Unions and Human Resource Management Roles in the U.S (Research Paper Sample)

Unions and Human Resource Management Roles in the U.S
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Unions and Human Resource Management Roles in the U.S
The role of unions in the United States has had a profound effect on the operations of businesses in terms of advocacy and policy formulation. However, the role of unions should not be increased in the United States as more conflicts and frictions have been created through the formation of the unions. Labor unions have lost the primary purpose for their formation as they strengthen their opposition towards management instead of working reasonably with the management. The unions pressurize and dictate terms to the management regardless of the laws and regulations of an organization (Kerrissey & Schofer, 2013). This has led to ineffectiveness of the unions leading to decreased businesses and output. Similarly, the unions have taken a political standing whereby they advocate for their recognition and membership rather than the rights of the employees. The economy of the United States will also be adversely affected by increased unions as the demands put across may lead several firms out of business.
However, in some sectors the unionization should increase especially in the low-wage services. This will ensure that the purchasing power of the workers is increased and the economy will be revived (Kerrissey & Schofer, 2013). In addition, the unions will advocate for increased wages for these workers leading to both short-term and long-term improvement of their standards of living. It is to this regard that the consumer and prosperity boom in 1950s was experienced resulting in broad business growth, rising consumer spending, middle class expansion as well as increased home ownership. Unionization also impacts the competition of the market and as such promotes innovation and service delivery in business. If controlled by able bodies, unions are beneficial and their increase could result in minimized complaints of harassment and unlawful firing of employees. As such, the definition of the primary purpose of unionization will determine the effect caused in the United States (Kerrissey & Schofer, 2013).
Human Resource Managers (HRM) have a paramount role in simplifying the employee relations in the organization; to ensure requests, concerns and specific standards are met. The role of the personnel manager in employee relations include handling of complaints, maintaining workplace quality, controlling relocation, approval of raises, assistance of employees and handling of special occasions. The human resource manager handles all employee complaints on a daily basis either as issues with managers or co-workers (Clarke & Hill, 2012). The human resource department ensures that the differences are settled and employees are comfortable at the workplace. The effectiveness of the employees can be affected by the workplace quality and as such the human resource manager guarantees that no sweeping changes are made. The HRM ensures that the employees are involved in changing of current conditions at the workplace to warrant safety and comfort. In addition, when employees wish to relocate to other departments, the HRM has to gather information from other supervisors and managers to decide on the request (Clarke & Hill, 2012).
HRM also plays a role in conferring pay raise to deserving employees although the other departments also contribute to the decision. The human resource department is tasked with overseeing assistance programs including drug addiction and alcohol abuse for affected employees. The HRM enrolls employees to the program and help adjust their schedule to accommodate the program sessions (Clarke & Hill, 2012). Lastly, in some organizations, the HRM is responsible for acknowledging special occasions including office parties and sending out of birthday cards and gifts. All these roles of the HRM ensure that the employees work in a comfortable environment free from conflicts to ensure productivity in the organization. Overall, the human resource manager depicts the responsiveness of the employees to the organization’s strategy and explicitly aligns the workers to support the implementation of the set objectives (Clarke & Hill, 2012).
The government can intervene in employment relations in several ways including as: an income regulator, a protector, an employer, a legislator, an economic manager and a rule maker. The government and other government organizations therefore have five key ro...