There is strong evidence that today’s students want courses to be applied and have practical relevance. Organizations also want their new managers to have the ability to apply knowledge. The role of modern managers also continues to change, requiring today’s organizational leaders to deal with increasingly dynamic and complex environments. The role of modern managers also continues to change, requiring today’s organizational leaders to deal with increasingly dynamic and complex environments.
Human resource issues are emerging as some of the most prominent concerns for business owners and managers. You’ve probably heard buzzwords floating around about managers-and particularly human resource managers-needing to be more strategic, business focused, customer focused, and generally more in tune with the overall operational success of the organization.
So what is happening in today’s business environment that might cause human resource managers to rethink their way of doing business? A key item that is causing this process of rethinking management is the fact that there is much greater competition and an external environment that requires a much greater rate of change. That creates an absolute requirement to be more adaptable and productive as an organization.
As a result, human resource managers as well as operational managers have been forced to think in more strategic terms about how their organization can win against their competitors by utilizing their human resources. One simple fact is that in the 21st century organization, human resources (HR)-the people within an organization-are one of the primary means of creating a competitive advantage for the organization, because management of human resources affects company performance. This is because most organizations of comparable size and scope within the same industry generally have access to the same material and facilities-based resources that any other organization within the industry may have. This being the case, it’s very difficult to create a competitive advantage based on material, facility, or other tangible or economic resources.
What this frequently leaves is people as the organization’s most valuable asset. If the organization can manage its human resources more successfully than its competitors do, if it can get its employees involved in working toward the day-to-day success of the organization, and if it can get them to stay with the organization, then it has a much greater chance of being successful-with the term successful defined in this case as being more productive and more profitable than the competition.
Managers are responsible for getting the job done through employees,16 so the organization’s human resources are nearly always its most valuable resource. While employee job satisfaction can be an important aspect of employee engagement, the overall concept of employee engagement is much larger. It is a combination of job satisfaction, ability, and a willingness to perform for the organization at a high level and over an extended period of time. If we can get our employees fully engaged, we can make better decisions, increase employee trust and loyalty, and improve productivity.