UK Employers and Human Resource Management Essay

UK Employers and Human Resource Management - Essay Example According to the discussion  manpower cannot be totally replaced by machines. Despite the technological advances, the globalization swamping businesses worldwide has necessitated an ever more strategic approach to human resource management. Therefore, it is important that managers are able to decipher trends that may impact their companies. Still, it is also equally important to note that in manpower management, the people are a very crucial consideration as this plays out strongly in the company’s image. Empowerment has been very crucial to enhancing the productivity of these workers. However, to empower workers means that there must be a certain degree of participation on the part of these employees.From this paper it is clear that  the respective unions of employees have been very crucial in helping the labourers of a company to voice out their concerns. However, through the last three decades, there has been a weakening of these social structures which has enabled UK e mployers to have a firmer grasp on their employees to the detriment of their Labour force. The gradual weakening of the system has significantly weakened the once formidable unions of the country paving the way for companies to further flex their influences over their employees. This weakening eventually resulted in a gradual shift of human resources strategies to favour a more unitarist approach to human resource management.... Howell (2005) laments about the weakening and eventual demise of the once mighty Labour movement which bannered a significant victory for politicians against the various unions in the state. It seems that there has been a potent combination of various judicial and legislative actions as well as various forms of administrative measures coupled with various crises to forge a new way of relating to the Labour force. The gradual weakening of the system has significantly weakened the once formidable unions of the country paving the way for companies to further flex their influences over their employees. This weakening eventually resulted in a gradual shift of human resources strategies to favour a more unitarist approach to human resource management. Indeed, according to Howell (2005) the state has played a very pivotal role in this development. As mentioned. The various legislations and even the crisis of 1979 have been instrumental in the decade’s long transformation of the emplo yment conditions of the UK. Slowly but surely, the balance of power gradually tilted sharply towards the employers. As the hold of the employers strengthened, they are able to impose additional regulations and procedures with little or even no dialogues with their employees. Bennet (1997) stresses that this can be detrimental to the firm as it is tantamount to forcing the will of the organization to the employees. In so doing, important suggestions and signals may be lost wherein the employees are just made to follow the orders of the company. Unfortunately, these tend to be detrimental since they are able to foster resentments rather than conflict resolutions when the employees are by passed by these procedures.