Challenges In Human Resource Management †Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: What Is The Challenges In Human Resource Management? Answer: Introduction Wall and Wood (2005) challenge the established link between the human resource practices and organizational performance based on the high performance label of the employees.Based on their challenge, it can be stated that Human resource management is the crucial part to get success in the any company (Wall and Wood, 2005). But breakdowns and challenges in the human resource management can be the cause of the crisis in the business of the company. There is one such company i.e. Toyota Motors. The human resources issue in the Toyota Motors is in the reward system for the managers in the company. The reward system of the company is the cost containment rather than sustaining product quality. Along with this, another issue in the company was that the overall corporate culture of the Toyota was defective and result was that the lower level managers were ignored by the top management in the company. Further, the company Toyota was failed in performing and implementing proper workforce plann ing to ensure that the right number of employees were in the right position with the business. Furthermore, the human resource department of the company of the company was failed to perform and implement proper risk management assessment for the effective business operations (Johnason. 2009). This report discusses about the human resource failures that have lead to issues within the Toyota Motor as well as the current human resource issues which are impacting the company. Further, report provides the recommendations to deal with the human resource problems for the improvement in the business operations. Company overview The company Toyota Motor was established in the year 1937 by Kiichiro Toyoda. This is a famous automobile manufacturing company and headquarter of the company is located in the Aichi, Japan. The branches of the company are situated in the many countries in all over the world. There are around 338,000 employees across the world and has manufactured around 200 million vehicles. The Toyota Motor manufactures the vehicle with five recognized brand names i.e. Lexus, Ranz, Hino, Scion and Toyota. In current time, Toyota is the major company across the world in terms of profit and revenue. The company is known as former automobile manufacturer that is producing around 10 million units of vehicle on annual basis. HRM issues At the time of starting of business, Toyota Motor had set a benchmark in the vehicle manufacturing industry in terms of quality of vehicles. When the recalls in the vehicle was started, it affected the quality of the vehicles in the company. Due to the three waves of the recalls in the Toyota vehicles, the executives were not able maintain the quality in the vehicles. The recalls were done due to the manufacturing defects that damaged the overall reputation of the company in terms of quality. The reason was that human resource management of the company was failed to deal with the problems which lead to manufacturing defect. One of the human resource issues if the company in present time is that there is not proper reward system. Another issue is that the company is failed in conducting suitable risk management process within the company because of the shortage of enough number people (Sullivan, 2010). Application of HR models Human resource management is the wide concept including various perceptions, definitions and factors. Basically, human resource management in the company is both, science as well as art that manage the employees within the organization. Human resource is an art that convinces and handles people in their job roles. On the other hand, it is the science as it focuses on the experiments by applying appropriate theories in the business operations. The function of human resource management in the Toyota is to manage the employees and team in the structured way. The human resource in the company performs the recruiting and hiring process with the appropriate procedure (Stredwick, 2013). Toyota focuses on the activities of attracting and hiring people, conducting their induction, providing appropriate training, undertaking retention program and retirement or termination process by preparing a full and final statement. To increase the faith of customers and to build an image within the organi zation, certain rules and regulations have to be followed by the company. Employee satisfaction along with customers satisfaction is an important measure for any company to get success (Bohlander Scott, 2010). The employees way of working always reflects that whether he/she is happy and feeling positive in organization or not. It is main responsibility of any organization to follow employment law and to avoid exploitation of its employees at workplace. The company should also follow equality without any discrimination regarding caste, religion etc. All this not only leads in forming strong consumer base but also helps in attracting more and more employees towards the organization and helps in retaining the old and experienced once. Models of Human Resource Management There are lot of theories given by different authors and contributors. These are also considered as motivational theories. These theories are applicable according to nature and size of the organization. It also focuses on solving the issues related to depression among employees. According to the above discussed problem, there is the need of proper HR models in Toyota (Armstrong, 2008). Maslows need hierarchy Maslow is one of famous contributors in the field of management. He explained a pyramid consisting of five steps- the first step involves fulfillment of psychological need that is shelter, clothing, food, medical treatment etc. The next step involve is provision of safety and by safety it means safety at workplace as well as on premises. The third step is providing societal benefit like every very person wants to be treated with equality and have such emotional relations like friends who will stand by him in his adverse conditions. The next step is of self-esteemed needs in which person wants to get name and fame along with self respect and achieve growth to develop status. The last step of the hierarchy is self actualization where the individual is searching the motive of his life and utilizes his entire potential in achieving that motive (Tyson, 