Transformational shift in the 'new competitive advantage' Essay

Transformational shift in the 'new competitive advantage' - Essay Example The result is human resource management considerations that are now using new strategies and approaches to add value into the internal organization while moving ahead of the competition with the main changes. According to the Workplace Employment Relations Survey conducted in the UK in 2004 there are several benchmarks which have been established among businesses that are leading to transformational shifts. Through this survey, it was found that employment relations where determined first by the policies that were a part of the foundation of the organization in over 85% of the organizations surveyed. This particular aspect was directly related to the decision to hire an individual with an average of 19% using personality tests for the hiring process, 46% using performance tests and 78% using off the job training. The work dynamics were also determined by the team work which was created after one was hired. 72% of businesses had designated teams for individuals, 66% had flexible teams , 21% had non – managerial employees and 48% used core employees to create and work with teams. Within this, were attitudes toward the union in which 84% were in favor of unions, 17% were neutral and 4% were against unions. However, it was also noted that the mutual trust between managers and employee representatives was higher with non – union representatives, averaging at 64%, while union members held a response with trust by 31%. If difficulties arose, 95% of employees felt the right to appeal with 83% contacting a manager for the appeal. Within this, the perception of management by employees had an average response of 41% believing it was good, 19% believing it was very good, and 4% believing it was very poor with others remaining neutral (Kersley et al, 2004:1-6). This report shows that the shift is one which, while retaining employment with unions, is now more dependent on the structures of management, responses and the amount of trust which is in place with work dynamics. The large number which had trust to work with non – union members as well as employees believing they had the right to complain being with a positive response, combined with the variety of internal structures show that the concept of management, policies within the office and ability to resolve conflict is now dependent on the internal organization. According to another survey (Machin, Wood, 2004), the concept of unions is one which is believed to have a direct relationship to Human Resource Management. The HRM has now become a direct way in which individuals can express rights with their employment while having a type of mediation and protection. The HRM practices then became more important than other aspects with the employee relations. However, it was noted that this was dependent on communication channels, levels of trust that were in the environment and the organizational policies attributed to the situation. If situations that were internalized contained more politics or less trust, then employees would not consider the HRM as a way of resolving conflict or working within teams and with managers (Machin, Wood, 2004: 2). Both surveys indicate that the knowledge of personnel practices in the UK have a shift in how companies and managers approach the work place. The approach which is now being focused on is based on using more strategic practices within the internal