HRMT20024 T2 2018 Assessment 3: Challenges in Attracting and Retaining Staff/Workforce
Introduction
Managing the human resource process in an organization, especially in the public sector, is a big challenge. Public organizations need an effective strategic human resource plan to attract and retain an immense number of employees. In the public sector, it seems tough to retain and attract workforce and the risk of high employee turnover is quite visible. In Australia, the public sector needs to reshape its human resource strategies to eliminate different employee’s issues and build a strong workforce. The profitability, sustainability, and the effectiveness of these public organizations are triggered by the employee’s attraction and retention.
Challenges in Attracting and Retaining Workforce
There are many challenges regarding employee attraction and retention in the public sector. Public service motivation, employee experience in lean working environment, organizational commitment in the Australian public sector, human resource practices in western societal clusters and freedom of the political communication are some key issues to examine the role of human resource management (Kramar, et al., 2014). However, five new themes have been considered to examine retention and attraction issues in the public sector. These issues are to be integrated with five selected themes.
Five Themes
Now, when examining the retention and attraction issues in the public sector, it seems imperative to align with the following themes. Some insights from the public sector, especially from Australia, are to be linked with these issues. The illustration is as below.
Theme: Performance Management
Challenge: Salary Dissatisfaction
In the public sector, it has been revealed that employees seem dissatisfied due to low salary as compared to the private sector. Employee’s salary is the basic factor that can help the management to attract and retain employees. Usually, the employee quits the company due to the high demand of salary. Normally, it is beyond the organizational budget. Thus, it seems a big challenge to retain and attract the best talent with a limited pay scale in the public sector. Also, public organizations look to retain employees through job security and promising gratuity funds. However, it is not enough in this contemporary era. It has been observed that the public sector motivates employees through knowledge sharing initiatives (Kramar, et al., 2014). The public administration uses this as a motivational tool for employees to stay in the company. Interestingly, employees can be attracted or retained for a while. Employees have to meet their needs in society, and they have to improve their living standards. Thus, in the limited budget, it looks difficult to attract and retain employees for a long run (Chen & Hsieh, 2015).
Interestingly, performance management is integrated with this particular issue. For Instance, the performance of employees cannot be improved without attractive salaries and other benefits. An organization intends to improve employee performance through different performance appraisal systems in the public sector. Many public firms find the employee performance poor due to low wage rate and salary. Salary is not in accord with expectations, and it leads to poor performance. The result of poor performance also leads to employee turnover. On the other hand, employees do not find any motivation, and they have to leave the organization to find better opportunities. Sharing the knowledge of employees in the public sector is not only a single factor. To attract, retain and motivate them, there is a need to increase the salary and other employee benefits. Obviously, it can be used as a key performance management tool to enhance the performance of employees (Johari & Yahya, 2016).
Theme: Training Need Assessment
Challenge: Poor Working Conditions
Every firm, operating in the public sector, needs the effective training need assessment. To retain and attract employees in the public sector, there is a need to create a pertinent working environment. The purpose of the public administration is to create a safe work environment which can attract and retain the best talent. However, as compared to private organizations, the public sector seems reluctant when making changes in the workplace. The poor working condition in the company creates the challenge for the administrator to enhance the visibility of attraction.People usually do not want to work in a risky environment (Kramar, et al., 2014). On the other hand, the firm, due to limited budget and intentions towards profitability, tries to keep the traditional workplace. It increases the chances of an occupational ill Health. Also, it has been seen that public sector employees also depict the resistance in the change management process. Thus, usually see the change as a big job threat. Thus, it is tough for the firm to attract employees through the new technology and pertinent working environment. Employees, on the other hand, are frustrated due to poor working conditions. Thus, finally, they leave the organization to find a place where appropriate work structure is established effectively (Carter, et al., 2013).
The training need assessment is in the limelight, especially in the public sector. For Instance, the big reason for the employee turnover is lack of skill and experience. When changing the working environment for employees to enable health and safety, there is a need to train employees to emerge in the new working environment. It has been emerged as a big challenge to convince employees to participate in the training process. Emerging in the new workplace is a need of both employees and public organization. However, retaining and attracting them is quite difficult if they remain traditional in the traditional working environment. It is a fact that task analysis is an important component of the training need assessment in a public organization.
