Work-Life Balance

 

Work-life balance is a concept that emphasizes the benefits of balancing your time and energy between work and free time. Simply means Work-life balance is the idea that a fulfilling life outside of work helps improve work performance while reducing stress. At its core, the work-life balance concept exists solely to bring attention to the fact that being a workaholic is detrimental to a person's physical and mental well-being.
Poor work-life balance can have serious effects on mental health. (Ward, S. 2020) 

“Several statistics show that more than 60 percent of U.S. employees feel like their work-life balance is out of whack”. (Cambell, A. Blog, 2023) 

My experience
Considering the importance of work life balance HRM must be having strict policies in place to help employees maintaining work-life balance. As per my experience, I used to work for an Airline, since the operation is around the clock some time employees may have to do extra day every week or doing night shifts. But they are very strict about the night shift duties. Whatsoever the reason is, an employee must not exceed more than two-night shifts. I feel it is a very good policy of HRM to maintain Work-life balance.

Effective work-life balance policies are valuable to businesses and organizations for a number of reasons, including reduced absenteeism and sick leave, improved morale or satisfaction, greater staff loyalty and commitment, improved productivity etc.
(businessmanagementideas.com, ND)

Some characteristics of a healthy work-life balance

Setting boundaries: This involves establishing clear boundaries between work and personal life by defining specific working hours and separating work-related tasks from personal activities.

Time management: Efficiently organizing and prioritizing tasks, ensuring that you allocate enough time for work responsibilities as well as personal pursuits.

Stress management: Implementing strategies to manage stress levels, such as practicing mindfulness, engaging in regular physical activity, taking breaks, and unplugging from work-related activities when needed


Flexibility: Having the ability to adapt and adjust your schedule to accommodate unforeseen circumstances or personal needs without jeopardizing work commitments

(Cambell, A. Blog, 2023)

My opinion
Work from home is a very good concept to maintain the work-life balance. But as per my experience many of the employees are misusing, as they don’t work at least designated work hours and even some employees work for another organization simultaneously and making this concept ineffective.

List of References

businessmanagementideas.com, (ND). Work-Life Balance in HRM. [Online]. Available from
Work-Life Balance in HRM: Meaning, Need, Importance and Techniques (businessmanagementideas.com). [Accessed on 28^th July 2023].

Cambell, A. Blog, (2023). How to have a good work-life balance. [blog entry] 25 May. Austin: Betterup. Available from https://www.betterup.com/blog/how-to-have-good-work-life-balance. [Accessed on 29 July 2023].

Ward, S. (2020). What is work-life balance? [Online]. Available from https://www.thebalancemoney.com/work-life-balance-2948691. [Accessed on 28^th July 2023].

 

HRM and Change Management

Change management is the systematic approach and application of knowledge, tools and resources to deal with change. It involves defining and adopting corporate strategies, structures, procedures and technologies to handle changes in external conditions and the business environment. (shrm.org, 2023)

Furthermore, as per Tahir Abbas, HRM is a strategic partner that helps to create and sustain a healthy, engaged, and productive workforce during times of organizational change. HRM can play a vital role in supporting employees during organizational change by helping to ensure that employees have the resources and support they need to stay healthy and productive. (Abbas, T. 2022)

Role of HRM in Change Management

HRM plays a vital role in minimizing this disruption and maximizing the chances of success for any change management initiative. HRM is responsible for ensuring that employees are aware of the changes taking place and are properly trained to execute them. By fulfilling these roles, HRM plays a crucial role in ensuring that organizational changes are successful. (Abbas, T. 2022)

Some specific roles

Designing and scheduling of trainings for change management
HRM department is often responsible for designing and implementing training programmes to help employees transition through changes. (Abbas, T. 2022)

Engagement with employees
One of the crucial role of HRM department is to enhance participation of employee in change management. It involves providing opportunities to all of employees to have a greater voice and their input in organizational change process. (Abbas, T. 2022)

Conflict resolution
HRM facilitates the management of organizational conflicts and employee relations. HR personnel ensure that employees have solid working relationships for the transformation process to be effective. (Abbas, T. 2022)

Rewards
HRM is in a key position to support a reward system during organizational change. For example, HRM might decide to increase salaries for employees who are asked to take on new responsibilities during a reorganization. opportunities as part of the change process. By doing so, HRM ensures that employees are rewarded not only financially, but also with opportunities for growth and development. (Abbas, T. 2022)

Recruitment for change management
One of the most important role of HRM department is to recruit right professional to implement change initiative. It is not the organization but people who drive the change. So hiring of people is extremely important. (Abbas, T. 2022)

Final Words
It is clear that HRM can play a crucial role in ensuring the success of organizational change. By taking care of communication, engagement with employees in change management and supporting employee health and wellbeing and providing resources and support to managers. (Abbas, T. 2022)

My experience / opinion
I was working for a reputed Airline in middle east. Between 1800 hours to 300 hours there are 520 departures by using both the runways. Change management is considered to be a critical matter in the airline, which is operating 24/7. Even a single flight delay due to any change cannot be tolerated. Flight delays considered as major sin in Airline. Hence change management has to be handled with a team which is really having hands on experience in airline industry understanding the risk and revenue loss, a minor failure may cause millions of loss for the organization, where the Airline must compensate all the passengers after 4 hors of delay. As an IT professional my team does multiple lab tests and starts the change from the departments, which are not directly affecting the operation in case of a failure. We always keep a resilience setup to revert the change and ensure zero flight delays. Once we proved that capability is in place only we get the approval for change from higher management. In this matter team work and effective communication are vital. 

