Contemporary HRM Practices Week 5 Assgn2PLopez

           This assignment has as its focus, an unfamiliar Human Resource Management Practice (HRMP).  Not that the HRMP is foreign or totally strange, expect maybe to me, however, my task is to research, learn and report about a contemporary trend that is paving a new road and giving HR professionals tools to use when breaking from the traditional and comfortable methods used when managing HRMP.

           Cantrell and Foster (2006) stated that HR must look for ways to manage their workforce and "[i]nstead of managing a workforce as a single homogeneous entity” that the workforce should be viewed as a “…workforce of one” (p. 1).   The word that Cantrell and Foster use quite frequently to describe the workforce of one, is the “talent multiplier”, or recognizing employees as individuals, which is a way to “…empower[]” employees because the traditional way of management, or the “…one-size-fits-all management practices do not suit the realities of today’s organizations” (p. 2).

          Talent multipliers are the opposite of traditional approaches where management controls from the top down.  Rather, a contemporary approach embraces employee value, respecting individually, talent, encourages opinions and fully utilizes an employee's potential.  This is not a chaotic environment where employees run free from the establishment, but this environment teaches, trains and nurtures talented employees because the organization knows employee value.  

 

           In addition, managers are encouraged to “…harness the natural strengths of their employees by catering to individual attributes” (Cantrell and Foster, 2006, p. 3).  In fact, the United States Army is examining its traditional employee management practices by   advancing technology that links those in charge with his or her solders, giving and sharing information and new capabilities between forces.  Osborn (2011) stated that traditional tactics need to change, and these changes come from testing and feedback on how a program is working, what its weaknesses are and overall soldier feedback on the performance of what is being tested.  This is total shift from blind obedience, where opinions are not encouraged or asked for, to seeing service personnel as having valuable input into the mission and strategy. The same can be said for HRMP. 

 

          Whether it is a new way to measure performance, expand globally or when redesigning a workflow, the communication that the United States Army is utilizing can be used by private organizations as well and is really a good idea.  Managers partner with their employees and also with each other.  The days of do as you’re told and just follow the rules, may work for some managers, and is useful in select situations, however, best practices would suggest that it is an engaged partnership that will symbolically lead the team into battle or give the organization, the competitive edge is the way to encourage best practices.

 

References

Cantrell, S., & Foster, N. (2006, October). Workforce of one: A new approach to human capital management. Accenture. Retrieved from http://www.accenture.com/us-en/Pages/insight-workforce-of-one-new-approach-human-capital

 

Osborn, K. (2011, August 3). [Web log message]. Retrieved from:
           http://asc.army.mil/web/building-the-army-network-%E2%80%98a-           revolutionary-new-approach%E2%80%99