FOUNDATIONS OF WORK AND EMPLOYMENT (Essay Sample)

Foundations of Work and Employment- Short Essay Insert your name Professor’s name Course Date due Why The Australian Human Resources Sector can attract but not Retain Skilled Labor Summary of the Central Argument Introduction Over the recent years there has been debate on the issues of labor and human resources sectors in Australia. There have concerns particularly on skilled labor where a large number of skilled labor has been resigning form their jobs. Although there are many people seeking employment, most of them end up quitting there job prematurely. This problem has left many employers and scholars with a question as to why this issue has been on the increase. Many employers, through senior human resources mangers have been puzzled as to why the economy attracts a large number of skilled labor only to lose it after a few years of working. This article tries to answer some of these questions. In order to understand the central in this article, it is imperative to review the matters precipitating the gist of the central argument. In this respect, the resources sector in Australia is faced with numerous challenges pertaining to attraction and consequent retention of employees. Challenges like these can have debilitating effects on the human resources sector in an economy. When an institution attracts skilled labor, it is important for the institution to retain the labor in order to benefit from the high skills. The Australian Human Resources sector was facing steep challenges of this sort. They are characterized by shortage of skills because of long working hours and the remote locations of industries. Additionally, the sector is challenged but he uncertainty caused by changes in the Australian federal government that occurred in 2007, especially the legislation that enacted the fair work employment relations. Owing to this, the author seeks to analyze the perceptions of senior managers regarding the factors that influence how institutions attract and retain employees. This article reports the findings of a survey carried out in 2009 (Hutchings, De Cieri & Shea., 2011). Methodology The methodology used in the study is the survey methodology. Through the survey the research used several questionnaires to find the answers from senior level managers and human resources managers. The questionnaires were both open and close ended. The research used three open –ended research questions mailed to human resources managers. The first question was based on the current methods used to attract skilled labor. The second question was based on the changes that managers perceived were necessary for the organization to attract and retain skilled labor. The third question was the challenges faced by the organization in attracting skilled labor. Through this question the research aimed at finding the biggest challenge at the workplace. The study used the comprehensive sample of 397 Australian organizations from the online database from where the samples were to be acquired. The survey questions were sent through mail to the senior human resource managers in these organizations. The survey had also questionnaires which had a list of possible workplace challenges. This list provided a guideline to the respondent and helped in narrowing the research findings. The research also used open ended questions to know exactly what the response from the managers. The researcher organized the responses as organizational context, good employment practices and the social concerns. This methodology was aimed differentiating various causes for challenges in the labor market. However, the methodology chosen in this research has also some shortcomings. Some of the challenges this method are that it sometimes results in low response rates as potential respondents may not fill the questionnaires. This is observed from the 14% that responded to the mails sent them. Additionally, one cannot guarantee that the questionnaires were filled by the intended person. For instance, the senior human resource manager in this case might delegate the task to his subordinates. However, the method is appropriate when a large number of respondents are to be reached. The method is also cheaper because it does not require the researcher to be physically present during the filling of the questionnaire. A more appropriate method of administering the questionnaires for this study would have been through oral interviews performed by research assistants. This would have resulted in a high response rate. A low response rate affects the ability of the researcher to make statistical inferences and also the generalizability of the results (Boselie, Dietz & Boon, 2005, Pp. 72) The researcher considered the time when the survey questions were sent to the senior human resource managers (Hutchings, De Cieri & Shea., 2011). The researcher anticipated that the survey questions would not be prioritized because of preoccupation with financial matters in the organization. To remedy this and hopefully improve the response rate, the researcher sent reminders to the respondents. This is the downside of this method of administering the questionnaire. Using reminders is appropriate, although it is limited by the number of reminders one can send before being regarded as inappropriately aggressive. Critical Analysis of Results and Findings The researcher must have been aware of the shortcomings of the methodology used in the study. When choosing the methodology in a study, it is important to consider how each aspect of the methodology affects the results of the study. As espoused earlier, using the mail service to administer questionnaires is limiting in that the response rate might be low, especially if the gist of the study is not a priority for the respondent. The analysis of the results of the study was done in regards to four research questions. In terms of the challenges the workplace, the study found that the biggest challenge at the workplace was changes in workplace legislation. Changes in workplace legislation can results in the exodus of employees, especially if new legislations are not favorable to the employees. Nonetheless, even if the respondents found this to be the most concerning issue (77%), it is to be noted that it does not cause the issues facing the human resources sectors exclusively (Hutchings, De Cieri & Shea., 2011). Other issues precipitate to cause the challenges in the sector. The researcher found that some of the issues were found to be of concern in the short-term. However, and in consideration of the fact that the sector is already faced with challenges of attracting and retaining skilled labor, it is arguable that such concerns if not remedied will serve to pose more challenges to the sector in future. In terms of the strategies used to attract and retain employees, the respondents had a myriad of strategies listed. On paper, most of these strategies should have commendable results in terms of attracting and retaining employees. The f...