Managing human resource towards organisation sustainability

People – the most valuable, critical and omnipresent resource of any organisation given any level of automation or digitisation that organisation be in. The success or failure of that organisation depends on how this human resource is engaged towards achieving the end result of that organisation. The overall purpose of human resources (HR) is to ensure that the organisation is able to achieve success through people.

HR professionals manage the human capital of an organisation and focus on implementing policies and processes. They can specialise in finding, recruiting, selecting, training, and developing employees, as well as maintaining employee relations or benefits. Training and development professionals ensure that employees are trained and have continuous development. Company culture never stays the same and that is a good thing. The cultures that survive are the cultures that make progress and evolve. While core beliefs should remain steadfast, careful review of goals, procedures, and the company image should be conducted incrementally.

There are incredible benefits that can come with change and a huge part of a company leader’s responsibility is to remind employees of these benefits and persuade them to recognise the benefits of the right changes. With that said, although change is good and necessary, before you decide to change something about the company culture, you need a precise, strong vision and strategic plan put in place beforehand. Additionally, your employees need to see that management sees the change as good and important and that management is confident in that decision before they too can be confident about the decision. Important Principles for Good Company Cultures among others may include : Work cooperatively with the current cultural model your company has while slowly introducing new changes; Introduce informal, yet influential leaders to your employees to set the tone for how your company culture will be created; Stay active when managing and maintain the current culture of the company.

People are motivated in their professional lives by certain factors, including money, recognition, power, passion and meaning. These factors can have a major influence on productivity, and an employee might rely on one or more of these areas to foster a passion for their work. When a person engages in a work force through some occupation through a regular job, freelance, business or any other are primarily due to : 1. Livelihood: People work to provide themselves and their families with the basic essentials or life--food, clothing and shelter. Once these basic essentials are met, other needs and wants become important. 2. Human relationships : People basically like companionship. People seek companionship with persons who have interests similar to their own. Working is a means of associating with people who have similar interests. Being part of a group gives people a feeling of belonging. Your work can provide companionship and associations with other persons. 3. Personal Development : A persons work can provide and opportunity to learn and grow intellectually and socially. It is a means of attaining new goals in life by developing new skills and learning new things. Work allows people to reach their fullest potential. Your work can grow and reach your potential. 4. Job Satisfaction : The most or your adult waking life will be spent working, it is important to choose and occupation that will bring job satisfaction. You, as well as your family will be happier if the occupation you choose is satisfying.5. Service : Service may be defined as the things which a person does which are beneficial or useful to others. People like to make quality products, provide useful services and in general, make a contribution to society. In addition, people like to feel that the work they do is important and of value to others. Your work can be a service to others.4. Security: People look for security in their occupations. We need to know that when tomorrow comes, there will be work for us so that money may be earned. People want stability in their lives in order to make realistic and effective plans for the future. Your work can provide you with this security.

Common organisational culture problems can include ambiguity, poor communication, and inconsistency. These can contribute to the experience of a hostile and unpleasant workplace, which can make workers less loyal and may contribute to issues like harassment, bullying, and high turnover. Companies with concerns about their structure and organisation can use outside consultants to get a fresh look at their culture, and may also want to consider the use of employee evaluations to get feedback from their personnel. These tools can help companies identify and address problems with organisational culture.Ambiguity is a common issue. Employees may not understand what is expected of them, or could feel as though stated policies are in conflict with actual practices. For example, workplace policies may state that management supports a healthy work-life balance, but the company may only promote single people who are willing to work long hours without complaint. The stated claim is that the company is family friendly, but in reality, this is not the case. Inconsistency can be another contributor to organisational culture problems. Employees may feel like policies are not applied evenly and fairly; managers may not be penalized for activity employees would expect to see punished, for example. Companies may also be inconsistent across departments, which can contribute to the development of resentment. People in human resources, for example, might want to know why the information technology department has better offices or always seems to be on vacation. Poor communication is another common problem with organisational culture at companies of all sizes. Employees may not communicate well with each other and could feel uncomfortable about approaching supervisors with ideas, suggestions, and concerns. From the top down, companies might not clearly articulate expectations and goals, which can make staff members confused about what they are supposed to be doing.

Organisational behaviour reflects the behaviour of the people and management all together, it is considered as field study not just a discipline. A discipline is an accepted science that is based upon theoretical foundation, whereas OB is an inter-disciplinary approach where knowledge from different disciplines like psychology, sociology, anthropology, etc. are included. It is used to solve organisational problems, especially those related to human beings.

Change as we know is the only constant in this ever dynamic world. Organisational change always has to start inside the minds of your people. Once you get people to change the way they think, they'll start doing things differently and your business strategy comes to life. However, as frequently highlighted, human beings are typically resistant to change by nature. As a leader, you must be able to navigate in the inevitable uncertainty that encompasses change, and ensure that your people are not only able but also willing to buy in on your vision. Therefore, driving change is to a large extent about emotions. If you don't possess the ability and techniques to influence and motivate your people, you will fail. While executives are often strong when it comes to rationally identifying and explaining the need for change, many state that the ability to connect emotionally and influence others is a key area for individual development. However, driving change is neither about being rational or emotional. It's about the ability to be both at the same time. For example, you need to be tough and caring, conflicting and inclusive. You might need to make demands and put pressure, but you might also need to coach and guide. It all depends on the situation.

By bringing forward convincing and conclusive arguments, successful change leaders act as strong role models and encourage others to follow. They push the agenda forward by actively defending agreed principles and given mandates, and persuade others to follow by being directive and credible. However, successful change leaders also have the ability to foster alliances and build efficient networks in order to increase others' commitment. They manage to bring people together, build consensus and create win-win situations.

Successful change leaders are strongly driven and eager to meet and even exceed expectations. They have the determination, resilience and discipline needed to deliver the best possible organisational results given the circumstances, and always deliver the necessary quality on time - even when meeting opposition. However, successful change leaders also recognise that they can achieve more in collaboration with others, being fully aligned with organisational visions and missions.

When setting KPIs, you need to consider whether the goals are sensible and smart goals or not. You need to make sure your KPIs are specific – be clear about exactly what they are measuring and why this is important to your business requirements. Ultimately, KPIs need to be able to be measured to a defined metric – if you can’t measure progress on the KPI then there’s absolutely no point in having it there in the first place. Your KPIs must be achievable and reasonable – you have to be able to deliver on them so setting yourself unrealistic KPI targets is advised against. You need to make sure that everything you measure is relevant to your business and your performance – if it doesn’t measure performance then there’s no point to it. Consequently, KPIs should also have a time-limit on them – you should be able to say exactly when you will achieve the goal and this should be within an agreed time-frame. The key to actioning on KPIs is communication- a lack of communication between employer and employee leaves absolutely no scope for progress and success. Managing your team is a difficult job – and monitoring and communicating progress and performance regularly makes that job all the easier. No one wants to be told that they’re doing a good job all year and then be told otherwise at an important meeting – be consistent, stay on top of things and know exactly where excellent performance is coming from.

The writer is MD and CEO of Community Bank. He can be contacted at [email protected]