Executive Summary
Management is a career that virtually everyone would like to pursue. This is because a management career is characterized by a myriad of benefits, and finding a managerial job is easy for people in all professions since managers are required in all industries. Among management careers, human resource management is the most favored due to the advantages attached to it. This paper looks into management as a career and outlines its benefits and challenges.
Introduction
Management has always been my dream career. It is, arguably, the best career anyone could ever take. This is because apart from all the advantages which come with being a manager, the career is characterized by attractive remunerations, and it also has a substantial status attached to it. The roles managers play in organizations also make the career very attractive. Managers are normally the most senior employees in any organization and their role as decision makers, planners and organizers are indubitably desirable.
Also desirable in the management career is the fact that managerial jobs are virtually in every industry and thus getting a managerial job is easy for a management enthusiast. In a single organization/firm there could be hundreds of managerial positions to be occupied by competent aspirants of the management career. This increases the chance of the aforementioned aspirants of the management career to get a good management job.
There exists considerable controversy over the workload of managers but apart from the performance pressure attached to managerial jobs, managers usually have less work in comparison to other professional jobs like accountancy, engineering etc (McNamara 1). With all said and done, management is very important in the corporate world and managerial jobs will always be there as long as businesses operate.
Benefits of taking management as a career
Management has a lot of benefits as a career. For obvious reasons, a manager will undergo personal growth while undertaking his/her duties. Managers learn how to deal with people in virtually every task they perform since part of their job description is the coordination of people to achieve a common goal. As mentioned earlier, management jobs have attractive remunerations and thus managers are normally well motivated to perform their jobs.
Additionally, it is relatively easy for people with management skills to get managerial jobs since virtually every firm has to have a manager for the smooth running of its processes and proper utilization of its resources. A managerial job also opens up a lot of opportunities for the development of networks with people.
This gives the manager the chance to engage in a variety of businesses that can make him/her access a lot of finances. For example, if a person is managing a food processing company, he/she will get acquainted with the sources of raw materials, markets and even the processes involved in the production (McManus 1). This opens up an opportunity for him/her to start his/her own company. The benefits of being a manager are innumerable. Let us have a look at the importance of management to firms.
Importance of management
It is indubitable that management is applicable in any profession and that it is the key to organizational success in all kinds of business. Good management of any enterprise leads to the achievement of its goals and objective. This is the reason why most organizations demand highly skilled and highly experienced managers. This, in turn, makes the people the organizations seek after very important and it gives them bargaining power over employment terms.
Management can be described as a science as well as an art of effectively coordinating all the activities in the organization so as to attain the intended or laid down objectives of the organization. For an organization to be efficient in its operations it must be able to manage its resources, technology, and any other important processes within the organization.
The manner in which an organization is managed therefore depends on the policies and strategies of the organization aimed at achieving operational efficiency, resource utilization as well as the achievement of cooperation within the organization (Cagle 54). From the above discussion, it is apparent that managerial efficiency is the key determinant of the level of profitability and goodwill of any organization.
Management detailed
Management is multidimensional. There are various disciplines of management which include; project management, Human resource management, financial management, marketing management, production management, construction management, plant operations management just to mention but a few.
This list is endless since everything inside and outside an organization must be managed for effective results. Of the above fields of management, Human resource management would be my best option. This is because it is highly remunerative, rising very fast and has great importance to the organization due to its high correlation to performance.
Human resource is an essential factor of production and just like the other resources of an organization it needs to be properly managed due to the fact that it is valuable (Rousseau 1). It works to relate the top management who issue policies with the subordinate who implement them. All organizations no matter the size require human resource managers so as to maximize its productivity.
Human resource management is basically the process of organizing and directing employees of an organization so as to obtain the targets set by an organization. It entails various issues affecting employees in any organization; these include recruitment, staffing, orientation, staff placement, training, retirement, benefits of employees, safety, compensation, motivation, and many others. The human resource department of any organization bridges the gap between the top management and the subordinate employees.
A human resource manager has the obligation of making a decision on what staffing technique to employ depending on the needs and requirements of the organization (Cagle 33). This is also the person who will determine how long employees work for an organization and if people will be attracted and contented to work for the organization.
Human resource is very valuable; the cost of losing an employee is significant as it also applies to the cost of hiring and recruiting employees. The human resource manager, therefore, works to minimize this cost by retaining employees in the organization. A human resource manager also strives to achieve highly qualified and best-experienced personnel to work for the organization. To efficiently manage the human resource of any organization the manager should acquire special management tools through strategic planning.
Strategic human resource management is, therefore, a system that helps the human resource manager to obtain the goals and objectives of the organization without dehumanizing the employees. It ensures that you treat employees as human beings and not as machines by the provision of a favorable work environment and fulfilling their needs.
A strategic plan will ensure that the costs of recruiting employees are reduced by either training the available employees or calling back the retired employees. Strategic human resource management is advantageous to both the employer and employees hence advisable to be applied to all organizations regardless of its size. See Human Resources Capability Model on page 12.
Another important feature of strategic human resource management is the use of Effective Information systems where all the data of what is going on in the organization is entered. Information is very significant in an organization; wrong information leads to wrong decisions which will definitely affect the organization (Reh 1).
The effective information systems once installed it gives an opportunity to visualize any deviations hence taking corrective actions early enough. It, therefore, acts as a weapon to the human resource management team who ensure the efficient running of the organization.
