ESSAY: Benchmark assignment Human Resources and Change

Benchmark assignment Human Resources and Change

Question 3

One of the significant subsystems that an organization may need to change is technology. With the current need to automate production in organizations, technology change is one subsystem that is critical to organizations. Change in technology involves revamping physical resources, enhancing the technical know-how of employees, and if possible, coming up with new technological innovations as the need arises (Cox & Cox, 2018). Changes made to this subsystem will be felt by other subsystems, such as employees within the organization. The people subsystem encompasses change in managerial styles, change in communication strategies, and revamping the working relationships in the organization. A change in an organization’s technical department may easily necessitate training the existing employees so that they can quickly acclimatize to the working of the new system. If no technical expertise exists in the organization, it may be necessary to outsource or to employ others with necessary skills permanently. Furthermore, technology may also come with negative implications as it may call for a reduction of human capital, which implies that some employees lose their jobs.

Other than the people subsystem, change in technology may also directly affect the structural subsystem. This area entails rules of work, workflow, performance management, career planning, decision making, among others. If there are changes in technology, an organization may want to re-plan its work schedules so that they can conform to the quality of the technology employed. If there was initially a manual system, management might wish to reorganize the mode of operation so that productivity can be increased as a result of the technology present. As part of performance management, changes in the financial system may also be necessary as the organization grapples with streamlining operations through a transition of technological advancement.

Question 5

Different approaches can be used to ensure an organization can attract, develop, and maintain a workforce to attain the proposed change. To support the changes proposed in question 3, human resource planning will be key. The process entails identifying both the current and future HR needs of the organization to help it achieve its goals. For the proposed change, this implies evaluating the number of employees that are competent with the new technological changes (Hanaysha & Tahir, 2016). If it is noted that the available workforce is below the threshold, careful consideration should be made on hiring new and competent employees.

Another strategy that can be used to come up with a competitive workforce that can support the change is to undertake training and development. Coming up with a training program will help retain skills that employees have and, at the same time, improve the competency of the workforce in handling any emerging challenges in the new technology being employed. Employee training and development is also vital in ensuring that the organization doesn’t have to outsource skilled workforce as that may end up being very costly (Kharitonov, 2018). Training also reduces technologically related mistakes that can be costly to the organization.

Lastly, to ensure we maintain a quality workforce and support the proposed change, compensation, and benefits will be a critical issue to implement. Employees always wish to work in settings that they feel motivated and appreciated. Since technological change may need the endurance and persistence of employees, it will be necessary to motivate them through compensation initiatives and other benefits (Sarmad, Ajmal, Shamim, Saleh & Malik, 2016). Such strategies also help attract most skilled employees, increase their loyalty, and finally make them more productive and profitable.

References

Cox, S., & Cox, J. A. (2018). A Socio-Technical Analysis of the Impact of Technological Change in a Retail Organization. Retrieved from http://organization-studies.com/2018-conference/program

Hanaysha, J., & Tahir, P. R. (2016). Examining the effects of employee empowerment, teamwork, and employee training on job satisfaction. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 219, 272-282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.05.016

Kharitonov, M. (2018, September). Optimization of Hierarchical Structures of Production Technological Processes Subsystems. In 2018 International Russian Automation Conference (RusAutoCon) (pp. 1-6). IEEE.

Sarmad, M., Ajmal, M. M., Shamim, M., Saleh, M., & Malik, A. (2016). Motivation and compensation as predictors of employees’ retention: evidence from public sector oil and gas selling organizations. Journal of Behavioural Sciences, 26(2).