For Instance, through the task analysis, the firm identifies the necessary knowledge and tasks along with pertinent required skills. If the employee does not want to emerge or embrace the new safe work environment these task capabilities cannot be developed. The main challenge is the poor or traditional work environment, which retrains an organization to streamline the training need assessment along with the retention and attraction of employees. Thus, it is to be said that the attraction and retention of employees in the public sector. In the context of the training need assessment, retention and attraction of employees are difficult. However, some thoughtful considerations by the human resource management are needed to retain the best talent in an effective manner (Songstad, Moland, Massay, & Blystad, 92).
Theme: Motivational Job Design Approach
Challenge: Job Rotation
Motivational job design approach has become a new trend in both private and public organizations. This technique has been used by many companies to attract and retain employees in an effective and lucrative manner. However, the main issue that emerged in these companies is the lack of job rotation. Public organizations create consistent or same job design. It seems tough for the company to retain and sustain employees because they get bored with their job. The same task every time usually frustrates employees, and therefore, they leave organizations to find places where they can explore their skills and capabilities in various fields. For Instance, in the Australian public sector, multiple tasking in organizations is less than the private firms. Due to lack of job rotation, it is impossible to depict employee retention and loyalty. People in this region usually have multiple skills. However, in these public organizations, they have to focus on the same task, which can be beyond their skills and capabilities. Employees contain lack of motivation, and they want to leave the firm (Kramar, et al., 2014). Moreover, it is seen that the culture of the company plays a vital role in attracting and retaining employees. Many factors in the culture are interrelated, and job design is one of the prominent factors in public firms. The main challenge for a firm in the public sector is to shape the culture to streamline the employee’s organizational commitments. Unfortunately, due to lack of motivational job design approach, lacks commitments are quite visible, and it leads towards the employee turnover (Su, Baird, & Blair, 2012).
The prominent element of the motivational job design approach is autonomy. It has been revealed that the private organizations in Australia are giving freedom to employees to perform their job duties in an effective manner. However, in the public sector, people or employees are not given the freedom to accomplish different tasks. It is linked with the job rotation challenge as well. It has been observed that employees in the public organization can be attracted or retained through creating a culture where they can emerge as versatile employees. Job rotation enables the multitasking in the firm. Again, the challenge is the culture and structure of the public firm in Australia that cannot afford to demonstrate the motivational hob design approach. Employees want to improvise in the culture and show their commitments, and without it, there is no employee attraction and retention. Thus, the key initiative that these private firms can take is reshaping the organizational structure and culture. It can help employees emerge in these firms with greater versatility and motivation (Johennesse & Chou, 2017).
Theme: Work-Life Balance
Challenge: Creating a Working Environment
Private and public sectors are looking to create a modern workplace culture. The role of human resource management is in the limelight in terms of the different human resource activities. Unfortunately, the public sector is way behind in terms of employee retention and attraction. The big challenge that the management of these companies is facing is creating a working environment that can give some space for employees to integrate with social activities. The traditional culture in public organizations does not allow modern workplace techniques or approaches to creating a pertinent environment. Giving employees some space to align with the social activities is too costly for the administration, and it can put the whole organization at risk in terms of profitability (Kramar, et al., 2014). Thus, it looks like a financial risk to conduct activities, which are other than job duties and responsibilities. In modern organizations, work-life balance has become a top priority to retain and attract employees. The employee must enjoy when working in the company, which ensures sustainability. If the public sector enables the work-life balance approach to attract and retain employees, the main challenge is the visibility or emergence of unrealistic demands. The public firm, with immense work pressure, may add more pressure to work due to these unrealistic demands. Conversely, the expectations of employees are high. It may create a contradiction between the management and employees, and there will not be any employee attraction and retention. Australian public sector is looking to enhance the work-life balance for better employee retention and attraction. However, another challenge for the public sector is the aversive behavior of employees. If the company gains success in attracting and retaining an employee, it can face the unproductive work environment. In other words, the attraction and retention of employees through work-life balance activities is risky. These companies do not retain their employees because it is not affordable. The cost of the business and workplace is a prominent challenge (Vanhala & Stavrou, 2013).
The employee retention is not easy in the public sector. It is a fact that there is an immense range of employees working in different public departments. Interestingly, employee attraction and retention can be done at the top level. Retaining and attracting the bottom line of the public company is difficult due to lack of resources and intentions. In large public organizations, despite containing the sections, monitoring and evaluating each employee is almost impossible as compared to private companies. Having an immense range of employees is not an issue. The allocation of resources, employee policies, and human resource activities such as work-life balance are several factors which are affecting employee attraction and retention (Williams, 2012).