2014). In case of the company Toyota, all the employees of the company are satisfied with the lower level needs. In the company Toyota, there is the strong team spirit and sense of belonging promoted by the company. it can be seen that there is no discrimination among the team members. Along with this, the company also encourages its employees to deal with challenges and problems so that the confidence can be built up in the employees. By the motivation, the employees can satisfy their high level of needs of self-actualization. Figure 1: Maslows need hierarchy McClellands motivational needs theory This model was given by David McClelland and this model is focused on the motivational factors of individuals in the organization. It is well known that each and every person has different needs which encourage them to do their best in their job role. There are the degrees of motivations based on three aspects i.e. need for achievements, need for power and need for affiliation. Need for achievement- There are achievement oriented employees who like to perform the challenging task in the organization and want to set their own standards. They are those kinds of employees who take trough jobs to improve their efficiency. They are focused on the problem solving and decision making skills. In case of Toyota, the employees who take the challenging tasks should be targeted for the complex activities so that the motivational level of those employees can be increased. Need for power- Power is the second name of strength and energy. In the company, there are some employees who want attention. This nature of power should be bought in every employee by rendering power to them. The employees having power strives for the position and gaining the growth are focused on the zeal. Need for affiliation- In the company, there are some people who need generous and harmony in the job role. They are those kinds of people who like to gain social attention. According to the Maslows hierarchy theory, these people fall in the third stage of need hierarchy i.e. social needs. They need warm relations with each other to create positive environment in the organization (Stone, 2011). In case of Toyota motors, aim of the company is to motivate the employees by enabling the satisfiers. The aim of the company is to motivate and empower the staff by proper interaction as well as communication by giving them responsibility and accountability and involving the employees in the decision making process. Toyota is very popular of the high payment of the staff and people in the company are satisfied with their salary. The high wages and salaries are the motivating factors to satisfy the basic needs of the employees. Scientific management theory This model was given by F.W. Taylor. This is based on the quote that employees always get motivated by the increment of their pay scale. It is observed that the employees of the company Toyota were receiving fewer wages in their job role. To come out with this issue, this HR model can be used by the company. According to this theory, the workers are highly paid based on the piece rate in the company Toyota Motors. By this, they are encouraged and serve more by their skills. Employees in the company are able to develop more quality products without any defects. Along with this, this theory would also resolve the problem of inequality. Recruitment and selection Recruitment activities are important in the company. In the Toyota Motor, human resource strategies and best technology are used to attract the new talent and candidates. The company has adopted a Toyota Recruitment program which clarifies the recruitment procedure of Toyota. The main fields from which the company hires its candidates are HR, marketing, IT and engineering. Mainly, company uses educational institutions as the recruitment method for this program. By using this method, Toyota invites students from various universities across the world to apply for this program. This program is coordinated by local career centers. The company also adopted various advertisement methods to attract personnel in Toyota. The most common along all these are newspaper, social media and magazine (Burgess-Wilkerson, 2008). Toyota also follows internet recruiting method. Candidates are given chance to log the website of the company and submit their resumes. For future requirements, applications ar e carefully reviewed and maintained in a job bank. The major role is played by executive search firms in recruitment and Toyota. The employees are also recruited by Public Recruitment Agencies in the company. Candidates have to just register themselves in public recruitment agencies and whenever a vacancy arises, company can recruit candidates from these agencies. The company also adopted an equal opportunity policy for all the candidates and no candidate can be unfairly treated on the basis of their race, gender, age, marital status or nationality. Selection As selections is a process of selecting individuals who have required qualifications to fill job openings and thus is very important function in every business. Selection of right personnel is very essential because the success or failure of any organization is only depending on its employees and hence it is very important topic in Human Resource Management. The selection procedure of the company is comprehensive as future talent pool of the company is determined by only this procedure (BullerMcEvoy, 2012). Toyota has many competitors in the market and to overcome all these, it has to adopt selection process in an effective manner. First process adopted by the company is screening process in which the information provided by the candidates is checked. The company checks the background of the candidates for this process. The company also checks the references given by previous employers of the candidates. The next level conducted by the company is candidate test. Because of some techn ical jobs, this test is very essential. It includes both aptitude and achievement tests. The next step to get job in Toyota is interviews. The method of interviews conducted by the company depends on the nature of jobs like situational interviews, computer and virtual interviews etc. The last level of selection process is selection decision. The selection decisions is made by the company after various considerations that whether employee will match with the culture of Toyota or not. Once the decision is made it is communicated