Consider the challenge involved in balancing a concern for productivity with a concern for people within organizations and the inherent conflict in maximizing outcomes for each. What is the strategic contribution of HR within organizations in reconciling these two concerns?

There is an inherent challenge in any organization in balancing people's own needs with the needs of the organization in order to find a "happy medium". Human resources managers can contribute to productivity and success by being knowledgeable about issues such as planning for new hires, rewards and recognition, appraisal methods used, career development, and employee training. Human resources departments need to help develop a work environment that makes people comfortable and motivated to do their jobs well. By making employees feel that they are an integral part of their organization, good human resources managers give them a sense of ownership and help staff set their own goals and communicate effectively with others within the organization. By providing employees with opportunities to improve themselves on a personal level, these improvements will translate to higher performance, a win-win situation. Another important HR role is to create an avenue for employees to voice their concerns and help them solve problems that may arise. In summary, the strategic role of HR consists of ensuring that employees feel that they are essential contributors to the organization, motivating them to do their best work.

"The strategic issues facing HR managers in public sector organizations are more challenging than the strategic issues facing HR managers in private and not-for-profit organizations, in light of the security, terrorism, and privacy concerns so prevalent in the public sector these days." Do you agree or disagree? How and Why?

I partially disagree with this statement, because I feel that each organization, whether public, private, or not-for-profit, has to deal with the same human elements. For example, emotional competence is important for any employee. Staff lacking emotional competence will not function well in their role and will detract from the success of the organization. Therefore, it is important for any organization to foster emotional competence skills, and HR managers need to establish high quality training programs that are effective in promoting these skills.

However, I also agree with this statement to some degree, as public organizations have a lot more "red tape" to deal with in making necessary changes. For example, employees may function under a state framework that is difficult to change for any one organization within that. Private organizations have a lot more flexibility in choosing what types of change to implement and in trying new approaches to training, hiring, and profit-sharing, for example. In additions, employees in public organizations may feel more vulnerable to terrorism and identity theft threats, and so the HR managers in such organization will need to devise ways in which to deal with these concerns, while private and not-for-profit organizations do not have to spend as much time developing strategies in these areas.