by the management. The new concept
thereby takes into account the concepts that are related to good turnover and bad turnover.
Good turnover is related to the loss of the unproductive employees and bad turnover is based
on the loss of the productive employees. The HR managers need to keep up with the
changing laws that are related to the employment in the organizations. The ignorance related
to the employment laws can lead to various lawsuits, audits and the demise of the company as
a whole (Jackson, Schuler and Jiang 2014).
The management of the growth of structure, strategies and the internal organizational
processes is a major challenge faced by the HR managers. The companies thereby experience
low levels of productivity and the morale based on the changing periods. The investment that
needs to be made in the development of the lower level employees is a major problem that is
faced by the organizations. The companies can find huge difficulties in finding resources
which are required for the purpose of training the employees. The employees who are a part
of the frontline of the company are considered to be the most hardworking ones and this
reduces the amount of time that they can invest in the various training based courses.

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Changing technologies are also able to pose challenges to the successful operations of the
organizations (Kramar 2014).
As discussed by, Meijerink, Bondarouk and Lepak (2016), the human resource
department of the company may have face issues based on the management of the changes
that have occurred and the ways by which the employees are able to cope up with the various
changes. The structure and levels of the compensation that is provided to the employees
affect the operations of the human resource department and the managers as well. The
budgets of the various organizations related to the compensation that they wish to provide to
the employees are a major factor that needs to be taken care by the managers. Another major
issue that is faced by the managers is based on the recruitment of the talented group of
people. The process of retaining these employees is also important and the HR managers face
issues in the modern era based on this particular responsibility. The diversity in the
workplace also needs to be maintained in an effective manner which further causes an issue
in the operations of the company in the modern environment.
Ways by which challenges can be mitigated
1. The first issue that has been discussed with respect to the human resources
of the organizations is related to the change management related activities
of the company. The human resource managers of the modern era need to
be provided with extensive training about the ways by which they can
manage the changes that take place in the organizations and implement
these as well.
2. The second issue is based on the development of the leadership among the
employees. The human resource managers can play an important role in

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the leadership development of lower level employees as they are able to
understand their needs and demands.
3. The third issue is related to the measurement of the effectiveness of the
human resource department (Ones, Viswesvaran and Schmidt 2017).
The organizations can measure the effectiveness of the HR department with the help
of the appropriate tools that need to be implemented in the various processes. The compliance
with the employment laws is also necessary for the small and the large organizations. The HR
department is thereby responsible for implementing the processes with respect to the laws
that have been formulated. The levels of communication of the HR managers with the
employees need to be improved so that they are able to easily adapt to the various changes
that are taking place in the organizational environment. The communication of changes can
be effective for the organizations to operate successfully in the changed environment of
technologies (Purce 2014).
The HR managers of the modern era need to formulate a well-defined reward
structure along with the salary based formats so that they are able to connect with the
employees in an easier manner. The motivation levels of the employees can also be increased
by this step of the managers. The recruitment of the talented pool of employees can be
performed successfully with the help of the use of a consultancy firm or a staffing company.
This will reduce the burden from the minds of the HR managers regarding the search for the
perfect group of employees who will be able to serve the organization successfully (Rees and
Smith 2017). The retaining of talented employees can be achieved by the HR managers by
creating a positive and motivating working environment which can help the employees to
stay in the organizations for a longer period of time. The HR managers need to create a
culture in the organizations which is mainly based on teamwork. This culture will be helpful

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for the employees of the organizations to work in a diverse environment with different types
of people (Stone et al. 2015).
Conclusion
The essay can be concluded by stating that the HR managers of the modern
organizations face major issues which are related to the proper management of the
employees. The issues that are thereby faced by the employees can be mitigated by the
various number of ways that have been discussed and analysed in the essay. The HR
department is an important part of the organizational processes and this has a major effect on
the successful operations of the company.

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