The Future of Human Resources â€“ High Performance Work Systems

The future of Human Resources is literally a blank slate! Things are changing at a dramatic, almost alarming, rate. Issues may include globalization of the workforce, the changing generational workforce, compensation issues, work-life balance issues, or just the realization that Congress is in session and new legislation may change the workplace dramatically.

The human element of the workplace is continually evolving also. Teams, made up of international, multi-national, and transitional workers, are driving innovation and creativity. The 21st century HR professional must be in tune with dealing with these diverse and challenging issues.

Required Reading:
Please refer to the Activity Resources section of each activity for the required readings.

Assignment 7 High Performance Work Systems
Organizations that encourage creativity, innovation, and systems thinking become high performance work systems. When human capital systems are designed to foster collaboration, integration of disciplines and cross functional design and development, the organizationâ€™s outputs tend to be of higher quality and processes are streamlined to meet lean manufacturing or systems guidelines. Developing a high performance work system requires intensive application of human resources disciplines and design.

Valuing conflict that provides the tension for growth and development is a foundation of a high performance work system. Understanding the difference between conflict that is tension for growth and conflict that blocks creativity and innovation is important for all high performance systems. Balancing the tension between positive and negative conflicts is essential.

This activity contains two parts. In the first, you will be posting a discussion to interact with your course instructor and possibly fellow students. The second component consists of a paper.

Activity Resources

Bohlander, G. W., & Snell, S. (2013): Chapters 15 and 16
Video: Collaboration and Risk Taking
Video: America as a Leader in the Global Marketplace

Main Task Part 1: Discuss Your Thoughts Regarding Conflict Resolution
The goal of this response post is for you to summarize your thoughts on the key points of conflict resolution. Being able to successfully describe the benefits and limitations of resolving a conflict is a key element to understanding human resources management. This discussion will be open-ended to afford you the opportunity to interact with your course instructor and possibly other students.

Length: Content post 150-200 words; response post 75-100 words.

Both your content post and your response post should reflect a collegial attitude, be free of grammar and spelling errors, and include criteria mentioned above.

Main Task Part 2: Analyze Key Elements of a Work System
In Activity 4, you completed a communications and training initiative for an online university where the vast majority of employees are virtual. The same context will be used to complete this activity. In a paper, identify and outline the key elements of High Performance Work Systems (HPWS) for an online university setting. In your analysis, answer the following and be sure to provide specific examples where applicable:

Would it be possible to properly implement HPWS in an online institution of higher
education?
If your answer is yes, how would you implement HPWS as an HR team leader?
What are the barriers to implementation if your answer to the question is no? What
recommendation would you provide in this instance?

Support your paper with a minimum of two (2) resources, which may include your required text. In addition to these specified resources, other appropriate scholarly resources, including older articles, may be included.

Length: 3-5 pages not including title and reference pages

Your paper should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts presented in the course and provide new thoughts and insights relating directly to this topic. Your response should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards. Be sure to adhere to the Academic Integrity Policy.

The Future of Human Resources â€“ High Performance Work Systems...