It can be concluded that to be a Human resource manager, one has to be a critical thinker to be able to overcome the many challenges facing Human resource management like change and globalization. One should also possess good communication skills to be able to convince the employees to work and follow the laid down regulations.
The human resource manager should be ready to listen to the employees’ grievances and demands. This is important since you will be able to prevent strikes and demonstrations by the employees that may greatly affect productivity at the same time destroying the good reputation of the organization.
The management of human resource despite being an exciting career where you interact with people working for an organization, it can be very challenging due to its many demands and obligations. Some of the challenges facing human resource managers include; the ever-changing job market, proper organization of talents within an organization, employee motivation, response to conflicts with employees just to mention but a few.
This, therefore, calls for proper understanding of your employees, knowing what they do best and put them in positions that are fit for them where they are comfortable and the result will be increased output.
Productivity can also be increased by involving the subordinates in decision making, this makes them feel recognized and part of the organization hence they are motivated to work hard (Reh 1). The human resource manager should, therefore, work hand in hand with the personnel so as to meet the demands of the competitive market environment and satisfy the consumer.
Management Efficiency
Generally, a good manager should have extensive skills in dealing with people. He/she should be able to communicate with people effectively imparting in them motivation to achieve the objectives of the organization and the willingness to work as one team and therefore achieve interpersonal coordination within the organization.
A manager should also be good willed, doing all he/she can to make every employee satisfied with their roles while ensuring that every employee’s performance is valuable to the organizations (Siegel 19). For instance, managers should ensure that employees are given the jobs they are comfortable with and also ensure that in case an employee is misplaced in terms of career-job matching, a transfer can be organized.
A person aspiring to be a manager should also be unemotional in terms of anger. This is because managers face a lot of problems in their duties and a temperamental person will most likely blow things up in such situations. It is thus desirable that a manager be able to cope with difficult situations and be able to work calmly under extreme pressure because otherwise, the welfare of the firm will be compromised (Lewis 28). The chart on page 11 shows how managers can optimize their workforce.
Challenges faced by managers
In spite of the goodness and importance of managerial jobs, the career has considerable challenges. Most of these challenges stem from the fact that part of the job descriptions of managers is to coordinate, motivate and organize people, and also plan the efficiency of operations being executed by others.
This is because an organization’s workforce is normally dichotomous in terms of willingness to cooperate in the achievement of the objectives of the organization. Some specific challenges faced by managers include challenges related to leading of organizational change, the managerial role of decision making, inter-corporation relations and the active role of managers in innovation management (Chan 1).
Change normally brings about resistance in all realms of life. It is normally the responsibility of managers to steer change in organizations. This is normally challenging to them since the intricacies of change may invoke resistance from some members of the organization. It is thus upon the managers to convince people within the organization opposed to change to accept it. This can be a very challenging task.
As mentioned earlier, the managerial role of decision making is also challenging. Managers are required to make decisions that are for the good of the organization and with which other employees are comfortable. This usually becomes a challenge to managers since decision making for the good of the company normally leaves some people disgruntled (Siegel 23).
Certain decisions may make some employees working under a given manager feel as if the manager wants to be hard on them. Directors of a company may also be displeased by a decision made by managers. This may lead to internal battles that may discourage the managers in applying their initiative in decision making.
Managers also face challenges in their efforts to achieve inter-corporation cooperation. This is particularly a problem for managers in oligopolistic firms where a stable relationship with other firms is a key determinant of profitability. This is usually a challenge since the other firms may be unwilling to cooperate if they have strategic advantages.
The managerial role of leading innovation is also challenging. Managers have to be sure that they will not be accused of product counterfeiting before completing an innovation project (McManus 1). This becomes a problem particularly in perfectly competitive markets which have similar differentiated products.
Conclusion
In spite of the intense pressure associated with managerial jobs, being a manager is one of the best career choices one could ever make. As mentioned earlier, being a manager comes with a myriad of benefits. Apart from the status associated with managerial jobs, the jobs are well paying and they open up a lot of opportunities for self-development. They also help people who pursue them to develop important networks that give them lucrative ideas.
Another very important aspect of management is the aforementioned need for managers in virtually every industry. This makes good managers a “hot cake”, and thus gives them the power to negotiate for higher salaries. Additionally, managers mostly see the fruitfulness of their work by increased profitability of their organizations and improvement of operational efficiency.
This gives them a means of evaluating their worth and hence, they become aware of their capabilities as leaders. The self-awareness that follows from the discovery of their capabilities makes them go-getters and thus they get motivated to keep on trying new things. This ultimately makes them prosperous in life.
This model uses a professionally designed chart to guide human resource managers on the development of management based policies for the good of the organization. Each sector represents an important component of human resource management e.g. alignment with the organization’s business, Credibility- being influential in negotiations etc.
Works Cited
Cagle, Ronald. Project Management Career. U.S. Bell & Bain, 2004. Print.
Chan, Alvin. “The challenges of human resource management”. 2009. Web.
Graph V. “Workforce Optimization Model.” 2010. Web.
Human Resource management. “Human Resource Capability Model.” 2003. Web.
Lewis, James. Fundamentals of Project Management. California. Barnes & Noble, 2001. Print.
McManus, Henry. “Human resource career overview and job description”. 2010. Web.
McNamara, Carter. “Skills and Practices in Organizational Management.” 2009. Web.
Reh, John. “Management Career Paths”. 2010. Web.
Rousseau, Jacob. “Organizational Management Doctorate Degree”. 2010. Web.
Siegel, Joel. Operational Management. New York. Wadsworth Publishing, 1999. Print.