Introduction
If at all organizations are to remain viable in an otherwise competitive market, one of the key departments that they should seek to improve is human resources. Specifically, there is a need to ensure that the communication systems in an organization are improved and that the various barriers to communication in a firm are minimized (Torrington et al, 2004).
In addition, the processes of recruitment and selection of the workforce of an organization should be one that is geared towards acquiring those employees that shall not only be a credit to the organizations but also be ready to grow and develop along with an organization (Mullins, 2005). As such, this process ought to be carried out with the efficiency of a firm in mind. Moreover, the training and development procedures of an organization should ensure that those employees that have enormous potential with regard to their specific job are nurtured and allowed to develop.
Effective communication systems in organizations
Surveys that have been carried out on the employees of various organizations have consistently shown that those among them that are not endowed with an effective practice of communication are vulnerable to poor morale of their employees. In addition, the productivity of employees has often been shown to suffer greatly, thanks to a lack of effective communication systems within an organization (Hartley 1999).
Several research surveys demonstrate that when employees working in a given organization are subjected to an honest and openly informed on the plight of their job, as well as the entire business of the organization, the productivity of such an organization may be seen to increase (Osborne 2004).
On the downside, poor and ineffective communication systems within an organization may result in a rising level of employee turnover, enhance rates of absenteeism, customers that are not satisfied with the quality of service that they receive from the employees of the organization (Baigel 2004), increased defects of the manufactured products owing to waning morale among the employees, an absence of focus with regard to the objectives of an organization, and muted innovations.
In order to avoid such pitfalls, managers of various organizations go out of their way to ensure that their organizations identify the communication needs of their respective firms. As such, knowledge of the facts about a firm becomes vital to all the employees, as well as the knowledge about a specific job, and the nature of the business that an organization is involved in (Osborne 2004). In addition, definite products and services details are provided, and people that require to be consulted in the event of a problem in an organization get identified.
All of this information is effectively communicates to all the employees and the management alike. Apart from that effective organizations ensure that those practical skills that are necessary for the accomplishment of a specific job, get mastered by the concerned employees (Baigel 2004). Moreover, there is a need for the employees to interact amongst themselves, for purposes of acquiring self-worth and feeling that they belong. This also includes the elements of being respected, listened to, valued, and trusted. It is therefore the duty of the managers of those organizations that wish to augment their communication systems to ensure that their employees are taken through these various necessary steps towards effective communication (Cole 2004).
Having in place systems, structures, as well as processes that facilitate and encourage an effective flow of communication within a place of work, is a necessary undertaking (Hartley 1999). In addition, the incorporation of cultural surveys of an organization that have been designed well, along with surveys on the communication process of the employees may facilitate in assessing the level of satisfaction of the communication practices and systems of a given organization, and how these could either be hindering or augmenting the performance of an organization.
Recruitment and selection process
Recruitment refers to the procedure of probing for and acquiring adequate quality and number of job applicants, so that the human resource department in an organization may select an individual who best suits the job vacancies available (Arthur 1995). An effective firm ensures that the job requirements of the human resource must be at par with the needs of the labor market.
In contrast, selection refers to the process used to collect information with a view to assessing and deciding on the individual that best meets the job requirements stipulated, and hence who ought to be hired for filling in those job vacancies. The selection procedure thus seeks to acquire candidates who are most qualified out of a wide pool of candidates that had applied for a certain job (Arthur 1995). These selected potential employees are the ones who have convinced the human resource that they are capable of performing the job at hand to the satisfaction of their employer.
An effective recruitment and selection procedure ensures that an organization is in a position to hire employees who are most qualified and competent for the position that seeks to be filled. There is however a need to ensure that the selection and placement process seems to fulfill both the needs of the employees, as well as those of their employer (James 2002).
This is important, for if a workforce becomes de-motivated, then the productivity of an organization is affected, and consequently, such an organization may not be in a position to attain its goals and objectives. Most organizations are keen on an efficient recruitment and placement process, to avoid the ensuing costs as a result of admitting into an organization the wrong workforce (Butel et al 1998). For this reason, most organizations ensure that this process is in line with its planning procedures.
Training and development
Training and development entail those activities of an organization that seeks to better the performance of employees, both at an individual land group level (Swanson & Elwood 1995). In organizational training and development, there are three principle activities that are often considered. First, training as an actor in this field is evaluated against, and focused upon, that job which a certain individual holds at the moment.
Secondly, training lays emphasis on future potential jobs for persons in an organization. For these reasons, future jobs establish a foundation for employee assessment. Thirdly, training as an activity is involved with those activities that both the employee and his/her organization could undertake in the near future, and which at face value, could turn out to be quite difficult to evaluate (Mullins 2005).
Most effective organizations usually rely on training and development of the recruited members of an organization as a yardstick for assessing the potential of the employees to be for example, productive and innovative, in the future of an organization (Torrington et al 2004). The two activities require that they be directed towards knowledge and skills development.
This is because training and development impact organizational design, job design, selection, recruitment, and placement of employees in an organization. As such, effective training and development programs could establish a difference between, on the one hand, an efficiently run organization and on the other hand, one that is operated in a slovenly manner.
Conclusion
One of the areas through which various organizations may gain a competitive edge over their rivals in an otherwise competitive market is by ensuring that their human resource department has been augmented. This is because with human resources, innovativeness and uniqueness could be achieved, something that is very hard for other organizations to an ape.
For this reason, there is a need to ensure that the goals and objectives of an organization are communicated in an efficient manner to their entire workforce and that the employees have a working relationship with their managers. Besides, managers ought to ensure that employees do not feel demoralized as this may affect the overall productivity of an organization and by extension, impact negatively the endeavors of such a firm to attain its objectives.
It is thus important that the recruitment and selection processes of an organization are carried out in an efficient manner so that only the most qualified and suitable workforce gets hired. For enhanced efficiency organizations should be committed to subjecting this hired workforce to training and development programs, so that they can sharpen their skills. This way, the inefficiencies within an organization shall be checked to a great deal.
References
Arthur, D. “Training and development: managing human resources in small and medium-sized companies”. American management assin. (1995).
Baigel, S. (2004). Overcoming communication barriers. Web.
Butel, J, Pearce, J. L, McIntyre, T, Curtis, D, & Smith, S, 1998, Business functions: an active learning approach. Oxford: Blackwell
Cole, G.A., 2004, Management Theory and Practice (6th edition). London: Thompson Hartley, P, 1999, Interpersonal Communication. London: Routledge
James, W. M. (2002). “Best HR practices for today’s innovation management”. Research-technology management.
Mullins, L, 2005, Management and organizational behavior (7th Edition). London: Pitman.
Osborne, S. (2004). Making communication in the workplace effective. Web.
Swanson, R. A, & Elwood, F. H, 1995, Foundation of human resource development (2nd edition). New York: McGraw Hill.
Torrington, D, Hall, D, Taylor, L, & Stephen, T, 2004, Human resource management. London: Pearson Education.