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The main purpose of this chapter is to provide an introductory overview of what HER management is, in Arab countries specifically, and why it is important to all managers. HER management activities such as hiring, training, compensating, appraising, and developing employees are part of every manager’s job. HER management is also seen as a separate business function, usually with its own human resource or ‘HER’ manager. The main topics include the manager’s HER management jobs, global and com appetite trends affecting HARM, and how managers use modern HER management ethos to create high-performance companies and work systems.
The “people” or personnel aspects of management jobs involve conducting job analyses; planning labor needs and recruiting job candidates; electing job candidates; orienting and training new employees; managing wages and salaries; providing incentives and benefits; appraising performance; communicating; training and developing managers; and, building employee commitment; A. What is the State of HER Management in Arab Countries? In Arab countries, macro-contextual elements such as culture, history, economy, political issues, local policies such as nationalization, as well as religion, all influence the management of people.
Therefore, most companies are now required to understand how to manage their people according to local ND global understandings. 8. Why Is HER Management Important to All Managers? Managers don’t want to make mistakes while managing, such as hiring the wrong person, having their company taken to court because of discriminatory actions, or committing unfair labor practices. C. Line and Staff Aspects of HARM – Although most firms have a human resource department with its own manager, all managers tend to get involved in activities like recruiting, interviewing, selecting, and training. 1 .
Line Versus Staff Authority – Authority is the right to make decisions, to direct the work of others, and to give orders. Line managers are authorized to direct the work of subordinates. Their subordinates are generally involved in work that directly produces or sells the company’s product or service, like Sales or Manufacturing. Staff managers are authorized to assist and advise line managers in accomplishing their basic goals. The subordinates of staff managers are generally involved in work that supports the products or services, in departments like Purchasing, or Quality Control.
HER managers are generally staff managers. D. Line Managers’ HER Duties -?? Most line managers are responsible for line unction, coordinative functions, and some staff functions. E. A Human Resource Manager’s Duties -?? Human Resource Managers also have line, coordinative and staff functions. However, they exert line authority only within the HER department. They have implied authority with line managers due to the fact that they have the ear of top management on many important issues contributing to organizational health. F.
Cooperative Line and Staff HER Management: An Example – In recruiting and hiring, it is generally the line managers responsibility to specify the qualifications employees need to fill specific positions. Then the HER staff takes over. They develop sources of qualified applicants and conduct initial screening interviews. They administer appropriate tests, then refer the best applicants to the supervisor (line manager), who interviews and selects the ones he/she wants. In Arab countries, employers split most HER duties between HER and line managers.
HER managers in Bahrain, Oman, and Saudi Arabia play a key role in applying labor nationalization policies. G. From Line Manager to HER Manager – Line managers may make career stopovers in staff HER manager positions. II. The Changing Environment of HER Management – Human Resource susceptibilities have become broader and more strategic over time in response to a number of trends. Changes are occurring today that are requiring HER managers to play an increasing central role in managing companies. These changes or trends include globalization, changes in the nature of work, and technology. A.
Globalization Trends -?? Globalization refers to the tendency of firms to extend their sales, ownership, and/or manufacturing to new markets abroad. Globalization of the world economy and other trends has triggered changes in how companies organize, manage and use their HER departments. The rate of globalization continues to be high, and has several strategic implications for firms. 1. Globalization Implications – More globalization means more competition, and more competition means more pressure to lower costs, make employees more productive, and do things better and less expensively.
This trend is increasingly evident in the Arab world. B. Technological Trends – Virtual online communities, virtual design environments and Internet-based distribution systems have enabled firms to become more competitive. HER faces the challenge of quickly applying genealogy to the task of improving its own operations. Thus, countries like Saudi Arabia have set regulations On e-transactions in order to enhance the use of technology in businesses. C. Trends in the Nature of Work -??Jobs are changing due to new technological demands.
Dramatic increases in productivity have allowed manufacturers to produce more with fewer employees. 1. Service Jobs – Most newly created jobs are and will continue to be in the service sector. Today, a large number of people in the Arab countries are employed in producing and delivering services rather than products-??the exult has been an increase in both service and manufacturing businesses in the Arab world. 2. Knowledge Work and Human Capital – refers to the knowledge, education, training, skills, and expertise of a firm’s workers.
