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The Impact of the COVID-19 Crisis on the Future of Human Resource Management
Issue:
Volume 9, Issue 3, September 2021
Pages:
58-63
Received:
26 May 2021
Accepted:
4 June 2021
Published:
13 July 2021
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic presented huge challenges to all aspects of life including social, economic, public health, governmental and business activities. Following a year of mandatory closures and quarantine, there is new hope in the fight against the virus as vaccines and new safety precautions have been implemented globally, but the crisis is not over. Many lessons are still being learned about the crisis which points to a need for human resource managers to revisit lessons learned from past emergencies and disasters in addition to organizational responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, existing human resource management plans and policies, occupational safety and health procedures; and continuity plans will need to be revisited to ensure continuity from of operations in future emergency events. This article discusses the business impacts of COVID-19 from a practitioner point of view. The author examines the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on organizations from a multidisciplinary approach that considers the physical workplace, telecommuting and hybrid business options. This article opens with a discussion on the history of Human Resource Management and continues with a discussion on how enabling technologies, continuity programs and employee health/safety and wellness have shaped human resource management practices. The article concludes with practitioner recommendations for minimizing disruption to the organization’s essential functions by unlinking the organization’s dependence on physical structures, as appropriate. The author challenges human resource managers to challenge current assumptions on how work is to be performed and move toward a model of great flexibility in where and how work should be performed.
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic presented huge challenges to all aspects of life including social, economic, public health, governmental and business activities. Following a year of mandatory closures and quarantine, there is new hope in the fight against the virus as vaccines and new safety precautions have been implemented globally, but the crisis is not o...
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Analyzing the Influence of Selected Talent Management Practices on Employee Discretionary Work Behaviours in Organizations
Issue:
Volume 9, Issue 3, September 2021
Pages:
64-68
Received:
30 August 2020
Accepted:
30 April 2021
Published:
19 July 2021
Abstract: Talent management is significant in every organization if it is to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Despite this knowledge critical talents remain scarce in many organizations which impair their growth and competitiveness. In many organizations, managers still maintain agency relationships with employees based on the assumption that employment contracts and rewards are sufficient to induce employees to contribute their best efforts towards organizational success. In many instances they ignore the value of providing environments where talents can thrive and be developed. This has made organizations unable to achieve their full potential. Available literature suggests that a range of managerial practices can be used to increase the likelihood of employees in applying their skills beyond the contractual prescriptions. It is on this basis that the paper endeavors to find out the influence of talent management practices and employee discretionary behaviour in organizations, main discretionary behaviours influenced by such practices and the relationship between managerial practices and employee discretionary behaviours. These objectives are clarified by literature from secondary sources that have demonstrated great consensus on the need for Managers to develop innovative talent management practices. These will lead to the emergence of new cultures based on teamwork, collaboration and innovation. Managers can also develop Innovative recruitment and selection processes that can lead to quick identification of highly talented employees and fit them in high performance groups to facilitate risk taking and innovation. This can be complemented by developing a positive psychological contract that can be influenced through rewards and career growth. These activities should be complemented with effective employee retention practices coupled with ethical and socially responsible leadership, to influence employee discretionary behaviours.
Abstract: Talent management is significant in every organization if it is to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. Despite this knowledge critical talents remain scarce in many organizations which impair their growth and competitiveness. In many organizations, managers still maintain agency relationships with employees based on the assumption that emplo...
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Rules of Engagement: Factors Influencing Employees Engagement in Insurance Companies
Issue:
Volume 9, Issue 3, September 2021
Pages:
69-76
Received:
12 July 2021
Accepted:
29 July 2021
Published:
9 August 2021
Abstract: Organizations are striving to find better ways of engaging their employees since many organizations have realised that workers are the most imperative resource for achieving their goals. Several research studies have been published that identify factors that drive employee engagement. Opportunities for upward feedback, effective communication systems, trust and fairness are some of the factors found to determine employee engagement. This study appreciates that a ‘one size fits’ model is effective, since the levels of engagement and its drivers differ according to organization, employees and the job itself. However, these studies had some inefficiencies including contextual and methodological deficiencies that the current study is addressing. The objective of the study was to establish factors that affect employee engagement at jubilee insurance. The study employed Cross Sectional Descriptive survey research design because the study was done at one point in time. Questionnaires were distributed to 175 respondents out of a population of 580. The study employed Factor analysis as a tool for data analysis. Results showed that four factors influence employee engagement. Management should ensure that they provide the necessary environment for employees to improve their performance in terms of increasing their employees’ skills through training and development human resource practices. The study recommends that managers ensure they have a good relationship with employee and promote teamwork in the organization as well as give prompt performance feedback to employees.
Abstract: Organizations are striving to find better ways of engaging their employees since many organizations have realised that workers are the most imperative resource for achieving their goals. Several research studies have been published that identify factors that drive employee engagement. Opportunities for upward feedback, effective communication syste...
