Human Resource Management: Discussion On Employing Older Workers In Contemporary Organization

Question

Task: Conduct an in-depth analysis on the concept of human resource management illustrating why companies should adopt strategies to recruit order workers.

Answer

1 Introduction
Most of the organizations in the current world follow human resource management process to achieve better shares of profit by the minimum use of resources and labor. Scholars all across the world have contributed largely to the overall understanding and studies of human resource management. The process and strategies for recruitment may differ in different organizations and industry sectors, but the core idea and belief on obtaining the best quality work and output from the hired workers remains the same.

This particular report is divided into two major sections. The initial section is developing a business case that will shed light on the reasons why companies should opt for human resource management strategies to hire older workforce. Involving in the section, the reports intends to build a critical discussion by referring to significant scholarly works on the benefits and challenges relating to the recruitment of older workforce. Lastly, the reports plan to end with a series of recommendations on the companies in having ready workforce and supply of labor in the future.

2 Discussion
2.1 Develop a robust business case of Human resource management why companies should adopt strategies to recruiting older workers by critically assessing the notable challenges and benefits associated with having an older workforce.
The modern world has a market that is highly competitive and flexible in nature. The employers as well as the employees are all highly talented and gained strong powers in the market. The changing nature and preferences of the customers are making the organizations face serious and constant challenges in making and processing their products and services that can suit the needs of the customers. According to the reports presented by Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott (2017), it can be stated that the older workforce is here to stay ad is going to build larger workforce population in the coming future. However, it is relevant and much needed to concentrate upon the various scholarly beliefs, observations and opinions on this theme.

John Train (2019), in his article published in the UK, mentions that the levels of unemployment above the age of 50 is significantly decreasing and that is a sign that people are hiring older workforce. In order to develop more on this observation, it is required to note the benefits that come along with the recruitment of old aged people. One of the most apparent reasons and benefits that the writer mentions in the said article is that the older people help an organization to stay competitive and highly flexible in the market (Agencycentral.co.uk, 2019). As managing and maintaining competitive advantage is beneficial for organizations, most of them are trying to hire old people to gain the right experience and opinions to stay competitive in the market, as observed in the case of the Hendra House care home.

According to the views of Smedley, (2017), the older people are having a greater perspective and a more practical knowledge and ideas on the changing market and the business tactics. They are experts unlike the young and fresh graduates who are the newly hired counterparts. In addition, it is also believed that as a part of human resource management, the older workforce is helpful in securing more funds and saving the same as well. The older people are already in the market for a long time and they are more concerned about their security rather than money, for instance the case of Hendra House care home employees. Hence, the companies do not have to straggle in negotiating with the competitive pricing and wages. Most importantly, it can be stated that the organizations need to hire older workforce to manage and maintain a string and effective employee engagement. In relation to this, the example of Epping Forest College can be considered vital. It is observed in the case scenario of human resource management that hiring older workforce is beneficial in attaining good results in many areas of operations for which hiring new workers is nearly impossible. The college was greatly benefitted by the workings of the old people, as they were helpful in maintaining a consistency in providing the best services.

In order to obtain an effective human resource management, strategies to recruit older workforce is needed for companies to make the employees stay and be loyal to the organizations for a longer time. As the young and fresh workers are having more options and are in need of better opportunities to build a better career they tend to move from one to the other job opportunities depending on their benefits. This is not the case for the older workers as they are more stable in their career and likes to stay loyal and faithful to the employer. More importantly, the companies will be in support of providing less or no training to the employees who are old and that would save time, labor, and cost. The more the experience of the workers, the lesser the chances of making mistakes are found and that is going to help the organizations yield better outcomes. For example the case of Hendra House, can be referred to at this point. It was observed through the case scenario that the old employee provided benefits in terms of raising the employee commitment rates and the rates of absence has decreased. For a care home organization like Hendra House, it is very important to have a strong control over the operations and the strategies. Hence, hiring the old person was certainly beneficial for the organization.

However, in relation to the positive sides certain challenges are also observed by many scholars, which need to be evaluated in the business case. According to the views of Cebulla and Wilkinson, (2019), it can be stated that in regards with human resource management older workforce is not good for organizations as they are dated and not quite flexible and modern as the new, young and fresh workers. Flexibility is a great aspect of working that helps to build greater outcomes from employees (Moen et al., 2016). It is rightfully observed in the case scenario of the hospitality industry on JD Wetherspoon where developing a diverse workforce is helpful in fostering flexibility that intends to provide greater profits. Creating the right balance between the young and the old employees is certainly necessary to build the best workforce in any organization. Similarly, in the manufacturing industry, in relation to the organization of Allevard Springs, it is observed in the case study that developing a perfect balance of the new and old workers will help in bridging gaps in the skills and overcome the shortages in the effective manner.

In terms of evaluating the bad and most apparent challenges of hiring the old workforce, it is important to understand that the older workers are not always fully equipped or informed about technological devices and gadgets that are highly effective in channeling business in the current times (Scheuer and Mills, 2017). It is also observed in the study of human resource management that older workforce work in limited situations and is able to produce limited outputs depending on the demands of the job (Antoniou et al., 2016). The older workforce is not able to be highly flexible like the young people and is even not fully aware of the newest technological changes that are highly essential for businesses to adapt to have better productivity. In addition, the elder workforce also, depending on the type of job and the working hours, charges more than the newly graduates and fresher. The old workers are more experienced and that is why they charge more.