Theme: Downsizing
Challenge: Organizational Cost
Another challenge regarding the employee retention attraction is the cost of the organization. The human resource management in the public sector intends to implement effective strategies or activities in terms of incentives, bonuses, perks, and many other health benefits. The main intention is to identify the best talent in the company and retain them for a long run. All these benefits and incentives are shaped in private and public organizations to attract employees (Kramar, et al., 2014). When an organization, for instance, in the health industry, meets the needs of employees, it is the biggest attraction. The main challenge is the cost of the business, operation, or whole organization. For Instance, it has been revealed that the company may compromise in the quality of the production process due to financial barriers. Retaining and sustaining employees usually depicts a shift in terms of focus. Well, in the competitive business era, shifting focus is not a good idea. If employees are retained, the production and business investment may be minimized, and it is also a huge threat to growth and expansion as well (Anthony Gray, 2018).
Downsizing is a key initiative or strategy of the public organization to increase overall effectiveness. Normally, it is a planned elimination of employees in the company to reduce the cost of the business and enhance the visibility of profitability. It is an effective cost-cutting approach to take short-term benefits. Now, the problem is the lack of retention and attraction in the downsizing process. Priorities of the public organization usually change when it comes to the profitability and financial sustainability. Restructuring or delaying the organization eliminates many functions and reshapes the work process. The concept of attraction and retention is invisible in this case. On the other hand, human resource management has to do it to take part in this particular change process. Downsizing is the obligation of the company in the tough business situation. Even the firm has to eliminate some of its best employees to save the company or streamline its priorities.
Furthermore, the Australian public sector aims to streamline the new technology to enhance the visibility of effective communication, knowledge management process, accountability. Employees, working in public firms for many years, may not align with modern technology. With the perspective of the company, old employees must not be retained and attracted or provide opportunities for new and skillful people. With these employees, despite conducting the training and development process, it looks tough to increase efficiency and effectiveness in the workplace. On the other hand, with the perspective of employees in the public sector, new technology in the downsizing process cannot attract due to resistance and job security (Gandolfi, 2007).
Thus, these are some challenges that the public sector can face in the employee retention process. Five human resource management themes have been aligned with some key challenges.
Conclusion
In end, it is to conclude that the Australian public sector is to be reshaped in terms of its human resource practices. People in these organizations may have different expectations. If the firm wants to retain employees, it has to integrate with employees’ expectations. Human resource activities or policies must be focused on employees. Trends of the human resource process are changing with time. To retain and attract people, some new techniques such as work-life balance and motivational job design approach should be introduced in both, public and private sector to make the difference.
References
Anthony Gray. (2018). Public sector employees and the freedom of political communication. Alternative Law Journal, 43(1), 10–16.
Carter, B., Danford, A., Howcroft, D., Richardson, H., Smith, A., & Taylor, P. (2013). ‘Stressed out of my box’: employee experience of lean working and occupational ill-health in clerical work in the UK public sector. Work, Employment and Society, 27(5), 747-767.
Chen, C.-A., & Hsieh, C.-W. (2015). Knowledge sharing motivation in the public sector: the role of public service motivation. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 81(4), 812–832.
Gandolfi, F. (2007). How do large Australian and Swiss banks implement downsizing? Journal of Management and Organization, 13(2), 145-159.
Johari, J., & Yahya, K. K. (2016). Job characteristics, work involvement, and job performance of public servants. European Journal of Training and Development, 40(7), 554-575.
Johennesse, L.-A. C., & Chou, T.-K. (2017). Employee Perceptions of Talent Management Effectiveness on Retention. Global Business and Management Research, 9(3), 46-58.
Kramar, R., Bartram, T., Cieri, H. D., Noe, R., Hollenbeck, J., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. (2014). Human Resource Management: Strategy, People, Performance. McGraw Hill Education.
Songstad, N. G., Moland, K. M., Massay, D. A., & Blystad, A. (92). Why do health workers in rural Tanzania prefer public sector employment? BMC Health Services Research, 12, 2012.
Su, S., Baird, K., & Blair, B. (2012). Employee organizational commitment in the Australian public sector. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24(2), 243-264.
Vanhala, S., & Stavrou, E. T. (2013). Human resource management practices and the HRM-performance link in public and private sector organizations in three Western societal clusters. Baltic Journal of Management, 8(4), 416-437.
Williams, H. E. (2012). Influential Managers in the Public Sector: How Can OD Prepare Managers in the Public Sector for Today’s Challenging Working Environment. Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics, 9(5), 125-136.
