Seminar on  Challenges in Human Resource Management in 21st Century

Reinforcement is the method by which employers provide incentives to their employees to work harder. These can come in the form of positive incentives, such as rewards or bonuses or negative incentives, such as a punishment.

In any workplace, workers are no doubt the essential mainstay that holds any business or corporation together. Employees achieve important tasks to help the company’s long term vision and goals to be successful and efficient. A business can’t be successful without a proper management that is why it is important for employees to enjoy going to work and they also have maintain a positive attitude while being productive and completing tasks. Motivation is what gives a person the purpose to perform or behave in a certain way with the desire or willingness to gain something. There are two types of motivations, motivation that comes from a person and motivation that comes from materially goals. It is very necessary that employers keep their employees motivated and encourage them to perform above expectations.

As we all know, change is inevitable and we cannot control the world changing around us, but what we can control is how we can deal with how the employees deal with change. Knowing and understanding the common cause why people is resistant to change gives you the chance to plan your strategy to address these factors.

Motivational skills are very important in a workplace. Positive reinforcement is the process of strengthening a behavior by contingently presenting something pleasing (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013). Importantly, a behavior is strengthened when it increases in frequency, and weakened when it decreases in frequency (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013).

It’s important for managers to have clear communication which an employee will have choices in the change and where no choices can be given. As with anything communication is a key element in helping employees adapt to change, and the manager should be prepared to stress the importance of change and the benefits for the organization (n. d.). One good technique for a manager to use in helping employees deal with change is allowing the employee to express his/ herself however, the manager should not have to constantly dispute why the change is taking place (n. d.). Managers should encourage employees to work through his or her feelings and be an avid listener about what the employee has to say. In order for employees to jump on the change train involvement and communication are key elements.

Personal impact and fear of change are not the only causes of resistance by individuals during a change to business practices. The lack of respect and negative attitudes can also lead to employees resisting business change. If an employee lacks respect or has a negative attitude towards a person or department leading the change, then there are more likely to oppose the new ideas being implemented. Poor communication greatly impacts individuals’ accepted to new practices in a company. Typically if an employee is given new behaviors to adopt, but is given no reason, then that employee may reject the change. Upper management must effectively relate the value, need and benefit of the change to help get employees on board with new changes. The lack of individual input can also lead to resistance. Some individuals feel the need to be included in new ideas. When employees are not asked to be involved in changes, they may lack the vision of importance or will to change. A heavier workload can also cause opposition among employees. Employees may not embrace more systems and requirements needed

People are resistant to change especially in times of uncertainty and all they long for is consistency and routine. On the other hand, it is in unstable economic circumstances that companies have to undergo change in order to survive. It is the managers’ difficult task to make sure that the resilient and anxious employees will become receptive to the change initiatives and will eventually adjust their day-to-day behavior.

Even though the employees could show resistance to the change managers would help them to deal with the situation and assist them during the transition to ensure that the implemented change becomes efficient. Managers could implement the change by relying information clearly, by being open, recognizing employees concerns, and respecting the employees. Managers should provide support by allowing them to have a face to face meeting in regards to the changes and explain the benefits of the changes by providing additional training. Also, managers must place the reluctant employees with others who are familiar with the changes that are being implemented. This would help the reluctant employees see that the changes would be worthwhile and beneficial to the organization and its advantages, as well as a possibility of their own jobs to become easier.

The reason motivation of employees is important is because it has a direct impact on profitability of the company. If the employees are motivated, there is a greater productivity which means more sales and more money. Culture and strategy of a company can greatly impact on the attempts to increase its employees’ motivation. Firstly, the company provides the employees with rewards. Secondly, they value the employees and thirdly, it values diversity.

This report is concern about reinforcement theory of motivation that how companies motivate their employees. Reinforcement theory was proposed by B.F Skinner which says that individual behavior is a function of consequences. Which means that when an individual treats with different set of ways his action repeated in similar consequence. . Similarly negative reinforcement it is another way to modify individual behavior by using threatening and warning. These are not punishment but it is withholding of punishment. Extinction is used for reducing of behavior. When you want an instant stopping of unwanted behavior

In contrast, if the transformational initiative is carried out by change agents with whom employees are used to relate and with whom employees have developed certain customary work relationships, then the workers will be willing to help with implementing the change, will not display resistance, and will be open to more change. The fact that people tend to resist the change in human relationships and not the technical change was observed and confirmed by the above mentioned study as well as numerous others. If participation in change will be perceived by employees as a continuation or part of a normal, day-to-day behavior, then there will be no resistance.

Acknowledging and understanding employee’s different levels of resistance and acceptance is critical for change agents in a company as it directly effect the success of organization change strategies (Wittig, 2012). Witting explained Herein’s Spectrum of Employees’ Reaction to Organizational Change (SERCO) as a non stagnate scale; where employee’s attitude towards a change will move between the two opposite ends of the spectrum: resistance versus acceptance, during different stages of the change initiative.

Today, the fast rising of population does not necessarily go hand in hand with a surplus in supply of skilled workers. The lack of employees with suitable knowledge and training creates “a war for talent,” in which every company tries its best to attract as many talents as possible to increase its competitive advantage. Despite always improving human resource strategies, companies still face a lot of difficulties in meeting the needs of employees. Among many current and emerging challenges that human resource practitioners have to cope with in meeting the diverse needs of the contemporary workforce, the three most influential ones are shortage of labor, globalization, and the differing needs and expectations of a workforce spanning from Baby Boomers to Generation Y. This paper will discuss the above critical factors that need to be paid more attention in human resource strategies with supporting materials ranging from theories of human resource practice to modern day issues.

The social, economic, technical and cultural environment in which the firm operates is always changing. The company must keep pace and change accordingly. Similarly, within organization, new types of production technology may be introduced; the existing product lines may be phased out. These imply a change. We are talking here changes. Man by this very nature resists any change. Used to the old system or method of doing a particular job, people perceive change as a threat to their security. Moreover, change implies learning afresh the new methods or processes and most people resist making this extra effort.

It concludes by mentioning that it is becoming increasingly tough to retain good employees and many companies are realizing that motivation schemes are an excellent method of reducing turnover. From the above results, it is evident that workers want to be treated fairly and also want to develop good relationships with colleagues (best motivators).