Most Challenging HR Issue Today

Integrative Managerial Skills Fall 2003

Most Challenging HR Issue Today (unedited responses to “What one Issue in HR do you think is the most important?”

I believe that the most challenging HR issue today is the issue of work/life balance. HR professionals need to help their organizations develop ways to enable employees to better balance their work and personal life. Issues such as caring for elderly parents, raising small children through teenagers, etc. affect employee morale, productivity and turnover. Employees need help balancing their desire to do well professionally and also meet their personal needs and the needs of their families. Today, having both parents work outside the home is becoming the norm. Organizations need to find ways to reduce stress and provide flexible work options for employees who may have a crisis in their personal life. Many organizations give no thought to these issues and contend that they are the “employees” problems. What these organizations don’t realize is there has been a major shift in the workplace that will require modification for future success and retention of the best personnel.

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I feel the most challenging issue facing HR today is employee incentives. Many companies are faced with unmotivated employees whose poor attitude can greatly affect the growth of the company. By introducing incentives, companies can boost employee morale tremendously. A few examples of employee incentives are paid vacations, company sponsored social activities, stock options, and bonuses or pay increases based on performance. These are just a few activities that can lead to a more productive work environment.

I believe this issue is most challenging to HR because it is normally up to management to make decisions such as employee incentives. HR is usually faced with suggestions but is unable to put them into company policy

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In today's world of business there are many problems that Human Resources must fight. Work teams has for years now been the new trend in the business world. However, for years the business world was not like this. Previously a manager sat above a group of workers. But now managers have a different role. They are to facilitate the group, not control it.

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I think the most challenging issue facing HR executives today is recruiting and keeping employee turnover to a minimum. While moving from company to company may be good for individuals to build impressive resumes, it is not necessarily a good thing for American companies. The lack of loyalty and commitment to an individual company, and the tendency to move on when a better offer comes along, can result in employees that have good general skills, but lack the knowledge, experience, and the network of interpersonal contacts that come from years of working within the same company. Companies suffer through increased training costs and decreased productivity because of constant employee turnover. HR Executives not only need to develop a benefit package that will retain employees, but must maintain a work environment that is conducive to good company morale.

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The most challenge Human Resources department facing is employee's turnover. Meeting the demands of today's changing business environment requires building and retaining a loyal and motivated staff. Therefore, finding and keeping quality employees so as to reducing turnover is one of the key challenges of HR department. Employees who feel they're underpaid will also feel they're undervalued and are more open to potential offers from outside firms. To a firm, the effects of turnover can be costly. The time and money it takes to recruit, rehire and retain can quickly cut into a firm's bottom line. Besides the costs, especially for the high-technology companies, employees' turnover means high risks of losing its important technologies and clients.

To develop a loyal, motivated workforce and keeping turnover at a minimum, the first step is finding and hiring good people. Therefore, It's crucial to have a recruiting strategy in place. Secondly, it certainly takes more than money alone to attract and retain skilled professionals, it's helpful to offer competitive compensation packages, for example: to be flexible and tailor compensation to individual employees; pay a little more than prevailing salaries at other firms; acknowledge your employees' contributions as frequently as possible; offer staff members opportunity and reward them when they succeed. Thirdly, creating an employee-friendly work environment also play a role. The implication is clear: The more enriching your work environment, the more likely you are to retain a staff of satisfied, productive employees.

In the sum, in order to reduce turnover rate in the workplace, it has a significant effect on how employees feel about their jobs. Offering fair and competitive treatments to all employees will help you reduce turnover and the costs and risks associated with it.

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In my opinion, one of the most challenging issues facing human resource (HR) executives today involves employee relations. HR managers are presented with daily personnel issues such as employee dissatisfaction on the job, interpersonal relations between managers and employees and/or peers, etc., and even employee dishonesty either by way of theft of physical company property or even proprietary intelligence. Such personnel issues are trying to the HR professional who is trained in, and more familiar with, the concrete laws and policies to which they must enforce. Personnel issues such as those mentioned above add a bout of subjectiveness to the job, requiring a difficult balance for the HR executive.

