INSTRUCTIONS: Respond to each post separatelyin relation to the topic 150 words and a minimum of 1 scholarly reference per post.
TOPIC 1
Describe how you have interacted with Human Resources (HR) in your current or past work environment. What types of activities did you see HR managers perform? Discuss how changes in internal and external factors in your work environment have contributed to the evolution of HR in your company.>
POST 1
Hello professor and class,
I have had a continuing relationship with Human Resources. At least for me, as my role migrated over the years and through various companies and expanded roles, the level of interaction with HR grew with it.
I have worked for large multi-national US-based companies for the last 14 years. These organizations have large HR departments that are layered to the site level, division level, country level, segment level, and at the top is the corporate level.
Specifically, all corporate training is managed and administered through HR and online training portals. I was also involved with new hires in my previous company- first for clearance or access to the military and then in training. Training development with external parties or employee education assistance plans is handled through HR. Employee goals and objectives are managed through HR. The manager signs off on them, but the program is managed through HR to track individual skills, development, and compensation.
The HR managers I am exposed to are primarily focused on HR policy development, deployment, and company adherence to the policies. Whether it is site level to corporate level, the HR manager will ensure that policies are updated, training is provided, and adherence is maintained. I have found that HR has evolved as society and organizations have become climatized to the global environment in which large companies are interacting. The first three companies I worked at did not even have an HR department- managers or owners administered what the HR program was. When I transitioned to automotive, they had an HR department, but it was only concerned with Canada and US regulations and was relatively small. The large international organizations have extensive HR departments and deal under a global umbrella of regulatory applications.
POST 2
I am currently self-employed and have been for fifteen years. I operate a dog boarding business with my family in our home, and my husband and I manage our rental properties. In addition, I work full time as a registered massage therapist out of my home, and three days a week, I contract my services at Stride Sports and Physiotherapy. Since I am the human resource manager for all of my businesses, I will discuss the department at Stride.
Stride is a small company with a handful of employees and several independent contractors. At Stride, the company’s human resource management responsibilities are fulfilled by the owners. The owners hire, fire, and pay independent contractors and employees. In addition, they train front desk employees, manage employee benefits and are responsible for implementing clinic policies and analyzing the impact of such policies. Each independent contractor has training specific to the modality they provide and are governed by their respective registration bodies.
Stride is a relatively new organization, and HR has not changed much since the opening of its first location. However, an internal change that affected the human resource department was the opening of Stride’s third clinic. After its opening, the owners implemented direct deposits for all staff members to increase the efficiency of payroll activities.
External changes caused by covid-19 restrictions required intake procedures to need adjusting. First, each regulatory body notified independent contractors of what was required, and then, contractors were responsible for notifying the owners. The owners then were responsible for training front desk staff and support workers.
Because my registration association governs my practice, and my paychecks are directly deposited into my bank account, my interaction with the human resource department at Stride is limited to contract negotiations once a year.
POST/QUESTION 3
How often would you say that you interact with HR on a weekly basis in your job? How essential is the HR function to your work and productivity?
TOPIC 2
How does HR technology help organizations deliver global strategic HR activities in a more efficient way? What could be some barriers to a successful HR technology global implementation? Discuss some mitigating strategies.
POST 1
An organization’s strategic plan is the roadmap that considers its internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats to ensure the company can achieve its objectives. Human resource managers (HRM) manage an organization’s people to aid the company in attaining such goals (Dessler&Chhinzer, 2019). For a global company, the role of the HRM comes with unique challenges because of the variations in culture, laws, regulations, and economic landscape in each operating location. However, regardless of location, technology can be used to complete tasks that would otherwise require the time and professional skills of the HRM, enabling them to spend more time on meaningful, strategic activities.
