Recent studies suggest that in 10 to 15 years’ time various industries are said to experience a serious labor crisis which are attributed to the retirement of baby boomers, the expected business growths, and the seemingly endless process of satiating the needs and wants of the people. In the United States alone, the manufacturing industry is already experiencing a job-skill shortage primarily due to the economic recession, and with the consideration of the actuation of the aforementioned events, the question of their exacerbation with regard to the issue of a labor crisis ensuing needs to be addressed by corporations and, most importantly, the HR practitioners. (oh nose!)
Now, what can these corporations and HR do? Here are some suggestions based on the research of the TnM group:
The automated workforce
- The industrial revolution has revolutionized (no pun intended) the way we conduct business. From the steam engine to computers, innovative technology has replaced the journeyman with machines and with the fast-paced evolution of technology through research and development, having an automated workforce with little reliance on humans is greatly becoming a realizable possibility. (Thought bubble: Marx is beginning to make sense…)
Mergers and acquisitions
- Mergers and acquisitions are occasionally primarily done in order to acquire the workforce of another organization. These mergers and acquisitions can help addressing the looming labor crisis through the company’s reorganization and retrenchment due to redundancy and obsolescence of the positions in the new organization. In acquisitions, the buying organization, oftentimes, tries to forcibly mold the other organization rather than practice its approaches to business that made the acquisition other than lackluster. Furthermore, one fundamental reason as to why some mergers and acquisitions have failed is largely due to compatibility issues To prevent this, studies focusing on the compatibility between the two organizations, such as an organizational climate surveys, is in order. (thanks to Sony-Ericsson and PnB-Allied Bank)
Satisfying the needs of your workforce
- Another idea is recognizing the personal needs and wants of your employees and meeting them. Traditional businesses tend to hire people and compensate them, now this is where research and prescribed strategies in HR will come into play. Studies show that employees who are more satisfied with their jobs are more committed. What then makes the employees satisfied with their jobs? The various functions of HR can address the issues of satisfaction with their alignment. (eto nanaman tayo sa strategies…)
- Recruitment. Recruitment, which measures the would-be employees’ eligibility, future performance, and potential in the organization, should also include both the organization’s and applicant’s synergy, in terms of their values and future behaviors, through tailor-fit tools that can predict their complementary association.
- Compensation. HR managers must present compensation not in the traditional way of equal work for equal pay, rather, present it in a way that satisfies the assortment of physical, emotional, and social needs of the employees by recognizing their individual and collective contributions through an effective rewards system in addition to their pay rate. Tailor-fitting benefits, depending on the demographic, psychological, and behavioral variables of the current or potential employees, are also necessary in order to enhance the organization’s competitive advantage and promote employee retention and satisfaction. With a carefully designed compensation program, the employees will not only feel that the organization is taking care of their present needs, but they will also sense that they will have a bright future ahead of them with the help of the organization. And this will hypothetically be made manifest by their level of organizational commitment.
- Performance management and training & development. Productive employees are happy employees. That’s one research finding that concerns performance management and training & development. The data obtained from performance appraisals not only helps organizations in determining the effectiveness of their employees, it also provides the organizations the opportunity to help the employees in terms of KSA progression through training & development. Armed with the knowledge of their employees’ capabilities, organizations will be able to discern and verify their eligibility and inclusion in training programs that indirectly and directly benefits the employees and the organization, respectively. (Thought bubble #2: I’d like to do a “performance evaluation” with my performance appraisal “tool” on that secretary of yours, Mr. CEO…)
- Employee relations. Through the formalization of company policies that helps keep the workforce’s behavior in line to strategies which helps promote a harmonious relationship with the employees primarily concerns the HR function of employee relations. Conducting organizational satisfaction surveys, focus group discussions, introducing open-door policies, effective grievance machineries and other programs that concerns and addresses the employees’ well-being and satisfaction in the organization helps in pre-empting volatile situations that can prove costly for the organization from occurring. Organizations practicing excellent employee relations programs reduces the risk of turnover, absenteeism, and is an important factor in adding value to the organization’s overall competitive advantage.
- Ed’s suggestion:
- In order to address the impending labor crisis, I suggest to spike all drinks in the market with tongkat ali which boosts the need for (and endurance in) “physical interaction(s)” which greatly increases the probability of creating more people needed for the workforce and outlaw the “artificial” means of family planning on grounds of its diminution on the level of satisfaction and environmental degradation due their non-recyclability. EDI SOLB! SIMPLE!
http://www.workforce.com/section/09/feature/23/45/53/
http://proquest.umi.com/
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/
Ben Chaleko of Culiat
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