Rationale for Human Resource Policies in Small-Sized Companies

Introduction 

Having effective human resource policies is critical for the success of any organization since they are useful in the provision of fairness, consistency, control, structure, and reasonableness. Such policies are ensure that organizations operate in compliance with the set legislation on employment while informing the employees of the specific institutions about their roles and responsibility as expected of them from the management. Companies also find it mandatory to constitute workplace human resource policies because of their resourcefulness in ensuring transparency in processes, such as recruitment among others. While small companies have fewer challenges to the management of human resources because of the little number of employees that they hire, human resource policies are critical because they provide the benefits identified. This essay provides the rationale for such companies to adopt human resource policies in dress codes, the use of technologies within the workplace, confidentiality, and harassment. It draws reference from a wide range of literature from the related fields and infuses the biblical perspective of significance of such policies. 

Rationale Workplace Dress Code Policies 

Literature suggests that organizations find it necessary to adopt workplace dress codes for several reasons. However, the most significant reasons that such studies suggest is the need for the employees to maintain and project a corporate image of professionalism. For example, according to Raj, Khattar, & Nagpal (2017), having an effective workplace dress code policy has a tremendous effect on the perception of employees about the levels of professionalism of their co-workers. In another study, Karl, Peluchette & Hall (2016) found that workplace dress code polices are effective in the communication of corporate image to the clients. In fact, these researchers related the existence of a workplace policy on dressing with customer outcomes. The study suggests, for example, that employees influence clients’ levels of satisfaction with the quality of services and products offered through their dress code. They are specific on the attire worn at the workplace in addition to body art, and they posit that managers should be aware of such dynamics if they have to drive proper customer satisfaction levels through their stance on appropriate dress codes. 

Apart from the economic incentives for the inclusion of workplace dress policies in the human resources management manual, mangers should strive to understand the legal implications of such frameworks. Literature also provides significant direction in the legal elements of corporate dress codes. The most important issue that managers should comprehend in their institution of their workplace dress code laws is that they should not be biased since it would be illegal to do so. According to Goldner (2010), some employees might use the dress code policies as a basis for filing cases against the company according to the provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on discrimination. 

Managers should also adopt workplace dress codes as a way of practicing according to biblical teachings. The Bible has a series of lessons on dress code. However, it is useful noting that directs that people dress modestly. In 1 Peter 3:3-4, the Bible suggests that people should not adornments be exposed to others, which suggests that proper workplace dress codes should require employees to be dressed in the right attire that might not raise eyebrows among some groups of people, or those, which would be considered inappropriate. 

Rationale for Workplace Harassment Policies 

Workplace harassment is one of the most sensitive issues in human resources management. Challenged abound the modern workplace ranging from physical abuse, to sexual abuse, to verbal abuse, and other forms of harassment. For such a reason, managers are required to be keen in addressing such problems because of the legal and economic issues associated with them. Firstly, on the issue of legal implications for harassment, Hartstein & Wilde (2014) suggest that corporate leaders should comprehend the growing levels of legislative enforcement on the legally protected classes of discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which include disability, age, national origin, gender, sex, religion, color, and race. Therefore, the workplace policies should readily address this issue since the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has stepped up its support for employees who would like to receive such aid. 

The legal framework also suggests that companies should always strive to have an inclusive environment through continued training of their staff on the best ways of co-existing. In fact, Jenero & Galligano (2003) posit that staff training is important in reducing the probability of legal effects that their institutions would have to undergo if they did not engage in the practice. Furthermore, according to Vijayasiri (2008), training of staff on the importance of inclusion in the workplace develops a workplace culture that discerns harassment and discrimination. The legal motivation for the adoption of workplace policies on discrimination also relates with religious teachings from the Bible. The directive of the bible is that God does not express partiality towards anyone since He treats all people equal (Acts 10:34). When management wants to align their managerial practice with the fundamentals of Christianity, they should always be aware of the fact that Christ did not discriminate against anyone, which is why he mingled with everyone, including the sinners. 

Corporations should also strive to have inclusive environments through the institution of anti-discriminatory policies because of the economic benefits associated with them. In realizing the adverse effects that discrimination would have on the morale of employees to deliver the best quality service, Ramsingh & van Aardt (2006) suggest that firms should ensure safe environments for workers living with HIV and AIDS. While the issue of HIV represents only one of the perspectives that some workplaces might use to discriminate against some employees, it suggests the need for proper policing. In this case, discrimination of this type would affect employee satisfaction with their works, which is associated with negative outcomes on their productivity. 

Rationale for Workplace Technology Use Policies

Technological advancements have continued shaping the management landscape. Managers in contemporary management understand the benefits and drawbacks associated with the use of technologies in the workplace. They understand that when used appropriately, technologies might create a competitive advantage for their businesses (Aponte, 2011). They also understand that inappropriate uses of technologies in the workplace would result in undesirable outcomes. Therefore, any corporate manager would be driven by the desire to gain from their application of technology in the different activities within the workplace. For example, information technologies have transformed the ease, cost, and convenience of communications among different departments within an organization and among different firms (Garmon, 2011). 