For example, a robust human resource (HR) technology system can ensure the company stays up to date on applicable laws and regulations in each operating location by notifying the HRM of changes that affect their department (Insperity Staff | Human Resource Advisor Houston, 2021). Additionally, an HR people management platform enables employees worldwide to feel connected and valued when used as the primary communication hub within the business (“5 HR challenges,” 2021). The feeling of connectedness enhances employee satisfaction reducing the frequency of needed talent acquisition-related processes. Further, a human resource information system (HRIS) can gather and analyze data concerning certain strategic decisions’ effects on employee performance. Considering that cultures worldwide have different values and ways of interacting with one another, the impact of internal changes may vary from one location to the next. Thus, automated data collection and analysis would save the HRM significant time and energy.
Some barriers to implementing a global HRIS may include the cost of adaptations needed to suit the local business environment and the effect on employee satisfaction resulting from blurred lines between personal and work time (Dessler&Chhinzer, 2019). Therefore, the HRM must perform a cost-benefit analysis to ensure the system will add value to the company. In addition, in any location, the HRM should ensure procedures and policies are implemented to mitigate the negative effects HRIS can have on employees.
Despite the barriers, HRM should consider HR technology to increase effectiveness and efficiency regardless of the company’s size or location.
References
5 HR challenges in multinational companies. Hibob. (2021, July 22). Retrieved April 5, 2022, from https://www.hibob.com/blog/hr-challenges-in-multinational-companies/
Dessler G., &Chhinzer N. (2019). Human Resources Management in Canada (Canadian Edition). [VitalSource Bookshelf]. Retrieved from https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780134856193/
Insperity Staff | Human Resource Advisor Houston. (2021, August 3). 8 common HR technology challenges and how to overcome them. Insperity. Retrieved April 5, 2022, from https://www.insperity.com/blog/hr-technology-challenges/
POST 2
Hi class,
Adopting technology has enabled HR to decrease its transactional (administrative) activities, allowing the department to concentrate on delivering strategic services. (Dessler&Chhinzer, 2020) The adoption of technology and Artificial Intelligence has enabled many functional groups to decrease their transactional workload; ERP is one example that will allow a functional group to increase their time for strategic planning and objectives. Strategic activities will lead to increased efficiency and faster turnaround times in line with the business objectives while supporting the decision-making process’s speed.
There are a few barriers to a successful international HR strategy that I have experienced:
Differing country/region regulations about employment, workers’ health, safety, or work-life balance.
Differing cultural norms, practices, and language.
Time zones
Employee’s adoption of technology or the ability for employees to understand how to use the technology.
In an international setting- from my experience, most of these are handled at the region or site level. The corporate policies encompassing all employees are generally vague, with a mission around the corporate objective. The region or site will then create a strategy that will align with the corporate mission but define the local regulations and include the cultural norms and practices. The technology deployed can also vary between regions and sites. Corporate will have many technological advancements available, but the region or site can decide to adopt specific technology depending on the employee demographics. Training will be based on one Learning Management System (LMS) across the corporation but available in different languages based on the international employee portfolio mix in the organization.
Reference
Dessler, G., &Chhinzer, N. (2020). Human resources management in Canada (14th Canadian ed.). Pearson Canada Inc.
POST/QUESTION 3
How many of you have used HR related software? Which software have you used? Do you have preferences towards any system over others? Why?
INSTRUCTIONS: Respond to each post separately in relation to the topic 200 words and a minimum of 1 scholarly reference per post. For topic 3 it is very important to keep the responses within a range of 150-220 words (including references) or points will be lost.
TOPIC 3
What is the role of the Internet in enterprises and organizations today? Explain how businesses and organizations are adopting IT in their operations. Name a few emerging Internet-based technologies that are in use. Use a recent business example to explain your answer.
POST 1
According to Furhmann (2021), The Internet has been one of the most revolutionary and disruptive technologies. It has a profound impact on business operations and communications.