to the candidates very fast to make the first impression of the company (Daft, 2010). Training and development The human resource issue in the company Toyota Motor is described above and it has directed to the immense recalls continuously in the appropriate training of the employees. The company has experienced significant development in upcoming years. But the company was not capable enough to provide proper training to the employees. Effective training process is necessary in the company to develop appropriate understanding and skills to execute their job roles at the best point. The human resource of the company is failed in the workforce planning. It is the responsibility of human resource in the company to ensure that the right number of people is employed in the right position having proper skills (Denver, 2013). Each and every developing program, every activity and every quality defect is an opportunity to build people and this is the agenda of the training and development of Toyota. To improve the performance of the company in the automobile industry, Toyota is focused on the training by opening three regional training centers i.e. Global Production Centers. Along with this, Satellite centers are being developed globally at every point. Along with this, new people are being hired to provide adequate skills to the employees. Further, the company has discovered new training programs for the employees. Further, computers are important part of the training and development process including interactive learning systems so that the employees can perform their job role effectively (Nyberg et al, 2014). Appraisal Appraisal and reward forms are an important part in performance management. Under this, evaluation of performance of employees is done regularly which ultimately helps employees develop and manage their overall performance. To ensure effective and efficient performance of employees, performance appraisal is done regularly. Necessary steps can be taken by the company if they are performing inappropriately. Three tools that are traits, behavior and results are considered in measuring performance appraisal (Mathis et al, 2016). Toyota also adopts both behavioral appraisal and result appraisal. These appraisals ensure containment of costs with customer satisfaction and safety promotion of the company. Through behavioral appraisal the company acknowledged suitable and legitimate job related behaviors. It will also ensure that employees follow Toyotas principles which ultimately satisfy the customers and also promote safety. By using this kind of appraisal system, company also give feedbac ks to the employees regarding their behaviors in doing a particular job. This will motivate employees to be more conscious in their behaviors and to take measures to execute behaviors according to their job. To appraise employees in the company, first step is to identify various behaviors related to job and which are necessary in achieving the principles of Toyota (Kehoe Wright, 2013). Reward system Toyota follows a reward system having three aspects that is seniority based system, a huge portion of bonuses payment on term reward system and last total health management. The production bonus is given by the company on the basis of group level and it composes partly a workers monthly salary. Thus, this bonus is given after an evaluation of employees performance. An employee wage is depending on the production level of his/her sector.But now days, Toyota is bringing some change in its policy as production bonus is decreased to 20% of total payment as compared to half . Reward and paying strategies are adopted by the company in order to lead organizational purposes and plans (Bartov, GivolyHayn, 2002). Leadership The aim of the leadership development and procedure is to ensure that sufficient number of the leaders having proper abilities and decision making skills in the important leadership position. In the company Toyota, the leadership development and promotion process are failed to create and promote the leaders who are capable enough to solve the problems and making important decisions. It is observed that the leadership process in the company was very outdated who could not successfully operate in the changing automotive industry. It is necessary to develop leadership capabilities to deliver the best in the future strategy in the company. Leaders are an integral part of the business who deal with the opportunities and challenges that are taken place in the various business operations in the country. In the company Toyota, there are various types if leaderships used in the business. The company Toyota has the strong capacity of research and development along with the capacity of manufacturing which provides the capacity to improve creativity in the employees. Transactional leadership in the company provides flexible atmosphere to work in the rigid and controlled manner. For the company Toyota, leadership style can be used the combination of the transformational and entrepreneurial leadership. The transformational leadership can be described as the leadership which motivates the whole company and encourages the employees to perform with the leaders vision. The transformational leadership can be related to the ch arisma, individual consideration and intellectual stimulation to bring positive changes in the company. Transformational leaders have capacity to transform the entire company (Faizli, 2009). By adopting the leadership theories, human resource in Toyota will be able to deal with the organizational issues. Some of the leadership theories are as follows: Trait theory- There are some traits which must be present in the leaders. Leadership capabilities must be presented in the individuals to be the leader. The trait theory shows the significant relationship between the leadership and the personality traits such as self-efficiency, intelligence, extroversion, and openness to experience. So, having these traits, leaders will be able to solve the issues of reward system. Cognitive theory- According to this theory, the person who is leader in one condition may not necessarily be the effective leader in other situation. Based on this theory, there is no defined or set trait for the leadership. In case of Toyota, lower level managers are concerned for the quality. So they can be the leaders in such case. They have interaction trait which is important in case of Toyota. So, focusing on contingency