Essay Exam 1

Question #1
Organizations are operating in an environment with increasingly scarce resources. The current focus is pursuing activities that add value to the organization. The scarcest resource for organizations is the employees. The challenge facing the organizations is more than just hiring the right employees. The organization must ensure the employees continue working for it with an understanding and commitment to meeting the organizations goal. In the current competitive environment, success goes to the organization that discovers and manages human resources (HR) effectively. A genuine partnership between the HR Professionals and the senior management is the key to success in the modern competitive market. The senior management focus on the return on investment therefore the management reduces operational cost to increase profits. The HR Professionals focus on improving the HR services and freeing up internal resources to sustain the achievement of business strategy (Morrell, 2002).

The human resource professionals in the US Army ensure the improvement of HR services and the free up of internal resources by providing timely and accurate HR functions. These functions directly affect the soldiers’ readiness, status, quality of life, and effectiveness. The HR manages these functions through the awarding of awards, decorations, promotions, transfers, and discharges. These functions increase the effectiveness of the total force by generating and sustaining required forces (Morrell, 2002).
Question #2
Discrimination in the workplace is a disruptive behavior that reduces efficiency, performance, and effectiveness of the organization. Discrimination within the workplace may also tarnish the reputation of the organization. To ensure the organization operates at its best, the HR creates programs that reduce the incidences of discrimination in the workplace. The Commanders equal opportunity handbook of the US Army addresses the possible discriminations that may arise in a diverse country as the United States (Morrell, 2002). There are basic principles that the commanders must adhere to, these include the promotion of harmony; not merely avoiding disorder, support individual diversity, and promote equal treatment of the soldiers and employees of the US Army.
According to Morrell (2002), to ensure the decrease of discrimination in the recruitment process, the organization must increase the number of job boards that recruiters post job openings. Recruiting from a more diverse pool also reduces biases in the workplace. The employers may provide training to the employees about discrimination and laws that prohibit the same. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recommends training for all employees. Training is mandatory in organizations with a high incidence of discrimination. The HR leaders may develop a policy outlining a zero tolerance rule on discrimination. The HR leaders may create diversity awareness through a diversity awareness program and lead by example.
Question #3
The social media has caused a shift in thinking and communication in an unprecedented scale. It is comparable to nothing else in recent times. The social media provide a place where everyone has a voice and participation is real time. The HR in an organization is linked to the employees and the world by social media. Communication between the HR and the employees is instant (Morrell, 2002). The social media not only enable effective communication within the organization, it also enables the recruitment through referrals and broadcasts.
The HR can e-mail the social network with job requirements. The employees of the organization are part of the HR social network. Through sharing with their friends and re-posting, the information reaches more candidates. Social networks also enable the recruitment of passive candidates. These candidates qualify for the position but are not in search of a job. The social media provides the HR with a recruiting network that link to a pool of candidates for future job openings. The social media also helps HR raise the awareness and reputation of the organization within the employees, customers, and other stakeholders. The interactive nature of social media enables HR to identify talent that may be a good fit in the organization (Morrell, 2002).
 References
Morrell, K. (2002). Human resource management, 8th edition. Personnel Review, 31(3), 391-393.