Significant Trends in the Modern Working Environment Research Paper

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Workplace

The modern working environment has increasingly been characterized by emerging trends, particularly because of the growth of the workforce and increased diversity due to globalization. The other aspects that have continued to be part of trends in the workplace include constant distribution of organizations and the increased use of enabling technologies and social collaboration platforms. Therefore, the emergence of new trends in the workplace generates several pressures on the workforce and managers. Trends in the workplace like the aging workforce, diversity, and skills deficiencies have considerable impacts on organizations. The evaluation of trends in the workplace also necessitates examining the key functional segments of Human Resources Management, employment laws, and workplace flexibility.

Functional Areas of Human Resources Management

Human Resources Management (HRM) is largely regarded as the glue that holds individuals and the organization together since it influences organizational processes and the contributions of employees towards realization of certain goals. The ability of HRM to hold people together and the organization is attributed to the fact that it comprises various functional areas. As the name suggests, the functional areas are factors that enable Human Resources Management to achieve its objective of holding people and the organization together. White (n.d.), states that the field of Human Resources Management comprises at least five functional areas through which human resource professionals are hired. These functional areas act as the responsibilities of the human resource department.

One of the functional areas of Human Resources Management is staffing, which entails identifying the personnel needs, selection of job candidates, and screening job applicants (White, n.d.). Staffing contributes to the overall organizational performance through ensuring that the organization has an adequate number of employees with suitable skills. This implies that HR professionals handling staffing need to be knowledgeable of relevant laws that govern organizational recruitment practices. In relation to staffing, some of the major responsibilities or tasks carried out by HR professionals include job analysis, ensuring availability of needed employees with required skills, recruitment, and selection. Some example of activities of HR professionals with regards to staffing include creating job postings, identifying suitable advertising mediums and place, tracking the flow of data of applicants, and interviewing candidates. The second functional area of HRM is compensation and benefits or total rewards, which focuses on wages and bonuses given to employees and benefits availed to them. This HRM function influences the overall performance of an organization through determining whether employees are rewarded based on their contributions to the organization. Employee compensation and benefits affect job satisfaction and workers' input in the organization, which affect organizational productivity. In this case, Human Resources Management designs monetary and non-monetary reward packages for employees based on their input and job level.

The third functional area is training or employee development, which incorporates determining areas that require skill development in relation to necessary skills needed by certain employees or organization-wide training needs. Employee development includes focusing on long-term learning needs and career planning and development. The contribution of this functional area on overall performance of an organization is enhancing employees' knowledge, skills and abilities, which in turn enhances their input and overall performance. HRM's specific task in this process involves conducting in-house training or organizing outdoor training of employees or workers.

The fourth functional area of HRM is employee and labor relations that focus on maintenance of positive relations between the organization's management and the workforce. Employer-employee relationship plays an important role in human resources through which the rights of each party are protected while the expectations of both parties are met. The specific tasks by HRM relating to employee and labor relations include morale management, development effective policies and procedures, conducting performance appraisal, and dealing with complaints. The relations between the management and the workforce influences overall organizational performance by determining the kind of working environment established in the organization. Working environment influences procedures and practices in the organization and determines organizational productivity.

The final functional area of Human Resources Management is safety and health because of the significance of a healthy and safe environment in organizational productivity. A healthy and safe work environment is crucial because employees' contribution towards the organization requires effective measures to prevent illness and promote physical and psychological health. The tasks of HRM in this case is to ensure the organization complies with requirements of Occupational Safety and Health Act, creating and implementing safety policies and practices, handling occupational injuries and illnesses, and managing safety training and meetings.

Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Laws

Every individual in the workforce is entitled to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) since it is their right to work and progress based on ability, merit, and potential.

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Given that equal employment opportunity is the right of every person, the federal government has taken several measures to protect this individual right including the enactment of various laws. Generally, the fair employment laws enacted by the federal government are geared towards preventing discrimination. The laws require the federal government to ensure every person has access to equal employment opportunity regardless of his/her nationality, race, gender, disability, religion or color. Some of these federal equal employment opportunity laws that influence fair employment practices within organization include

1963 Equal Pay Act

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 is an amendment of the 1958 Fair Labor Standards Act that prohibits wage discrimination on the basis of sex. This equal employment opportunity law seeks to ensure that federal agencies do not pay some workers lower wages as compared to those of the opposite sex within considerably equal work (Berger, 1971, p.326). The considerably equal work means jobs performed under the same conditions or with requirements of similar skills, responsibility, and effort. This regulation influences fair employment practices within organization since it covers both private and public institutions. The primarily way with which this law influences fair employment practices is through ensuring wage disparities do not exist within the same job based on gender. In the organization I currently work for, this law has influenced fair employment practices by contributing to establishment of compensation and benefits policies and practices based on employees' contribution rather than gender.

Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act

This provision of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of nationality, religion, race, sex or color (Hill, 2014, p.8). Title VII also prohibits the use of retaliatory or reprisal measures against employees for engaging in discrimination complaints or rejecting unlawful practices. The basic way through which this law influences fair employment practices is by acting as the basis for formulation of workplace policies and practices, particularly in preventing discrimination. The organization I currently work for has utilized this regulation to develop workplace policies and enforce practices that prevent discrimination on any basis across all job levels and responsibilities.

American with Disabilities Act and Rehabilitation Act

This law was initially developed in 1973 and amended in 2008 to forbid discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities who have the capability to perform important job functions. As a result, employers are required to offer reasonable accommodations to help such people carry out their jobs unless such accommodations would create undue hardships. The provision of reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities with capability to carry out essential job functions is the main way through which ADA influences fair employment practices. The organization I currently work for has used the law for its equal employment opportunity through promoting the recruitment of disabled people based on their job performance abilities, budgeting for any necessary accommodations, and appointing a task force to examine every situation relation to this case.

1967 Age Discrimination in Employment Act

ADEA prohibits employment discrimination based on age for people aged 40 or older, particularly for employers with at least 20 employees except in cases where age is a valid qualification that is reasonably necessary for job performance. This law has promoted fair employment practices by ensuring several considerations are made during employment in relation to age. The organization I work for has classified various job categories where age is a bona fide necessary qualification as well as those where age is not a valid necessary qualification. The management makes various considerations when hiring in each of these job categories to prevent discrimination on the basis of age.

Significant Trends Affecting Organizations Today

The modern working environment is characterized by numerous changes brought by various factors including globalization and rapid technological advancements. These various factors have combined to generate significant trends in the workplace that continue to have major impacts on organizations today. Some of the major trends or changes emerging from the various factors include an aging workforce, diversity, and skills deficiencies. The impact of these trends in the workplace differs depending on the specific organization and the industry where it operates. However, the main impact of these trends on the workplace is contributing to numerous changes in the workforce and the working environment.

The primary way with which an aging workforce impacts organizations is by resulting in increased diversity of a workforce on….....

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