Globalization has a significant impact on the structure and function of higher education because it provides a diversity of talent and makes the young generation ready for the industry. For an organization to succeed teamwork plays an important role. No doubt handling manpower in the current scenario has become more challenging than earlier when the people were serious and committed towards their jobs. Due to an increase in the number of job opportunities, there is a lack of commitment in the employees. When students are from diverse culture, recruiting faculties from a multi-cultural background for a mix of best skills and cultural adaptability has become a challenge for human resource, but also a big reward in terms of the long-term development of the educational institutes and universities.
"Handling manpower, understanding their need, managing conflicts, counseling and making them work are the toughest tasks handled and managed by the human resource department"
To create the future of nation we need good creators, i.e. good teachers (Gurus) because they are the creators of our nation. A good teacher can make the life of a student and bad teacher can spoil, they are the potters (Kumbhar) who mold the young generation of our nation. In many educational institutes and universities, human resource is still a neglected department; faculty hiring is done by the management, registrar or the deans and heads which sometimes leads to the hiring of referrals, which also impact the work performance of the employees due to certain obligations and many times it is also tough to take hard decisions on such employees if they are not performing. Every person is capable in her/his field like teachers are good at teaching in the same way the human resource is good in recruiting & placing the people in the proper position; one cannot expect people to be a jack of all and master of none.
Human resource department is not only responsible for looking after the employees by providing them growth opportunities, but it also plays an important role in training and developing their skills, along with the responsibility of the performance appraisal of the employees. It also handles processing payroll of each employee in an efficient and accurate manner and for developing various reports that give extensive knowledge and information about various sections of the organization with respect to the manpower.
Handling manpower, understanding their need, managing conflicts, counseling and making them work are the toughest tasks handled and managed by the human resource department. Hence whether it is an educational institute or university, small or a medium-sized organization, the human resource department, if neglected may lead to many severe problems in the organization. When an organization is small in size the people are less and everybody plays politics, but it is scattered and has a low impact on productivity. Unless this is immediately controlled by proper structuring of the organization structure and policies, then the things become more manageable, else the consequences become worst with the delay in this it becomes hard like a rock and hard to break. Preventive measures can be taken if the organization has a human resource department.
The biggest challenge with the educational institutes or universities now is that they are very late in hiring human resource; the consequence of which is that organizational politics has taken the shape of a hard rock, the workload of the teaching staff and the number of holidays are the biggest challenges for the human resource. The workload is less as per the rules and regulation so that the teachers get enough time for their research and preparation of lecture in order to deliver the best to the students, but not all use this for productive purposes and making them work is a challenge. Another challenge is structuring the organization, framing policies and making them work accordingly. Hiring, firing, shortlisting and interviewing the candidates are the most important. Due to the increase in distance learning courses and Ph.D., it has become very difficult to find the right candidate. Research is a passion, but when you compel it, it becomes a burden. When the research is done only to satisfy the need, then QUALITY is compromised. Judging the right candidate in this long checklist is a big challenge in front of human resource.
Whether it is educational institutes or universities, we must not forget that Human Resource is a single point of contact where the employees can speak and this is the single link between the management and the employees. Neglecting human resource is like a person functioning without a heart.
Appreciate the real value of human resources. "Human resources are like natural resources; they're often buried deep. You have to go looking for them; they're not just lying around on the surface." - Ken Robinson
Nikhat Hamza, Director - HR & FTA
Currently working as Director of HR & Faculty Training Development at BS Abdur Rahman Crescent Institute of Science and Technology, Nikhat Hamza is also the founder of 'Centre for Qualitative Research in Human Nature and Organizational politics'. She is an MBA and PhD in Human nature, She has expertise in the transformation of the organization for better productivity and employee satisfaction.
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