Every business benefits from the use of the internet. Hence it’s safe to say that everything runs with the help of the internet. Businesses can establish smooth and effective communication with their customers. Valuable company data are securely stored on the internet. Payments and sales are completed through the internet for Point of sales machines and online. Arguably a business cannot operate without the use of the internet.
“Information technology or the IT department is a crucial part of any company of business as they monitor and manage almost everything that is to do with information technology and communication systems” (Duncan, 2021)
The IT department is at the epicentre of building and maintaining communications networks for businesses, small and large. IT optimizes a business, making them imperative to a business’s day-to-day existence, from sending an email, accessing databases, and selling and buying online. The normal offline mode of interaction now turned old after the introduction of IT in business.
Few emerging Internet-based technologies
Cloud computing
Internet of things
Internet of everything
GPS
A recent example of businesses that use this technology is online car booking services. Here the system makes use of GPS, cloud computing and IoT. The business process will not be possible without the help of these emerging internet-based technologies. GPS for positioning and locating, cloud computing is for data storage and IOT for remote control. Examples include Uber, Lyft, Cabbies etc.
References
Duncan, S. (2021, July 14). What is the role of Information Technology in business? Real Business. Retrieved April 5, 2022, from https://realbusiness.co.uk/role-information-technology-business#
Furhmann, R. (2021, October 21). How the internet has changed investing. Investopedia. Retrieved April 5, 2022, from https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0212/how-the-internet-has-changed-investing.aspx
POST 2
What is the role of the Internet in enterprises and organizations today?
The internet has made major changes when it comes to doing business in today’s day and age. Because of the internet businesses have more access to the global market, access to information, access to a massive amount of information, telecommunication, marketing information, social media, audience
Explain how businesses and organizations are adopting IT in their operations? In the past companies had done many things manually. But with the internet and computer, they have changed and adapted to work in a more efficient way, machinery that has been programmed and robots that are able to perform jobs that would take long and be dangerous for humans. We are also able to utilize it for communications with other companies around the world having conferences, collaboration, studying, remotely working and many more things you can do.
Names a few emerging internets-based technologies. Augmented Reality / Virtual Reality this technology basically has people feel like they are in a different world, place etc. There are different types of VR goggles that can be utilized and while it is still a quite expensive technology it can be utilized for different things. Where will it take you?
References
Collins, M. (2015, May 6). The Pros And Cons Of Globalization. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikecollins/2015/05/06/the-pros-and-cons-of-globalization/?sh=696ebf78ccce
Maddox, T. (2020, June 11). Top 10 emerging technologies of 2020: Winners and losers. TechRepublic. https://www.techrepublic.com/article/top-10-emerging-technologies-of-2020-winners-and-losers/
POST 3
Class and Professor,
It’s tough to imagine a world without the internet now. It was about 30 years when AOL launched publicly and that dial-up sound became infamous. The internet has made the transfer of communication of information from all over the world more rapid and instant the more it evolves. This has only supported the evolution and exponential growth of enterprises and organizations. It’s allowed a transfer of knowledge and skills across the world. It’s allowed countries to communicate to one another more effectively and efficiently.
This pandemic has shown a very clear example of how businesses and organizations have adopted IT in their operations through remote working/access. Though this was very much so possible prior to the pandemic, it’s become more innate that any new job is considered to be remote work. which requires a high level of IT support and daily operations. “Companies had to pivot quickly to ensure their teams had access to the right technology and infrastructure to support remote log-ins, the bandwidth to handle video conferencing, and project management tools so that teams could continue to work on projects and update status together” (Broberg, 2021). And an emerging technology is AI. We’re constantly inundated with questions online where are alot of our answers are being stored in a cloud that is just collecting data in order to use it to facilitate whether it be specific advertising or marketing initiatives or simply, showing us something we like or search about a lot more frequently on our desktops or phones search engines.
Reference
Broberg, O. 9 June 2021. 8 Ways Technology is Changing Businesses. https://www.gomodus.com/blog/eight-ways-technology-changing-business