The term wage discrimination can be explained as a difference in the wage levels offered to male workers and female workers for the same level of work they do. It occurs when an individual in a labor market suffers from a decreased wage level for the same job and performance. Gender wage differences seem to exist in many countries to some extent. Studies on wage differences shows that female/male earnings ratios are usually less than one, indicating that women usually earn less than men do. Depending upon the characteristics of their labor markets, factors producing wage differentials in those studies varied from race, gender, education, job status occupation, type of sector (public vs. private) to type of industry, among the others. Two major trends in the world have worked to widen the gender gap: increases in the pay premium associated with higher “skills” (i.e., higher levels of education and labor Continue reading
Modern HRM
Work-Life Balance Programs – Cost or Investment?
Work-life balance programs are fast gaining popularity in developed countries. Work-life balance programs can be defined as any benefits, policies or programs that help employees find ways to manage the demands of the workplace and life outside work. In other words, work-life balance programs are designed as a two pronged approach to achieve meaningful achievement and enjoyment in everyday life. There are many forms of work-life balance programs such as flex-time, child-care facilities at work, gyms and concierge services and paid vacations. Many reasons are cited for the introduction of work-life balance programs at the workplace, the most common being that it increases productivity as well as employee loyalty. While these are all valid justifications, the costs of having work-life balance programs should not be ignored. Therefore, do the benefits of work-life balance programs outweigh the costs? Going further, should these programs be considered a cost or an investment to Continue reading
Career Management – Definition and Meaning
Career is a general course of action, an individual chooses to pursue, all through his or her employment life. It may be represented as occupational positions a person has hold over so many years. Many people feel satisfied by achieving their career goals. At the same time, others have a strong feeling that, their careers, their lives and their potential has undergone unfulfilled. Employers too have a profound effect on employees’ careers. Some organisations have very formal career management processes, while others are very little concern about it. Career management is defined as the ongoing process of preparing, implementing and monitoring career plans. It can be undertaken either by the individual alone or can be a concerted activity along with the organisation’s career systems. Career management is a process that enables the employees to better understand their career skills, develop and give direction to it and to use those skills Continue reading
The Importance of Human Resources Management in Organizations
The functioning of modern organizations is highly dependent on the effectiveness of human resource management, which affects consistently organizational development. In actuality, human resources comprise important assets of any organization. In such a situation, many organizations are concerned with the improvement of the performance of human resources through motivating employees and developing effective approaches to human resource management. Traditionally, human resource management played an important role in the effective functioning of an organization. At the same time, the present epoch is characterized by the development of numerous human resource challenges which were practically unknown in the past. In such a situation it is extremely important to clearly identify the problem or problems and their major causes in order to be able to cope with the HR challenges and maintain the normal functioning of organizations. In this respect, it should be said that the wide implementation of new technologies is one Continue reading
Competency Based Compensation System
In the 1990s, a new idea gained acceptance in a number of organizations that more closely aligned human resource practices with organizational strategies, missions and cultures. A number of organizations switched from a traditional job-based structure to a competency-based structure that emphasized the development and attainment of behaviors, knowledge and skills compatible with and aligned to the organization’s mission and business strategies. The focus of competencies is centered on characteristics of the employee, including behaviors, skills and knowledge that can be demonstrated and positively affect the organization. Competencies emphasize the attributes and activities that are required for an organization to be successful. Therefore, human resource practices using Competency Models tap into the employee capabilities that are aligned to the organization mission and business need. Competency Models when implemented in totality can impact all of the agency’s human resource practices including recruitment, selection, compensation decisions, performance planning, performance evaluation and career Continue reading
Employee Participation and Organization Performance
In the first instance is necessary to define both employee participation as well as what is meant by performance. Employee participation may be defined as the process by which employees are involved in the decision making process of a business rather than merely being expect to following instructions and as such this forms what is referred to in HR as empowerment. Performance on the other hand can be considered from two perspectives, firstly there is the performance of the individual in question and how their personal performance is affected by the concept of employee participation. Secondly there is the performance of the organization as a whole to consider and how this will change with varying degrees of employee participation. Approaches to Employee Participation Traditional views of the organization and approaches to management have seen a clear distinction between the tasks of managers and those of the grass roots level employee. Continue reading