List of References

Abbas, T. (2022). Role of HRM in Change Management, [Online]. Available from

https://changemanagementinsight.com/role-of-hrm-in-change-management/#:~:text=HRM%20deals%20with%20people%20part,make%20or%20break%20organizational%20change. [Accessed on 24^th July 2023].

shrm.org, (2023), managing organizational change. [Online]. Available from
https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and samples/toolkits/pages/managingorganizationalchange.aspx#:~:text=Overview,conditions%20and%20the%20business%20environment. [Accessed on 24^th July 2023].

 

Diversity Management

What Is Diversity Management?

Diversity management is the action taken by an organization to ensure the inclusion of employees from a range of backgrounds. It is there to create a workplace that is diverse and inclusive. (minthr.com, 2023)

One more elaborated view of diversity management found at hibob.com, Diversity management is an organizational process used to promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace. This process involves implementing policies and strategies in hiring, management, training, and more. The goals of diversity management are to promote fairness and equality and leverage the advantages diverse organizations offer. (hibob.com, 2023)

How Has Diversity Management Evolved?

Originally, diversity management was primarily about avoiding discrimination in recruitment and promoting tolerance within the company. But, over time and with multiple factors, things have evolved to where companies recognise the importance of diversity in the workplace as a key competitive advantage. (personio.com, 2023)

Why should diversity management be a part of modern HR strategy?

In today’s climate, a diverse and inclusive workplace is no longer only a nice-to-have. It’s a must. Authentic diversity management is about understanding that diversity is beyond a buzzword. To achieve real diversity and inclusion, you must be proactive, not reactive. That’s where diversity management initiatives come in. (Hibob.com, 2023)

Challenges In Managing Diversity At Work?

Although companies benefit from a diverse corporate culture, a very diverse range of employees working together also holds the potential for conflict. They are as follows:

Team-internal conflicts: When completely different perspectives and life experiences come together, a lot of tolerance, acceptance, and empathy are required.

Cooperation conflicts: In India, work processes may well be very different than in Norway. And a 55-year-old will approach their duties differently than a 25-year-old. This can lead to communication problems in everyday interactions. HRM should therefore ensure that employees share some common ground.

The tokenism problem: Candidates recruited as part of diversity programs are sometimes perceived as underperforming or over-advantaged “token minorities.” This can lead to a focus on their gender, skin colour, or age rather than their abilities.

(personio.com, 2023)

How Do You Manage Diversity At Work?

Top to bottom all the employees must be aware and acknowledged about diversity.

Educate the employees about the positive side of diversity at the time of recruitment and through periodic workshops.

Make all the employees aware how diversity supports for the business growth.

Facilitate communication to help promote diversity and how it can lead to inspiring work environments.

Take time to focus on your culture and monitor results to make sure diversity is always in focus.

(personio.com, 2023)

My opinion
It is obvious that all the employees must celebrate the diversity more than tolerating the diversity to make the work environment pleasant and to support the growth of the company.

List of References

hibob.com, (2023). Diversity management. [Online]. Available from https://www.hibob.com/hr-glossary/diversity-management. [Accessed on 23^rd July 2023].

minthr.com, (2023). Diversity management. [Online]. Available from https://minthr.com/glossary/diversity-management. [Accessed on 23^rd July 2023].

personio.com, (2023). Diversity Management: How Can It Help Grow Your Business?. [Online]. Available from https://www.personio.com/hr-lexicon/diversity-management/. [Accessed on 23^rd July 2023].

 

Employee Relations

Introduction
“Employee relations, which can also be known as industrial relations, is concerned with the contractual, emotional, physical and practical relationship between employer and employee. Employee relations has grown massively in business as HR has evolved from personnel. When businesses had personnel departments instead of HR, employee relations wasn’t considered as important as it is now. Nowadays employee relations is a specialist field which has a key impact on the success of a business”. (sites.google.com, 2013). Though it has evolved from personal to HR, most of the companies don’t maintain the relationship professionally due to various reasons, which will be discussed further.

The basis of the employment relationship

The starting point of the employment relationship is an undertaking by an employee to provide skill and effort to the employer, in return for which the employer provides the employee with  a salary or a wage (the pay–work bargain). Initially the relationship is founded on a legal  contract. This may be a written contract but the absence of such a contract does not mean that there is no contractual relationship.
(nscpolteksby.ac.id, ND).


