Human resources: Utilization and exploitation!

Today’s workplace dynamics demand efficient employees. After the global COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a lot of change in how organizations work. From new recruitments to mass layoffs, salary hikes to retrenchments, the failure of startups to rise in corporate culture, work from home, online meetings, and so much more - Businesses have seen it all.

The Human Resources (HR) department ensures a positive employee experience in every organization. HR professionals are imperative in the holistic growth of a business. HRs share a special connection with every employee. They manage a company’s most valuable asset - the employees.

On 20th May every year, we celebrate International HR Day. We celebrated the same this year too. The theme for this year was “Shaping the new future.” This theme points to the role of HR as the driving force in building a more inclusive, accepting, and sustainable future of work.

The human resources (HR) department is expected to handle human resource management functions. Some examples of it include finding, hiring, training, and supporting new employees. HR departments are responsible for such important tasks as reviewing resumes, keeping track of employee information, and ensuring a company complies with labor laws and employment standards.

In other words, HRs are responsible for screening, recruiting, and training employees and implementing employee processes. HRs also administer compensation benefits. HR departments add value to an organization by providing objective guidance to managers and employees on people-related matters.

Today, HRs lay a special focus on mental health importance. To create a healthy workspace, the World Health Organization (WHO) suggests, among other things, the importance of understanding the opportunities and needs of individual employees is important.

It is equally significant to focus on interventions and good practices that protect and promote mental health in the workplace and become aware of how the workplace environment can adapt to promote better mental health for employees and support sources where people can find help, WHO highlights.

The United Nations (UN) underlines that HRs are important in supporting employee mental health and well-being. HRs initiate to improve workplace culture, providing managers with education and supporting personnel through all phases of their employment.

HRs hold a significant position in the well-running of an organization. But what if they fail at their job role? What if a company lacks experienced HR professionals? Any mismanagement of human resources may lead to chaos in the organization.

On the one hand, proper utilization of human resources results in high employee productivity, skill development, organizational commitment, and career development. When employee performance increases, the overall organizational performance is also enhanced.

Human resource monitoring and evaluation help attract, motivate, and retain employees. Training and development opportunities should be incorporated into a corporate culture. Employee upskilling leads to a win-win situation between employers and employees.

HRs should also monitor the voluntary participation and involvement of the employees in organizational initiatives. Employee engagement should be encouraged in the broader interest of employees’ career growth while building a progressive work culture. Human resources are truly an asset.

On the other hand, underutilization of human resources leads to severe inefficiency. It refers to an organization not fully utilizing its workforce’s skills, knowledge, and abilities.

Underutilization of human resources is a situation that may be a cause of concern for HRs or HR practitioners.

To address underutilization, organizations can create more opportunities for cross-functional collaboration. The HRs may ensure that job roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and aligned with employee skills and abilities. If the working potential of employees is not fully utilized, it can result in a waste of resources.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, hybrid work culture is a new practice. It is an arrangement where employees come to the office occasionally and complete the rest of the tasks by working from home, depending on their convenience. It reduces an organization’s operating costs. It also helps employees save on transportation expenses.

In that case, HRs need to ensure employees’ work-life balance. Flexibility in the work schedule would help boost employee productivity. It will help HRs foster a win-win situation between the organization and the human resources it invests in.

During recruitment, HRs should promote gender equality. Organizations must practice equal pay. Companies should ensure that there is no gender gap in the workplace. It also boosts employee morale and thus sets an example for other organizations in a corporate culture.

It is worrying that India has one of the highest gender gap magnitudes in the world. Statistics by the International Labour Organization (ILO) state India’s gender gap magnitude is 50.9 (in percentage points.) And women in the labor force are as low as 19.2% in India, while men in the labor force stand at 70.1% in our country today. 15% of working-age women globally would like to work but do not have a job. It has remained almost unchanged for two decades (2005-2022).

At the office, HRs must keep a check on workplace harassment. Any form of verbal harassment, psychological harassment, cyber bullying, sexual harassment, or physical harassment is unwelcome. Ensuring a workplace free from harassment extends positive employee experience.

As we celebrated International HR Day, let us acknowledge how the HR community clinches critical human resources management. Regular seminars, lectures, or workshops help the employees gain professional knowledge on concerned subjects. Practising diversity, inclusion, and tolerance makes employees feel integral to the team.

Today, there are a lot of organisations working in the fields of employee engagement, rewards and recognition, employee benefits, etc. They are bridging the gap between employers and employees. The business revolves around building an engaged, productive, and happier workforce.

Some of the leading players in this sector are organisations such as Vantage Circle, founded in 2011, Xoxoday (2012), Awardco (2015), Bonusly (2012), Reward Gateway (2006), Kudos (2010), Achievers (2002), etc. Their service is to provide holistic employee engagement solutions.

Following good human resources management techniques will promote optimal utilisation of human resources. It shall lead us on a positive note, where exploitation is zeroed out. Our conscientious HRs may collectively take up the onus to build their respective workplaces exemplary, exhorting all effort towards curtailing any possible exploitation of human resources by upping utilisation of employee potential through innovative and righteous interferences at the offices and beyond.

Let every HR department be the flagbearer of change, fostering collaboration for an improved work culture in every sector. HRs can thereby contribute to the long-term success of their respective organisations. At the same time, they would thus present better human resources to our society and prove the deserved worth of human resources through the valued profession.