Human Resource Environment:

The Human Resource Environment is a part of social environment which includes the
concept, viewpoints, work culture, attitudes, efficiency, skills, productivity, nature and
behaviour of HR, employees’ demand and supply, motivational aspects, compensation
methods and industrial relation concerning of HR practices.

Environment consists of all those factors which have their bearing on the functioning of
the HR department.

1. External Forces:

These factors exist outside the organization and the organization has least control over
these factors. These include:
 Political and Legal Environment: 
The environment includes the impact of the political institutions on the HRM department. 

(a) Legislature – It is also called Parliament at the central level and advisory at the state
level. It is basically a law making body. The various labour laws are enacted by this
institution. 
(b) Executive – It is also known as the government and it is a law implementing body. It
acts according to the decisions of the legislature. 
(c) Judiciary – It plays the role of watchdog and ensures that both legislature and
executive work in the interest of public. 
Political environment affect the labour through the labour laws

 Economic Environment: 
Economic environment refers to all the economic factors which directly or indirectly
affect the HRM. 
The following are the components of economic environment: 
(a) Suppliers:
Under HRM, the suppliers are the agencies or parties who make available the human
resources to the organization.
(b) Competitors:
Some of the HR functions or activities are influenced by the competitors. This is because
the number of organizations is competing for the human resources, which increases the
importance of staffing function and its appraisal and compensation activities.
(c) Customers:
It is well known that customers want high quality products at the reasonable prices and
therefore, everybody in the organization should strive to offer such products which
provide desired satisfaction to the customer. 
(d) Industrial Labour:
Many changes have been taken place in the industrial labour especially in the organized
sector.

 Globalisation
Globalization has considerable influence on the HR function which can explained as follows:

(a) Employee hiring, training, motivation, compensation, and retaining are guided by the
global perspective.

(b) The department can become the source of competitive advantage for the company by
helping the best qualified people execute the company’s strategy on the global scale.

(c) A work force that is knowledgeable and skilled at doing complex things keeps the
company competitive and attracts foreign investment.

(d) Every advanced nation is increasingly becoming globalized, skills and cumulative
learning of its work force becomes its competitive assets.

 Technological:

Technology affects the HR function in the following ways:

(a) With the advancement in technology jobs tend to become more intellectual or upgraded.
Now the jobs require the skills of educated and knowledgeable workers.

(b) The introduction of new technology makes obligatory on the part of HRM to train workers
and to rehabilitate those who are displaced or cannot be trained.

(c) Those employees who pick up and acquaint themselves with new technology, the job will
be challenging and rewarding.

 Cultural Forces:

Culture includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, laws, customs, and other capabilities and
habits acquired by an individual as a member of a society.

Culture influences the HR function as follows:

(a) The attitude of the worker towards his work depends upon his cultural background.

(b) When people with different cultural backgrounds promote, own and manage
organizations, they themselves tend to acquire distinct culture.

(c) Time dimension which affects the HRM has its basis in culture. Time orientation
refers to the people’s orientation – past, present, and future. HRM focuses on
present and care more for employees on the rolls.

(d) Work ethics, effort reward expectations, and achievement needs which are significant
inputs determining the employee behaviour at work are the results of the culture.

2. Internal Forces:
The HR activities are also influenced by the internal forces. 
Prominent internal forces are: 
 Unions: 
The firm’s personnel activities are influenced by its own union as well as the unions of
the other firms. A trade union is an association of workers or management formed to
protect their own individual interests.

 Professional Bodies:
For the benefit of HR experts the professional bodies organizes the periodic training
programmes, seminars, and conferences.

 Organisational Culture and Conflict: 

Every organization has its own culture. Organisational culture is the result of all the
organization’s features – its people, successes, and its failures. Organisational culture
shapes the future by reflecting the past.

HRM Challenges
The human resource management of an organization plays a basic role in response
to environmental change. The HR department should adopt such policies that can
avail the new opportunities of the environment and keep the organization away from
the newly emerging threats.
 Workforce Diversity
The changing environment provides both the opportunities and threats to the human
resource management of the organization. The HR manager should adopt such
policies that can make possible the diverse workforce of employees. Although on
one hand diversity creates a big problem, in the long run, the survival and
performance of the organization is flourished.
 Globalization
One of the serious issues that today’s organizations are facing is the issue of
globalization. The world is converting into a global business and severe competition
is started between domestic and foreign companies. Such competition results in
laying off the effective workforce of the organization. The HR department can play an
important role in keeping the culture of the organization as global and wider.
 Technology
Technology is also growing at great speed especially in the field of computer and
telecommunication. New methods are emerging that quickly dominate the older ones
and make them obsolete. Therefore the skills required by the employees also
change with the changing technology and this would compel the worker to advance
the skills three to four times throughout their working lives. So there comes a burden
on the HR department to constantly update the skills and expertise of its employees.

 Development of Leadership
Leadership development is among the most common human resource management
challenges faced by companies at present. Most companies overlook the need of
putting the effort in training and grooming employees to help them develop their
leadership potential as well as necessary career skills, which affects the work
environment negatively. The solution is to provide training opportunities to talented
employees on a regular basis to help them reach their real potential!

 Retainment of Talented Employees

A very common human resource management challenge that most companies and
businesses face is the retainment of employees in the face of the great competition
for talented professionals. Smaller companies often fail to retain their employees
who are attracted to the greater benefits offered by larger companies. This can be
overcome to some extent through a structured onboarding process for each
employee, which is proven to be highly effective in retaining employees for a longer
duration as per research.