The most worrying issue in the use of technologies within the workplace is the fact that they are prone to misuse, especially when organizations do not have effective frameworks for guarding against such use. When employees are irresponsible in their use of technologies in the workplace, they are likely to affect their organizations adversely both economically and socially. For example, some employees would find it irresistible to spend most of their time on the internet at the expense of dedicating such time to contributing effectively to the productivity of their companies. For this reason, some managers have found it necessary to spy their workers on the use of workplace technological resources. However, they are challenged for the fact that the legal framework has some levels of restrictions on the issue of surveillance because it would be interpreted as infringing on the right to privacy of the employees (Garmon, 2011). 

The motivation for employers to adopt workplace policies concerning the use of technologies also has biblical backing in 1 Corinthians 14:40. According to this biblical teaching, managers should ensure that they coordinate all activities within the workplace for them to realize an orderly existence. From this perspective, it is possible to argue that the absence of effective workplace technology policies would be disorderly because the managers would lack the capacity to regulate what each of the workers does with the technological resources. 

Rationale for Workplace Confidentiality Policies

Contemporary corporate leaders should always be aware of the implication of privacy and confidentiality. First, they need to understand that information is one of the sources of competitive advantages for firms. In this case, Dillon et al. (2008) suggest the need for businesses to be keen with the manner in which they store their information. They argue that improper and careless of information resources might result in critical loses to the productivity of their companies. Combined with the element of technologies in business, pressure lays on corporations to regulate the access of their information because of the growing levels of illegal accesses provisioned through platforms of communication (Garmon, 2011). In the wake of the cybercrime scare, companies should adopt policies that promote the privacy of their data because of the negative implications that would come with the illegal accesses. Therefore, managers should adopt policies that would prevent the possibilities of information loss. 

The legal implications of illegal information access are another rationale for the adoption of workplace confidentiality policies. The US and the rest of the world are growing in their concern about the safety of personal identity information. A significant proportion of the public thinks that companies have limited capacity to protect their private information, which is why they are now calling on governmental intervention in guarding their critical information. Though this call on governmental intervention might appear normal, corporations should be aware of its legal implications. For instance, companies should be more concerned with the security, privacy, and confidentiality of critical information because of the legal penalties associated with irresponsibility. This motivation would also result from biblical teachings in 1Thessalonians 4:11, which urges people to strive working to mind their own affairs through working quietly. 

Conclusion 

The adoption of workplace dress code, technology use, confidentiality, and harassment policies has legal, economic, and social implications that Christian teachings further underpin. This essay has depicted that modern corporate managers should always be driven by the desire to reduce the effects that would come with the lack of policies against the possibilities of noncompliance. In any case, managers who fail to institute any of the policies risk economic losses, which may include the loss of critical information, damaged brand reputation, reduced employee motivation, and other outcomes. On the legal side, business managers should always strive to understand the legal scope of the issue that would like to enact into workplace policies because a failure to do so would result in legal implications. From the biblical perspective, workplace policies are meant to promote the wellbeing of the employees and their managers through the provision of a fare ground for problem resolution. Therefore, each manager would want to consider the importance of workplace human resources management policies if they would like to excel. 

References

Aponte, J. I. (2011).  Case study: Employee use of information and communication technologies in a healthcare organization  (Order No. 3531333). Available from ABI/INFORM Collection. (1152774791)

Dillon, T. W., Hamilton, A. J., Thomas, D. S., & Usry, M. L. (2008). The importance of communicating workplace privacy policies.  Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 20 (2), 119-139.

Garmon, S. C. (2011).  Writing with others: The rhetoric of cloud technologies in the workplace  (Order No. 1492662). Available from ABI/INFORM Collection. (871109669). 

Goldner, H. M. (2010). You're Going to Wear That-Appearance in the Workplace.  GPSolo ,  27 (21), 1-6.

Hartstein, B. A., & Wilde, T. M. (2014). The broadening scope of harassment in the workplace.  Employee Relations Law Journal, 19 (4), 639.

Jenero, K. A., & Galligano, M. L. (2003). Courts continue to emphasize importance of policy development and training.  Employee Relations Law Journal, 28 (4), 113-124.

Karl, K., Peluchette, J. V. E., & Hall, L. M. (2016). Employee beliefs regarding the impact of unconventional appearance on customers in Mexico and Turkey.  Employee Relations ,  38 (2), 163-181.

National Publishing Company. (2000). Holy Bible- King James Version . Texas: National Publishing Company.

Raj, P., Khattar, K., & Nagpal, R. (2017). Dress to impress- the impact of power dressing.  IUP Journal of Soft Skills, 11 (3), 45-54.

Ramsingh, O. R., & van Aardt, C.,J. (2006). An evaluation of the policy framework on HIV and AIDS in the South African public service: The effectiveness of the current guidelines and the ability of the policy framework to absorb the impact of HIV and AIDS within the public service.  Public Personnel Management, 35 (3), 181-197.

Vijayasiri, G. (2008). Reporting sexual harassment: The importance of organizational culture and trust.  Gender Issues, 25 (1), 43-61.