Ethical Issues in Human Resource Management

Ethical Issues in Human Resource Management 

Definition of HRM 

HRM is a management function involving the recruitment of suitable human resources, training, developing and sustaining their competencies, motivating them, offering them rewards on a rational and equitable basis, and ensuring their continued commitment to the organization for achieving its overall objectives. 

Growth of Human Resource Management 

• 1890–1910 – Fredrick W. Taylor formulated scientific management, which included a careful selection of employees; finding out the best method of doing the job; systematic training of workers; provision of suitable implements; and giving adequate rewards for good performance. 

• 1910–1930 – Greater importance to welfare of workers, emergence of industrial psychology and improvements in the mode of recruitment procedures 

• 1930–1945 – Principle of Hawthorne studies gains momentum in personnel management in an industrial organization. Greater emphasis given to motivating factors affecting worker productivity. 

• 1945–1965 – More emphasis on collective bargaining and labour relations. Compensation and benefits gained importance as unions negotiated for and obtained paid vacations, paid holidays and insurance coverage.

• 1965–1985 – Equal employment opportunity and affirmative action became crucial human resource management responsibilities 

• 1985–2005 – Increased diversity of the labour force, in terms of age, gender, race and ethnicity; globalization of business and the accompanying technological revolution; focus on HRM as a “strategic function” 

Different aspects of HRM 

• Recruitment 

• Training and development 

• Learning organizations 

• Performance management 

• Pay 

• Team work 

• Motivation 

HR related ethical issues 

• Discrimination issues 

• Suppression of democratization in the workplace 

 • Privacy issues 

      ▪ Recruitment and selection 

      ▪ Performance tracking 

      ▪ Privacy issues of computerized employee records 

      ▪ Electronic surveillance 

• Safety and health 

• Performance appraisals 

Emerging challenges of HRM 

a. Globalization of markets and intensification of competition has made employers and employees conscious of their changing and strategic roles in organizations; 

b. Corporate restructuring has become an absolute necessity for organizations; 

c. Need for reconciling to multiple work ethos as a result of mergers and acquisitions;  

e. Emphasis on total quality management; 

f. Changing job profiles and the need for and ability to get adjusted to them; 

g. Adoption to changing workforce profile consequent on structural changes;  

h. Increasing role of women employees in organizations; 

i. Increasing use of Information Technology that is altering the very nature of work delivery in organizations; and 

j. Increasing emphasis on knowledge management and the need for acquisition and use of knowledge to keep pace with the fast changing world. 

Role of HRM in creating an ethical organization 

• The top management should be committed to ethical behaviour 

• They should be the role models to their employees 

• The organization should evolve codes of ethics for its employees and enforce them. 

• Ethics committees should be formed with top executives as members to advice on ethical issues.

• Company journals to publish articles on ethical issues and pose hypothetical ethical dilemmas and discussions on how to resolve these 

• An ethics office with ethics officers to oversee the process and help communicate policy to employees. 

• Organize employee ethics training which can play an integral role in ensuring compliance with the ethics code. 

• A disciplinary system to deal with ethical violations promptly and decisively. 

Categories 

• Employers 

• Employees 

• Government Agency 

• Manpower Consultancy 

• Outside Sources 

Discrimination Origin 

• Age 

• Sex • Handicapped 

• Religion or Caste 

• Country of Origin 

• Whimsical – No Fixed Reason

Personnel Management in Organizations

Personnel Management in Organizations

Management plays a key role in the development of the Business enterprise. It means getting
any work done by other people. Management system has some core functionalities such as planning organizing, staffing and controlling the efforts of human beings who are working in the concerned in the enterprise.

Management basically deals with all the persons working in the concern who are responsible
for managing an organization. Everyone in the organization will have certain responsibilities and
duties in the enterprise. Personnel management includes planning and directing the applications,
development and utilization of human resource in the enterprise. Employees, unions, public
relationship also plays a key role in personnel management. So there is a need for Personnel
Management and planning of the members play a vital role in the Enterprise.

Personnel Management is an important branch in Management of any business enterprise.
It holds a key to all actions and successful management. It is also concerned with human and
social implications of change in internal organization and methods of working and of economic
and social changes in the community. The main aim is to establish a better coordination between
all the members from top-level management to down below the subordinates to have better
cooperation, better focus to bring out innovative ideas, their objectives, understanding in
the enterprise. Co-operative relationship is achieved within the enterprise by creating
harmonious relations, genuine consultation and participation and system of effective
communication.