 Performance Management
With the fast-paced nature of most businesses, performance management is also
becoming a challenge for efficient human resource management. While it is
important for companies to provide all the necessary training to their employees, it is
equally important to track the effect of the training on the employee’s performance.

 Compliance with Ever-changing Laws and Regulations

Ever-changing laws and regulations constitute another very common human
resource management challenge, especially since many companies find it difficult to
keep themselves up to date with such laws. Non-compliance of laws can lead to your
company’s entanglement in lawsuits or even lead to a shutdown. Therefore, it is
extremely important to be aware of all the changes in laws that can affect your
business or company and also familiarizing your employees with such laws, be it
employee regulations or general workplace laws.

Types of discrimination at workplace:

There are various kinds of workplace discrimation, which generally center
around the above protected characteristics. Many of these are specifically
protected by federal legislation. These include:
Race discrimination
Treating a job candidate or employee unfairly because of their race or any
related characteristics is illegal. Color discrimination, which is when
someone is treated unfairly because of their skin color or complexion, is
also prohibited.
Religious discrimination
It is illegal for an employer to treat employees unfairly or adversely based
on religious beliefs and practices. Companies are required to make
reasonable accommodations for employees who need time, space, or other
amenities to observe their spiritual practices.
Disability discrimination
 . Employers cannot refuse to hire disabled candidates, pay them an unfair
wage, or deny reasonable accommodation to a person otherwise qualified
to perform a given role.
Age discrimination
Age discrimination laws prevent employers from specifying age preference
in job descriptions, internships, or other company documents, like
promotion criteria.  Companies are also prohibited from denying benefits,
compensation, and incentives based on age.
Sex and gender discrimination
It is illegal to specify preference for a particular sex of gender in a job
posting or description. Promotion decision should also be unbiased and
free of Gender discrimination.

Ways to Prevent Workplace Discrimination

The law requires all employers to impose policies against discrimination in the
workplace. At most, they should put measures to prevent discrimination from
happening within their office walls. Below are some of the ways to avoid prejudice in
the workplace:

1. Have written policies and sanctions on office discrimination

Most companies rely on the guidelines written under the federal employment
discrimination laws enforced by the EEOC, but this is not enough. Companies should
have their own specific sets of anti-discrimination policies included in the employee
handbook. Guidelines should consist of information on protocols regarding where to
file complaints and investigation procedures.

2. Educate employees on anti-discrimination policies

Employers should actively educate their employees and conduct anti-discrimination
seminars periodically. In some states, federal law requires employers to run regular
anti-discriminatory and anti-harassment training programs.

The training or seminar should enlighten employees about the specific examples of
discrimination in the office because sometimes there can be a thin line between
people’s definitions of discrimination. It should also educate them on how and where
to file a complaint if they become victims of discrimination or harassment.

3. Maintain professionalism at workplace

Keeping a professional work environment can help prevent inappropriate behavior in
the office. In a professional setting, employees maintain politeness, respect,
maturity, and competency. Unprofessional conduct in the workplace can precursor
various discrimination acts because of the lack of boundaries. Professionalism keeps
the workplace in order, as well as the behavior of employees towards each other.

4. Actively investigate and give sanctions on incidents of discrimination

When employees are aware of the consequences of any acts of discrimination, they
will actively stop any untoward behavior. To make employees see that the company
is serious about its anti-discrimination advocacy, they should actively pursue
investigations on complaints filed and apply appropriate penalties.

In line with this, the company should also have clear and strict guidelines regarding
the investigation procedures and identify the implementing body. The company
should conduct internal investigations fairly, complete with solid evidence to reach a
fully informed decision about the case. Most importantly, the investigation should be
done discreetly and with complete confidentiality.

5. Review company procedures and business decisions to avoid

unintentional discrimination
In some cases, discrimination can stem from unintentional incidents. For instance,
the company may not have updated its standard procedures when hiring new
workers to accommodate employees with disabilities. When updating their business
decisions, companies can get the help of an experienced discrimination lawyer to
ensure that there would be no loopholes in their company policies.

Definition of equal employment opportunity

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) prohibits discrimination against anyone on any pretext.
EEO speaks of the equality of every human being (irrespective of gender, religion, caste,
ethnicity, color, age, physical disability etc) while considering a candidate before, during and after
employment.

The advantages of equal employment opportunity are as follows

1. Creates equality within the organization

It is a hard fact that people belonging to a minority or specific ethnic culture often face
discrimination, and it is this concept that can help to remove it altogether and create
equality within the organization

2. Promotes diversity
The concept of equal employment opportunity promotes a culture of diversity and
encourages every employee to work in a harmonious atmosphere irrespective of their
origin

3. Employee retention
Companies that promote equal employment opportunity leads to employee satisfaction
and engagement that automatically results in employee retention

4. Search unique talent

Because of discriminatory policies, several companies are unable to hire talent that
could have otherwise proved beneficial. Removal of biased thoughts encourages
searching and hiring of the unique ability that would automatically prove a blessing in the
long run

5. Strong brand image

Organizations with policies like equal employment opportunity can create and maintain a
strong and compelling brand imageamongst its target audience and the industry as
people tend to look upon such companies that leave a positive mark on others.