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One of the most challenging issues in Human Resources is the enforcement of the new laws and regulations created to preserve political correctness within the organization. Many organizations have recently discovered that to satisfy insurance companies, strict rules must be enforced concerning employee behavior and personal speech. Many casual actions such as hugs or any type of physical interaction between employees other than handshakes are forbidden. Certain words and phrases have also been banned in many work places. These new rules are a direct response to the many lawsuits filed by individuals who have felt harassed or discriminated against in the workplace.

It will be extremely difficult for HR officials in good conscience to suspend workers for such illegal actions as hugging a fellow employee or throwing them a party at work or even congratulating a fellow employee on a job well done. Also, there have been many angry employees complaining to the Human Resources department, who actually have no control over the situation. The entire ordeal is overly frustrating to both employees and Human Resources personnel. The training on and enforcement of the new laws and regulations have proven to create further stress for the individuals working in those positions. As a former Human Resources Specialist, I believe that the new laws and regulations being set forth by companies will result in low employee moral and decreased productivity. It then becomes increasingly difficult for the HR employees to help spread motivational tactics throughout the rest of the organization.

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In today’s workplace, there are quite a few challenges that HR executives face. From my work experience, I believe the most challenging issue is that of technology. Technology in the workplace changes so fast that it is hard for Human Resources to keep up. They must constantly educate employees on the new technology that is brought into the company as well as be proficient themselves. HR executives must also monitor their employee’s use of new technology. For example, when the internet first appeared throughout many companies worldwide, it was not thought to be a distraction in an employee’s workday. Today, many HR must executives have procedures in place to monitor an employee’s internet usage to assure the company that it is not being abused. HR must also take precautions to ensure that employees are not using the company’s technology for their own personal benefit. Employees have the opportunity to exploit the company’s technology for their own personal gains. With the increased technology that emerged into the workplace in the last decade and the increasing technology in the future, HR executive’s most challenging issue continues to be with technology.

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HR professionals are faced with several issues that make their job extremely difficult. I believe the biggest issue facing the HR industry is government regulation. Over the years, the U.S. Government has passed several stringent laws and regulations that govern how employers should treat their employees. I imagine that it can be extremely difficult to stay up to date on all the change that takes place. If the laws are not followed or misinterpreted, the employer can find itself in a serious and costly situation. The best possible solution would be to have all HR employees within the company enroll in ongoing training classes. They could also subscribe to all the industry publications that may cover any possible change.

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I feel that one of the most challenging issues that face the human resource department is controlling worker’s compensation insurance costs. Many companies do not have risk managers to handle employee claims or an aggressive insurance company. As a result, the employee is out of work for an extended period of time, collects WC benefits which are tax free, and changes their lifestyle in such a way that they may not want to go back to work. This situation is becoming more and more prevalent in the workplace.

Another key area that could help with controlling WC insurance would be to implement a light duty or temporary alternate work program. Many companies are against this idea because they don’t understand what’s involved and are afraid to ask, they feel more workers will get hurt just to be on light duty, or they don’t understand how it will benefit them. There are outside influences that will prevent the company from implementing such a program as well. I am referring to employee unions.

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Based on my experience, I believe the single most challenging issue facing HR executives today is the benefits package a company offers to its employees. Such benefits as retirement plans, healthcare, family leave plans and vacation time are becoming increasingly important to employees. However, such benefits are costing companies a tremendous amount of money each year and it’s on the rise. Human Resource executives must find a middle ground that will not only please its employees, but also be affordable to the company.

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The HR issue for me is the new role of outsourcing of the Human Resource function to larger companies, such as IBM. When I first started at my company 7 years ago we had an HR team on hand at all of our individual locations, to handle disputes, recruitment, etc. This year we began outsourcing this function and as a Manager this directly impacts my job function.

The process today is to call the first level support with questions and if they can resolve it they will assist you or direct to the HR website for the proper information. If the first level support is unable to assist, they document your issue or question then give you a ticket number and refer your issue to the second level support team. The second level support team will then respond in 24-48 hours depending on the issue. This may seem simple enough but the time to resolve an issue tends to span longer than if you had an on-sight support team. The second level HR person will call you back, but they may get your voicemail and then you end of playing phone tag or they may call you back and the first level support administrator did not document your issue correctly. As a Manager, this directly affects my communication to my employees whether it is for disciplinary issues or routine management issues. With all this being said, I understand the purpose of outsourcing, as it saves the company money however you lose a time advantage when you have issues that require immediate attention.