Personnel management should designed in such a way it will have the capability to respond to
the changes. Maintain a good relationship within the organization; meet the enterprise social and
legal responsibilities. Human relations have to be nurtured constantly in the enterprise. Only the
enterprise, which is conscious of this need, can achieve their targets by efficiently handling their
available resources for a particular process.

The objectives of personnel management in any working organization are, to bring development
of individuals, maintains safe and effective environmental conditions, utilize the available resources,
to ensure job satisfaction among workers.

Social objective is concerned about how the enterprise creates new employment opportunities,
how the productivity of the enterprise can be maximized, bring satisfaction to the work force,
avoidance of wastage of resources and promote a healthy relationship between the human and
the social welfare.

Personnel objectives specify the needs of the members by providing job security, maximizing the
development of the members, provide proper working environmental conditions to workers.
Enterprise objective is to bring a balance between demand and supply of the personnel and maintain
competent workers in the enterprise. Union objective deals with formulation of personnel policies
in consultation with unions and self-discipline within the enterprise.

Financial and physical resources required for a particular process to be done, and the members
of the organization. Personnel Management is responsible for both the enterprise operating system
and the workers. Other areas in which personnel management is expected to help the workers
are include maintenance of personnel records, determination of wage policy, methods and rates
of remuneration.

Characteristics of good personnel management are:

• Stability, to appoint or replace key personnel executives with minimal loss
• Flexibility, capability to handle problems encountered within the enterprise.
• Simplicity and balancing the perfect line of relationship among the workers.
• Objectivity, feature of having definite objectives for all the levels or units in the enterprise.

Definition

Personnel management can be defined as obtaining, using and maintaining a satisfied workforce.
It is a significant part of management concerned with employees at work and with their relationship
within the organization.

According to Flippo, “Personnel management is the planning, organizing, compensation, integration
and maintainance of people for the purpose of contributing to organizational, individual and societal
goals.”

According to Brech, “Personnel Management is that part which is primarily concerned with human
resource of organization.”

Nature of Personnel Management

• Personnel management includes the function of employment, development and compensation- These functions are performed primarily by the personnel management in consultation with other departments.
• Personnel management is an extension to general management. It is concerned with promoting and stimulating competent work force to make their fullest contribution to the concern.
• Personnel management exist to advice and assist the line managers in personnel matters. Therefore, personnel department is a staff department of an organization.
• Personnel management lays emphasize on action rather than making lengthy schedules, plans, work methods. The problems and grievances of people at work can be solved more effectively through rationale personnel policies.
• It is based on human orientation. It tries to help the workers to develop their potential fully to the concern.
• It also motivates the employees through it’s effective incentive plans so that the employees provide fullest co-operation.
• Personnel management deals with human resources of a concern. In context to human resources, it manages both individual as well as blue- collar workers.

Functions

Functions of Personnel Management:

1. Managerial Functions

2. Operative Functions

1. Managerial Functions:

The Managerial functions of a personnel manager involve POSDCORB (Luther Gullick) i.e.,
Planning, organisation, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting and budgeting of those who
actually perform the operative functions of the Personnel Department.

The following are the managerial functions (viz. planning, organising, directing and controlling)
performed by a personnel department:

A. Personnel Planning:

Planning lays down a pre-determined course to do something such as what to do, how to do,
where to do, who is to do etc. A personnel manager plans in advance the trend in wages, labour
market, union demands etc. Through planning, most of the future problems can be anticipated.

B. Organising:

According to J.C. Massic, “An organisation is a structure, a framework and a process by which
a co-operative group of human being allocates its task among its members, identifies relationships
and integrates its activities towards common objectives.” The personnel manager has to design
the structure of relationships among jobs, personnel and physical factors so that the objectives
of the enterprise are achieved.

C .Directing:

This function relates to guidance and stimulation of the subordinates at all levels. The personnel
manager directs and motivates the employees of his department so that they work willingly and
effectively for the achievement of organisational goals,

D. Controlling:

A personnel manager has to constantly watch whether there is any deviation from the planned path.
Controlling is concerned with remedial actions. Continuous monitoring of the personnel policies
relating to training, labour turnover, wage payments, interviewing new and separated employees
etc., is the backbone of controlling.

If deviations are unavoidable, corrective action can be planned in advance. Controlling helps the
personnel manager to evaluate the performance of employees of the personnel department so far
as the operating functions are concerned.