Why Is Employee Relations Management Important?

Employees can’t work well together without positive relationships with their colleagues and leadership team. Proper relationship management helps build effective teams where everyone respects each other, collaborates, listens to new ideas, and works together seamlessly.
(bamboohr.com, 2023)

Examples of Employee Relations

Create an Employee Relations Strategy
An employee relations strategy is a way to maintain a balance between employers and employees relationship.

Listen to Employee Feedback
Always employers must be approachable and listen to employees complaints before rushing for any actions.

Educate and Communicate
Make sure to educate and communicate with employees to maintain positive employee relations. 

Ensure Compliance
Finally, document everything. Keeping accurate legal and employee records is vital for employee relations issues.
(bamboohr.com, 2023)

Conclusion
HRM and all HODs ensure all the employees within respective departments and inter-departments employees relationship is maintained and resolve disputes then and there to retain the relationship in the long run.

List of References

bamboohr.com, (2023). Glossary of Human Resources Management and Employee Benefit Terms. [Online]. 2023. Available from https://www.bamboohr.com/resources/hrglossary/employee-relations [Accessed 22^nd July 2023]

nscpolteksby.ac.id, (ND). Employee Relations.pdf. [Online] ND. Available from https://nscpolteksby.ac.id/ebook/files/Ebook/Business%20Administration/Armstrongs%20Essential%20Human%20Resource%20Management%20Practice%20A%20Guide%20to%20People%20Management(2010)/16%20-%20Employee%20Relations.pdf. [Accessed 22^nd July 2023]

sites.google.com, (2013). Specialist HR Careers‎ Employee Relations. [Blog entry] 2013. Available from https://sites.google.com/a/my.shu.ac.uk/hr-group-8/specialist-hr-careers/employee-relations. [Accessed 22^nd July 2023].

Major Challenges in HRM
        
    Evaluating Employee productiveness.

Figure 1: Employee productiveness

    

Definition

“Employee productivity, sometimes referred to as workforce productivity, is an assessment of the efficiency of a worker or group of workers”. (Kirvan, 2023). However, according to Singh, Solkhe and Gautam (2022, P183) “productivity has been defined as a measure of efficiency and effectiveness. As a result, it’s critical to recognize who the productive employees are. Employee Productivity can be defined as time spent actively by employees on tasks that require execution and production”.

Few benchmarks used in HRM to evaluate an employee.

Work quality
Examine the employee’s work over the evaluation period. Was it well done? Was it thorough? Etc.

Execution
Evaluate how well your employee organizes, schedules and completes tasks, how they manage their time, how creative they are.

Progress
Look at the employee’s performance in the evaluation period. Have they met their goals from their previous evaluation?

Adaptability
Does the employee handle change positively? Are they receptive to new ideas or adjustments? Do they demonstrate an ability to modify their working style or processes?

Communication
Does the employee share their thoughts and ideas effectively? Do they listen to others well? How well do they take direction and feedback? Can they clearly convey their thoughts verbally and in writing?

Job knowledge
Does the employee display an acceptable level of knowledge regarding their specific role?

Problem-solving and decision-making
Can the employee effectively identify problems and appropriate solutions

Teamwork
Is the employee pleasant and polite to other employees? Do they work well in team settings? Do they display a professional and positive attitude?
(Hamingson, 2023)

Why it is an important task to evaluate the employees.

When managing a workplace, you need to know how your employees are performing, what they are struggling with, what they’re doing well, and how they’re growing in their roles. That way, you can properly reward good work and provide help and resources to those who might be struggling.

If you don’t take the time to track employee performance, you might not realize that some of your workers are struggling with key tasks or leaving the company because they are not being fairly compensated for their work.
(Hamingson, 2023)

How employee evaluation can be managed effectively

Ensure job descriptions are updated - An up-to-date job description helps you provide an accurate evaluation based on the employee’s current responsibilities.

One-to-one meetings – By arranging one-to-one meetings quarterly between Managers and subordinates to see the progress.

Having sophisticated software in place to enable both the parties, managers and subordinates, to keep updating their progress and feedback.
(Hamingson, 2023)

My personal opinion
There are certain type of employees working hard and honest, but they are struggling to exhibit their good and hard work during the formal evaluation process, when there is no proper system in place. There must be a mechanism in HRM to bring them forward to show their efforts taken towards betterment of the company. For example, they will not come forward to explain everything due to their nature or lack of language fluency.

  

List of References

Hamingson, N. (2023) how to evaluate and Track Employee Performance. [online]. Available from: https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/15967-how-to-evaluate-employee-performance-.html. [Accessed 22^nd of July 2023].

Kirvan, P. (2023) what is employee productivity?. [Online]. Available from: https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/employee-productivity. [Accessed 21^st of July 2023].

Singh, S., Solkhe, A. and Gautam, P. (2022) What do we know about Employee Productivity?: Insights from Bibliometric Analysis. Journal of Scientometric Res. 11 (2). P183.