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The biggest problems facing HR today is dealing with corruption within the company. Today’s biggest business scandals involve CEO’s cashing in on raising stock prices by any means necessary. If an employee sees that upper management is willing to bend and break the rules, then they may feel it is ok for them to the same. A Human Resources department should train all employees on business ethics, but it is hard for an employee to do the right thing when the boss is pressuring them to do something that goes against their beliefs. It is a high pressure game for employees to give their employers want to see and doing the right thing might mean getting passed over for a promotion. Of course, those that do break the law are normally punished; it still makes for tough moral decision for employees. The HR department has to find a way to eliminate these issues and punish the people that are using unethical business tactics.

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Big company or small, the cost of employee benefits continues to climb at a rate greater than inflation. Not only is health care cost escalating, but the average age of employees in some industries is also increasing, raising costs for disability and life insurance, and leading to elimination of other benefits.

For larger companies with many employees, they can often choose to self insure to better leverage their costs. For smaller companies, it is less likely that they can self insure. At the same time, fewer employees makes it difficult to achieve the best rates for health care, dental, and other portions of a traditional benefits package.

Each employer must weight the relative advantages of offering more options (at the risk of losing more leverage) and providing a lowest average cost to its employees. Even if employee are asked to pay a fixed percentage of health cares costs, their increase in net contribution often out strips any pay raise they might also get. Business Week recently reported that health care costs will increase 16% in 2003 and 12% in 2004. At the same time, deductibles have increased as much as 50-70%. Clearly, one is fortunate if they can receive a 4 to 5% salary increase.

Multiple options and cafeteria style plans often lead to higher average costs to both employee and employer, but if correctly designed, can lead to higher satisfaction of the benefits program. It is the perceive value of the benefits that have the greater impact on employees.

Balancing the needs of the company and its employees over benefits is the major challenge of today’s human resources.

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Balancing the needs of the company and its employees over benefits is the major challenge of today’s human resources.

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I think the most challenging HR issue facing companies today is the ability to offer a competitive incentive package. Employees today want to work for a company that offers reasonable salaries, excellent health benefits, a pension plan and comprehensive 401k plans. Not to mention tuition reimbursement, child care centers, fitness centers, life insurance, and the all important paid time off. Each of these perks are very costly to the company, but without them the quality of their workforce would be sacrificed. Companies seem to be adding more benefits to attract and retain employees, but with the increases in the cost of these benefits who know how long they will last. HR executives need to understand their company and be able to offer as many benefits as possible without hurting the profitability of the company.

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The terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001 have changed many lives and many ways of doing business. One challenging issue that Human Resources faces, due to these attacks, is security. More detailed background checks, having potential employees supply proper identification and creating policies and procedures in case there is another attack are a couple of things that HR has changed or must change. More detailed background checks should be, and for some companies, must be completed by HR for any potential employees. The background checks may also be required for current employees. The attacks are making everyone aware of who is around them. Companies are trying, even harder, to understand and know their employees. By HR having potential employees provide proper identification, they are securing that the individual is who they say they are. If HR has something as a Driver's License number, it helps in the process of doing background checks. The other item HR must have or create is a policy in case another attack occurs. They need to have procedures set up in case an attack happens to or in their building. Emergency numbers and evacuation routes out of the building are needed. The items mentioned above are only a couple of items HR must deal with and handle due to the terrorist attacks. The attacks were something that Americans didn't think could happen. They have made everyone aware that new security features are needed in every aspect of the country.

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I believe that managing diversity is one of the most challenging issues that HR executives are facing today. With the workforce continually expanding and becoming more diverse, it is increasingly important to understand the differences among employees and to be able to base employment decisions (hiring, promotions, firing, etc.) solely on individual achievements and experience. A focus needs to be made on the growing number of diverse employees within various industries to ensure that they are receiving an appropriate level of developmental attention so they are ensured an equal opportunity within their company.