theory, company can deal with the issue of difference between lower level and upper level managers (Bratton Gold, 2012). Recommendations There is one recommendation for the company Toyota Motor is to set the quality as the defined objective by the company from a human resource standpoint. To come over form the human resource management issues, it is recommended that company should rethink about the reward bonus and structure. Although, the company has revealed that the compensation for the managers in terms of cost cutting measures and keeping cots low. But these have consequences which include the loss of customers. So, the company should be in such manners so that company can improve the quality of the vehicles (Chan, Marchington, 2013). The role of human resource is to ensure that the right employees are engaged in the right job role. It is the responsibility of the human resource in the company is to hire the skilled people based on the need of the business operations. Hiring and retention of the employees is the important duty of the human resource in the company. One of the main reasons of the issue is that the hired employees did not match the growth rate. So, employees in the lower level have to fulfill the roles of upper level employees in the company. The lower level employees or engineers do not have the proper knowledge and skills to solve any kind of issue and problem related to the manufacturing of the vehicle. Along with this, in Toyota, there were not enough employees in the company having adequate level of skills in the top position. So, it is recommended that the human resource department should develop proper recruitment plan to ensure that the company has adequate number of employees. Along with thi s, it is the job of human resource to identify the job functions and required skill sets to recruit the employees in the company. So, it is recommended that human resource of the company should evaluate the set of skills to fill the important position in the business (Stahl, Jrkman, and Morris, 2012). Further, human resource is responsible for the training and development of the employees once they are going to start their job. So, it is recommended that human resource department in the company Toyota should set up some training and development seminars for the employees on the regular basis. By the training seminars, company will be able to ensure that all the employees have proper knowledge and skills to perform their job role effectively. Along with this, it is also recommended that Toyota should focus on the risk management plan including four areas of risk management i.e. strategic risk management, operational risk, compliance risk and financial risk. Toyota should never have short staff as it creates various issues in the business operations. The corporate culture of the company should not engage lower level managers in the manufacturing issues. To make sure that these kinds of situation never occur, the human resource should conduct proper risk assessments in the business o perations (Johnson, Whittington Scholes, 2011). Managing capital In the company Toyota, to manage the human capital, it is important to adopt proper planning in the business operations. For this manner, the company has adopted succession planning in the business operations. To engage the talents in their job role, employees required some experience in the business. In the company Toyota, the future managers must prove themselves in the some key areas. The managers should have operational capability. Further, the managers need to operate well in the corporate functions in the roles of marketing, information technology, and finance. Third, they should understand the global philosophy of Toyota and last, the managers should prove their ability in the leadership by building strong groups and culture. As compared to two most famous companies in the car industry i.e. Ford and Volkswagen, succession planning of the company Toyota is to retain the existing employees in the business. In the succession planning, the company is focused on the continuing education. By the job training and development programs, company encourages the employees for the better performance. The succession planning of the company includes Toyota way to develop leaders within the business. Conclusion So, based on the challenge of Wall and Wood (2005), it can be said that Human resource in the organization is an important part to manage human capital for the effective business activities.Toyota Motor had the problems related to the manufacturing in the vehicles and that demonstrated that the human resource in the company was failed to lead the employees in the corporation. In recent years, problems in manufacturing department started to occur which clearly demonstrate that failures in human resources always lead to failures in overall corporations. From many years, Toyota Motor Corporation is considered as a model of excellence in quality department and also other corporations always try to get that much standard of quality which is set by Toyota motors. However in recent years lower level managers warned top level managers about the risks of manufacturing defects but top level managers ignored their warnings and resulted in massive recalls. In addition to this, Toyota disbanded a taskforce which used to assess the risk of defects which occurred in corporation. The corporation had blind faith that quality used to embed in corporate culture of Toyota. Due to all these, the company failed to manage its risk and assign necessary person to perform this function. As a result, the vehicles produced in that time were full of defects and flaws which ultimately resulted in massive recalls having irreparable damage to Toyotas reputation. The company failed to address the concerns related to quality until they received massive calls regarding safety and manufacturing problems. It is recommended to the company to develop a reward management structure for containment of cost. Instead of cost cutting targets, bonus and rewards are set for hitting targets of quality and safety. In addition to this, risk management department should also be established and should be in continued operation so that all risks problems related to manufacturing and safety can be easily identified and addressed. To operate the company at optimum performance levels, appropriate number of employees should be assigned. 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