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Designing for Impact: An Approach to US Based Executive Education for Healthcare Professionals from China
Jiawei Ribaudo,
Amy Huang,
Elizabeth Kaselitz,
Joseph Charles Kolars
Issue:
Volume 9, Issue 3, September 2021
Pages:
77-87
Received:
12 August 2021
Accepted:
21 August 2021
Published:
31 August 2021
Abstract: There is limited evidence on how healthcare executive education programs can be structured to achieve impact, particularly within the rapidly advancing healthcare systems in China. This study reviews the design and evolution of three programs hosted by the University of Michigan Medical School to engage mid-level healthcare leaders from three healthcare institutions in China. Program participants included 40 Chinese physicians and administrators from 13 hospitals across the three healthcare institutions. The Kirkpatrick model was used to structure an approach to evaluate the learner outcomes. The programs were well received, with the effectiveness score in the first three Kirkpatrick-levels of reaction, knowledge acquisition and application of learning being 4.61, 4.34, and 3.55, respectively (on a five-point Likert rating with 5 as the highest rating). The results demonstrate the ability to co-design executive education programs with learners who advance the expected outcomes beyond mere satisfaction with their participation in the program. This approach is increasing the demand among healthcare institutions and their employees in China for these programs at University of Michigan Medical School.
Abstract: There is limited evidence on how healthcare executive education programs can be structured to achieve impact, particularly within the rapidly advancing healthcare systems in China. This study reviews the design and evolution of three programs hosted by the University of Michigan Medical School to engage mid-level healthcare leaders from three healt...
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Above and Beyond the Yearly Wheel: Anticipating and Realizing the Ever-Evolving Contribution of HR
Camilla Ellehave,
Dave Ulrich
Issue:
Volume 9, Issue 3, September 2021
Pages:
88-93
Received:
8 August 2021
Accepted:
31 August 2021
Published:
8 September 2021
Abstract: Today’s global pandemic, social tensions (racial strife, refuge challenges), political toxicity, economic adversity, and personal emotional malaise challenges will undoubtedly be remembered as a time of unprecedented shock, change, and volatility. The speed, reach, and severity of these crises have accelerated changes about where and how people work, what new organizational systems are required to do work, and how leaders need to act to be effective; all of which are areas of importance to the future of the HR function. While it is critical for HR to respond to the day-to-day administrative requirements caused by these external changes, it is perhaps even more crucial for HR to improve its ability to grasp the consequences of these changes, to anticipate future challenges and their effects. In order to stay relevant and value-adding as a function, HR will need to keep reinventing itself to turn current and future contextual challenges into opportunities. This essay argues that HR will need to keep coming up with new answers to the question: Given these radical, contextual changes, how can HR rise to the opportunity and further improve the function’s unique contributions that create value for all stakeholders inside and outside the organization? To answer this question, this essay discusses how definitions of value and business success has changed recently, then goes on to suggest the implications for HR’s unique contribution to value creation, -delivery, and -capture, and concludes with offering a perspective on the implications for the function responsible for human capability (talent, organization, and leadership). In sum, this article offers business leaders and HR professionals insights on how to anticipate and realize the ever-evolving contribution of HR.
Abstract: Today’s global pandemic, social tensions (racial strife, refuge challenges), political toxicity, economic adversity, and personal emotional malaise challenges will undoubtedly be remembered as a time of unprecedented shock, change, and volatility. The speed, reach, and severity of these crises have accelerated changes about where and how people wor...
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Female Leadership as a Moderator on Human Resource Flexibility Affecting Firm Performance
Tyse Adwoa Asantewaa Acquah,
Hui Xing
Issue:
Volume 9, Issue 3, September 2021
Pages:
94-101
Received:
28 August 2021
Accepted:
22 September 2021
Published:
29 September 2021
Abstract: From the works of scholars in the field of Human Resource Management (HRM), conceptualization establishes that Human Resource (HR) Flexibility is important in a firm’s sustainability. Skill flexibility, behavior flexibility, and HR practice flexibility have been acknowledged in the literature as the dimensions of HR flexibility with a significant impact on performance for the sustainability of firms in today’s turbulent environments. This paper explores the moderation role of Female Leadership (FL) between HR Flexibility (HRF) and Firm Performance (FP). Furthermore, the authors also investigate the individual effect of skill, behavior, and HR practice flexibility moderated interaction of Female leadership on performance of firms. Data was collected using a questionnaire as an instrument from 202 HR managers in Ghana. Using correlation and regression analyses to test for the interaction modeling, the hypotheses of the study are tested. The results confirm a moderation of Female leadership on the relationship between HR Flexibility and firm performance. The findings revealed that there is a positive effect of HRF on firm performance (HR-related and Market-related outcomes) which is reinforced by the moderator. The results reached in this paper contribute to the literature of HR flexibility on firm performance. The paper brings insight to the strategic role of Female leadership, so far as flexibility is concerned for higher organizational capability.
Abstract: From the works of scholars in the field of Human Resource Management (HRM), conceptualization establishes that Human Resource (HR) Flexibility is important in a firm’s sustainability. Skill flexibility, behavior flexibility, and HR practice flexibility have been acknowledged in the literature as the dimensions of HR flexibility with a significant i...
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