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I truly believe that the most challenging HR issue facing executives today is the diversity issue. Even though our culture is very diverse, we still have not reached equality. With this pursuit of equality, many individuals, such as the white male, may feel as though they are being discriminated against. This perception of reverse-discrimination can be very lethal in a workplace. This issue not only affects U.S. companies, but also companies around the world. The manner in which we address these issues will have huge implications for years to come.

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The biggest challenge facing the Human Resource department at the company I work for is unqualified managers. Most of the managers were promoted to their management positions because they excelled at their lower level positions. Just because an employee is a great clerk does not mean they will be an excellent manager. Managers need to understand basic human resource law as well as how to manage the company’s operations. When you have managers who do not understand human resource law, you end up with lawsuits for such things as asking illegal questions during interviews or illegally terminating an employee. Managers who are unqualified to manage a company’s operations could cause the company to lose sales and have excessive costs. When hiring managers, Human Resource managers need to look at skills, qualifications, and education, and not promote employees within the company unless they meet the requirements of being a manager.

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Human Resource professionals deal with many issues on a daily basis. To me, I feel that lack of employee training should be placed near the top of a long list of issues that should be addressed. Employees who are not properly trained to perform their jobs are more inclined to feel resentment toward their company. As a personal example, I used to work at Wal-Mart in Burlington, NJ. I began working there as a cashier. I was tossed around like a hot potato. At the beginning, no one really took the time to teach me how to do my job. They would help me for a few minutes, and then tell me to go to the next cashier and learn from them. While working there, I noticed how much turnover the company had due to lack of training. When companies do not take the time out to teach people how to perform on the job, low moral and high turnover can result. I do believe that H.R. should pay more attention to employee training and retention, or a company takes the chance of falling apart.

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A constant challenge among HR professionals is career development or career enhancement of employees, which means continuously working towards creating new job opportunities and helping them grow within the organization. HR managers have to constantly worry about finding career enhancement areas and techniques to keep up the morale of employees. HR managers have to incorporate new forms of motivation for their employees other than plain financial motivations. HR managers also have to integrate their employees more with the objectives of the company. They can achieve this by improving communication and the internal formation through work teams and other innovative ideas.

Diversity is also another challenge for the HR managers, as we discussed in class all people are of equal worth and deserve the same opportunities regardless of their immutable characteristics. Women and minorities should have more access to higher jobs in the workplace and in the government as well.

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I believe the single most challenging issue facing Human Resource executives today is the need to provide business ethics training to all employees within an organization. Given the resignations of many CEO’s and senior executives over the last couple of years, it is obvious that companies have not been focusing on making its employees responsible for making ethical decisions. It is imperative that everybody within an organization is on the same page and not just the members of senior management. It cannot be discounted that individuals in lower and middle management will someday be tasked with making the executive decisions that send a company down the right or wrong path. Human Resource executives should make it a part of every employee’s annual review to take part in some sort of exercise related to ethics and legal compliance training. Such actions will only substantiate the values and policies that all companies would like their employees to abide by in their daily roles.

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From a prospective employees first interview there are certain assumptions or expectations that are made by the employee as to what the position offers with respect to benefits, compensation, advancement opportunities and personal fulfillment. The reality of this with larger corporations is that they will promise an employee the world and deliver a fraction of what they promise. This in many cases is very disheartening to the employee and causes undue animosity and possibly resulting in high employee turnover. This is both detrimental and costly to the employee as well as the employer.

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I believe the single most challenging issue in HR today is the consolidation of HR services. In today’s business world many companies are consolidating all their various HR services, such as healthcare, performance reviews, payroll, and other benefits. Instead of using a few, very competent providers to do this, they are going with just one or two. I believe this is a problem for HR because now they have to still be able to provide an excellent level of service for the company employees, which does not always occur. I know from my own experience that this has become a problem in my own company. We have recently had a “harmonization” of HR, and this has led to much confusion and difficulty. It is much harder to speak with a real person now, and also when you do, they are not as knowledgeable about the various subjects. I believe this is a difficult problem for HR executives to solve, but is essential to the company.