Scholars like Josh Bersin and Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic (2019) shared their opinions on the issues and benefits of hiring the old workers in the contemporary industries in their journal that was published under the Harvard Business Review. It is observed from their perspectives and observations that striking the right balance in the workforce recruitment by building strategies on diversities and equality is something that is more important than just opting for old workers (Harvard Business Review, 2019), as seen in the case of Allevard Springs. Both the new and the old have something essential and important to contribute and it is thus necessary to have both by maintaining the right balance (Harvey and Allard, 2015).

2.3 Making recommendations as to the kinds of action organizations must consider in ensuring they have a ready supply of labour in the future.
It is very important for all organizations to have a constant and ready workforce that is always capable of producing great profits through products and services. The organizations, as observed earlier must take the strategies and steps to foster the growth in promoting the employment and recruitment of old workers in the current industries. Considering the changing nature and the preferences of people in the current century, this particular section of the report is going to provide a series of recommendations that will help the organizations to think critically and take necessary measures to have great labor in future.

• The first recommendation for organizations is to undertake human resource management approach in order to build a stronger infrastructure that helps in the empowerment of old aged employees. This is recommended to make the old workers feel secure and more trusted at workplaces. Employee empowerment is certainly necessary and more focus and attention must be provided to the employees who are old to make them feel happy and content at workplace that will eventually improve the quality of outcomes (Hanaysha, 2016).
• Secondly, it is recommended to organizations to develop a balance between the old and the new workers. The organizations must take strategies to hire both new and old workers to work at their organizations. The mix of both will help in catering to each other’s needs and reduce the gaps in skills and experiences. The new workers who are more modern and updated with technology can be assisted by the more experienced and capable old workers that will surely help in producing greater services and outcomes.
• Thirdly, it is recommended to the organizations to build diverse workforce with the help of human resource management approach. This recommendation is provided by considering the issues that organizations often face in the current time relating to the lack of labour in doing certain operations and works. Having a diverse range of workforce of people of all ages, workers of different socio cultural backgrounds, will help in promoting the knowledge transfer activities and that will positively benefit the quality of workforce (MacDonald, 2019).
• Fourthly, the organizations must take necessary steps in identifying the changing needs of the workers and act accordingly by providing them the needful in time. This is going to make the employees, young and old, happy and satisfied at workplace and that will help in improving employee engagement at the workplaces.
• Lastly, the organizations must continue in looking for the most preferred and skilled labour by conducting yearly recruitment activities that will help them to stay active in eth market and develop their presence amongst the employees who could choose them for their benefits. As a part of human resource management process, conducting a serious and strategic market research and organization recruitment drives will help the organizations to stay highly aware and well informed about the market situations, the needs and changing requirements of the employees and take steps to fulfill them by bringing necessary changes to their human resource management planning and programs.

3 Conclusion
This particular report on the concept of human resource management has been very significant and enriching in observing the overall nature of the employee recruitment strategies and styles that are adapted by the organizations in the modern times. It is observed that old workers are highly beneficial for organization in yielding greater profits. They are highly experienced and certainly more capable of finishing tasks greatly than the young workers. The experience also matters to the organizations in developing their current practices and the quality of their outputs. The experience is something that makes the old workers in demand in the market. However, the report has also identified with several drawbacks and demerits in hiring the old workers. It is observed that the old employees are not fully able to cope up with the changes and operations of the modern technologies and that adversely affects the outputs in many cases.

The above study on human resource management has used secondary sources of information to gather data and knowledge on the theme of recruitment. It is observed that finding the right strategies to create workplace diversity and balancing the hiring of both young and the old workers is of great significance.

4 Reference list
Agencycentral.co.uk. (2019). Human resource management Why UK Businesses Could Benefit from Hiring Older Workers. [online] Available at: https://www.agencycentral.co.uk/articles/2016-11/the-benefits-of-hiring-older-workers.htm [Accessed 29 Oct. 2019].

Antoniou, A.S., Burke, R.J. and Cooper, S.C.L. eds., 2016. The Aging Workforce Handbook: Individual, Organizational, and Societal Challenges. Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Business Trends and Insights. (2013). 5 Good Reasons to Hire Older Workers. [online] Available at: https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/business/trends-and-insights/articles/5-good-reasons-to-hire-older-workers/ [Accessed 29 Oct. 2019].

Cebulla, A. and Wilkinson, D., 2019. Responses to an Ageing Workforce: Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom. Human resource management Business Systems Research Journal, 10(1), pp.120-137.

Hanaysha, J., 2016. Examining the effects of employee empowerment, teamwork, and employee training on organizational commitment. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 229, pp.298-306.

Harvard Business Review. (2019). The Case for Hiring Older Workers. [online] Available at: https://hbr.org/2019/09/the-case-for-hiring-older-workers [Accessed 29 Oct. 2019].

Harvey, C.P. and Allard, M., 2015. Understanding and managing diversity: Readings, cases, and exercises. Pearson.

MacDonald, C., 2019. Diversity in Recruitment Evidence Review. does not indicate Fire and Emergency New Zealand’s endorsement of the findings or recommendations.

Moen, P., Kojola, E. and Schaefers, K., 2016. Organizational change around an older workforce. The Gerontologist, 57(5), pp.847-856.

Scheuer, C.L. and Mills, A.J., 2017. Reifying age-related employment problems through the constructions of the “problematic” older and younger worker. Human resource management In Ageing, Organisations and Management (pp. 41-63). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Smedley, K., 2017. Age Matters: Employing, Motivating and Managing Older Employees. Routledge.

StartupGuys.net. (2014). Advantages & Disadvantages of Hiring Older People » StartupGuys.net. Human resource management [online] Available at: https://www.startupguys.net/advantages-disadvantages-of-hiring-older-people/ [Accessed 29 Oct. 2019].