A comparative study relating to the adoption of e-HRM process in gas and oil companies in Kuwait

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Human resources management is the amalgamation of art and science- managing heart and measuring the development of mind of the individuals (Yusoff2015).

The latest developments in the business world have altered the evaluation criteria’s of organizations and business. Earlier emphasis was laid on the financial strength of the company required for launching a business but the present world stresses on the human factor that helps the business to achieve its objectives. The human resource management concept was constructed to attract, train, recruit and employ human labor for achieving organizational goals. Adoption of skilled human resource management plan furnishes the necessary knowledge, understanding and skills required to focus the human factors according to the benefits of the organization. The prevalent role played by the HRM can be summarized as: HR planning, selection, training and placement, recruitment, developing and investing (Woguet al. 2018). These functions help the company to provide attention to the performances and requirements of the employees and earn maximum benefits from them. Kuwait possesses all the skills and knowledge required for the functioning of HRM but it also has its set of challenges, most of the HR professionals lack the expertise and trust to promote branding (Abulkasimet al. 2016).

Kuwaiti government owns the Kuwait National Petroleum Company along with private sector share holders. The company became internationally powerful with the growing need for gas across the globe; its chief responsibility being gas refining and processing domestically. The demand for extra work forces which resulted due to the massive invasion of oil wealth drew the government’s attention towards human resource management (Suen and Chang 2017). The Kuwait HRM policy aims to assemble and retain results to maintain terms within employees. Various theories have been laid down concerning the role of human resource management, sometimes connecting it to the performances and productiveness of the company. Researchers across the globe have criticized the Kuwaiti administration for providing all the luxurious needs to its citizens without toiling which compelled the economy to depend on foreign experts for handling the internal affairs of the country and this hindered the growth of domestic economy. Kuwaiti government implemented HRM policies- the first step was providing opportunities to train citizen in respective fields (Parry and Battista 2019). The HRM policy in Kuwait was based on the following policies:

  • In Kuwait the management focuses on HR training,planning, evaluation, recruitment, selection (Alfieroet al. 2015)
  • The main aim of the HRM is to reduce the communication gap among the non- native experts and the citizens to maintain balance
  • Aims to improve personal management skills systematically
  • The strategies are laid down following the law and order of the country

Investing, a new concept has been introduced in the HRM-invest and develop human factors in the organization to earn guaranteed results and performances from them. The humanresource is considered the important aid for modifying challenges to abilities (Obeidatet al. 2016). The vital element in the development process is utilizing the abilities of the employees and inspiring them to perform better by developing their potentials based on preparing, planning and constant work in every field. HR technologies are feebly used in Kuwait, information technology being limited to functions concerning personal management. Limited companies use e- learning software related to talent management, development and learning. A scanty number of HR professionals take the help of media and social apps for recruiting processes and reference checking (Maditheti and Gomes 2017). Linked In is applied in special cases of recruitment process when desired results are not achieved. The Kuwaiti organizations compete with the government organizations for recruiting and retaining fresh employees (Al-Hilaet al. 2017). They play both the roles of administrative experts and strategic partners and are thus ahead of other HR professionals. The distinctive roles HR professionals can play to optimize business and retain competitive advantage are: Strategic partner, change agent, administrative expert and employee champion. HR being the designer and possessor of talent management; the board provides aids to the HR department to encourage relationship with other departmental managers (Gupta 2016). Talent management intends to retain the employees against all odds and inspire employees to develop and progress. For implementing talent management successfully the Kuwaiti HR should consider the following factors:

  • ensure career growth
  • ensure completion of training
  • confirming assessment and identification of talents

HR being the designer of talent management should give importance to the organization’s culture in promoting talents. HR’s objective should be to circulate the philosophy of talent management within the company and help the company to compete in the world market (Dörrenbächeret al. 2018).The most challenging factors faced by the Kuwaiti company as predicted by HR experts are the vacancy risks and the business risks. The managerial posts remain vacant due to lack of competent people; employees deployed in wrong positions results in the misuse of efficient talent and time. Turn-over in the oil sector are negligible because of higher, competitive remunerations (Crabb2016). An attractive pay package is helpful for retaining employees possessing profound technical skills; HR officials in Kuwait are implementing various approaches to retain talented workers:

  • boosting the career plans of the employees
  • giving more authority to the employees
  • remaining transparent and fair towards them
  • emphasizing on education and development of employees
  • improving organizational values and ethics

E-HRM refers to the electronic application of HRM, which is the amalgamation of two factors namely- the usage of electronic media or internet, employees participating in the process (Brewster, Chung and Sparrow 2016). Employees play a crucial role in the implementation of this process and should find pleasure while working in this process. E-HRM has been defined variously although there some common traits like adding value, internet, human capital and networks. Many questions remain unanswered regarding e-HRM in Kuwait although the HRM processes are supported through IT usage (Alsultanny and AlZuhair2018). The transformation to e-HRM process is extremely slow in the Middle East with the top managerial posts lacking efficiency skills. The HR managers of the Middle East maintain low profile lacking proper training and expertise. E-HRM will gain impetus in Kuwait with the progress of opinions and raising the standards of HR officials, appreciation of the strategies of HRM, transformation to e-HRMshould be rapid for Kuwait to sustain in this competitive market (Baileyet al. 2018).

Reference List
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