There is a growing emphasis on knowledge workers and more skills. The HER function must employ more sophisticated and creative means to identify, attract, select, train and motivate the required work force. 3. Nature of Work: Implications for H R – Because it is the HER function that traditionally recruits, selects, trains, and compensates employees, the above hanged make employers highly reliant on more sophisticated and effective HER management-??focusing on improving performance through motivated, committed employees. D.
Workforce Demographic Trends – The average fertility rate in the Arab region remains high despite the decline in birth rate. Unemployment remains high for young graduates, and many emigrate within and outside the Arab world are in search of jobs. Aging is also applicable in some Arab countries such as Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar. There is also a large influx foemen into the workforce, aided by flexible work hours. In the Arab region, employers will eve to take similar steps to fill openings left by retiring employees – by encouraging them to stay on, or rehiring them. II.
The Changing Role of HER Management – HRS central task is always to provide a set of services that make sense in terms of company strategy. Trends of globalization, technology, nature of work and workforce demographics have implications for how companies now organize, manage, and rely on their HER operations. The HER manager’s job has grown broader and more strategic over time. HER managers must partner with top managers to design and implement company strategies. The focus on operational improvements means that all managers must be more adept at expressing their departmental plans and accomplishments in measurable terms.
The emergence Of labor unions in many Arab countries has added challenges to the HER departments responsibilities. A. Strategic HARM – HER supports a company’s new strategy to make the company a success. 1. What is Strategic Planning? – A company’s strategic plan is how it will match its internal strengths and weaknesses with external opportunities and threats in order to maintain a competitive advantage. 2. What is Strategic HARM? – Strategic HARM means formulating and executing HER policies and practices the company needs, to achieve its strategic aims.
For this, management expects HER to provide measurable, benchmark-based evidence for its current efficiency and effectiveness, and expects solid, quantified evidence that HER is contributing in a meaningful and positive way to achieving the firm’s strategic aims. Indeed, HER management is part of strategic planning. B. Creating High Performance Work Systems (HAPS) – HER can impact organizational performance in 3 ways: through the use of technology, through effective HER practices and by instituting HAPS to maximize the impenitence and abilities of employees throughout the organization. . Managing with Technology – Internet and computer based systems are improving productivity. Additionally, many HER tasks (payroll, reference checks, wellness programs, etc. ) are being outsourced to specialist service providers. 2, Effective HER Practices – Pre-employment personality testing and increased training are just two HER practices that can produce employees who perform better. 3. High Performance Work Systems -?? A high performance work system is an integrated set of HARM policies and practices that together produce superior employee performance.
Employment security, selective hiring extensive training, self-managed team and decentralized decision making fewer status distinctions, information sharing, pay-for-performance rewards, transformational leadership, measurement of management practices and emphasis on high-quality work are all vital to HAPS. Implementation of such practices often results in surprising benefits. C. Measuring the HER Management Team’s Performance – HER managers need a set of quantitative performance measures (metrics) they can use to assess their Operations.
These metrics allow managers to measure their HER units’ efficiency. D. Managing With the HER Scorecard Process -?? The HER Scorecard is a concise measurement system, showing quantitative standards or “metrics” used to measure HER activities, employee behaviors resulting from these activities, and to measure the strategically relevant organizational outcomes of those employee behaviors. The scorecard highlights the causal link between HER activities, emergent employee behaviors, and the resulting firm-wide strategic outcomes and performance. IV. The HER Manager’s Proficiencies A.
Four Proficiencies – are required of the HER Manager today: human sources, business, leadership, and learning. B. HER Certification – the Arabian Society of Human Resource Management (ASHRAM) has become increasingly important as human resource management is becoming more professionalisms. Certifications by ASHRAM include: Professional Human Resource Development (HARD) Certificate; Master of Science in HARD; Professional Human Resource Management (HARM) Certificate; and, Master of Science in HARM. C. Managing within the Law – is increasingly important as a growing web of HER related laws effects virtually every HER decision.
Immigration laws, occupational safety and health laws, and labor laws are among the areas in which HER professionals need to be sufficiently knowledgeable. D. Managing Ethics – has gained increasing exposure as a result of ethical lapses in corporate behavior.